CITY STALLING, VALLEY VOTE SAYS.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

San Fernando Valley secessionists on Tuesday accused the city of Los Angeles of trying to obstruct negotiations over a cityhood plan for the Valley, rather than working out compromises on their disagreements.

Leaders of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment said city officials have only raised criticisms during the ongoing talks before the Local Agency Formation Commission and have refused to make their own proposals.

Jeff Brain, president of Valley VOTE, and Richard Close, co-chairman of the group, said city officials are not engaging in good-faith negotiations over the Valley cityhood proposal.

``Valley VOTE is asking Mayor Hahn to live up to his pledge that the city of Los Angeles would constructively participate in the LAFCO negotiations in an attempt to create the best possible plan with sufficient details for the voters,'' Brain and Close said in a joint statement released Tuesday.

Julie Wong, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, was surprised by the criticism and said the city has been negotiating in good faith.

The city has been raising legitimate concerns that should be addressed, and not trying to obstruct the process, according to Wong.

``These are all questions that voters are going to want to have answers to before they cast a vote on this,'' Wong said. ``We've been negotiating in good faith and working to make sure the process is a fair one.''

The negotiations are over a draft cityhood plan for the San Fernando Valley and Harbor areas of Los Angeles that was issued by LAFCO.

LAFCO is now working on crafting a final cityhood plan to go on the ballot in November 2002.

``LAFCO intended the negotiations to be an opportunity for both parties to resolve many unanswered issues and address those details. Yet in the first two of the four scheduled negotiation sessions, the city of Los Angeles representatives have failed to put forth a single proposal,'' the Valley VOTE officials stated Tuesday.

``In each session, the city negotiators found excuses not to discuss the real issues,'' Brain and Close wrote.

``At the last session, the LAFCO negotiation facilitator repeatedly asked the city of Los Angeles negotiators for their proposals. The city once again had none to offer,'' Brain and Close said.

The two urged city officials to get to work in earnest on a plan for splitting up the city.

``We are calling upon the city to cease playing games and to come to the table ready to negotiate in good faith for the last remaining negotiation sessions,'' their statement read. ``Valley VOTE believes that 75 percent of the issues can be resolved through these negotiations and be made a part of LAFCO's terms and conditions,'' Close and Brain said.

``Good-faith negotiations are more than just showing up at the table. Valley VOTE believes that the city has an obligation to all residents of Los Angeles to negotiate in good faith a reorganization plan that presents to the voters in November of next year the two best new cities possible, a new Valley city and a new, smaller Los Angeles city.''