CONGRESSMAN SEEKS FUNDS FOR SECESSION STUDY.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

Congressman Brad Sherman has begun searching for federal money to help fund a proposed study of San Fernando Valley secession.

With Gov. Pete Wilson's veto of $340,000 in partial funding for the study, Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, said Thursday he is seeking help from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to locate grant money. The study, expected to cost $1 million or more, would analyze the financial effects of secession and could lead to a citywide vote on the issue.

``I think studying urban government in Los Angeles is something important to people throughout the country,'' said Sherman, who represents the western San Fernando Valley. ``It's an excellent case study in how large the units of government should be.''

The discussions are in a preliminary stage, he added.

The question of who would pay for the complex and unprecedented report is one of the most vexing now facing Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, a group circulating petitions designed to trigger the secession study.

Wilson last week signed legislation giving a 90-day extension to the petition drive, all but ensuring the 135,000 valid signatures needed to launch a government study of secession will be obtained.

He earlier vetoed funding of the study that required matching funds from the city and county.

That leaves Valley VOTE and the state commission that would conduct the study - the Local Agency Formation Commission - without a clear idea of who would pay. Valley VOTE leaders are adamant that the full cost not fall on them.

``There is a system for petitioning, and it would have no value if it was expected that the petitioners had to come up with the cash,'' said Valley VOTE Chairman Richard Close.

Although some LAFCO members agree with Close, others don't.

``I have always felt that there are enough people who have the ability to gain financially from secession that it should be very easy for Valley VOTE to raise the 1 to 2 million (dollars) for the study,'' said commission member and Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke.

As a result, the commission has not taken a position on who should pay for the study and has instructed Executive Officer Larry Calemine to explore funding from the state, the city and the county. With the state contribution now nixed by Wilson, Calemine said Thursday he is discussing the issue with city and county officials.

He also has recommended that Valley VOTE talk to private foundations that fund research projects.

``There's a lot of foundations out there with a lot of money,'' Calemine said.

A nonprofit group founded last year by Valley civic leaders Bert Boeckmann and David Fleming, who both have contributed money to help finance the petition circulation, plans to start raising private donations for the study once Valley VOTE finishes its signature-gathering drive. Funding the study with both public- and private-sector cash, Fleming said, could prevent those in government who oppose secession from possibly twisting the study's results.

``I don't want this study stacked,'' he said. ``I think he who pays, calls the tune.''

Valley VOTE also has suggested that it may seek city funding for the study to settle a lawsuit filed on the group's behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union. The suit charges that city employees violated the rights of Valley VOTE volunteers by ejecting the group's petition circulators from a public air show at the Van Nuys Airport.

In its editorial pages, the Daily News has strongly endorsed Valley VOTE's drive for a public study of secession that would determine whether a breakup would be revenue-neutral to the remaining part of the city and whether the new city would be economically viable. The newspaper also has contributed $60,000 to the petition-gathering effort.