DEMOCRATIC HOPEFULS BACK SECESSION BILL.

Byline: Steven J. Gorman Daily News Staff Writer

Two Democrats running for open state Assembly seats in the San Fernando Valley say they support the bill to give Valley voters the right to decide on secession, breaking ranks with party leaders who oppose the measure.

Bob Hertzberg, the Democratic nominee for the 40th District seat now held by Sherman Oaks Democrat Barbara Friedman, and Jon Lauritzen, the Democrat running for the seat being vacated by the bill's author, Assemblywoman Paula Boland, say they agree with a majority of Valley residents who favor self-determination.

``The community is very strongly behind it, and the community should have the opportunity to make their voices heard,'' Lauritzen said.

Assembly Bill 2043 by Boland, R-Granada Hills, would take away the Los Angeles City Council's power to veto a secession movement.

The bill is widely supported by Valley community leaders, and a Los Angeles Times poll said 68 percent of Valley residents support the bill's goal of self-determination.

Even so, the bill passed the Assembly on May 9 over the opposition of four Democrats whose districts include the Valley - Friedman, Richard Katz, Panorama City, Sheila Kuehl, Encino, and Wally Knox, Los Angeles.

In a survey of major party candidates for state Senate and Assembly seats in the Valley area, Republican candidates were uniformly supportive of the Boland bill.

And Democrats - with the exception of Hertzberg and Lauritzen - were opposed to the bill or undecided.

``As far as taking the power away from City Hall and putting it in the hands of the voters, I am for that,'' said Democrat Tony Cardenas, who is running for the Northeast Valley seat being vacated by Katz. ``Yet, at the same time, I have my reservations about bills that encourage separatism rather than building coalitions and working together.''

John Birke, the Chatsworth Democrat challenging Sen. Cathie Wright, R-Simi Valley, called the Boland bill ``a politically fabricated and calculated issue to advance Paula Boland's political ambition.''

Boland, who is running for the 21st Senate District seat being vacated by Sen. Newton Russell, R-Glendale, repeatedly has denied any political motivation and suggests that the Democrats' stand on her bill would become a campaign issue in Valley races this fall.

``It's a no-brainer to be able to vote for democracy and be able to give people self-determination, unless there's a special interest not to,'' Boland said.

Democrats Hertzberg and Lauritzen said they agreed that the Valley should have the right to decide the secession issue on its own.

Hertzberg noted that under current law, secession would be subject to a lengthy review of a state regulatory body and a referendum by Valley voters before the City Council could weigh in with its rejection.

``I don't think it makes sense to have a process, an extraordinarily detailed process, and have an election, and have an elected body have the right to have a veto,'' Hertzberg said. ``That's wrong.''

Republicans who support the bill include Assembly candidates Tom McClintock, who is running for Boland's seat, and Ollie McCauley, who is running for Katz's seat.

``Government derives its powers from the consent of the governed, and the Valley no longer gives its consent,'' said McClintock, a former state assemblyman.

Other Republican Assembly candidates supporting the bill are Ron Culver, who is running against Hertzberg, and Adam Ross, who is challenging Knox.

Mark Boos Benhard, Kuehl's GOP challenger, and John Geranios, the Republican nominee for the 43rd Assembly District race that includes part of the East Valley, also support Boland's bill.

The bill also is backed by GOP incumbents whose districts include the Valley area - Sen. Wright, and Assemblymen James Rogan, R-Glendale, and Bill Hoge, R-Pasadena.

Additionally, it is backed by state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, D-Van Nuys.

Boland's opponent in the race for Russell's Senate seat, Democrat Adam Schiff, said he would oppose the measure unless it were amended to allow a vote on Valley secession by non-Valley voters.

The district includes the Los Angeles communities of Silver Lake and Los Feliz that would not be part of a Valley secession.

``If the Valley secedes, the taxes will go up on people in my district,'' Schiff said.

Boland responded to such criticism by saying her foes ``have absolutely no excuse for opposing democracy so they will pull every lie out of the air.

``There's no evidence whatsoever that there would be any tax increase for anyone,'' she said, charging that Schiff was overlooking the interests of voters in Sunland, Tujunga and Sun Valley who were part of the 21st District and favored secession.

``They're making a big mistake because they're looking their constituents in the face and they're saying, `We think we know better than you do. We're the big government and we know what to do,' '' Boland said.

Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles, has declined to endorse the legislation other than to say he agrees with ``the core principle that the L.A. City Council veto is undemocratic.''

He also counts himself among Senate Democrats who are fighting to ``keep the Boland bill from being snuffed by parliamentary tactics.''

Foes of the measure are trying to get it referred to the Committee on Elections and Reapportionment, where it could be killed by committee chairman Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, an arch opponent of the bill who was a strong and early supporter of Cardenas in the Democratic primaries.

Hayden's GOP opponent, Scott Schreiber, said he supports the Boland bill.

``I support the right to choose,'' he said. ``That's really what the Boland bill is doing. It's allowing the Valley to choose its own destiny for the future.''

The bill passed the Senate Local Government Committee on Monday, and is scheduled to go to the Rules Committee next week.