EDITORIAL\Ties that bind\An undemocratic law bars home rule for the Valley.

SECESSION from the city of Los Angeles is an issue that blows hot and cold in the San Fernando Valley. It hadn't been a hot topic of conversation since 1986, when the City Council outraged a lot of people by adopting a redistricting plan that robbed the Valley of one of its Valley-only council districts.

All that changed Tuesday when Assemblywoman Paula Boland, R-Granada Hills, introduced AB 2043. Her bill, by amending the Cortese-Knox Local Government Reorganization Act of 1985, would eliminate an obstacle that makes it virtually impossible for people in the Valley - or anyplace else - to separate themselves from the city.

The 1985 law gave city councils the power to stop breakaway movements - even if the required number of petitions had been submitted - from ever getting on an election ballot. Boland's measure would strip city councils of such powers in cities with a population of over 2 million (language that applies exclusively to the city of Los Angeles).

AB 2043 should be adopted, although frankly we see no reason why it shouldn't apply to all cities.

The existing law is grossly unfair because it gives politicians who have a vested interest in preserving the status quo the power to nullify the right of self-determination.

We doubt, for example, whether the L.A. council ever would accept a detachment if it is large enough to scramble the map of council districts and force some incumbents to run against each other. Indeed, the redistricting plan that prompted the last secession boomlet was designed specifically to prevent such a political bloodletting.

Whether independence for the Valley or any other part of the city is a good idea remains to be seen. However, there is no need to debate the merits of specific detachments at this time. That's because such debates will be exercises in futility so long as the undemocratic language in the 1985 law remains on the books.