EDITORIAL : ETHICS ABOVE POLITICS; PANEL OUGHT TO TAKE HIGH ROAD IN DEBATE OVER DISCLOSURE OF DONORS TO CITYHOOD EFFORT.

THE Local Agency Formation Commission faces a decision today that could indelibly mark where it stands on the San Fernando Valley's cityhood drive.

The nine-member county panel is considering a request, initially made by Los Angeles Councilman Mike Feuer and pushed forward by the city Ethics Commission, to order the disclosure of all people and organizations who donate to the primary organization behind the secession movement, Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, and those that fight it.

Clearly, the city's play was based on politics, not ethics. What would Los Angeles city officials know about ethics?

The staff of LAFCO, created by state legislation to arbitrate city formation and secession issues, concluded that the agency does not have the authority to open the donor lists. Instead, it urged the city to take its concerns to the state Legislature if it really wants the names of all people who contribute money and services to the secession debate to be made public.

State campaign finance laws now do not require the naming of donors to secession or cityhood drives. If the law is amended, it ought to include the disclosure of those who give money to organizations opposing secession - which, given the amount of rhetorical attacks coming from City Hall, is mostly the city of Los Angeles.

LAFCO's executive director, Larry Calemine, offered a sensible way to proceed. If the law is changed, it should be changed for all. Disclosure rules should be fair, and must not be altered to satisfy the petty whims of council members whose primary goal is to stifle public participation in a highly controversial issue.

Of course, that's exactly why Valley VOTE has been hesitant to disclose all contributors to its successful drive to get 132,000 signatures of voters to force a secession study. Many active in civic and political activities in the Valley are well aware of the heavy-handed tactics employed by the denizens of City Hall.

Nonetheless, some prominent contributors to the petition drive have come forward, including Bert Boeckmann, David Fleming, Lodwrick Cook and the Daily News. And Valley VOTE is considering going public voluntarily with its contributor lists in the future.

The group's motivation is simple: they don't want anybody to mistake them for the people who run City Hall with back-room deals, insider deals and secret agendas.