EDITORIAL FAT CATS UNITED.

EVERYWHERE you turn, lobbyists, developers and assorted fat cats are happily giving their time and money to the antisecession effort.

What could possibly motivate such generosity?

Take Steve Afriat, the lobbyist and campaign consultant who makes a very handsome living using his access to City Hall politicians he helped get elected so that developers and business interests can get what they want from the city.

In this case, Afriat - who states clearly that there is nothing motivating him except his earnest opposition to secession - waived his customary fees and is running City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski's antisecession campaign free of charge.

At a $70,000 fund-raiser at the home of developer Ed Roski Jr., Afriat explained why the well-connected want to preserve the status quo:

``The reason why we're involved in this issue is we would rather deal with a calm, well-structured, competent city of Los Angeles government than a fly-by-night, kooky San Fernando Valley government.''

In other words, let's not kill the golden goose.

Or take Roski, who generously lent his home for the event and has given $250,000 to Mayor James Hahn's antisecession group. He is a major player in the Staples Center deal, as well as subsequent plans for an adjacent entertainment district and a nearby NFL stadium.

He, too, knows which side his bread is buttered on.

The party he hosted was for the Public Safety Coalition, a group Miscikowski originally put together to support Proposition Q, the police and fire facilities bond that passed earlier this year. When that campaign ended, the coalition still had $17,000 in the bank, so Miscikowski decided to roll the funds into the antisecession battle, never mind that it has nothing to do with public safety.

The blind, deaf and very dumb city Ethics Commission approved the deal. This is what passes for ethics in Los Angeles.

At the end of the day, all the special interests that have helped to fight secession will line up, hands extended, looking for their reward.

And they'll get it.

Some already have, like downtown PR giant Fleishman-Hillard, recent recipient of a $3 million contract with the city's Department of Water and Power. Or the DWP's employee union, which won a pay raise for 5,200 employees worth twice the rate of inflation.

Rest assured, it's not philanthropy that's motivating the fat cats - it's self-interest.