EDITORIAL FINDING COURAGE VALLEY LEADERS NEED TO PUT THEIR MONEY WHERE THEIR CONSCIENCE IS.

THE latest poll on San Fernando Valley secession defies conventional wisdom and professional prognosticators alike. It shows support growing - and opposition declining - to Valley cityhood throughout Los Angeles, by six points overall.

How can this be?

Mayor James Hahn's anti-secession campaign has all the money, all the institutional advantages, all the fat-cat supporters. It has dipped into public funds and employed scare tactics with impunity. By all accounts, this game should long be over.

And yet, somehow, in the Valley, support for independence is stronger than ever, with Latino voters leading the way. Over the hill, opposition is down and support is up.

Maybe, just maybe, there's more to winning an election in Los Angeles than power and money.

And maybe, just maybe, the people united can stand tall against the arm- twisting of City Hall. That appears to be what's going on at the grass-roots level.

But so far, it's yet to happen among large numbers of Valley community leaders.

Big business owners, city contractors, unions and politicians remain solidly in Hahn's anti-independence camp. And for good reason. The downtown machine has made it clear that it will tolerate no dissent on this point and will reward those who give generously to defeat secession.

Politicians who side with the independence movement can forget about ever getting the support of the city's Democratic apparatus again. Contractors know that if they buck the status quo and secession fails, they'll have to start looking for lucrative contracts elsewhere. Business leaders who depend on city permits fear what could happen if they step out of line.

The converse is also true.

By staying loyal to Hahn and his minions, politicians are assured of future campaign contributions. Contractors can bank on handsome rewards. Businesses will continue to get favorable treatment. And unions will get their due the next time their contracts come up for renewal.

It's fear and greed that drive the uniformity of opinion among the city's elite.

The same strategy is intimidating many Valley civic leaders from giving to the Valley independence movement even though in heart and mind they know there is no other way for the Valley to get a fair share of city resources, for neighborhoods to be empowered and for the community's problems to be tackled.

It shouldn't be that way.

On Nov. 5, L.A. will face the most important electoral decision in its history, one that will have a profound effect on all facets of life on both sides of the hill. This is not an issue that anyone should sit out, or stifle their consciences because of external pressure.

With scarcely four weeks left until Election Day, the time has come for civic leaders who know in their hearts and in their minds that the downtown power structure cannot be reformed to step forward. If they are fed up with a system that censors and extorts them, they must have the courage to say so.

Those who see secession as the way out of City Hall's vise grip have a duty to speak their minds. They must be bold. They need to back their convictions with their word, moral support and money.

For too long, too many have tried to play both sides of the hill, but the issue is drawn sharply now, and come Nov. 5 we will all have to live with the consequences of the vote.

What should matter most is that the people of the Valley are in a position to be able to make the community better, whether cityhood passes or fails.