HAHN AGREES TO ADDRESS VALLEY GROUP.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

After rejecting an invitation to deliver a State of the Valley address to a prominent business group four days before the Nov. 5 election, Mayor James Hahn has agreed to speak in December - after the San Fernando Valley secession vote.

Hahn will address an estimated 150 to 200 members during the Valley Industry and Commerce Association's annual membership meeting Dec. 10. The group already had scheduled former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros as the keynote speaker, but Hahn will be added to the program.

``We're happy he's going to come. We look forward to picking up on some of the same issues we've been dealing with: business taxes, a business-friendly environment, funding for Valley improvements and so forth,'' VICA Chairman Fred Gaines said Tuesday. ``That'll be true whether (secession Measure) F passes or fails. The VICA agenda's going to be the same.''

Hahn was criticized for declining to speak during the organization's business forecast conference scheduled for Nov. 1, something the mayor had done for the past nine years. Gaines said the forecast conference usually draws twice as much attendance as the annual membership meeting.

The mayor cited a scheduling conflict in not delivering the Nov. 1 speech, but has refused to disclose what the conflict is.

``At the time, we gave them alternative dates,'' Hahn spokeswoman Julie Wong said. ``Now that we have a date confirmed, the mayor's looking forward to speaking to the group.''

Some secession supporters believed that the mayor canceled the speech because VICA took a position supporting secession, despite heavy lobbying by Hahn's anti-secession allies.

Even if secession passes, Gaines said, the Valley would still have to interact with L.A. city government for some time - at the very least, for the 20 months after the election that Los Angeles would be required to continue providing services to the Valley.

VICA has also secured a replacement for Hahn at the Nov. 1 conference. Robert G. Foster, president of Southern California Edison, will deliver the keynote address on ``The Importance of Integrity in Business.''