HAHN ALLIES LOBBYING VICA TO STAY NEUTRAL.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

At the urging of Mayor James Hahn's anti-secession campaign, the downtown-based Central City Association and other groups have heavily lobbied members of an influential San Fernando Valley business group to remain neutral on the Valley-secession issue.

The Valley Industry and Commerce Association plans to begin sending its 400-member companies secret ballots on secession this week and will announce its position next month.

But the group's members have faced unusually heavy lobbying, especially from anti-secession forces such as the Central City Association. Rather than urging opposition to secession, members of the downtown group and other groups allied with Hahn's L.A. United campaign are asking VICA members to take no position on the issue - apparently assuming it is unlikely to expect them to oppose secession.

The organized effort includes a letter from former Mayor Richard Riordan, who cites his authority ``as a business leader and your former Mayor.''

``By remaining 'above the fray' on this difficult issue, VICA has the opportunity to solidify its position of leadership in Southern California, regardless of the outcome in November,'' Riordan wrote.

Some secession supporters and VICA members are annoyed by what they see as a downtown business group interfering in a Valley group's internal activities.

``I have concerns, given what's been going on with the downtown crowd using every trick in the book, dirty and otherwise, to keep people from supporting cityhood, or even trying to keep the truth from getting out about it,'' said Bob Scott, vice chairman of VICA and a leader in the secession effort.

``Naturally I would have concerns about groups intervening gratuitously with the VICA membership.''

Scott added that while ``it is a free country and people can profess their points of view and influence others,'' his concern is primarily with what he sees as an effort at intimidation.

``The whole point of having the secret ballot is to allow the corporate members to vote their conscience without fear of retribution.''

Carol Schatz, head of the CCA, could not be reached Monday for comment.

Kam Kuwata, political consultant for the mayor's anti-secession campaign, said he tries to use every lobbying opportunity he can to influence people on secession. He has done this with groups in the past, he said, and plans to continue in the future.

``While we obviously think that VICA's going to probably go pro-secession, we would certainly like them to stop that, and maybe even go neutral,'' Kuwata said. ``And so we've encouraged people who share our views to call (VICA members).''

He added that pro-secessionists have been making the same calls to convince VICA members to support a separate Valley city in the Nov. 5 election.

But Richard Katz, chairman of the San Fernando Valley Independence Committee, said his group has not made an organized effort to lobby VICA members, other than showing up at the group's forums.

``Even if they're just calling from Central City to influence a VICA vote that seems to be pretty extraordinary,'' said Katz, who is also a VICA member.

``VICA doesn't meddle in the internal affairs of Central City Association or the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, and they ought to have enough respect for VICA to figure out people can make this decision on their own.''

VICA is a 53-year-old nonprofit association that focuses on advocacy work and economic studies for Valley-based businesses. It has previously taken a position in favor of placing secession on the ballot. Most other major business groups in the Valley, such as the United Chambers of Commerce, have already taken a position in favor of secession.

Not all VICA members are bothered by the calls.

Brad Rosenheim, a Woodland Hills planning consultant and VICA board member, said he received three or four calls from people he knew to ask him to stay neutral, plus the Riordan letter, but did not receive any pro-secession calls.

Rosenheim said he is already neutral on secession because he is a board member of the Civic Forum, which seeks to act as an objective clearinghouse of secession information and asks its members to remain publicly neutral on the issue.

``If it were somebody I didn't know and they were being intrusive about it, I would have a problem with it,'' Rosenheim said. ``But no, they were people I know.''

VICA Chairman Fred Gaines said he is not bothered by the lobbying, but he also doesn't think it will make much difference. He said both sides asked for, and were provided with, VICA's membership list and he believes that both have been making calls.

``My first reaction is that I'm flattered that these other groups think the VICA vote is important enough that they're going to lobby people,'' said Gaines, a Woodland Hills attorney. ``I don't think it's going to sway people. People have very strong positions on this issue one way or another and I think the vote will come out as it will come out.''

``We're not going to do anything to stop it. People can talk to whoever they want and be lobbied by whoever they want. We're an advocacy group. We shouldn't be afraid of a little advocacy.''