HOMEOWNERS FEDERATION BACKS VALLEY SECESSION.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

The San Fernando Valley Federation, a coalition of a dozen residents and homeowners groups, has unanimously backed secession, the organization announced Friday.

Federation leaders said a smaller Valley city, with its locally elected council and mayor, would be better than the status quo.

``The city doesn't work currently,'' said federation President Gordon Murley. ``And we think it will enable all the areas to get new leadership that will represent their neighborhoods.''

The federation represents groups from Woodland Hills, Encino, Lake View Terrace, North Hollywood, Northridge, Pacoima, Sylmar, North Hills and the North Valley. Some of the larger homeowners and residents groups, however, such as the Studio City Residents Association, don't belong to the federation and have not taken a position on secession.

The federation's announcement came three days after an influential business group, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, announced it supports secession. VICA was the third large Valley business group to back cityhood, after earlier announcements by the regional association of Realtors and the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, composed of dozens of local chambers of commerce.

In response to the federation's announcement, cityhood opponent Larry Levine, a Sherman Oaks political consultant, said just because a group's leaders take a position doesn't necessarily mean its members have the same view.

``I would say the leadership of the organizations are more in favor than opposed, but we have seen example after example in the Valley of communities actually voting repeatedly opposite the way the homeowners associations are endorsing,'' Levine said.

``They are a presence because they take the time to make themselves a presence, but they don't necessarily represent or speak for the lay homeowner in the area, who is not a member and probably never heard of the group.''

But Richard Katz, leader of the secession drive, called the federation's announcement ``a very big endorsement.''

``What it indicates is the grass-roots support for this campaign continues to grow,'' Katz said. ``Nobody knows better than homeowner organizations about the Valley's mistreatment at the hands of Los Angeles.''

Murley said the federation actually has 18 member associations, but only 12 regularly attend meetings and pay dues, and all 12 voted to support secession at several meetings held over the summer. The group decided to withhold the announcement until closer to the Nov. 5 election when more voters would be paying attention.

At least one federation board member acknowledged that his group has not actually taken a position on secession yet, but that he voted in favor of it anyway.

Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, said his group is scheduled to take a position on secession Oct. 10. The group waited so long, he said, because it planned a debate and needed a large hall to hold the meeting. If his group had voted before the federation made its decision, he would have represented the group's vote, but without that mandate he used his own judgment, he said.

``I have a right as a member (of the federation) to vote what I think is in the best interests of our group, and I feel that it was wise to endorse the resolution,'' Silver said.

Kam Kuwata, the political consultant for Mayor James Hahn's anti-secession campaign, questioned whether the opinion really represents the groups' members.

``This group that voted for secession represented leaders of homeowners associations, some of whom basically made the decision: We're not going to take a democratic vote of our membership,'' Kuwata said.

Secession opponents could not name any Valley-based residential group that opposes secession, although they noted that a number of citywide groups, such as the League of Women Voters, do oppose it.

Some Valley-based political groups, such as the affiliation of Democratic clubs called the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, also oppose secession, as do some prominent individuals connected with homeowners groups, such as Don Schultz, president of the Van Nuys Homeowners Association.

Most business groups in the Valley have come out in support of secession, beginning with local chambers of commerce that endorsed a new Valley city in a belief it would be more accountable, responsive and efficient than Los Angeles.

The city's 47 new neighborhood councils are allowed to take positions on political issues such as secession, although they cannot use city resources to campaign in favor of them, according to Greg Nelson, head of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.

Nelson said he isn't aware of any of them taking positions on secession. The West Hills Neighborhood Council was the only one that took a vote on the issue, but its board decided to take no position.