LAFCO: STUDY SHOULD COVER VALLEY ONLY; LIMITED SECESSION ANALYSIS WOULD MEAN LARGE SAVINGS.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

The unprecedented study into breaking up Los Angeles should start by examining the city and the San Fernando Valley only, rather than include six other potential secession efforts, commissioners for the agency overseeing the process said Wednesday.

The limited study would cost less to produce, although the potential savings are not known, according to consultants on the project.

Last week, county and city officials were stunned when the consultants said it could cost between $3.6 million and $8.1 million to produce the comprehensive financial analysis required by state law.

But Wednesday, the county Local Agency Formation Commission directed the consultants to plan on a slimmed-down study with a lower price tag.

``I think we can narrow this down,'' said LAFCO member Hal Bernson, a Los Angeles city councilman whose district includes the Northwest Valley. ``Our job is to be judicial and to be fair.''

The 70-page proposal with the multimillion-dollar price tag included the Valley as well as Harbor City, Eagle Rock and Westchester-Playa del Rey secession efforts that began petition drives late last year, and also included proposed secession efforts in West Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Brentwood-Pacific Palisades-Sawtelle.

The Valley is the only area that has submitted voters' signatures on petitions officially requesting a formal study of the feasibility of secession from Los Angeles.

LAFCO instructed the consultants, who work for the county chief administrative officer, to return to the panel with an evaluation of different scenarios to break up the study by geographic area.

A LAFCO committee will begin meeting to review the study proposal that was presented to the agency Wednesday.

Bernson said he did not question the consultants' effort, adding that the study proposal was comprehensive and helpful. But he questioned the appearance that the study was stacked against the Valley cityhood effort, by the high cost and by the estimate that it would take one or two years to do the research and write the report.

Leaders of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, the group leading the secession campaign, said they were pleased by LAFCO's decision and said the study proposal provides a framework that LAFCO can tailor to the Valley effort.

``Today, the (commissioners) made it clear they want the report narrowed down to what is the Valley component,'' said Richard Close, chairman of Valley VOTE.

Valley VOTE leaders said they are concerned a broad study beyond the implications of Valley secession increased both the cost and time.

Original estimates pegged the cost of a yearlong study at about $1.5 million and Valley VOTE was aiming for a vote in fall 2000.

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who based an earlier county funding proposal on that lower cost estimate, sent a letter to LAFCO calling for a more limited study.

``The San Fernando Valley is the only area that is ripe for consideration of a new city. . . . Saddling this secession effort with issues unrelated to it complicates an already complex issue and adds an unnecessary delay and expense,'' he stated.

Valley VOTE turned in 202,514 signatures calling for a cityhood study and needs 131,771 valid signatures of registered voters in the Valley to trigger the study. The county Registrar-Recorder's Office is expected to complete its review by early March.

If Valley VOTE succeeds, one or more of its three ``chief petitioners'' then must submit a formal application for the cityhood study. In the meantime, LAFCO will work on the study proposal, said Larry Calemine, the agency's executive director.

Bernson submitted a list of five study scenarios drafted by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a LAFCO commissioner whose district includes the Valley. Yaroslavsky was out of the country and could not attend the meeting.

The scenarios are based on the likelihood that all seven areas would not seek cityhood simultaneously. The first option assumes the Valley is the only area qualifying for a study.

``He was trying to get a sense of what the Valley costs are, what is the timeline for doing this, what is the Valley portion,'' said Joel Bellman, spokesman for Yaroslavsky.

A primary problem with proposing a study on municipal secession is that one has never been done before in California, the consultants said.

``Our job was to be as comprehensive as possible. Our job was to lay out as many issues as possible to avoid costly surprises down the road,'' said Wayne Bannister of the county's Urban Research Division. ``This is original research.''

Primary factors in the cost estimate include Los Angeles' size, the number of potential secession areas and the complexity of city enterprises - notably the nation's largest municipally owned utility.

State law requires that the study identify the new city's costs of providing public services and facilities and its revenues during the three fiscal years following incorporation.

Then Valley VOTE and any other petitioners would submit operating plans for their cities. A new set of consultants would analyze financial implications or proposed conditions and structure any joint-power agreements between Los Angeles and its new neighboring cities.