MEASURE H: LIGHTS OUT FOR HOLLYWOOD DRIVE VOTERS STICKING TO 92-YEAR-OLD L.A. MARRIAGE.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

Hollywood secession lost overwhelmingly both in Hollywood and citywide Tuesday.

The vote on Measure H capped a cityhood campaign primarily funded and organized by Hollywood nightclub owner Gene La Pietra, who contributed about $1.3 million to the campaign and to his own bid for one of five seats on the proposed Hollywood city council, also on Tuesday's ballot.

A total of 21 candidates ran in the at-large election for the five seats.

La Pietra's personal wealth allowed him to advertise on cable television and, at times, outshine the much larger San Fernando Valley cityhood effort.

But a well-organized and better-financed campaign against secession - led by Mayor James Hahn with six-figure donations from individuals and companies, including many with business ties to Los Angeles City Hall - overwhelmed both the Hollywood and Valley efforts.

The Hollywood campaign took some colorful turns of a uniquely Tinseltown nature, as when billboard icon Angelyne announced she was running for city council, then soon disappeared from public view and raised almost no funds.

La Pietra funded his own rock theme song for the campaign and sent a billboard truck driving around the streets of Los Angeles.

Hollywood was a relative latecomer to the secession issue - and a surprising one.

Unlike the Valley, where secession sentiment has swelled and ebbed for many decades, Hollywood had rarely been the scene of activist talk about an independent city. Hollywood became part of Los Angeles in 1910 to gain access to the city water supply. About two years ago, a small group of Hollywood activists, buoyed by the Valley's success in getting a secession study, decided to launch its own effort, and the group's members paid for it themselves.

The proposed city would have had a population of about 184,000 residents and an area of 15.3 square miles.