RIORDAN'S VALLEY VISITS INTIMIDATE WILL OF THE PEOPLE; MAYOR IS MEDDLING WITH RESIDENTS' RIGHT TO DETERMINE THEIR OWN FUTURE.

Byline: Don Schultz Local View

AS our storm-trooping mayor marches through the San Fernando Valley, one message becomes crystal clear. His Honor is not interested in allowing Valley residents to make up their own minds about the possibility of seceding from the city of Los Angeles. He would rather put a halt to the process before the study by the Local Agency Formation Commission even begins.

According to our local newspapers, approximately 80 city commissioners, who reside in the Valley and serve on various commissions at the pleasure of His Honor, were called to a special meeting Jan. 23.

Only a few of the commissioners who were interviewed by the media after the meeting had the courage to speak their minds, but it was obvious that the intent of the meeting was to instruct these commissioners to show loyalty to the city of Los Angeles, with the mayor indicating that they should drop ``disruptive'' talk of political secession and focus instead on reforming the City Charter. Does the mayor think that the charter reform process would have reached its present stage if the threat of Valley secession had not become a reality?

As an attorney, shouldn't the mayor be more familiar with ``due process''? Why should any appointed city commissioner be told what to think or be placed in the position of publicly taking sides on the secession issue before the LAFCO studies of the costs to secede are analyzed?

The mayor is attempting to intimidate influential individuals in the Valley to openly oppose Valley secession before the public is even given the opportunity to analyze the many questions that remain to be answered with the completion of the LAFCO study.

Isn't this the same mayor who asked the City Council to be fair about the elected charter reform process when he first introduced it at a press conference in Universal City? He claims to support the people's right to choose, but is that right only supposed to be the mayor's way of thinking?

San Fernando Valley residents should have the right to determine what is best for them without the political rhetoric of our highest elected city official lobbying against that freedom. In the past 30 days, the mayor has made more appearances in the San Fernando Valley than he did when he was campaigning for office.

Obviously those businesses in the Valley that have ongoing dealings with the City Council and the Mayor's Office can't help but be intimidated by seeing His Honor's face every time they turn around.

Yes, Mr. Mayor, we see how much attention you are giving to our Valley. But, would the City Council or yourself be nearly as interested in us if the threat of secession were not a reality? Why was it so difficult to get your attention before secession became a threat? Most of us already know the answer to these questions and will not be persuaded or coerced into dropping our efforts to get the information to our Valley voters in order for them to make an informed decision about the feasibility of Valley secession.

His Honor recently told the media that he plans to fight secession by having others speak out against it. Please be advised, Mr. Mayor, that the Valley VOTE group will continue to play the role of underdogs by preparing the public to make their own decision based on unbiased information from an agency that you do not control.

Contrary to what you may believe, Mr. Mayor, there are those of us who still maintain that we live in a democracy and not under a dictatorship. Over the past two years you have emphasized that you felt that the rights of the citizenry should not be trampled upon and that we should be allowed the luxury of ``self-determination.'' What has changed? Why would you think that we would abandon our inalienable right for ``self-determination'' at this stage of the game?

Mr. Mayor, if you have a personal goal to leave an indelible legacy, why not make it one that's positive, not negative?