SECESSION FOES CHANGE TACK; LAWMAKERS PLEDGE GOAL OF AMENDING, RATHER THAN OPPOSING, LEGISLATION.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

Opponents of stripping the Los Angeles City Council of its veto power over secession drives signaled a change in tactics Tuesday, pledging to try to amend bills on the issue if they lack the votes to defeat them.

State Sen. Diane Watson, D-Los Angeles, said she still plans to try to defeat legislation that would give voters control over whether to break away from the city of Los Angeles.

But Watson said her fallback position will be to try to convince fellow members of the Senate Local Government Committee, which will consider the bills today, to change the measures to apply their provisions to every city in the state.

``If there's a willingness on the committee to do it, I think it should be done statewide,'' Watson said. ``If it's a good public policy, then there's no reason it shouldn't apply to all cities.''

Leaders of a San Fernando Valley group backing efforts to eliminate the veto said they are concerned recasting the bill to apply statewide might spark new opposition from other cities that currently have no stake in the issue.

``We view that as a poison pill,'' said Jeff Brain, co-chair of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment. ``That's just a means of killing the bill without getting their hands dirty.''

A contingent from the Valley group headed to Sacramento on Tuesday to be on hand for the committee hearing. Lawmakers are set to consider both AB 62, co-authored by Assembly members Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, and Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys; and AB 1414 by Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City.

Both bills would replace the council veto with elections. The McClintock-Hertzberg bill requires a citywide vote on any secession from the city. The Cardenas proposal leaves the election up to voters in the detaching area, where a two-thirds majority would be needed for passage.

Hertzberg said he will oppose the effort to rewrite the bill, which sailed through the Assembly earlier this year.

``I'm going to fight it. I'm going to fight any amendment to apply it statewide,'' Hertzberg said. ``To now change the bill at this late date does a disservice to the process.''

But Watson will have at least one committee ally on the issue. Sen. Richard Polanco, D-Los Angeles, named to the committee only Monday, predicted that a statewide amendment would be tacked on to the bills.

``But even with amendments, I'm strongly opposed to any bill that moves toward a breakup of the city,'' Polanco said. ``It opens a Pandora's Box.''