Ten good reasons to vote yes (or no) on Measure F. (From the Newsroom).

THIS is the last issue of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal before the Nov. 5 election. Like many of our readers and many, many other publications, over the past few years we have plowed through LAFCO studies, campaign rhetoric, press conferences and position papers.

We have printed interviews with business and community leaders both for and against secession. We have written countless "what if' stories on the consequences to the Valley business community of a break-up with the city of Los Angeles.

We have tried as hard as anybody to figure out which side of the balance sheet the dollars and cents will go on if voters approve Measure F. We have put our finger to the wind many times, testing and speculating on the sentiments of voters.

Elsewhere in this issue, you will read stories in which various individuals make their final comments before Election Day. They range from resigned to confused to hopelessly optimistic. And, as has often been the case during my career in journalism, we as an editorial staff approach Election Day feeling like we have talked to so many people, written so many words, that there seems like little more to say -- only to encounter individuals, now just days before the election, who ask, "So, what's this all about anyway?"

For more than a year, people have asked me if the Business Journal was going to take a position on secession. Up until now my answer has been, "We'll see."

The Business Journal will not take an editorial position on Measure F, and here's why.

First, the Journal has never carried unsigned editorials on any issue and we do not see a reason to start now. This decision came, however, only after a prolonged debate about whether this was the time to break with tradition. We decided it wasn't.

Second, most of the time, right after I replied "We'll see" to the aforementioned question, I went on to say that I hope to fill the paper with so much information and analysis of the issues that readers would be in a better position to make their own informed decisions on how to vote. I hope you all feel a little bit better informed as a result of what you've read in these pages.

As you probably already know, I have taken advantage of the space I have available to me to pop off from time to time. I hope some readers have enjoyed the occasional insight. I know leaders on both sides of Measure F have found reason to consider me biased against their positions.

Consequently, with the two lists that follow - for the last time - I give both sides at least 10 more reasons.

RELATED ARTICLES: Top 10 Things That Could Happen it You Vote Yes:

10. You never have to sit through another Jim Hahn speech at a ViCA business forecast.

9. New city's police and firefighters have "Not L.A." emblems on their uniforms.

8. As promised by nobody-remembers-who and despite the fact secession has nothing to do with LAUSD, SAT scores of all Valley public school students instantly jump 200 points.

7. Daily News blasts Roy Romer because they don't jump 300 points.

6. In its first official act, the new Valley city council decides alimony can be paid to L.A. in old Homestore.com stock options it finds in basement

5. Petition drive starts immediately to change name of new city to Mayberry.

4. Sheriff Andy Taylor is asked to come out of retirement.

3. David Fleming and Richard Close spray each other with champagne on national television.

1. Jeff Brain's birthday becomes an official school holiday. Ton 10 Things That Could Hanoen it You Vote No:

2. Bert Boeckmann promises that new-city smell in every car he sells.

Top 10 Things That Could Happen if You Vote No:

10. You never have to sit through another Jim Hahn speech at a VICA business forecast.

9. Stating "I get it," Hahn announces that fees to use unleashed dog park at Balboa Park will be implemented to replace gross receipts tax.

8. Plan for an electrified fence down the middle of Mulholland Drive is dead in the water.

7. Burglars can stop worrying about any pesky streetlights in Pacoima.

6. Richard Katz decides to start seeing other people.

5. Saying "I didn't know this was part of the 100,' new L.A. Police Chief Benjamin Bratton puts in for overtime.

4. Waiting list for 9-1-1 is implemented.

3. White-gloved traffic cops on Ventura Boulevard told to "take a couple of days off."

2. Brentwood homeowners host "welcome home" party for city tree trimmers.

1. Guy who answers the phone at L.A. City Hall has two words for the first post-election complaint from a Valley citizen about a missed garbage pickup: "Yeah, so?"

Michael Hart is editor of the San Fermando Valley Business Journal. He can be reached at [e-mail]