VALLEY STATS FROM STATE PROVIDE LITTLE DATA SO FAR.

Byline: HARRISON SHEPPARD Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO -- Two years after the Legislature passed a bill requiring state agencies to recognize the San Fernando Valley as a separate entity in statistical reports, the move has produced only one new set of useful data, officials said Wednesday.

When approved in July 2004, the bill was heralded as a way for local planners to obtain more information about the region, helping Valley activists in long-term planning and grant applications.

So far, the main new statistic now available is retail sales from the state Board of Equalization, and bill supporters cannot point to any grant applications aided by the new data.

While supporters concede that the gains so far might be small, they still say the legislation was another step in giving the Valley the identity it sought in its failed cityhood effort.

``I think if there was one really big benefit, it would be the fact that the data provides a description of who we are and what we're doing,'' said Bob Scott, chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, who was one of the main activists pressing for the bill.

``And it establishes the San Fernando Valley as an actual official place. I think that's a psychological boost for people who live here.''

With the state-level bill, Valley activists also were able to persuade the federal government to start providing more detailed U.S. Census information, with the first batch of reports expected this fall.

And the Southern California Association of Governments, which spearheads regional planning efforts, earlier this month said it would also start recognizing the Valley as a separate entity for planning and statistical purposes.

Assembly Bill 2207, sponsored by Van Nuys Democrat Lloyd Levine, took effect Jan. 1, 2005, requiring any agency that maintains city-by-city data to create a separate breakout for the Valley.

Scott said he and others have not had the chance to survey state agencies to see which are complying with the bill and what new information might be made available.

An informal survey by the Daily News of a half-dozen state agencies -- including Health Services, Insurance, Motor Vehicles and Caltrans -- found that most don't maintain statistics on a city-by-city basis.

Instead, the agencies maintain data by county or ZIP code -- categories not addressed in the bill.

The main use for the data so far has been in retail sales figures provided by the state Board of Equalization.

Those figures are used by researchers at the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge, to produce an annual forecast of the Valley's economy.

Center Director Daniel Blake said the latest forecast, issued in May, included the new state data. Previously, the researchers used various methods to estimate those figures, resulting in numbers they now realize were off by up to 4 percent.

Retail sales, Blake said, are second only to the entertainment industry in the Valley, so the figures are vital to producing an accurate picture of the Valley's economy.

Those forecasts, he said, are used by Valley businesses in making long- term decisions, such as whether to expand or contract operations, and by employment agencies to determine the demand for workers.

They also help businesses decide whether to locate in the Valley.

``It's very helpful in filling in a gap in the overview of the San Fernando Valley economy,'' Blake said. ``That was a real weakness.''

One of the few other state agencies that publishes some statistics on a city-by-city level is the Secretary of State's Office in its voter registration reports.

But its last report of voter registration, in May, did not provide a Valley breakdown.

Spokeswoman Nghia Demovic said the Secretary of State's Office does not believe the bill applies to voter registration figures because the office posts information submitted by counties, and does not do its own statistical analysis or research.

Typically, voter registration estimates for the Valley are compiled from figures based on City Council or Assembly districts. However those figures are far from accurate because the district lines do not precisely conform to the Valley boundaries.

Another agency that has begun collecting local data is the state Department of Justice, which last year began asking the Los Angeles Police Department for Valley crime statistics.

A spokeswoman said Attorney General Bill Lockyer does not plan to publish the information in his official annual crime report because the law does not require it.

However, the information already has been available through the LAPD.

Some state agencies, including the Department of Finance, had already been producing Valley-specific data prior to the Levine bill.

Scott said he hopes that in the next few months, he and other Valley activists will be able to start focusing on obtaining more data from state agencies.

``That's a project: to sort out what data may become available as a result of the establishment of the district and then to determine agency by agency which ones are complying with the requirement,'' Scott said.

``And then to give a friendly nudge to those who are not and then follow up some months later to find out if they have come around and complied. It will be a project to determine exactly who's covered by the section and who's complying with it.''

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

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