VOTERS LINE UP ON BOTH SIDES.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - His parents and his grandparents before them questioned why the San Fernando Valley was part of Los Angeles, so Howard Putnam had his mind made up on secession long before it became a serious possibility.

Stringing up Halloween lights on his tidy ranch house on a blustery afternoon last week, Putnam nodded knowingly when Valley council candidate Noel DeGaetano ticked off the reasons for voting for a new Valley city.

But Putnam confessed that he knows almost nothing about the people seeking to lead the new city.

``The fact is, most of us get our news from television and, let's face it, there's nothing except Gray and Simon,'' Putnam said, referring to the California gubernatorial race.

Polls and interviews with voters suggest that Putnam's thoughts are widely shared in the final days before the Nov. 5 vote on Valley cityhood and the 111 would-be council members and mayors of the new city.

Most Valley voters decided long ago how they would vote on secession, and their positions come as much from their hearts as their minds.

At the same time, fewer voters even know who's running for mayor of the new city, and fewer yet can distinguish among the 101 people running for council in the 14 proposed Valley districts.

In its latest effort to help residents understand secession, the Daily News on Sunday published a 10-page special section examining the issues of cityhood and the positions of the candidates. All of that material is available online at dailynews.com.

A recent SurveyUSA poll of likely voters in the Valley showed that 58 percent support Valley cityhood, while 39 percent oppose it - percentages that have remained virtually constant for months. Just 4 percent were undecided. Other polling data suggest the majority of voters are unsure who they want to see become mayor if secession passes.

To get a feel for the campaign, the Daily News accompanied the four candidates seeking a council seat for District 11 - which includes most of Van Nuys - on walks to neighborhoods and businesses.

Interviews with likely voters showed that their opinions on secession were shaped largely by perceptions - that Los Angeles is too large, that the Valley is neglected, or that a large city with more resources is best - rather than advertisements against secession or door-to-door campaigning for it.

``I just think it's about time (for a new city),'' said Billie Mendoza, a 35-year Van Nuys resident. ``The Valley has just grown to the point where we need our own city.''

On the other side, 30-year resident Mohamed Adham made the bigger- is-better argument.

``It's an economy of scale,'' he said. ``If you have a big city, you have a big police department with a lot of resources. I don't see anything special (in a smaller Valley city).''

The four candidates seeking to represent District 11 on a Valley council are in many ways a microcosm of the 111 people seeking council and mayoral posts in the Valley.

Hal Netkin vows to ``clean up Van Nuys'' by cracking down on illegal street vendors and deporting illegal aliens who consort with gangs.

James Cordaro tells voters that he'll help the Valley recoup millions of tax dollars that go elsewhere in Los Angeles and that he'll push to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District.

John Quinn says he'll focus on revitalizing the Van Nuys Boulevard commercial area and on environmental protection.

DeGaetano introduces himself as ``Noel, your neighbor,'' and says he'll strive for more basic neighborhood services such as police and street repaving.

All four are running their campaigns on a shoestring, with only Cordaro reporting more than $1,000 raised through Oct. 19.

District 11 takes in the heart of Van Nuys, including Van Nuys High School and the Civic Center, which would be the seat of a new Valley city government. The district is racially mixed, though predominantly Latino, with median household income just over $30,000, according to 2000 U.S. Census data.

Many voters visited by DeGaetano, Quinn, Cordaro and Netkin were courteous but dead-set in their opinions on secession. Few knew many details about the ballot measure or financial terms of the split.

``I don't think breaking it up is going to make any difference,'' said Holly Conklin, a three-year resident. ``I'm kind of concerned about who's going to take over. I don't want politicians just sitting there, getting a check.''

Many voters said the ``politicians'' running for Valley offices were so low-profile as to be almost invisible. They said the overwhelming numbers of issues and candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot - District 11 voters can choose among 93 candidates for various local and state offices and vote on 13 ballot measures - prevented any serious examination of candidates.

``Let's get the secession part done; then we can worry about who's running in what neighborhood,'' said Jehery Graves, an eight-year Van Nuys resident.

The campaigns for 14 council seats and the mayor's job have become increasingly important in the quest for a Valley city, according to leaders in the breakaway movement. Many candidates spend as much time or more talking up the reasons for a Valley city as they do promoting their own candidacies.

Top issues cited by District 11 voters included crime, the condition of streets and sidewalks, the quality of schools and the perception that their tax dollars were going toward causes unrelated to the quality of their lives.

Few had much personal experience with city government, but most shared the belief that Los Angeles city leaders treat the Valley as a second-rate hinterland.

DeGaetano, Cordaro and Netkin walked along pleasant, tree-lined neighborhoods not far from businesses marred by graffiti and lined with razor wire.

Quinn campaigned in businesses along Van Nuys Boulevard, where some shop owners fumed about a new city effort to force them to take down or move the sliding metal gates in front of their storefronts.

Carlos Abarca of Sylmar, owner of an appliance repair shop, said requiring store owners to remove the metal gates for aesthetic reasons is unreasonable in an area stalked by break-ins. He said city inspectors have given mixed instructions, and the Los Angeles council member representing the area, Ruth Galanter, hasn't responded to a letter from business owners.

``If there was a council person here in Van Nuys, it would be a lot easier to get your foot in the door,'' Abarca said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Jehery Graves, of Van Nuys, says voters should ``get the secession part done; then we can worry about who's running.''

(2) Van Nuys resident Gus Dominguez talks secession with candidate James Cordaro on Friday.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer