WELCOME, MR. MAYOR, TO VALLEY PRO-SECESSIONISTS PLANNING TO CHALLENGE HAHN AT EVENT.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

ENCINO - When Mayor James Hahn shows up this morning to walk and talk with older Angelenos at a senior-citizens fair at Lake Balboa, secession supporters plan to challenge him for using a city-sponsored event as a platform to attack Valley cityhood.

Although the city's Senior/Caregiver Fair is not billed as an anti-secession event, secession backers contend that's exactly what it is - albeit a thinly veiled one with three anti-secession City Council members joining the mayor.

The event, expected to draw 2,000 people, is the first of its kind, said Rushmore Cervantes, interim director of the city Department of Aging, and is being entirely funded by his department as an event for seniors and caregivers.

``Anytime the mayor comes to Valley now, it's a secession event, whether it's one or not, you know what I mean?'' said Frank Sheftel, a candidate for the Valley city council who said he will take time out from his last-minute precinct walking to press the mayor on issues.

Valley mayoral candidate Bruce Boyer said he's going to show up as well, to ``welcome'' Hahn - and maybe ask him some questions. ``You know, he doesn't get out to the Valley too much,'' Boyer said.

But city officials insisted that the event is not secession-related at all.

``No, the mayor just wanted to reach out to seniors and let them know what services the city provides,'' said Hahn spokeswoman Julie Wong.

The event, which is to begin at 9 a.m., also will feature City Council members Dennis Zine, Wendy Greuel and Tom LaBonge, as well as Johnny Grant, honorary mayor of Hollywood - all of whom have come out publicly against secession.

Cervantes of the Department of Aging said he expects 1,500 to 2,500 people from all over the city, some of them bused in from centers in other areas of the city.

Valley cityhood supporters claim there have been questionable campaign tactics recently by opponents of Valley independence on the Nov. 5 ballot. At a recent fair in Sherman Oaks, a busload of anti-secessionists disembarked shortly before the mayor arrived, Sheftel said.

``It was just right before,'' Sheftel said. ``It was obvious to people what was going on.''

They carried signs, marched up and down the streets, and then when the mayor wrapped up, the protesters got back on the bus and left too, he said.

In August, secessionists filed complaints against Hahn with the city Ethics Commission, charging that he was improperly using city resources for the campaign.

Secessionists have also complained about what they believe are illegal tactics, such as garbage workers carrying anti-secession materials in their city-owned vehicles and distributing fliers on the job, and street service workers providing parking services for an anti-secession event, among others.

``We have raised these issues with the ethics commission for a year; never had even a response,'' said Richard Katz, a former state assemblyman from the Valley and a leader of the Valley Independence Committee.

``The Ethics Commission in Los Angeles is useless. It is the pawn of City Hall. They give City Hall cover by creating the impression that there is an Ethics Commission.''