342,287 / 38.4% Yes votes ...... 549,576 / 61.6% No votes
   205,550 ( 33.03%) Yes / 416,745 ( 66.97%) No in LA City
   136,737 ( 50.72%) Yes / 132,831 ( 49.28%) No in San Fernando

See Also: Index of all Measures

This measure submits to registered voters within the City of Los Angeles the question of whether or not the San Fernando Valley area should be detached from the City of Los Angeles and incorporated as a separate city.

The new city will be approximately 224 square miles with a population of approximately 1.35 million persons. The new city will be governed by a city council of 14 members elected by district and a mayor elected at-large.

Property taxes, and other taxes, charges, fees, and assessments currently levied will continue. These revenues will transfer to the new city. As a general law city, however, the new city is not legally authorized to charge the same documentary transfer tax as the City of Los Angeles.

During a one-year transition period, the City of Los Angeles will continue to provide most municipal services. The new city will be required to reimburse the City of Los Angeles for the services provided.

After the transition period, the new city will be responsible for providing municipal services, including general municipal government, law enforcement, fire protection, planning, building inspection, public works, trash collection and animal control. Some of these services may be provided by the City of Los Angeles through contracts, if the new city and the City of Los Angeles agree to such an arrangement. The City of Los Angeles will continue to provide water, power, and wastewater services to the San Fernando Valley area.

The Local Agency Formation Commission has determined that the new city would be fiscally viable during the three fiscal years after incorporation. The new city will be required to make annual fiscal mitigation payments to the City of Los Angeles of $127,122,000 adjusted for inflation and reduced by 5 percent per year for a total of 20 years. That initial payment reflects the difference between the revenue collected in the San Fernando Valley area by the City of Los Angeles in fiscal year 2000-01 over and above the amount expended by the City of Los Angeles in providing services to the San Fernando Valley area in that year, as determined by the Commission. It will be reduced over 20 years to zero.

If approved by the voters, the special reorganization would:

- Incorporate the area as a general law city effective July 1, 2003.

- Establish a provisional appropriations limit of $1.354 billion.

- Transfer to the new city local City of Los Angeles assets, such as police and fire stations, libraries, and community parks, without compensation to the City of Los Angeles.

- Require the City of Los Angeles to provide water, power and wastewater services at the same rates for customers of the same class in the new city as in the City of Los Angeles.

- Require the new city to pay its proportionate share of outstanding debt and non-debt liabilities of the City of Los Angeles.

- Detach the San Fernando Valley area from the Proposition K District and form a separate district in the San Fernando Valley area.

Voters who believe that the San Fernando Valley area should be detached from the City of Los Angeles and incorporated as a self-governing city on the terms and conditions set forth in the order approved by the Board of Supervisors on July 25, 2002, should vote "yes" on this measure. Voters who believe the area should remain a part of the City of Los Angeles should vote "no" on the measure.

The boundary of the proposed new city is depicted below:

[link to be added]

Read their report at http://www.lalafco.org/lafco_topics.htm

Valley Cityhood is good for Los Angeles:

- Each LA council member represents 246,000 residents. In a smaller LA, council members will represent nearly 50% fewer constituents and be more accountable to you!

- City Hall wastes a fortune every year. Smaller cities like Phoenix and San Diego spend $250 less per person than Los Angeles--but have better services. A smaller LA will spend your tax dollars more efficiently.

- City Hall will have to focus on issues in your communities like Westchester, South Central, the Harbor, the West Side and the East Side.

Valley Cityhood also means:

- $1.3 BILLION in Valley taxes stays in the Valley to pay for local services like parks, libraries, and ensuring neighborhoods are safe from gangs, drugs, and violence.

- The Valley currently receives half the police protection of the city of LA. Valley Cityhood will make public safety a top priority.

- A new Valley city will continue LA's strong laws that protect renters.

- Power and water rates are protected. Taxes will not increase.

Other cities have taken a strong role to improve their failing schools. Los Angeles has not. Valley Cityhood begins the process of breaking up the LAUSD. Once the Valley becomes independent the precedent is set. The LAUSD will be next.

That's good for all of us. City Hall politicians have raised millions to defeat Valley Cityhood because they will lose power if decision-making is returned to local communities!

We all demand better government in the Valley and Los Angeles. Don't hold onto the Valley against our will!

You CAN fight City Hall! Vote YES on F.

RICHARD KATZ
Former Democratic Assembly Leader

CARLOS FERREYRA
Co-Chair San Fernando Valley Independence Committee

MICHAEL D. ANTONOVICH
Los Angeles County Supervisor

ANDREW MARDESICH
President, San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United

LAURETTE HEALEY
Co-Chair, San Fernando Valley Independence Committee

Don't be fooled. Secession has nothing to do with the breakup of LA's School District; the breakup of LA's School District is controlled by the State Board of Education. Secession has no impact on LA Schools.

Should secession prevail, LA's rent control laws expire in 120 days. There are no legal guarantees that rent control will be the law in the proposed Valley city. The same is true for LA's living wage protections. Remember, the leaders of Secession already have a record of trying to weaken rent control protection in Los Angeles.

Secession is financially risky for everyone. Independent financial analysis shows Secession could cost Los Angeles taxpayers $4 Billion over 20 years, resulting in tax increases and cuts in essential services.

Additionally, the proposed new cities must pay annual fees for the next 20 years, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The proposed Valley and Hollywood cities will lack adequate financial protection against disaster, economic recession, and major public safety threats. And, Secession could result in higher water and electric costs for everyone.

Don't be fooled. The proposed Valley city won't be self-sufficient; it will continue to depend on Los Angeles for essential services like police, fire, water and power, and street repairs. Secession will create jobs for more politicians and bureaucrats on top of the existing Los Angeles infrastructure.

The League of Women Voters, LA's Firefighters and Paramedics, and the LA Chamber of Commerce say VOTE NO ON F.

TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER.

LAURA N. CHICK
L.A. City Controller

ALEX PADILLA
President, L.A. City Council

BOBBI FIEDLER
Member of Congress (Retired)

PASTOR ANDRAE E. CROUCH
Pastor/Producer,Christ Memorial Church

RABBI GARY GREENEBAUM
Director, American Jewish Committee, Los Angeles

WHEN SPLIT APART. VOTE NO ON SECESSION. When the Northridge earthquake devastated our City, we pulled together and rebuilt our community. Los Angeles was hit again with $69 million in emergency costs to meet threats posed after the September 11th terrorist attacks.

While Los Angeles maintains disaster and catastrophe reserve funds of $101 million, the proposed cities in the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood will lack financial protection against disaster, economic recession, and major public safety threats. In fact, the proposed new Valley City would maintain a reserve fund originally estimated at only $1 million. The effects of the Northridge earthquake would have been dramatically worse had the San Fernando Valley not been supported by the resources of the entire City of Los Angeles.

FINANCIALLY, SECESSION MAKES LITTLE SENSE.

The new Valley city will have to pay additional annual fees for the next 20 years, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. An independent financial analysis shows that secession could cost taxpayers of the remaining City of Los Angeles $3.9 billion dollars over the next 20 years, resulting in tax increases and cuts to essential services, like police and fire, to cover these losses.

As brownouts and price increases hit the rest of California, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power provided reliable service at reasonable rates. Secession's impact on DWP's finances is likely to result in higher water and electric costs for everyone.

Secession is just too risky. Together, we have overcome many challenges. Separately, we face a financially risky future.

The League of Women Voters, L.A.'s Firefighters and Paramedics, The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and business, religious, and community leaders from across Los Angeles oppose dividing Los Angeles and urge you to

VOTE NO ON SECESSION.

JAMES K. HAHN
Mayor of the City of Los Angeles

RICHARD J. RIORDAN
Former Mayor, Los Angeles

EARVIN "MAGIC" JOHNSON, JR.
Businessman

GLORIA MOLINA
County Supervisor

BOBBI FIEDLER
Member of Congress - Retired

Downtown politicians, afraid of losing power, want to confuse and scare voters into opposing Valley Cityhood. The facts: # After the Northridge earthquake, the federal government came to the Valley's rescue. Natural disasters we can handle--City Hall is a financial disaster every day! # An independent study by The Rose Institute, Claremont McKenna College, found LA does not do well in Sacramento or Washington. A new Valley city would IMPROVE the region's clout.

The Valley city would be the 6th largest in America, but City Hall wants you to think the Valley isn't big enough to handle independence. Preposterous! City Hall's financial study is false and was rejected by independent state agencies, including the State Controller.

Valley Cityhood has undergone the most exhaustive analysis by independent government experts in LA history. Read their report at http://www.lalafco.org/lafco_topics.htm.

These independent experts found: # Valley Cityhood imposes no new taxes. # Power and water rates are protected. # The Valley will be a financially viable city with strong reserves. # $1.3 billion in Valley taxes will stay in the Valley to pay for local priorities. These are NOT new taxes--they are existing taxes the Valley already sends downtown.

Valley cityhood means: smaller, more accountable government, better local services, improved quality of life--for BOTH Los Angeles and the Valley.

Taxpayer, Latino, African-American and community leaders say, "YES ON MEASURE F!" For more information, log onto http://www.valleyindependence.org.

ARMAND ARABIAN
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California, Retired

DENNY SCHNEIDER
Westchester Community Interest Leader

FRANK MORAN
Former President, Latin Business Association

LAURETTE HEALEY
Co-Chair, San Fernando Valley Independence Committee

JOEL FOX
Former President, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association