March 16, 1998
Contact: Mayerene Barker,
(818) 677-2130
mbarker@exec.csun.edu
The event, featuring a panel of policy specialists, community and business leaders, elected officials and academicians, will focus on issues such as the economics of operating a separate city, the tax base, employment and business trends, planning and land use.
The panel will answer questions about how secession would affect the average resident in areas such as the water supply, police and fire services, trash pickup and other matters of concern.
"We see our role as a neutral body that can give insight," said Matthew Cahn, a CSUN political science professor and director of the Southern California studies center. "We want to provide expertise on the potential implications of succession, rather than give viewpoints."
The forum will be held at 1:30 p.m. in the CSUN Performing Arts Center, located in the University Student Union complex near the center of campus at 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. Its theme is "Secession: What Does it Mean For Us? A Citywide Forum."
Panelists will include Larry Calemine, executive director, Los Angeles County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO); H. Eric Schockman, associate dean, USC; Xandra Kayden, president, Los Angeles League of Women Voters; former Los Angeles City Council member Joy Picus; Irene Tovar, executive director, Latin American Civic Assn., and Ron Wakabayashi, director, Los Angeles County Human Relations Assn.
Others who will appear are William McCarley, former director, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; the Rev. Zedar Broadous of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People; John Chiang, acting board member, State Board of Equalization; Richard Close of Valley VOTE, the group spearheading the succession drive; Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, and Bill Fulton, author of "Los Angeles: The Reluctant Metropolis."
Attorney Janice Reznik will moderate the discussion, which will be followed by a question and answer period.
Co-sponsors include the Los Angeles League of Women Voters, UCLA School of Public Policy, USC Southern California Studies Center, CSUN College of Social and behavioral Sciences, the CSUN Department of Political Science, Loyola Marymount University Center for the Study of Los Angeles, the Valley Business Journal and the Latin American Civic Assn.
The succession effort was spawned by a group of Valley residents who do not believe they are receiving their fair share of city services. With 1.2 million residents, the Valley would be the sixth largest city in the country should it secede from Los Angeles.
Valley VOTE leaders plan to launch a petition drive on July 4 to obtain the 135,000 signatures necessary to put the issue to a vote. If the drive is successful, LAFCO must then study the viability of the Valley becoming an independent city before submitting the issue to the Board of Supervisors, who could place the matter on the ballot.
A majority of voters citywide must approve any measure to separate the Valley from Los Angeles.
The forum on succession is the first of many the center hopes to sponsor, according to Cahn. "We want to bring together the regional expertise of faculty to speak on issues of importance to the community," he said.
William Flores, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences who founded the center in January, 1997, said its goals are to promote study and understanding of the cultural, historical and ecological resources of the Southern California region and to promote interest and growth in studies of the region among faculty, students and the public.
"One of my principle policies is to have the college research issues affecting the community we live in," he said. "The university has a responsibility to work closely with the community."
Among other things, faculty members with the center's help are researching employment patterns in the San Fernando Valley and adjacent areas, health care, ultraviolet-B radiation in Northridge and local variations in weather phenomena.
Other projects are looking at the Southern California community landscape from 1890 to 1930, environmental policies, AIDS politics in Los Angeles, hate crimes in Los Angeles County, job satisfaction among African American managers and the academic success of Latino students in the social and behavioral sciences.
"I see this as a way of developing ties with the community," Flores said. "We need to apply our research to develop partnerships with public agencies, schools and businesses."
For more information on the forum or about the center, call (818) 677-6518.
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