Valley Vote 2003
Empowering the People of the San Fernando Valley
At the beginning of 2003, Valley Vote was an organization recovering from its unsuccessful attempt to win cityhood for the San Fernando Valley. Today, Valley Vote has regained its momentum and become the Valley’s leading advocate for social, economic and political reform. Below are status reports on past accomplishments and future goals from our committee chairmen, a forward looking message from president Joe Vitti and, finally, a chronology of events that affected all of the Valley’s 1.4 million residents in 2003.
Valley Vote Board of Directors
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Looking Forward to 2004: An Agenda for Positive Change
by
Valley Vote President Joe Vitti
We shall never forget that a majority of Valley citizens voted for an independent city for the San Fernando Valley in the November 2003 election. They were not intimidated by the special interest funded anti-city hood campaign that spent 10 times the amount raised by the grass roots supported Valley City Independence effort.
Today, Valley VOTE’s role continues to be a nonpartisan diverse group of San Fernando Valley residents committed to empowering the people of the Valley. We shall continue as a "watchdog" to see that promises made by City Hall
are fulfilled. We will continue to implement programs to improve local
governance, education and public participation on policy matters.
To achieve these goals we have developed a plan of action that is built on a foundation of Valley VOTE committees. We intend to work closely with the Los Angeles City Council, and in particular with those councilpersons representing the Valley, on programs that improve the quality of life for the citizens of the Valley. By getting involved in the egislative process as a strong lobbying force for the
Valley we can effectively influence the decisions made by our elected representatives and also fulfill our role as "watchdog "
To better inform and educate the Valley VOTE membership we have expanded our monthly meetings to include invited speakers. This past year we welcomed Los Angeles City councilpersons Wendy Greuel, Greig Smith and Tony Cardenas to our group and enjoyed the perspectives of LA City Attorney Rocky DelGadillo, former president of the LAUSD Board Caprice Young and Hasan Ikhrata, director of planning of policy for SCAG. Other invited guests who shared their thoughts with our membership were George Passantino of the Reason Foundation, Dr. Jolene Koester, president of CSUN, and Jon Lauritzen member of the LAUSD Board. All of the presentations were very informative and in many cases greatly assisted our Valley VOTE committees in their efforts.
We plan to continue the Featured Speakers program into 2004. We also will continue the development of a strong Valley VOTE Committee program putting in place committee chairs that will continue the fine work that already has been accomplished by our key committees.
Some of the issues raised in the city hood campaign that we will continue to fight for in the coming year are: business tax reform, expanded cultural activities for the Valley, campaign finance reform, charter schools, stopping urban landfills,
promoting smart growth, improving traffic conditions, increasing government efficiency, insuring that police response times for the Valley equal or surpass those for the basin and receiving our fair share of state and federal grants.
With the help of the dedicated members of Valley VOTE we can remain a vital lobbying force. We can continue the fight for improving the quality of life that the citizens of the San Fernando Valley are entitled to.
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Rational Urban Planning &Land Use
by
Pauline Tallent
The Land Use Committee spent the better part of the year studying The Oasis project in North Hollywood. This will be a state-of-the-art, family oriented sports and entertainment arena, built on MTA land at the southeast corner of Chandler Blvd. and Lankershim Blvd. Private money will be used for the construction of the project, with CRA and MTA funds being used for the construction of a shared parking structure with MTA. The planned opening is September 2006. The Land Use Committee overwhelmingly voted to support the project, a fact that received considerable coverage earlier this month in the Daily News.
The Land Use Committee is now working on “inclusionary zoning,” a practice the LA City Council believes will become a panacea that solves the housing shortage. Inclusionary zoning is a tradeoff that allows developers to ignore zoning restrictions and other planning guidelines in return for reserving a certain portion of their development – usually 25% - as low income housing. The Committee, at this point, does not see much to recommend inclusionary zoning. However, we are now delving into alternative ways to alleviate the housing shortage, and will come up with our own proposal.
Other topics the Committee plans to tackle are the following, but not necessarily in this order: ÿ Tuna Canyon and the community problem with high density ÿ The Urban Village planned for Panorama Cityÿ The 101 corridor/Ventura Freeway expansionÿ The length of time it takes Building &Safety to complete zone changes, building plans, plan checks, etc.ÿ Reversing some of the down-zoning that was done in the 80’s
Investigate the ease with which it is apparently possible for a builder to get a variance to change a specific plan that has the prior approval of the community.
I encourage those interested in these topics to contact me by calling (818) 998-3833 or by e-mail at tallent@instanet.com.
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Creating a Better Business Climate
by
Richard Bort
Valley Vote’s Finance Committee scored a big hit in November with the release of its draft white paper on Business Tax Reform. Our position is that the city’s business tax is excessive and is just one more element that gives Los Angeles the reputation of being unfriendly to business. Los Angeles has lost most of its large employers, to the point where there are only four Fortune 500 companies headquartered in LA. That’s 1.1 Fortune 500 company per one million citizens, by far the lowest ratio of any of the five largest cities in the U.S.
Business tax reform has been a simmering issue in Los Angeles for many years, and Valley VOTE received encouraging comments about its white paper from several members of the Mayor’s Business Tax Advisory Committee and other community and business leaders. We hope to get this issue onto the front burner and to turn up the heat so that we can finally get some favorable action by the Mayor and City Council. We realize that the state of California’s fiscal health currently prevents any immediate action. But we want to lay the groundwork so that as soon as the state recovers the city’s business tax structure can be changed to reduce the excessive burden borne by businesses operating here.
When that happens, word will spread that Los Angeles is THE place to do business. We expect that thousands of new jobs will be created in the city, which will drive increases in sales tax revenues. At the same time aggregate business tax collections will grow by being spread more thinly over many more large and growing businesses.
The white paper calls for simplification of the tax structure and a significant reduction in the amount of the taxes collected from businesses. The white paper asks the Mayor and City Council to build on the consulting study that is expected to be delivered soon by MBIA MuniServices by analyzing scenarios in which business taxes are reduced. The MuniServices study unfortunately considers only “revenue neutral” tax alternatives, which is ludicrous if Los Angeles is to encourage business development here instead of elsewhere. The objective of the follow-on study that Valley VOTE is recommending would be to find the optimal level that would encourage businesses to locate in Los Angeles and to discourage business flight from the city so that overall employment and tax revenues would grow instead of stagnate or decline.
The other subcommittee of Valley Vote’s Finance Committee is the Government Efficiency Subcommittee, which is presently being formed. Its mission will be to identify areas of the city’s operations that create waste, operate inefficiently, or seem to be less than fully necessary.
New members are welcome to contact me at (818) 892-2093 or by e-mail at rbort@earthlink.net.
Supporting Neighborhood Councils
by
J. Richard Leyner
The most recent City Charter Reform created Neighborhood Councils. The Neighborhood Council concept was developed to bring together and empower all stakeholders in the City of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, before the appropriate approval process was offered to LA voters, city commissions compromised and gave neighborhood councils advisory capacity only, denying the empowerment the city originally had promised. The fact that citizens still have the opportunity to work together – whether they represent homeowners, schools, businesses or religious institutions – makes the concept of neighborhood councils, however diminished, worth fighting for. Their presence alone gives citizens a voice that can’t be completely ignored by politicians.
To establish these councils a new department was created called the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE). Their function was to assist in the creation of the councils so they would be certified as legitimate representatives of the stakeholders in the communities they were to represent. However DONE has established control of these councils with the power to disapprove their bylaws, their election procedures,etc. Neighborhood councils should have direct access to City Attorneys, Council members, our Controller, our Mayor and municipal service providers just like other city agency. DONE should provide only advisory service in the formation of Neighborhood Councils.
It is vital to the efficient functioning of this city that neighborhood councils be allowed to honestly reflect and be guided by the wishes of taxpaying citizens. Those who agree with this premise and encouraged to contact me at rleyner@socal.rr.com and become involved.
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Working for Campaign Finance Reform
by
Wayne Williams
Each year residents of the Valley have wanted to see the City of Los Angeles recognize both the geography as well as the constituents of the Valley for the contributions they make to the city itself. Valley citizens play their part as taxpayers and participate in local activities and government as best as they can within the context allocated to them, in return, they just wanted to be treated
fairly and equally.
The city hood movement, an assault on the many ways Los Angeles has
turned a blind eye to this largest of city areas, has created some important attitude changes in the rest of Los Angeles, many positive as a result.
On the positive side, many City Council members recognize the power of special interest funding. Some are Valley Council persons who have expressed support for full public funding of elections to remove the power of special interests in our cities elections, as well as the freedom to work at their jobs rather than waste time looking for re-election funding.
Valley Vote was instrumental in bringing Campaign Finance Reform forward as an issue by persuading over 65% of those who ran for Valley City offices to pledge to establish the new Valley City, if created, to be a Clean Election City government. It's time to make it happen in Los Angeles.
However, since the Valley City Hood vote went down to defeat at the hands of the Mayor and his special interest supporters who gave significant funds to defeat the movement, much has stayed the same and in some instances, we have watched Los Angeles go in reverse, especially in the areas of Campaign Finance Reform. The same modus operandi that caused Valley Independence to fail is alive and well in Los Angeles, and that has to change.
We have watched as a majority of the Council as well as the Mayor have worked to stop the viable and reasonable proposals of the Ethic's Committee to rein in the influence of Lobbyist and those with campaign dollars.
It is in the best interests of all but the most greedy to have the actions of City Government act for the citizens before considering the powerful. In the spirit of the cityhood movement, Valley Vote is going to bring to the City proposals to establish full public funding of all citywide elections, to lower the cost of both city elections and city government. We will educate the public on Valley Vote's proposal that will strengthen the Ethics Commission, establish full public funding of elections (similar to the State of Arizona's and many other states and cities have done so successfully), once again producing both citizen involvement and
excitement in democracy that all to often has been controlled by special interests.
Valley Vote is determined to end, through positive action and proposals, the electorates feeling of disillusionment and apathy, replacing it with confidence and trust in a City Government that isn't controlled by Special Interest money or lobbyists. With the exciting and in fact stunning victory in the US Supreme Court on December 10th f 2003, upholding key provisions of the MaCain/Feingold
Campaign Finance Reform measures to limit soft money, we now have a truly serious chance to begin to take money out of the political game in a big way.
People interested in achieving these goals should contact me at wwclick@earthlink.net.
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Improving Education
by
David Hernandez
From it’s inception, the campaign for Valley cityhood brought the promise of a new Valley City and a separate School District. True, the breaking up of the Los Angeles Unified School District was not at issue on the ballot, but the desire for smaller school districts was one of the primary issues fueling our movement.
Small is not necessarily better when it comes to education. Large state universities have shown that size is not a barrier to academic excellence. But on the primary and secondary levels, smaller districts do tend to be more accountable and accessible to both parents and their children.
Unfortunately, LAUSD fails to serve the 20% of its students who drop out prior to graduation. Minority students who comprise a disproportionately large segment of the public school population face an even bleaker future. Valley Vote’s education committee believes strongly in smaller districts. It supports the movement toward charter schools and greater parental involvement. But we also believe progress can be made within the existing system if San Fernando Valley families are united.
I urge concerned parents to join Valley Vote by contacting me at drhassoc@earthlink.net. Working together with individual parent-teacher groups, we can make a difference.
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Remembering the Events of 2003
by
David DeVoss
Winter
Jan. 16 – Blaming California’s looming budget deficit, Mayor James Hahn reneges on his post-secession promise to improve city services and provide business tax relief. “I think nothing can be worse, after convincing everyone that we’re better off staying together, when the first thing we have to do is cut back on everything because the state pulled the rug out from under us,” he explains.
Jan. 18 – Hahn offers the San Fernando Valley 9% of the Community Development Grant money Los Angeles receives from Washington despite the fact the Valley has 37% of LA’s population and 25% of its poor. After strong protests from Ruth Galanter, Wendy Greuel and Alex Padilla, the Valley’s share of the federal funds is increased to 21%.
Jan 23 – Tutor-Saliba Corp is awarded a $33.8 million contract to build a new Van Nuys FlyAway bus terminal less than two years after being found guilty in court of mismanaging construction of the Metro Red Line subway. Mayor Hahn insists the $100,000 Tutor-Saliba contributed to his anti-secession campaign was not a factor in his decision.
Feb. 2 – City Hall radically curtails tree trimming and street repairs yet manages to award Entertainment Industry Development Corp. director Cody Cluff a $300,000 golden parachute. Politicians on the EIDC board who pocketed contributions Cluff made to their campaigns say they had no idea he also was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on sporting events, private clubs and fancy diners for a girlfriend in Pittsburgh.
Feb. 11 – Only 30% of Los Angeles Unified School District students can pass the math portion of the California High School Exit Exam. Worried parents petition the state to suspend the test as a graduation requirement.
Feb. 23 – Valley residents blast a plan to reduce congestion on the Ventura Freeway that would level 1,040 acres presently covered by homes, businesses, parks and schools.
Mar.1 – LAUSD officials that they are years behind schedule in completing $2.9 billion worth of projects funded by 1997’s Proposition BB.
Mar. 18 – Mayor Hahn opposes the expansion of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Grenada Hills, the dump he helped create in 1999 while serving as City Attorney.
Spring
Apr. 18 – The Mayor proposes hiring 320 new police with money gained from a 66% increase on garbage service fees. The City Council raises the fees, then opts not to hire the cops.
Apr. 20 – LAUSD Inspector General Don Mullinax issues a report that says the school district pays its real estate consultants $200 to $300 an hour, a rate three times above industry standards.
Apr. 23 – City of Los Angeles admits in a federal court filing that it is responsible for 3,600 sewage spills since 1993.
Apr. 28 – Workers’ compensation costs in LA County top $1 billion a year. Ten percent of LAPD employees receive paychecks without working.
May 15 – Grenada Hills High School petitions the LAUSD to become a charter school. Parents signing the petition are joined by 121 of the school’s 123 tenured teachers. Supt. Roy Romer says test scores could fall if the district’s most academically successful high school leaves the system.
Jun. 9 – Winning candidates for the Los Angeles City Council spend an average of $46 for every vote they receive. Despite the increased cost of campaigns, only 15% of registered voters go to the polls.
Jun. 14 – Fearing thousands of students will be denied diplomas, Sacramento says the state’s high school exit exam will be delayed until 2006.
Jun. 15 – LAUSD admits that 22% of its high school students drop out before graduating. Black and Hispanic students have drop out rates of 29% and 23.6% respectively. Twelve percent of Asian and White students leave before graduating.
Jun. 22 – LA can’t afford to spend $69 million to hire 320 new police, says the City Council, which then spends $77 million to give city employees a 5% pay hike. The increase is more than twice the 2.1% rate of inflation.
Summer
Jul. 7 – To win passage of the $3.35 billion Measure K bond issue in November 2002, the LAUSD promises to allow Inspector General Don Mullinax to audit monies spent building 120 new schools. It then withholds the $15 million budgeted to pay for the audits and insists Mullinax audit only specially selected projects.
Aug. 20 – An LA grand jury indicts former EIDC head Cody Cluff of embezzling $150,000. No mention is made of the $300,000 buyout Cluff received from the county just six months before.
Aug. 21 – City controller Laura Chick says LA spends millions on private leases even as surplus properties sit empty. The process used to sell surplus property is so convoluted, says Chick, that it will take more than 300 years to dispose of the 2,400 surplus properties currently on the books.
Sept. 15 – Valley VOTE petitions City Council to approve a unique U.S. Census Bureau reporting area for the San Fernando Valley. It also suggests that LA immediately amend its news rack ordinance to reduce the number in unsightly news racks presently cluttering Ventura Blvd.
Sept. 16 – Los Angeles spends four times more celebrating Mexican Independence Day than it does on July 4 festivities.
Autumn
Oct. 31 – Valley council members Wendy Greuel and Dennis Zine join the Mayor in voluntarily foregoing their annual pay raise. Hahn says about 900 nonunion workers at City Hall won’t get their 3% cost-of-living raises either.
Nov. 3 – Valley VOTE issues a 14-page report calling for a reduction in the city business tax, which contributes $373 million (about 10.7%) to the city’s General Fund. “By substantially reducing the business tax rate and radically simplifying its structure, existing businesses will be encouraged to stay in the city, new businesses will be formed here and businesses currently operating outside of Los Angeles will be encouraged to relocate here,” Valley Vote concluded.
Nov. 4 - Valley VOTE participates in panel moderated by Wendy Greuel. The topic: "Secession One Year Later: A Valley View."
Nov. 9 – Former Council representative Ruth Galanter admits in the LA Times to being a secret secessionist. " I couldn't publicly support secession because I didn't want to anger the mayor, but I certainly voted for Valley cityhood."
Nov. 19 – LA City Council recommends a separate U.S. Census reporting district for the San Fernando Valley. A separate designation could mean more federal and state grants devoted to the Valley’s particular needs.
Nov. 20 – One year after assuring the City Council that a 5% pay hike for DWP workers would not cause water or electricity rates to jump, DWP General Manager David Wiggs says water rates must increase 18%. DWP’s plea of poverty is belied by its decision to spend $175,000 for a float in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade.
Nov. 23 – LA’s District Attorney, the City Controller and the city Ethics Commission begin joint investigation of the improper awarding of contracts on Mayor James Hahn’s $9.1 billion LAX modernization project. The probe’s main target: Encino property developer and Los Angeles Airport Commission president Ted Stein. According to investigators, companies doing business with the airport were pressured by Stein to contribute to LA United, the organization Hahn used to defeat the Valley’s cityhood effort, then rewarded with lucrative city contracts.
Nov. 25 – LA District Attorney Steve Cooley files felony charges against property developer Alan Casden and 13 of his firm’s subcontractors. Indictments accuse the defendants of conspiring to violate LA’s campaign finance limits. Valley council representatives Jack Weiss and Wendy Greuel benefited from the tainted contributions but were not specifically charged with any wrongdoing.
Dec. 1 – The J.H. Snyder Co. begins work on the $40.5 million North Hollywood redevelopment project. “This will be a model for Los Angeles in the 21st century,” says councilman Tom LaBonge.
Dec. 2 – A UCLA study says the number of poor neighborhoods in Los Angeles has tripled over the past 30 years. In 1970, less than a third of the region’s population lived in areas with a 20% poverty rate. By 2000, 57% did.
Dec. 2 – Los Angeles airport commissioners approve without dissent a $5.6 million contract extension to the URS Corp despite the fact that the San Francisco company is being investigated for improper contributions to LA United.
Dec. 5 – Los Angeles regional Water Quality Control Board approves expansion of Sunshine Canyon landfill.
Dec. 6 – Fleishman-Hillard, a downtown public relations firm with city contracts worth millions of dollars, hosts the Mayor’s annual holiday media party for the fourth consecutive year. Fleishman has a DWP contract worth $2 million, an arrangement with the Harbor Department worth $400,000 and a $500,000 contract to provide advertising services to LAX. The company contributed $15,000 to LA United for the defeat of Valley cityhood. “We know people will try to make something of this, but there is no quid pro quo,” says Fleishman general manager Doug Dowie.
Dec. 7 - The Oasis “mini-Staples” project in North Hollywood receives overwhelming support from Valley VOTE . The Oasis will be an 8,000-seat facility designed to accommodate concerts, conventions, boxing, basketball and ice hockey. Located next to an MTA station with public parking, the Oasis will provide a much-needed venue without measurably adding to traffic congestion. It also is expected to provide 175 jobs and $30 million in direct taxable revenue for the city.
Dec. 12 – In his annual State of the Valley speech Mayor James Hahn says the San Fernando Valley is safer, thriving and getting better every day. “Working together, with a focus on achieving results, we have been able to reduce crime,” he said. “We have been able to improve neighborhoods.” Unfortunately, Hahn’s speech coincides with a DWP decision to discontinue its annual $100,000 contribution to the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley.
Dec. 16 – Comparing the Los Angeles World Airports department run by Encino developer Ted Stein to the disgraced energy company Enron, City Controller Laura Chick issues a report documenting a contracting environment “ripe for potential abuse and conflict of interest.” Summed up Chick: “This is no way to run a public agency.”
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