Supervisor Burke Joins Foes of Breakup

County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said Monday that she opposes San Fernando Valley secession because she is convinced a breakup would harm her South Los Angeles district and its large black population as well as the entire city.

Burke said she based her conclusion on a study she commissioned.

“I don’t believe it’s good for the African American community,” she said.

Burke also came out against Hollywood secession, although it was not part of the study by Eugene Grigsby, a professor at the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research.

The supervisor planned to discuss Grigsby’s report Monday night at a public meeting at a Crenshaw-area church.

Grigsby found that secession would pose financial problems for the Valley city and the rest of Los Angeles, and that African Americans would have no political clout in a Valley city dominated by non-Latino whites. The study also found, however, that blacks might temporarily gain clout in the remainder of Los Angeles.

Secession leader Richard Katz said the Grigsby report was “a conclusion in search of a justification” to oppose the breakup. He noted that studies by the Local Agency Formation Commission found that secession would not cause financial harm to the Valley, Hollywood or Los Angeles. Those studies allowed the breakup measures to be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot.

“It makes no sense,” Katz said of Grigsby’s report.

Grigsby’s study considered factors that LAFCO did not, such as the current economic downturn and pledges by Valley secessionists to slash business taxes, which he said would force the Valley to raise other taxes or cut services.

“The bottom line is it’s going to be extremely financially difficult for the new Valley city to survive,” Grigsby said. “They will undoubtedly have to increase taxes or fees.”

His findings include:

* Los Angeles spends $1,245 per person on services, but a Valley city would have $776 per capita to spend.

* Revenue growth for the rest of Los Angeles would be hurt as the “alimony” a Valley city paid Los Angeles would decline each year. The 20 years of payments are designed to make Los Angeles whole for lost tax revenue. Los Angeles would also lose revenue if a Valley city is able to woo new businesses to the area.

“The ability of the remainder of Los Angeles to grow economically becomes more challenging,” Grigsby said.

* More Valley households are sliding into poverty, meaning the region’s costs in public services will increase.

“They will inherit all the problems of big cities that big cities have been trying to solve for decades,” Grigsby said.

If voters approve the breakup, African Americans would go from 11.1% to 14.9% of the population in Los Angeles, and would be 4.5% of the Valley city.

Grigsby said secession could result in more African Americans being elected to Los Angeles city offices in the short term, but that Latino population growth would quickly overtake those gains.

Burke disputed Grigsby on that point, saying African American political clout could grow. But she said that was not enough reason to support secession.

“If you look at the economic implications--the loss of resources for services, the loss of tax base--in my mind that outweighs whatever the political advantages might be,” Burke said.

Burke is the second county supervisor to oppose secession, following Gloria Molina. Supervisor Mike Antonovich supports a breakup; Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Don Knabe have not taken a public position.

Burke said she will campaign against the secession measures independently of Mayor James K. Hahn’s antibreakup drive.