LOS ANGELES, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Ballot measures that would split Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley off from Los Angeles -- a move that would instantly transform the Valley into the nation's sixth-largest city -- appeared to be doomed to failure, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times.
The survey found that likely voters on a citywide basis overwhelmingly opposed the proposals. The measure also trailed within the two communities in question that are seeking to become independent cities that would conceivably offer improved municipal services to its residents.
"Emotionally, you think it would be great to get away from Los Angeles," John A. Jones, a resident of the Valley community of Sunland, opined to the Times. "Even so, there's no sense in making things worse by cutting off your nose to spite your face. We may wind up with a very unsatisfactory city run by people who don't know what they're doing."
The poll conducted last week concluded that 47 percent of the Valley's likely voters opposed the secession proposal compared to 42 percent who were in favor with 11 percent still undecided. Hollywood's parallel secession measure was opposed by 60 percent of its residents in and immediately around the fabled community and was supported by only 21 percent.
The proposals must also be approved citywide in order to pass, and the survey found 56 percent of all likely voters in Los Angeles opposed the Valley secession while only 27 percent favored the move; a relatively large 17 percent were undecided.
Citywide, secession was opposed by a majority of white, Latino and African-American voters and found its greatest support among Republicans, who were split roughly evenly on the question.
A Times poll in June gave secession supporters a 15-percent lead in the Valley amid sentiment that the residents of the growing suburban area were not getting a fair bang for their buck on their taxes paid. Advocates portrayed the Valley as being short-changed in a wide range of city services, ranging from street pothole repairs to police protection to bus service.
The anti-secession movement -- led by Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn and supported by the city's influential downtown business community -- has gained significant steam in recent days with the help of a $5 million war chest collected from various groups and individuals who want to keep L.A. as it is. A television ad campaign currently airing in the region warns voters that independence could lead to a decline in tax revenues, problems with the supply of water and electricity, and an inability to provide the very services that have been the crux of the issue of secession.
"When I first moved here, I thought, 'Maybe they're right and aren't getting the services they deserve for the tax dollars they put in,'" Jeff Bailey, 28, who recently moved to the Valley from Pasadena, said to the Times. "But, I didn't see all the problems they were talking about. They say the streets are terrible, but they're not ... The police are pretty well represented. I just don't see what they're complaining about."
The anti-secession movement in the Valley has also found support from organized labor, gay-rights groups and environmentalists who are concerned that the political clout they have cultivated over the years at city hall would be diminished.
Leaders of the secession effort threw up their hands last week when Los Angeles city road crews fanned out across the Valley to fill the potholes that have been symbolic of the entire secession issue.
"Potholes are a symbol of the poor delivery of so many city services," Keith Richman, a state assemblyman who is running for Valley mayor, told the Times. "Every time you run over a pothole, it jars you and reminds you of that lack of city services."
