Politics and Tensions of Metropolitan Government

LOS ANGELES

History of Los AngelesFounded in 1781El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de

Los Angeles (The Village of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels)

Served as a home to Catholic missionsBecame an American state in 1850

Los Angeles as an American CommunityDuring the first 30 years of statehood, LA

developed a commercial economyIt would have remained an agricultural

community if the Southern Pacific Railroad did not want to build a line to Los Angeles

Within 10 years of the railroad, LA had doubled its population

LA and DecentralizationBetween 1900 and 1930 the population of

Los Angeles had grown from 102,000 to 1,238,000

The introduction of the streetcar and interurban train promoted decentralization and allowed people to move into the suburbs

City planners avoided the older form of the city and favored decentralization

City planners wanted to improve transportation

The AutomobilePublic transportation had stopped

growing shortly after 1910The automobile became the primary

means of transportation, which led to severe congestion in the downtown area

City planners hired consultants to rearrange and widen the narrow streets

Because of the congestion in the downtown area, many retail chains opened stores in the suburbs

Planners then began to turn towards the freeway in an attempt to recentralize Los Angeles

Map of Los Angeles

Major Issues

Taxation City Council

ANTI

Alex PadillaWendy Greuel

PRO

Tony Cardenas

Dennis Zine

Greig Smith

San Fernando Valley Description

Northern portion of Los AngelesHas numerous boroughs within the Valley Alone, the Valley would become the 6th

largest city in the United StatesPopulation over 3.5 million residentsSeparated from Downtown Los Angeles by

Mulholland Dr. and the mountainsFairly racially and ethnically diverse with

families ranging in the middle to upper class socio-economic brackets

San Fernando Valley Reasons for Secession

Lack of public services for the Valley despite high taxes

Each LA city council member represents almost 25,000 residents

Hard for individual communities to get a voice in Los Angeles Politics

Increasing problems with traffic crime, and poor schools

Residents feel neglected in their daily lives

Hollywood/ San Pedro Harbor Description

HollywoodKnown for tourism and the movie industryMore connected to the city than the other

neighborhoods that wanted to secedePopulation of 160,000 residents

San Pedro HarborTo the South of Downtown Los AngelesThe seaport into the cityPopulation of 81,000 residentsMore blue collar population with

Hollywood/San Pedro Harbor Grievances

Hollywood and The Harbor felt that there were many problems within their neighborhoods

However, they did not necessarily feel that secession was the best way to fix these problems

Many Hollywood and Harbor citizens did not know that their neighborhoods were included in the area of secession

The main advocate of Hollywood and Harbor secession was millionaire night club owner Gene La Pietra and not the residents at large

Differences in Complaints

Both Hollywood and the Harbor lacked the financial and political resources needed to secede

The Valley had a far larger population than the Harbor and Hollywood combine and was separated from Los Angeles by geography

Many in the Hollywood and Harbor areas felt that secession would hurt Los Angeles and would probably cost more in taxes

Hollywood and the Harbor were more satisfied with public services than the Valley

Talk of secessions in the Valley began decades ago, compared to a few years in the Harbor and Hollywood

61% of Hollywood residents did not want to secede; in fact more residents in the Valley wanted Hollywood to secede than actual residents of Hollywood

The Valley felt that the Valley was the most neglected part of the city, while Hollywood and the Harbor felt South Central Los Angeles was the most neglected

Many claimed secession in the Valley was guided by class based factors

The Valley and Hollywood made it on the 2002 election ballot, the Harbor did not

James K. Hahn

DemocratFocus on reducing crime,

creating jobs and housing, and improving neighborhoods

“We need to work together not break up"~Argues that secession would negatively

affect all LA residents People wanted dramatic reforms by

seceding, but Hahn set out to reform while remaining united

Pledge to reshape government by making it more responsive to citizens and more effective in providing basic services

Hahn has helped to raise millions for advertising about the effects of breaking up the city

Tactics in Attempt to Stop SecessionistsAdvertising campaigns

MailTelevision ads

Hahn used city resources to help in his fight to remain unitedHuge controversy, Was this legal?Ruling on behalf of Hahn stating that the

resources used were used before the issue was on the ballot

Fighting Secessionists Measure defeated December 2002Many public forums with secessionists

Often refused to sit on a panel or actually debate against secessionists, so would speak first then leave

Focus on financial and political risksStates publicly that if LA becomes smaller

they will have far less lobbying power in Washington DC, thus getting much less funding

Reformscreation of 58 advisory neighborhood councils

to represent communities throughout LAGives each council $50,000 annually for

expenses teamwork LA, government reorganization plan to create seven neighborhood service areas

Make city friendlier to businesses and residents alikePush for lower business taxes

Press for more federal funding for law enforcement

Will Hahn be reelected?Hahn up for reelection

Doesn't look promisingPoor record of getting help from Washington

and SacramentoMany people feel that nothing has really

been changed after the attempted secessionMany feel that the valley is still being highly

neglected by Hahn

Questions for Class Discussion