Some thoughts on Valley & Hollywood secession
The vote on Hollywood and Valley secession from the City of Los Angeles is less than two months away. Watching the secession campaigns, one wonders if they aren’t training at the Bill Simon Institute for Political Campaigning. Yes, these are grassroots campaigns, so some inexperience can be expected. But the ineptness and blown opportunities here are, well, I think they may have already blown it.
First and most important, the campaigns have been hugely self-centered, and focused entirely on their respective home turfs. Every Valley secession press conference and rally has been in the Valley, and every Hollywood secession event has been in Hollywood. Maybe someone should tell them the measures have to pass in all of Los Angeles, not just in their areas?
Are the campaigns doing any outreach to other communities? Not that I can see. A few months back a group of Black ministers stated publicly they might favor a Valley secession (thus giving Blacks more say in the remaining City of Los Angeles). Now this should have been a wonderful chance for the Valley secessionists to publicly meet with the ministers, but I don’t recall hearing a word about it in the press. Not a peep. Did they even try?
In the meantime, Magic Johnson, a serious player in LA politics, and ex- Police Chief Bernard Parks, also Black, have come out against secession. So, the chance of an alliance between Valley Secession and South Central is long gone.
Also, they appear clueless that they need to give the rest of Los Angeles good reasons to vote for secession. Why should someone who doesn’t live in the Valley or Hollywood vote for secession? How does this benefit them?
The city of LA has 4 million people now. A Valley City would have 1.2 million. To win, Valley seccessionists need to concisely explain (and please, no ranting about the Big Bad Bear Billionaires from Downtown) –
1) Why is a Valley City of 1.2 million people inherently easier to govern than a city of 4 million?
2) How would Valley Secession benefit the rest of Los Angeles? What’s in it for the voters in the rest of City if they vote Yes?
If they can answer those questions clearly in the next two months, they might actually have a chance of winning.