Los Angeles Politics

Working to amplify the city's political clout in Sacramento at a time when governments up and down the state are worried about the faltering economy, Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn meets this morning with the legislators who represent Los Angeles in the first of several planned gatherings. Hahn invited the lawmakers so he could brief them on the city's post-Sept. 11 security plan and discuss budget issues.

The goal was clear when Mayor James K. Hahn and San Fernando Valley secessionists opened negotiations last month on the terms of a referendum: to build consensus on a plan to break apart Los Angeles. A month later, the most notable point of consensus is the lack of consensus. Yet signs have emerged that City Hall and Valley separatists could reach agreement on at least the outlines of a separation pact to put before voters in November 2002.

After years of calls for the breakup of Los Angeles, Mayor James K. Hahn announced Thursday that he is forming a campaign to fight back--an effort that will include some of the city's top political operatives and at least one of its richest benefactors. Hahn filed papers with the California secretary of state's office establishing a political committee called L.A. United, which will spearhead a campaign opposing a possible November 2002 ballot measure for secession of the San Fernando Valley.

Voicing strong concerns over Los Angeles' term limits law, members of the City Council agreed Wednesday to ask voters to lengthen the amount of time they and other elected officials could spend in office. The council members say they will seek a March ballot measure to overturn a 1993 referendum that limited city officials to two four-year terms. The move is being made by a council that has been dramatically affected by term limits.

Al Sharpton--New York's most vociferous activist, outspoken critic of police brutality, lightning rod for black-Jewish relationships, master of the street protest--is heading to Los Angeles. Sharpton, who is also exploring a 2004 Democratic presidential campaign, said in an interview that he is planning to open an L.A. office of his Harlem-based National Action Network by year's end.

Four months after the Los Angeles City Council elected 28-year-old Alex Padilla as its president, the body remains fractured between the newcomers and the veterans, with bad feelings boiling to the surface during council meetings and spilling over into the upcoming election for the seat vacated by Joel Wachs. Padilla's more senior council colleagues continue to say he is too inexperienced to hold such a powerful position.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas' campaign for the Los Angeles City Council won the coveted endorsement of the county Federation of Labor on Friday after the legislator said he opposes the secession of the San Fernando Valley. Cardenas, a Democrat from Panorama City, beat out DreamWorks SKG executive Wendy Greuel for the endorsement of the federation's Committee on Political Education after he won more than two-thirds of the vote of the 80 union representatives present.

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn was due to arrive at the El Sereno Senior Center any moment. But before the mayor walked through the door Monday morning, City Councilman Nick Pacheco issued a warning to the lively gathering of senior citizens. "Now remember what I said," Pacheco urged. "Just be nice." The center, after all, lies blocks from the Eastside neighborhood where former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa grew up.

There was the mayor Monday, flanked by the police and fire chiefs outside the city's emergency operations center, assuring residents that Los Angeles officials are taking steps to protect them from terrorist attacks. On Tuesday, James K. Hahn visited a trade show at the Convention Center, where he praised the organizers for not letting jitters cancel their exhibition. He toured the city's water quality testing lab Wednesday and expressed confidence in the monitoring of the water supply.

Disagreements over how much the LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department should share personnel, equipment and space in a planned state-of-the-art crime lab have delayed the process by seven months--and cost the county about $1.5 million, according to a city report.