Politics

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Politics

The gubernatorial election will dominate the political scene in 1998, a year that will also see the San Fernando Valley secession movement gain steam.

Although it’s an off year for municipal elections, L.A. City Councilman Mike Hernandez could be facing a recall. And maybe, just maybe, there could be an opening in the mayor’s office.

It all starts with the governor’s race. On the Republican side, Attorney General Dan Lungren is the odds-on favorite.

On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Gray Davis and Al Checchi, the former co-chairman of Northwest Airlines Inc., are off and running.

But the Democratic candidate many people have been waiting for and the one who has not yet announced is Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. If she does run, political analysts say, she will be tough to defeat.

If she does not run, some speculate that L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan a centrist like Feinstein may take a stab at it.

Riordan denies any interest. “Some of my enemies have wanted me to, but I’ve got too big a job here,” he said.

Still, Riordan has been emphasizing issues such as education over purely municipal matters. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that June’s primary will be the first open primary, in which voters can vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation.

That could help someone like Riordan, a Republican who won election in a Democratic majority city, or Checchi, who is likely to appeal to business-minded Republicans, even though he is running as a Democrat.

Another race to watch is the 20th District state Senate contest in the San Fernando Valley, where L.A. City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents the area, and Richard Katz, who was termed out of the Assembly last year, have announced their candidacies. Whoever wins the primary will be favored in the heavily Democratic district.

On the local front, proponents of San Fernando Valley secession expect to start circulating petitions in March 1998. From the time they start, signature-gatherers have 90 days to collect about 135,000 valid signatures from registered Valley voters.

If enough signatures are gathered, the Local Agency Formation Commission will begin a study of Valley secession that is expected to take about a year. Secession could go on a citywide ballot after that, if certain requirements regarding financial feasibility can be satisfied.

Perhaps just as important is the revision of L.A.’s City Charter. The two commissions drafting rewrites of the charter one appointed by the council and one elected by voters will continue to hold hearings in 1998. Though their proposals likely will not be on a ballot until 1999, their versions of the charter are expected to come together in the fall of 1998.

One local race likely to capture L.A.’s attention if it comes off is the recall effort against Councilman Hernandez, who was arrested last summer on drug charges.

Recall organizers must collect 6,477 signatures from registered voters in the First Council District by Feb. 26 in order to qualify the recall for a special ballot. Organizers say they have already collected more than 3,000 signatures.

The most intriguing aspect of the recall could be who runs for Hernandez’s seat, should voters force him out of office. Those candidates would be on the same ballot as the question of whether Hernandez should be recalled. One local official said to be considering a run is Rocky Delgadillo, Mayor Richard Riordan’s deputy mayor of economic development.

Daniel Taub

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