Call it a case of reverse psychology.

There’s a theory going around that several proponents of San Fernando Valley secession are supporting City Attorney James Hahn in the mayoral runoff not because they believe he’s the best man for the job, but because they believe his opponent, former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, would be more successful in defanging the secession movement.

Of course, the major Hahn supporters in the Valley secession movement including Valley Vote chairman, attorney and Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association president Richard Close, Galpin Ford owner and city Police Commissioner Bert Boeckmann and city Fire Commissioner David Fleming won’t admit this publicly. They all say they support Hahn because they believe he’s the best man for the job.

“Look, if secession doesn’t happen, I want the best person for mayor,” Close said. “And I think Hahn is better for the business community both north and south of Mulholland.”

But privately, the theory that Hahn might be better for the future of the secession movement has been spreading.

“Yeah, I’ve heard it,” one secession leader said.

And political commentator Joel Kotkin said he had talked to a couple of secession proponents who said they had come out for Hahn precisely because they thought he would benefit the movement.

The theory has several variations. In one scenario, secession proponents believe Villaraigosa would try to bring secession opponents and proponents together and hammer out some sort of deal in which an actual vote on secession gets dropped. Hahn, according to this scenario, wouldn’t be able to pull this off even if he tried, so a vote for Hahn would essentially allow the secession vote to proceed.

Another scenario has Villaraigosa simply being a more effective and articulate spokesman for the anti-secession side.

“Villaraigosa will be able to make the case for stopping secession better than Hahn can,” one political observer said. “He’s a more charismatic guy who can sway people more than Hahn can.”

Hahn, according to this observer, would be more of a “business-as-usual” mayor, which of course would suit secession proponents just fine.

The third variation on the “Hahn is better for secession” theme is a bit more controversial. Villaraigosa, this scenario goes, would make a strong appeal to the Valley’s Latino community that secession would be a raw deal for them. Latinos would then be motivated to come out and vote in enough numbers to defeat the secession proposal.

But, since any secession vote must be citywide, Hahn conceivably could do the same thing in the African-American community in South Central L.A., where he is immensely popular. He could argue that Valley secession would take away valuable resources from their community.

Of course, it must be said that in repeated public statements on secession, Hahn and Villaraigosa have virtually identical positions. Both oppose secession, yet both have said they would not move to block a vote on the issue nor would they go against voters’ wishes if they were to approve a measure to secede, which could come up on the November 2002 ballot.

And, for the record, not all leaders in the Valley secession movement have cast their lot with Hahn. For example, Gerald Silver, president of the Encino Homeowners Association, is backing Villaraigosa.

Business Tax Battle

Last week, in the run-up to the release of his budget, L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan unveiled $10 million in business tax relief programs, to be funded with proceeds from a business tax amnesty program.

For those that have followed this issue, two of the measures Riordan proposed last week will sound familiar: eliminating taxes on revenue transfers between related companies or affiliates, and dedicating 75 percent of additional business tax revenue proceeds to business tax relief. The City Council has already approved these in concept; Riordan’s coming on board thus virtually assures they will become law.

However, all is not harmonious on the business-tax-reform front. City Council Budget Committee Chairman Mike Feuer, who is also a candidate for City Attorney, said that Riordan’s proposal doesn’t go far enough. Feuer said the elimination of the related company transfer tax should not be offset with business tax amnesty proceeds.

“In my proposal that won Council approval, the (related) company transfers are covered with other funds, freeing up the amnesty funds for other forms of business tax relief, including broader rate reductions,” Feuer said.

Such a difference might seem trivial until one remembers that Feuer is locked in an incredibly tight runoff race for City Attorney against Rocky Delgadillo, Riordan’s deputy mayor for economic development and point man on the business tax issue.

Feuer, of course, denies that his comments are in any way tied to the race.

“I put my program out there long before the mayor endorsed Rocky,” he said.

Nonetheless, Feuer couldn’t resist taking another shot at Delgadillo, noting that he wasn’t up in Sacramento testifying in support of AB 63, Assemblyman Gil Cedillo’s bill to allow cities to use state income tax files to track down business tax scofflaws.

However, Riordan’s budget deputy, Jennifer Roth, did fly up to Sacramento to testify in favor of the bill, which cleared the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee on April 16 income tax filing deadline day on a unanimous bipartisan vote.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 227 or at [email protected].