The fight for San Fernando Valley secession is about to begin in earnest and many Valley business leaders say they are ready to join the campaign if they don’t see substantive changes in city government.

Mayor Richard Riordan and other city leaders hope to stave off the secession movement through reform of the City Charter, the blueprint for city government.

But David Fleming, chairman of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, says such reform must be swift, and strong, to quell secession fever.

“Taxes and regulation relief are the two things that businesses are interested in. The city is losing the war in competition because the business tax is higher here than almost anyplace else,” Fleming said.

Added Ric Hill, a spokesman for 20th Century Insurance Co. in Woodland Hills: “There is an urgency among business leaders and big employers in the Valley regarding the city’s attitude toward business.

“There is a palpable sense of frustration among these business leaders that the city will often take a punitive and retaliatory approach toward business,” Hill said, adding that his company has not taken a stand on secession.

Gov. Wilson’s signature on AB 62 last month eliminated the L.A. City Council’s ability to veto Valley secession setting the stage for a effort that could put Valley cityhood before voters by the year 2000.

Already, secession advocates have targeted business groups as key allies in their campaign.

Los Angeles has the highest average business license tax and the highest non-residential electricity tax of 143 California cities surveyed last year in the Kosmont Cost of Doing Business Survey.

Los Angeles, for example, has a 12.5-percent commercial utility tax, the study found. Other nearby cities, including Santa Clarita and San Fernando, have no such tax.

“Our goal is to have lower business taxes, a more fair business tax structure, and a more fair utility tax rate, so we can compete with other communities,” said Jeff Brain, co-chair of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment.

Brain’s group, known as Valley VOTE, is organizing a petition drive that would require the Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO, to launch a feasibility study for Valley cityhood the first step toward a vote on secession. Fleming, Galpin Ford owner Bert Boeckmann and Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association president Richard Close have been asked to co-chair the effort.

Although many business leaders are still on the fence on secession, they are sympathetic to the cause.

Walter Mosher, president of Pacoima-based Precision Dynamics Corp., said the city’s tax structure and lack of attention to business concerns has soured him on remaining in Los Angeles.

“The business taxes here are outrageous,” said Mosher, whose company makes hospital identification wristbands and employs 350 people. “And the City Council runs its own fiefdoms; it doesn’t give a hoot about business. We need more accountability. I tell you, if charter reform doesn’t happen, we will look at secession.”

The Valley Industry and Commerce Association, which represents many of the Valley’s major employers, has not taken a position on secession and is not expected to do so until feasibility studies are completed, said Bonny Herman, VICA’s president.

But the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, an umbrella organization of 23 chambers representing 9,000 businesses with a total of 300,000 employees, is supporting a petition drive that would require LAFCO to conduct a feasibility study on Valley cityhood.

“We’ve had 25 years of frustration with the leadership of Los Angeles not being responsive to the needs of the Valley. We’ve tried everything, and so far we haven’t gotten the change we need,” said Gary Thomas, president of the United Chambers of Commerce.

But while business may be open to secession, the Valley’s minority groups have so far stayed on the sidelines.

Latinos, who comprise about one-third of the Valley’s population, have been particularly skeptical of the movement. Latino leaders fear secession could erase years of political gains made in the city of Los Angeles.

“If it turns out that the (Latino) voting population here isn’t quite as large as our voting population citywide, then we may not be able to get the proper representation,” said Xavier Flores, president of the San Fernando Valley Mexican American Political Association. “If we secede and end up with less Latino representation than in the city of Los Angeles, then what kind of benefit would that be?”

Other Latinos say the momentum for secession has come from Valley communities that are largely white and relatively affluent, such as Sherman Oaks and the West Valley.

“In my opinion, it has always been a West Valley-dominated movement,” said Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Sylmar. “I’ve talked to some of these people and I’ve never gotten any strong feelings of a true sincerity of total inclusion.”

Brain said Valley VOTE has encouraged Latinos to get involved ever since the volunteer board was formed 18 months ago.

“We believe we’ve kept the Latino leaders informed,” Brain said. “We invited them to all our meetings and asked them to name people to talk to us.”

Fleming said Latinos are like most everyone else in the Valley they haven’t formed an opinion on secession.”

“Secession is like an announcement that a new car is coming out,” he said. “You haven’t seen it yet, sounds exciting, you want to take a look at it, you want to kick the tires, you want to test drive it.”

Valley VOTE will soon launch a petition drive to get the 20,000 signatures needed to require the LAFCO study. If LAFCO a state-chartered agency determines a Valley city is economically feasible and would not be detrimental to the rest of the city, the measure would be put to a vote.

A majority of voters in both the Valley and the rest of the city would be needed for secession to take effect.