Report says new city in L.A. harbor area not financially viable

LOS ANGELES -- In a blow to one of three secession movements in Los Angeles, a government commission found that a proposed breakaway city in the harbor area would not be financially viable on its own.

The proposed city of 150,000 residents would face a budget deficit of $7.5 million in its first six months, said Larry Calemine, executive director of the Local Area Formation Commission, a local agency mandated by the state to oversee the secession movement.

Calemine also recommended in the report, released Saturday, that the commission not place the issue on the November ballot for voters to decide. State law requires the commission to allow a vote on secession only if the proposed breakaway city could survive financially.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, who lives in harbor area and is leading the anti-secession fight, said the study confirmed his belief that the breakaway bid would harm local residents and the entire city. "Secession of any part of the city is too expensive and too risky," Hahn said.

Andrew Mardesich, who heads the harbor secession movement, said he will challenge the estimates contained in Calemine's report with the commission. The report will be formally presented to the commission Wednesday and in the next few weeks it will decide whether to put the issue to a citywide vote.

"I'm looking at this in disbelief," Mardesich told the Los Angeles Times about the report.

"It's not over yet. This is the ninth round of a 10-round fight."

Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley are also seeking to secede from Los Angeles.

State Controller Kathleen Connell said her office had found that neither Hollywood nor the harbor area would survive financially as a new city.

Last month, Calemine issued a report determining that the San Fernando Valley could be financially viable as a separate city.

The harbor area has been a part of Los Angeles since 1909. It is home to about 4 percent of Los Angeles' population.