Harrison Sheppard Secession Movements Collection, 1961-2002 | Special Collections & Archives

Title: Harrison Sheppard Secession Movements Collection, 1961-2002

ID: URB/HSS

Extent: 5.42 Linear Feet

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Predominant Dates: 2000-2002

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Abstract

A native of New Jersey, Harrison Sheppard worked as journalist and city editor for the Daily News of Van Nuys, California, from 1999 to 2014, where he covered numerous secession movements around Los Angeles in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The collection documents Sheppard’s work as a reporter for the Daily News, and covers the grassroots efforts of the citizens of the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, and Los Angeles' Harbor City area to secede and form independent cities between 1999 and 2002.

Creators

Sheppard, Harrison

A native of New Jersey, Harrison Sheppard worked as journalist and city editor for the Daily News of Van Nuys, CA, from 1999 to 2014. He has also written for several papers in the suburban Boston area and for the Los Angeles Times. The Daily News, founded in 1911, focuses its news coverage on the San Fernando Valley. Sheppard's assignments for the Daily News included serving as Sacramento Bureau Chief, as well as covering Los Angeles City Hall, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the San Fernando Valley secession drive of 1999-2002.

The San Fernando Valley Secession drive was one of many secession movements that mobilized in Los Angeles during the 2002 election cycle. While the secession movement in Los Angeles' Harbor City area never made it onto a ballot, citizens of Los Angeles were able to vote on Measures F and H, which would have allowed the San Fernando Valley and Hollywood, respectively, to secede from Los Angeles and form their own cities. These secession movements were generally opposed by the League of Women Voters, the Council of Religious Leaders of Greater Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the Service Employees International Union Local 347, and the Latino Coalition for a United Los Angeles. While members of the different movements supported each other’s goals, the character of each movement was distinct, with Hollywood's movement driven largely by charismatic individuals.

The secession movement in the San Fernando Valley was largely fueled by local business associations, such as the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, and was also supported by the Republican Central Committee, the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, Senator Tom McClintock, and the Mexican American Political Association. It started in the relatively affluent and conservative western portion of the valley, while opposition was strongest in the eastern section, which was home to a greater proportion of Latinos, Democrats, and lower-income residents than other parts of the Valley. Voters in the San Fernando Valley supported secession by a narrow margin, but both Measures F and H were defeated by voters in greater Los Angeles.

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Scope and Contents:

The Harrison Sheppard Secession Movements Collection documents Sheppard’s work as a reporter for the Daily News of Van Nuys, California, and covers the grassroots efforts of the citizens of the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, and Los Angeles' Harbor City area to secede and form independent cities between 1999 and 2002. The majority of the collection deals with the San Fernando Valley secession movement, with fewer materials documenting secession movements in Hollywood and Harbor City. The collection does not include Sheppard’s notes, drafts of his news stories, or the completed news stories themselves. The collection has been divided into two major series: Reports and Proposals (1999-2002), and Working Files (1961-2002).

Series I, Reports and Proposals, documents official responses to the secession movements in the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, and the Harbor City area. It contains fiscal analyses of the proposed reorganizations, maps of the regions before the proposed secessions, reports on potential legal and financial liabilities, a report on the potential impact of secession on low income residents, and redistricting proposals and maps. Agencies producing these reports and proposals include the Local Agency Formation Commission, City Hall and the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, and the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education. The series is arranged alphabetically.

Series II, Working Files, documents the secession movements through Sheppard’s research, primarily through local and national news stories on the movements, as well as articles on Valley secession movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and Daily News articles 1996-1999. This series also contains ballots and ballot statements, polls, election returns, press releases, agendas from debates and meetings, memorabilia, and TV advertisements. This series also documents official and unofficial responses to the movements, including statements from Mayor Hahn and city council members opposing secession, and grassroots responses for and against secession. It also contains campaign materials from the individuals who started the secession movements and hoped to serve on the new city councils, including business owner Gene La Pietra and realtor and journalist Pashree Sripipat for Hollywood; California State Assemblyman Keith Richman, M.D. and political activist and businesswoman Terry Stone for the San Fernando Valley. The series is arranged alphabetically.

Finding Aid with Box List
Series 1: Reports and Proposals, 1999-2002
Series 2: Working Files, 1961-2002