INTERVIEW: Hahn’s Man Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Felipe Fuentes is Mayor James Hahn’s point man in the Valley as he fights to fend off secession. By JACQUELINE FOX Staff Reporter Felipe Fuentes may be the best example Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn has to offer of how he wants to fight secession by bringing more resources to the San Fernando Valley. In one of his very first appointments after taking office, Hahn tapped Fuentes in July to be his deputy mayor for the San Fernando Valley and special projects, the first major city post ever created strictly to help shape government policy pertaining to Valley business and community issues. That makes him the city’s point man in the Valley when it comes to secession and city council redistricting, and he’s not doing it alone. In the past, the mayor has had one field representative in the Valley. Fuentes heads a staff of five. He previously worked on Hahn’s campaign for mayor and was a field representative to Councilman Alex Padilla when he received the appointment from Hahn. Fuentes postponed completion of his MBA at Pepperdine University in order to accept the position. Fuentes was raised in Pacoima and Arleta and is a graduate of San Fernando High School, so he says he is as familiar as anyone with the different needs of the residents of the Northeast Valley. He agrees those folks and the Valley in general haven’t gotten their fair share of resources over the years. Still, he says, his goal is to prove secession isn’t the best solution to that problem. Question: Why does the Valley, unlike other regions of the city, now have its very own deputy mayor? Answer: As far as I know, it’s the first time we’ve seen the mayor of Los Angeles make such a concerted effort to bring resources to the San Fernando Valley office. I have two field representatives under me now. During the Riordan administration there was one field representative here and I hear that Riordan stopped in (at the Valley office) once (during his two terms). Q: You are in charge of special projects primarily secession and council redistricting. Let’s start with redistricting, a sensitive issue here in the Valley. What is your role in all this? A: Folks in the Valley are unhappy with the imbalance of the current layout of the districts. For example, Van Nuys is actually part of five different council districts and when you are on the periphery of so many districts you tend to get shortchanged. So what we are trying to do is to have a minimum of about five and a half whole council districts for the entire San Fernando Valley, as opposed to three now. Now, with charter reform, for the first time we have a committee on redistricting and we are trying to increase participation in the process by telling our constituents to attend public hearings on the issue. We want them to realize that this is a whole new baby, that this committee will have a big impact on their recommendations to the full city council. Q: And what about secession? A: My role is to get the message out that the mayor opposes secession, that it doesn’t provide any resolution for the concerns of residents and that it doesn’t make any sense on paper. The other thing is my mandate by the mayor to make sure that the city does everything it can to get it on the ballot in 2002 so the voters can decide. I’m killing myself to make that happen by coordinating the internal team with the city attorney’s office. We have regular meetings regarding LAFCO requests, such as with the discussion over alimony. We are going department by department citywide to make sure we are doing everything we can to make sure that that $60 million is as close as it can be. We think it is actually much, much higher. So I have to kind of sell both positions internally too: Yes, the mayor disagrees with secession, but he also wants us to do everything we can to let the voters decide the issue. Q: Why do you think secession is such a bad remedy for the problems business leaders and residents here say needs fixing? A: I just think that a new Valley city would not be fiscally viable and, looking at LAFCO’s analysis, that’s become more clear than ever. They won’t have enough cash in reserves to survive on top of revenue neutrality payments. I live here, and I wouldn’t want to live in a city that has such a small reserve and faces so many fiscal challenges. Q: You are personally close to the communities of the northeast Valley. What are their views on secession and what is it they say they need most from city government? A: The folks that are aware of the issue, and there’s very few of them, say they just want the basic kinds of infrastructure upgrades: better sidewalks, good streets, that sort of thing. And the few folks I’ve talked to that are aware of secession say they don’t see how the quality of services can be improved. They say there’s only two ways to do it: raise taxes or make cuts, and neither of those options are good for the people who face some of the challenges that we have in the northeast Valley. Q: If a vote were to be held tomorrow, which way do you think it would go, based on what you know about the Valley? A: I don’t think it would pass. I’ve had folks that are staunch secessionists tell us (they) have a feeling it won’t pass either. But the part we all agree on is that this exercise has brought an increased amount of attention to the San Fernando Valley and, if nothing else, that’s a very good thing. Q: How are you working to get the word out to those who tell you they don’t know what the pros and cons of a breakup are? A: What we are trying to do is affect some of the opinion makers and leaders of the business and community groups here in the Valley, so that ideally it affects their members. We intend to do a lot of that through workshops and public hearings, getting the word out that there are alternatives for making things better. Q: Aside from secession and redistricting, what, in your view, are the top concerns of Valley business leaders and what are you doing to address them? A: What we are hearing a lot of concern about is business tax reform. We are still trying to assemble all the council-appointed members of the business tax reform committee. But the reality is I don’t think we are going to be looking at any major tax reform that would affect revenue to the city immediately. I think we should try to look at figuring out better accounting measures to eliminate some frustration and we are definitely going to look at that. And, instead of it all falling on me, we are going to have members of the mayor’s business team right here in the Valley interacting with the business community and I think it’s actually very, very exciting. Q: The attacks of Sept. 11, coupled with an already softened economy, have impacted businesses of all sizes and scope. However, many say they don’t see much long-term impact. Do you agree? A: I hope that it is short-lived, and I think it may be, because small to medium businesses are what drive the economies in a large city and in the Valley we have a tremendous amount of those. I think we should figure out how to do more buying with one another, because that’s the type of business that would help us get out of the woods a little bit faster. Q: Your background before working for Padilla and Hahn was in the private sector, and you are mid-way through the MBA program at Pepperdine. Do you plan to abandon all that for a career in politics? A: I get that question all the time. I think I may be the youngest deputy mayor in the city ever. So long term I’m just happy to serve for the mayor. As corny as it sounds, I really do just want to make my community and the city a better place. I got started with Padilla. He literally came and asked me to help him change the world. I took him up on it and I’ve had no regrets since. SNAPSHOT Felipe Fuentes Title: Deputy mayor, San Fernando Valley and special projects Age: 30 Education: B.A. in political science, UCLA Most admired person: Grandfather, Felipe Career turning point: Serving as field representative for City Councilman Alex Padilla Personal: Engaged