In 2002, 67% of voters in Los Angeles City and 49% of voters in the San Fernando Valley came out against the proposed secession of the San Fernando Valley, San Pedro, and Hollywood regions. Nearly two decades later, though these geographies remain part of LA City, the political forces and city government responses that shaped this political battle are very much with us today.

Through the lens of the secession vote, this class explores the development of homeowners associations as political forces in Los Angeles, and examines tactics deployed by this movement in response to a shifting political and demographic terrain. As a reaction to the burgeoning movement for secession, LA City government reworked the city's 71-year-old charter in the late 1990s “to provide a more responsive and less complicated political structure” — introducing for the first time Neighborhood Councils, described by the city today as a source of “local expertise and a local voice on the delivery of City services to their communities.” The limitations and opportunities of Neighborhood Councils remain contested today; this class seeks to ground contemporary debates and strategy in a deeper understanding of the origin of these political forces and structures.

Join the DSA-LA Political Education Committee for our final class of the Political Education Committee's 5-Part Night School Series: Lost Angles The LA Secession Wars on Thursday, September 10 at 6PM.

Each session features a brief, informal presentation followed by facilitated discussion designed to engage all levels and connect current events to foundational socialist concepts and debates.