Hollywood Secessionists Hit the Streets

LOS ANGELES–Supporters of Hollywood’s efforts to break away from the city of Los Angeles say they’ll hit the streets again this morning, hoping to gather more than 2,000 additional signatures to meet a key Nov. 3 deadline.

Leaders of Hollywood Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, or VOTE, thought they already had more than the required 19,660 valid signatures needed to launch a state-mandated secession feasibility study. But on Friday, LA County election officials told the group they were 2,604 signatures short–largely because many people signed their petitions more than once.

“We’re going door-to-door again in every neighborhood, and our signature-gatherers will be at every supermarket in the area,” says Gene La Pietra, founder of Hollywood VOTE. “We’re confident that we’ll be able to get the signatures we need.”