1.   Activists in the South Bay also jumped into the fray this year, pursuing a secession study in the Wilmington and San Pedro sections of Los Angeles Unified.

2.   Advocates of the secession study have submitted a plan for the breakup to LAFCO.

3.   Even as Valley VOTE scrambled for the last signatures, the proposed secession study began taking shape.

4.   The decision on the terms of the breakup will be resolved by the county Local Agency Formation Commission, which has been conducting the secession study.

5.   The state Senate unanimously approved a bill that would give San Fernando Valley activists three more months to circulate petitions calling for a secession study.

6.   While Valley Vote had gathered enough signatures to initiate a mandatory secession study, the numbers left no cushion against possibly invalid names.