Daily Brief – August 29, 2007

Nothing like a good city council meeting to fill the sails of the HMS SCVTalk.com and carry her through the summer doldrums. In other words, my muse is back from her long vacation. Okay, enough with the metaphors. There's a lot to talk about in today's Daily Brief. There will be even more to talk about in my City Council notes, which should be posted today.

News

All councilmembers want Mayo to commit hospital construction: One of the key issues separating those who support Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial hospital's expansion plan from those who oppose it is that the expansion plan does not require Mayo to construct a new inpatient hospital building at all. Opponents to the hospital's plan charge that only medical office buildings are required to be built, but Mayo officials say they can't commit to the hospital portion of the plan for business and regulatory reasons. That topic, along with many others, was on the table at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, and as Jon Dell of KHTS reports, all five councilmembers "called for some form of commitment to building a hospital before other components of the plan could be enacted." No vote was held on the issue and discussions will continue September 25.
Eight year old boy honored for saving sister: Daniel Fennessy, Saugus, rescued his 17 month old sister from his family's swimming pool back in May. The youngster had the presence of mind to call 911, calmly report the problem to dispatchers and his actions saved the toddler's life. The boy and his family were honored at Tuesday night's city council meeting where Sheriffs, fire department officials and city staff congratluted the eight year old and presented him with certificates and pins. CBS 2 story. correction: I don't think Sheriff Lee Baca was actually there. ed note: Finally some good press for the sheriff's station. Oh, and I hate to be the one to ask this, but where were the parents at the time?
"The Mexicans are taking over!" A 36 year old reputed Newhall gang member threatened to kill employees at a Lyons Avenue restaraunt this weekend according to Sheriff's reports. Alvardo Dominguez reportedly told the white employees that "You whites don't belong here," and "The Mexicans are taking over," before making the threats. He was arrested later after the employees called deputies to the scene. The Signal's headline says the Latino man has plead not guilty to "hate crime charges" but that's a misnomer. Dominguez has been charged with making "felony criminal threats," according to the same Signal report which seems to be basically a rewrite of Sheriff's department incident report. Link
Get your public art fix in Newhall: Three murals celebrating Santa Clarita history were unveiled Tuesday in Old Town Newhall. Signal writer Jerry Berrios has a report as does Margie Ann Clark, a freelance writer, who's adjective-laden report is posted on ValleyNews.com
McKeon hopes to loosen NCLB testing on English Learners: The conservative Republican representing Santa Clarita and California's 25th District has been one of the key lawmakers addressing the renewal of President Bush's No Child Left Behind act, and his name was attached to a revision to the landmark education bill that would "loosen testing rules for students with limited English skills," according to the Associated Press. Details here
Development hearing, Pico Canyon Fire, and more: The County's Planning Commission has rescheduled an appeal hearing on a nearly 500 home development in Canyon Country for September 25. That and more in the Signal's news briefs
Heat and Health alert: Santa Clarita will be the hottest area in Los Angeles county today and tomorrow, with temps in Newhall expected to hit 105. Katie Geyer has a report

Another Mayo Hospital report: I Heart SCV watched the third marathon City Council session last night and has a report for us hungry consumers of all things SCV:

Fittingly, it was David Gauny, chairperson for Smart Growth SCV[2] who began the comments in opposition of the hospital’s revised master plan. He came off as articulate, informed and—dare I say it?—righteous in his three-minute oration. He stated very clearly that he and those in his group needed to be assured that the project would expand the hospital and not just build medical office buildings. He added that this was the portion of the project Seaver had been reluctant to fully commit to. Furthermore, he noted that key elements of the plan, like a development agreement, were unacceptably missing. Before he had returned to his seat, Mayor McLean let out an exasperated moan-sigh and challenged Gauny directly, asking him for exactly what he wanted (how many buildings, etc…). Gauny again cited flaws in the plan at the most fundamental level that prevented him from being able to make such specific requests. Ferry got his turn to be exasperated next, but he would save his largest outburst for later.

Details on YAFOB (Yet Another Ferry Outburst) plus I Heart SCV's message to HMHNMH's doomed community Christmas Holiday Tree can be found here

Comments (2)

PaulineAugust 29 at 9:42 AM PT

Regarding hospital issue: Besides the fact that David Gauny was treated rather shabbily last night, there is a bottom line to the hospital expansion master plan. And the bottom line goes right back to the original development agreement that contained a clause that frees G&L Realty from any obligation to actually build any kind of hospital expansion. Last night, Roger Seaver said he is committed to building a hospital expansion but he cannot guarantee his commitment in writing. Here we are again, Henry Mayo and G&L refuse to put an actual hospital expansion in writing. Seaver is "reluctant" to put his "commitment" in writing because the hospital's financial situation cannot be predicted by the time a hospital expansion becomes ready to implement. Yet G&L has all the money they need for office buildings, so why can't G&L (and Henry Mayo) commit in writing to the "promised" hospital expansion they are using as a lure to get the master plan approved? If it isn't in writing, all promises and commitments from Henry Mayo and G&L Realty to build this expansion cannot be taken seriously. Why was there no Development Agreement presented with the master plan last night? We need to see if that clause in the original Development Agreement freeing G&L from any obligation to build a hospital expansion is still going to be included in the new Development Agreement. This is a serious issue that would mean the expansion should not be approved without a commitment in writing that says G&L must complete the hospital expansion. Seems to me that this presentation, minus the Development Agreement and the new EIR should not even have taken place. How can we judge the entire proposal when the entire proposal was incomplete last night? No EIR, no Development Agreement, why was this not tabled until the entire proposal was completed? How can an informed decision be made about this expansion without all the information? Roger Seaver complained that this issue has gone on much longer than they expected. Yet if there had not been so much dishonesty and collusion from Henry Mayo and G&L Realty, this would not have become the convoluted mess it now is. All we are asking for is honesty and G&L/Henry Mayo promises and commitments. in writing. That is not really so much to ask for, but we are not only (once again) not getting this so-called commitment for a hospital expansion in writing, we don't even have a Development Agreement or an EIR at this point in time, even after having an entire summer to produce these documents; just more secrets and collusion from G&L Realty and Henry Mayo. Pauline Harte.

PaulineAugust 29 at 10:41 AM PT

According to a clause of the original Development Agreement, G&L would not commit to the hospital expansion that they continually use as a lure to get an approval FOR this so-called hospital expansion. Here is the clause in the original (currently being revised) Section 4.6 of G&L Development Agreement: “Nothing in this agreement is intended, should be construed nor shall require Developer to proceed with the construction of any Project Improvements on the Campus Property.” In other words, the G&L Carpetbaggers didn't have to do a hospital expansion at all. If they built all the office buildings and parking structures and then waved bye-bye, we would have no power to insist that they expand the hospital as "PROMISED," as Roger Seaver pledges with his "commitment." Now we are told a new Development Agreement is being crafted, but it was not ready for last night's presentation. How do we know if this clause that frees G&L from any obligation to build a hospital expansion will be included again? We don't, but we did hear Roger Seaver confirming that HIS "commitment" to build an actual hospital expansion could not be put in writing as an actual guarantee. In the original EIR, G&L deliberately lied about the square footage of the expansion. They omitted the parking structures from the square footage total and entered a figure in the EIR that was a blatant misrepresentation of the size of the expansion, which is around 1.2 million square feet instead of the 850,000 square feet given by G&L. The Los Angeles County Fire Department issued G&L a notice dated September 26th, 2006 regarding G&L's omission of the parking structure square footage and ordered G&L to include the square footage of the parking structures in their EIR; they did not. So.....without the new revised EIR last night, we have no idea if G&L has once again refused to be honest about the square footage of the expansion. And intelligent, informed decisions were expected last night with such an incomplete proposal being presented by Henry Mayo and G&L? No Development Agreement and no EIR means there is WAY too much dishonesty again from G&L and Henry Mayo. What are they trying to hide, and why? And after all this time and all these revised plans, we still have no commitment in writing that assures us a hospital expansion will ever be built by G&L as "promised" so it is clear that all we are getting in this dirty deal is a bunch of office buildings without the hospital expansion that Henry Mayo continues to use as lure to get the expansion approved. Pauline Harte.

PaulineAugust 29 at 9:42 AM PT
Regarding hospital issue: Besides the fact that David Gauny was treated rather shabbily last night, there is a bottom line to the hospital expansion master plan. And the bottom line goes right back to the original development agreement that contained a clause that frees G&L Realty from any obligation to actually build any kind of hospital expansion. Last night, Roger Seaver said he is committed to building a hospital expansion but he cannot guarantee his commitment in writing. Here we are again, Henry Mayo and G&L refuse to put an actual hospital expansion in writing. Seaver is "reluctant" to put his "commitment" in writing because the hospital's financial situation cannot be predicted by the time a hospital expansion becomes ready to implement. Yet G&L has all the money they need for office buildings, so why can't G&L (and Henry Mayo) commit in writing to the "promised" hospital expansion they are using as a lure to get the master plan approved? If it isn't in writing, all promises and commitments from Henry Mayo and G&L Realty to build this expansion cannot be taken seriously. Why was there no Development Agreement presented with the master plan last night? We need to see if that clause in the original Development Agreement freeing G&L from any obligation to build a hospital expansion is still going to be included in the new Development Agreement. This is a serious issue that would mean the expansion should not be approved without a commitment in writing that says G&L must complete the hospital expansion. Seems to me that this presentation, minus the Development Agreement and the new EIR should not even have taken place. How can we judge the entire proposal when the entire proposal was incomplete last night? No EIR, no Development Agreement, why was this not tabled until the entire proposal was completed? How can an informed decision be made about this expansion without all the information? Roger Seaver complained that this issue has gone on much longer than they expected. Yet if there had not been so much dishonesty and collusion from Henry Mayo and G&L Realty, this would not have become the convoluted mess it now is. All we are asking for is honesty and G&L/Henry Mayo promises and commitments. in writing. That is not really so much to ask for, but we are not only (once again) not getting this so-called commitment for a hospital expansion in writing, we don't even have a Development Agreement or an EIR at this point in time, even after having an entire summer to produce these documents; just more secrets and collusion from G&L Realty and Henry Mayo. Pauline Harte.
PaulineAugust 29 at 10:41 AM PT
According to a clause of the original Development Agreement, G&L would not commit to the hospital expansion that they continually use as a lure to get an approval FOR this so-called hospital expansion. Here is the clause in the original (currently being revised) Section 4.6 of G&L Development Agreement: “Nothing in this agreement is intended, should be construed nor shall require Developer to proceed with the construction of any Project Improvements on the Campus Property.” In other words, the G&L Carpetbaggers didn't have to do a hospital expansion at all. If they built all the office buildings and parking structures and then waved bye-bye, we would have no power to insist that they expand the hospital as "PROMISED," as Roger Seaver pledges with his "commitment." Now we are told a new Development Agreement is being crafted, but it was not ready for last night's presentation. How do we know if this clause that frees G&L from any obligation to build a hospital expansion will be included again? We don't, but we did hear Roger Seaver confirming that HIS "commitment" to build an actual hospital expansion could not be put in writing as an actual guarantee. In the original EIR, G&L deliberately lied about the square footage of the expansion. They omitted the parking structures from the square footage total and entered a figure in the EIR that was a blatant misrepresentation of the size of the expansion, which is around 1.2 million square feet instead of the 850,000 square feet given by G&L. The Los Angeles County Fire Department issued G&L a notice dated September 26th, 2006 regarding G&L's omission of the parking structure square footage and ordered G&L to include the square footage of the parking structures in their EIR; they did not. So.....without the new revised EIR last night, we have no idea if G&L has once again refused to be honest about the square footage of the expansion. And intelligent, informed decisions were expected last night with such an incomplete proposal being presented by Henry Mayo and G&L? No Development Agreement and no EIR means there is WAY too much dishonesty again from G&L and Henry Mayo. What are they trying to hide, and why? And after all this time and all these revised plans, we still have no commitment in writing that assures us a hospital expansion will ever be built by G&L as "promised" so it is clear that all we are getting in this dirty deal is a bunch of office buildings without the hospital expansion that Henry Mayo continues to use as lure to get the expansion approved. Pauline Harte.