I had a family emergency in the middle of last night’s City Council meeting and this morning I discovered that the recording I made of the webcast had failed in the middle of the Councilmember comments. So, unfortunately, I have no idea what some councilmembers said during their comments, but I’ll do my best to present what I do have.
News
- Mayor Kellar Files Amended Forms: KHTS added the word “Final” to “Amended Forms” in their headline on what might be the last chapter in this month-old story that touched on authentic Santa Clarita themes: real estate and political power and the (according to some) cozy relationship between the two. There’s no mention in either The Signal or KHTS report on the details of the newly filed forms (a who, what, where and how much would have been nice) but Katie Geyer does give us this tidbit: “Kellar filed amendments Tuesday listing names of his individual sources of income of $10,000 or more from 2002 through 2007. He also listed the dates of the transactions.” The Mayor said he was “uncomfortable” disclosing the information because he thinks it violates his responsibility to his real estate clients but even counsel at the California Assocation of Realtors advised him that he should disclose everything. I’m underwhelmed by both reports and may have to look at the amended forms myself, but in the meantime, here’s the reports: KHTS, The Signal
- City Council caves to skaters, gives them $150,000 temp park for their impatience: That’s a deliberately biased headline, but it reflects the truth. At last night’s City Council meeting, members approved a plan to build a $150,000 above-ground temporary skate park for skateboarders who were upset that the City was going to demolish their old skate park while building them a brand new one. Jon Dell at KHTS says the temporary park may actually benefit the City in the future though; the equipment purchased for the temporary park could be leased out or used in special events in the future. No word on the location for the temporary skatepark, though I hear there’s plenty of vacant parking lots in front of SCV furniture stores. Link
- Alleged Gas Station Bandits caught: A male and female team who have allegedly stolen some $230,000 from west coast gas stations, including two in Santa Clarita, have been caught in Washington State, Parimal Rohit reports in today’s Signal. The pair allegedly used tools to steal money directly from PayQuick cash machines near gas pumps. SCV Deputies played a big part in the search for the pair after getting video stills of the suspects at the SCV gas stations. Link
- Do Enterprise Zones actually work? The City of Santa Clarita has made much of the fact that the state has designated a large portion of the SCV a “Business Enterprise Zone” that allows businesses in the zone to take advantage of state tax credits for hiring and equipment purchases. But do the Zones actually work as advertised? The Daily News had a page 1 story yesterday that indicated that even if they do work, it’s hard to judge how effective the politically popular programs are. “But while business leaders and politicians defend the 42 enterprise zones as economic boosters, experts concede there is no definitive way to calculate how many jobs they actually have created or how effective they have been,” Brandon Lowrey at the Daily News writes. A professor of planning at USC told the paper that giant fast food companies like McDonalds often take advantage of the programs. Good article
- CLWA looks to buy water from Yuba County: Water beat reporter Jim Holt writes today that the Castaic Lake Water Agency is expected to approve a plan to buy 850 acre-feet of water from far-away Yuba County in order to “offset any shortage of water in times of drought.” CLWA’s water resources manager explains it this way: “Rather than pulling water out of our bank account, we use their water and save what we have in storage.” Holt says the Agency could spend between $50 and $125 per acre-foot of water (An acre-foot is the amount of water a household typically uses in one year), so by those numbers, the Agency may spend $42,500 and $106,250 for the Yuba County water.
- Preliminary 2007 SCV Crime Statistics Courtesy of Captain LaBerge: Captain Anthony LaBerge has posted a March 2008 message to SCV residents and outlines crime stastistics from 2007. The Captain says the stats were just completed. A cursory glance: In 2007, property crime was up 15% while residential burglaries decreased by 8%. There was a 48% increase in vehicle burglaries and larceny over 2006 numbers, and a 1% increase in violent crime, which the Captain attirbutes to “independent” incidents, not a crime trend. Overall, your SCV Deputies made 6,636 arrests in 2007, 1,000 more than in 2006 under the station’s previous management. Traffic wise- 2,200 collisions in the SCV, 80 involving drunk drivers, and 4 traffic fatalities. Deputies issued some 16,000 traffic citations last year. There were some 57,000 calls for service and 4,300 911 calls. “We are but one agency, we cannot be everywhere, and we cannot do it without you. We need your eyes, ears, and involvement and we realize that,” the Captain concludes in a message rich with impressive (as they are intended to be) numbers. Message to residents
- Smyth bill progresses through Assembly: The freshman Assemblyman representing the SCV and Simi Valley proposed a bill a few months ago that would outlaw posting pictures of high school athletes and cheerleaders on pornographic websites. The bill followed an incident in Orange County where boys water polo players’ pictures ended up on a gay pornography website. The Ventura County Star reports today that Smyth’s bill, AB 2104, received unanimous support in the Assembly Public Safety Committee. It next moves to the Appropriations Committee. LInk
City Council Notes:
- Frank Ferry Committee Mailer: A quote from Dave Gauny who spoke before the City Council on the controversial mailer paid for by Frank Ferry that said Buck McKeon supported Laurie Ender and Bob Kellar for City Council. “What is under-reported and far more dangerous is Ferry’s use of his own campaign money to endorse other candidates. .. Individual contributions to candidates are limited to $360, but Frank Ferry spent $12,000 in mail flyers to tell us who Buck McKeon endorses for our city government. Individual citizens have no hope against that kind of money.” Ferry admitted last week that he may have broken the law when he paid for the mailer. Activist Bruce McFarland also spoke about Ferry’s mailer at the meeting.
- Form 700 Memo from City Counsel: All five members of the City Council voted to “agendize” an item for a future meeting on whether to make public a confidential memo written by City Attorney Carl Newton on the Form 700 mess. Newton emphasized that the memo falls under attorney-client privilege and that the City Council will have to formally vote on whether to make it public.
- MRF Mess: Residents of the Sierra Highway area in Newhall/Canyon Country showed up in force again last night to make sure the City Council knows how much they hate the MRF “dump” idea. Wait, you thought it was dead? Well, Alan Ferdman of the Canyon Country Advisory Committee says it’s not, saying that “things started to unravel” shortly after an email from a Burrtec official announced that the company was putting an EIR review on hold. “It’s obvious that if Burrtec can put the EIR on hold, it can quietly restart it,” Ferdman said. It took at least an hour to cycle through the anti-MRF commenters and they promised to come back again and again (ugh). Jon Dell has more.
- Newhall property to be purchased: “The council also directed the city to finalize the $725,000 purchase of property at 24515 Spruce Street in Downtown Newhall to make room to build the Newhall Library the city and county are planning as part of an effort to revitalize the downtown Newhall area,” reports Katie Geyer in today’s Signal.
Elections & Politics
- KHTS endorses Spierer/Kellar for the second time: Deja vu all over again, but this time with a twist. On March 14, the radio station’s owner Carl Goldman wrote a brief endorsement of Bobs Spierer and Kellar for City Council. Pretty vanilla stuff. But yesterday, the station released a new “KHTS Editorial” that not only endorsed the Bobs but expressed disappointment with “council candidate Laurie Ender decided to take the low road by mailing out a hit piece containing a number of misrepresentations.” That’s in reference to a mailer apparently sent to Valencia neighborhoods that said Bob Spierer hadn’t taken a solid position on the hospital expansion plan. The editorial continues on Ender: ” If she’s doing that now, we’re afraid of what she may be like if she does get handed real power.” Link
- 19th Senate Seat race heats up: The battle to replace Senator Tom McClintock for the 19th Senate District in California is getting attention again. The 19th includes a small slice of the western SCV. This time, the Ventura County Star reports that the GOP challenger Tony Strickland has some $509k to spend on the race while his Democratic opponent Hannah-Beth Jackson has about $209k. Despite the gap, the Star says, Jackson’s donations are picking up. Also in the report: Our Assemblyman Cameron Smyth has some $204k in his war-chest, an amount that’s likely much bigger than his challenger, local Democratic activist Carole Lutness. Link
Blogs & Opinion
- LTE Questions Planner Lisa Hardy Consistency: To some extent, it’s unfair to criticize city staffers who follow the direction of their bosses and the City Council, but when they speak publicly on a matter, as Planning Manager Lisa Hardy did recently on Las Lomas, questioning them seems to be fair game. That’s exactly what Signal reader Lynn Vogel does today in an LTE; the Valencia resident “absolutely” agrees with Lisa Hardy that Las Lomas was a project that was “grossly incompatible with its surrounding.” But Vogel feels the same could be said of the Mayo Expansion project and she wonders why Hardy isn’t consistent. “Lisa has enthusiastically talked about the G&L Project at City Council meetings and how there will be a “healing garden” on the campus. She should walk around the neighborhoods surrounding the hospital campus and then maybe realize that it is so grossly incompatible with its surrounding, it violates every principle of urban planning!”
- Democratic activist blogs on City Council election: Minvera Williams of the SCV Young Democrats has some thoughts on the election, the hospital expansion, and the candidates. Of Laurie Ender, she says: “Do not put Ender on the City Council. She is not her own person or up on the issues. I can’t believe Congressman Buck would demean her publicly by saying she is the instrument which he can use to deal with CEMEX. The woman isn’t a dummy she just isn’t up on the ramifications of large issues. Give her time to grow more,” she writes, concluding, “TimBen will you be available in two years?” Link
- A View of Newhall Ranch from our neighbor to the west: A surprisingly favorable review from the “Just Fillmore Blog” of Newhall Ranch plus a bit about the recent LA City Council motion that questioned the 21,000 home project. A sample: “After more than ten years of discussing, planning, litigating and circumscribing with governmental regulators and citizens alike, Newhall Land and Farming Company found itself a new foe, just as the first “decisive” LA County Board of Supervisors public hearing meeting was set to take center stage.” Link
- CalArts Alum returns to the SCV and writes about it: David Ocker of Pasadena attended our very own CalArts back in the 1970s and he remembers a much different Santa Clarita Valley after visiting his college and parts of the SCV recently. “I wandered toward the cafeteria, site of some of my least memorable composition lessons ever, even though it boasted an awe-inspiring view in 1974 of green onion fields populated by migrant workers which was soon replaced by a view of now mansionized tract homes and green water-hazarded golf courses and which is now obscured by trees.” The writer also mentions Saugus Cafe and remarks on a Newhall Land housing sign near Cal Arts. “The backward pointing arrows tell people “Go back! The new tracts are back that way. Happiness awaits you in your new home!” Interesting
- I Heart on Council Meeting: The blogger covered last night’s meeting and has a good wrap-up at his site. Sample: “Predictably, Bruce McFarland was bashful when he addressed Ferry, beginning: “Let’s play ‘Who broke the law?’” and encouraging the audience to determine who on the council was a “lying, cheating, un-American crook.” Ferry elected not to respond, and McFarland was likely left wondering whether his words were ever-so-slightly over the top (answer: they were).” Link