Instead of attending the Santa Clarita City Council meeting last night, I slacked off and rented the film “Cloverfield,” the mysterious and frightening film about a disaster in NYC. Of course even in my leisure, I can’t escape the SCV; watching the Special Features section of the DVD revealed that several important scenes had been shot in, you guessed it, our own Santa Clarita Valley.
News
- That’s Couniclmember Laurie Ender to you bub: Laurie Ender and Bob Kellar were sworn in as City Councilmembers at Tuesday’s meeting and the city council and community members also bid farewell and thanks to Couniclmember TimBen Boydston, who did more than take care of the seat he was appointed to in December 2006. Not much on Boydston’s exit in the Signal’s coverage today; for that you’ll need to read I Heart’s account of the meeting, which covers Boydston’s exit, Ender’s entrance, new protests over the Avenues project, and more. I Heart concludes that Ender will fit in “just fine” on the new council. Anyway, Old Town Newhall Redevelopment was a big topic at the meeting; The Signal’s Katie Geyer reports that the new City Council “authorized the city to move forward with construction plans” for Old Town Newhall that involve a new storm drain on Main Street, as well as installation of “trees, shrubs, boulders, outdoor cafe seating and benches.” Some voiced the now familiar concerns about disrupting existing businesses during the construction. Also, KHTS has a decent report on the meeting and a quote from Boydston seemingly addressed to Ender.
- Decoding the Newhall Land/LandSource story: So despite having a full day to research and attempt to talk to Newhall Land employees (they’re across the street after all), The Signal did little more than publish Newhall Land’s kinda-sorta/but-not-really press release on the matter of Newhall Land parent LandSource’s troubles in paying off its creditors. I suspect if I really understood all the intricacies of Newhall Land’s relationship with LandSource, Lennar, LNR, CalPers, MW Housing, and all the other vehicles and corporate bodies involved in this story I’d be in the business making coin instead of writing about it, but I’ll do my best. To really understand what’s going on here, you have to go back to Lennar’s 2004 purchase of Newhall Land, which was heralded by some as “brilliant” because it allowed the Miami-based home builder to maximize potential profit while minimizing land-ownership risk. With its purchase, of course, it picked up not only Newhall Land but the 15,000 odd acres of Newhall Ranch and other territory in LA County. Everything appeared to be going swimmingly until 14 months ago though, when Lennar sold off 68% of LandSource -a vehicle Lennar created to obtain more financing for the 2004 deal- to MW Housing Partners, which is involved with CalPers. At the time that deal was completed, LandSource’s holdings were valued at approximately $1.3 billion -double what they were in the 2004. But since then, land value and the real estate market has nosedived, and now LandSource is left holding the bag for its creditors, a fact which has been emphasized by MW Housing Partners and Lennar, one of which told the Wall Street Journal that “none of these equity investors are liable for the debt if LandSource defaults.” So, from the cheap seats, it looks like Newhall Land’s assets were gobbled up by an industry titan (Lennar) only to be spit out at a profit ahead of a collapse in the housing and land market. That’s just my analysis though, so take it for what it’s worth. 2004 article on Lennar’s purchase of Newhall Land, BigBuilder Online article on LandSource’s failure to repay loans, and Wall Street Journal article.
- Speaking of holding the bag: Is the Hart District trying to avoid laying off teachers by instead eliminating teacher-like Resource Instructional Assistants? That seems to be the gist of what some at the SCV’s only junior and senior high district are saying after the District announced that it was eliminating all 30 of the Instructional Assistant positions. The assistants work directly with special needs students and one assistant told The Signal that “I don’t think the public is aware of how much the students are going to be affected.” All this as a result of the District attempting to make ends meet ahead of a state budget that might cut some $10 million from Hart’s coffers. Sharon Cotal covers this well with a pair of articles in today’s Signal.
- A story just begging for a creative headline and lede: No bulls*** here…three bulls were found hanging out in front of a Walgreens in Castaic on Monday night. CHP officers responded and by a stroke of luck found the owner of the bulls who herded them into a trailer and back to his property without incident. “I couldn’t believe how easy it was,” the copper said. “Those guys are good cowboys.” Of course they are, we have a Cowboy Festival to celebrate them after all. Parimal Rohit reports.
- And another animal story with a less than happy ending: The wires were filled with reports yesterday about a 39 year old Canyon Country man named Stephan Miller who was killed by a 700-pound grizzly bear at a movie training compound near Big Bear Lake. The bear, named Rocky, “lunged at Miller and bit him in the neck. ” Miller was pronounced dead at the scene. Miller’s cousin Randy worked as a stunt double with Rocky in a recent Will Ferrell movie. Cal OSHA and Department of Fish and Game are investigating. Link
- More headline nonsense: The Signal’s coverage of March Real Estate numbers is swell but its headline might be a bit optimistic “SCV HOME SALES ON REBOUND,” the paper reports, leading off with the fact that more homes and condos were sold in March than in February. But overall, there’s still a lot to think about: the median house price fell some 19% from March of 2007 to $470,000. That’s still $10,000 more than January’s low median house price of $460,000. The Signal spoke with a local realtor about the numbers: “Has the worst passed? Perhaps. But ti will take many months to work out the impacts that foreclosures have on the market.” In today’s Signal or you can read the Daily News report.
- Jon Dell blogs Sacramento trip: For the second time, some of the city’s “biggest movers and shakers” have taken a trip on board a bus to Sacramento to meet with and lobby Sacramento “movers and shakers” like Cameron Smyth, School Superintendent O’Connel, CalTrans honcho Will Kempton, and others. Jon Dell, KHTS news director, doesn’t give a whole lot of names of who’s on the bus, but says the group is comprised of “school superintendents, board members, Lawyers, theater directors, non-profit CEOs, water experts and one Mayor who liked cracking jokes from the back of the bus.” His day one report is here.
- Details on Bristol Farms grocery store in Bridgeport Marketplace: “Plans for Bristol Farms in Valencia include individual “shops” with full facades and themed props, including a fresh juice and smoothie counter, a fresh sushi department with sushi made onsite every day, a coffee bar and an eat-in cafe. The wine area, with its four walls, wine racks and roof trellis, resembles a specialty wine boutique.” Opening in October. More Sushi for the SCV = Nice!
- COC Students head to Santa Barbara to protest .edu cuts: At least 15 COC students traveled all the way to Santa Barbara to protest “against proposed California higher education budget cuts that would cause future tuition increases.” The COC delegation was apparently lead by the college’s ASG president who’s quote in the Cal State Long Beach newspaper sounds like it was written by a professional: “Higher education is very important and higher education is the gateway into the career world. If we raise tuition, we’re essentially hurting our economy.”
Miscellaneous
- George Runner on foreclosure mess: The conservative State Senator who’s termed out this fall has been quite vocal lately. He opens up with an essay on the foreclosure crisis, the credit crunch, and homeowners who borrowed more than they could afford. Link
- Buck takes from Doolittle:Santa Clarita’s Congressman Buck McKeon has just hired a new executive assistant named Candace Dodge. Dodge, a 2005 grad of Cal State Sacramento was an executive assistant to Representative John Doolittle, California’s 4th District conservative Republican who’s been tied in with the Abramoff scandal. Last year McKeon was one of few California Republicans to offer tepid support for Doolittle while he was under fire for various controversies.
- Tim Myers continues dissecting City Council election: Very interesting post today from Tim Myers, the number-crunching blogger at West Ranch Beacon. Myers apparently went to city hall to get detailed election returns for various precincts in Santa Clarita in the wake of Laurie Ender’s stunning victory two weeks ago. What did he find? Well, in one way the results are surprising; in another way they’re not. According to Myers, Ender dominated in “precincts north of the Santa Clara River that abut Bridgeport, Northpark and Helmers Elementary; the base of Laurie Ender’s PTA support. In those three precincts Laurie Ender garnered 511 votes more than the nearest finisher; capturing a stunning 48% of the total votes cast. In precinct number 6, which abuts Helmers Elementary; the absolute seat of Laurie Ender’s base, she captured a stunning 54% of ALL votes cast, beating the nearest competitor by more than 300!” Myers concludes his column by saying that the race “revealed a new Balkanization in Santa Clarita politics” something he says he’ll discuss next week. Could we at long last be headed for a District-based rather than At-Large City Council? Inquiring minds want to know! Link