Today’s Brief is a mix of current news and some news from last week.
News
- Welcome to Santa Clarita, Population 478,293? It’s not only possible but likely and “expected” that the Santa Clarita Valley will one day be home to as many as a half a million people, The Signal reported last week. Jim Holt at The Signal focused mainly on water issues that would confront an SCV that big and also talked with city Community Development chief Paul Brotzman about the topic, who told The Signal that, “Every year, year-in and year-out, for the last 40 years, California has grown by 400,000 and 500,000 a year. Assuming California will continue to grow, where are they all going to go?” And the no-growthers of the SCV said, “SOMEWHERE ELSE!”
- Gay Marriage ruling, the County, and SCV reaction: The California Supreme Court has run “roughshod” over the will of California voters on gay marriage according to conservative State Senator George Runner. Republican Buck McKeon also had some words for the Court after the decision was announced two weeks ago: “Under no circumstance should the courts be allowed to show such utter disregard for the democratic process,” he said. While the outrage level may be high, local agencies like Los Angeles County still have to “prepare for a slew of marriage license applications and civil weddings” in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, reports the Daily Breeze. The Breeze says the County is “beefing up its volunteer staff, extending hours at offices that issue marriage license and perform ceremonies and providing staff with additional training about the court’s order.” Gay couples should be able to legally wed by June 16. So are there any same-sex couples in the SCV who will tie the knot next month in Santa Clarita in one of our few liberal churches? I’ll try to find out and cover it if possible.
- Little upward trending blue line indicates SCV Housing market getting healthier: That noise you heard last week was the collective rejoicing of hundreds of SCV realtors and real estate-associated professionals who must have been happy with the fresh April numbers on SCV home sales. According to our pals at the Southland Realtor Association, home sales jumped 18% from March to April and the median price increased some 2% from March. Condos did fairly well too with 67 units sold, a 24% jump from March. Those numbers still put us way down compared to April of 2007, but we’ll take all the progress we can get right? County econ czar Jack Keyser thinks so: “I think people are starting to venture back into the housing market.” The Daily News has the write-up while SRAR has the raw PDF data sheet. As for foreclosures? Well, the SCV is doing better than most markets, but according to the Daily News’ foreclosure tracking database, many SCV homes have been foreclosed on since January.
- Commish appointments at tonight’s City Council meeting: This one kind of snuck in under the radar. Katie Geyer reports in today’s Signal that City Councilmembers Laurie Ender and Bob Kellar will “appoint or reappoint” two planning commission seats tonight. Long time Planning commissioner Mike Berger is set to leave his post July 31. Also in the docket for commissioner appointments: Kellar and Ender will appoint or reappoint Parks Commision seats belonging to Laura Hauser and Duane Huarte, respectively. And Frank Ferry will have the opportunity to appoint someone to take Laurie Ender’s seat on the Parks Commission. But wait, there’s more! Oddly enough, there are also two seats on the brand-spanking-new Open Space accountability and audit panel that will “expire in July.” Kellar and Ender (Are you eseing a pattern here?) will have the chance to appoint or reappoint individuals to the seats occupied now by Spencer Leafdale and Al Ferdman, respectively. I’m confused….the makeup of the Open Space panel was settled at the February 12 Council meeting, how is that that some seats are now expiring? Also, Calvin Hedman resigned his spot on the open space panel due to “business reasons.” Signal report
- Newhall Ranch land valued at $2.6 billion in early 2007, now? There was an update last week in the continuing saga of Newhall Land/LandSource/Cal Pers, and the debt owed on the 15,000 acres of “undeveloped land in the Santa Clarita Valley” that changed hands from Lennar to LandSource/CalPers last year in a complicated deal. The AP used the word “scrambling” to describe the urgency in LandSource’s attempts to restructure the $1.24 billion it owes on the land, which was put on LandSource’s books before the real estate meltdown. As we all know by now, Landsource received a notice of default on April 22 and has been in discussions with creditors ever since. The AP says those creditors are a “syndicate of more than 100 banks headed by Barclays Capital.” AP Report
- Council to decide $1.2 million purchase of Newhall buildings: The City Council will decide tonight whether to purchase some 6,200 sq. ft. of property in downtown Newhall in order to “clear the way for a new library” at the intersection of Main Street & Lyons Avenue. Katie Geyer at The Signal reports that the city already owns some of the land at the location, including the “parcels occupied by CarQuest Auto Parts and the Paws for Fun dog grooming” business and is already in neogitations to buy the site of a body piercing store. If approved and accepted by the land-owners, the businesses would become tenants until the City and County start building a 16,000 to 30,000 sq. ft. library. Other properties in the are include the historic Newhall jail building, which is currently occupied by a florist. Link
- HOAs hard hit by real estate troubles: Delinquencies on HOA dues and payments have soared as foreclosures have risen, even in Santa Clarita, according to a Daily News report. One property management company, Euclid Management, oversees some 38 associations in the SCV and says homeonwers started missing payments about 18 months ago. Now, he says, “lawns are brown, weeds are growing and neighbors are upset” as a result of unpaid dues piling up. Options for HOAs and property management companies are limited, especially if the homes go into foreclosure. Jerry Berrios has more.
- Flights out of Palmdale to be adjusted, may not be viable: Flights from Palmdale Int’l to San Francisco started on 50 passenger jets nearly a year ago, but so far, most flights are only a third full. The lack of use is making authorities consider using “fuel-effecient turboprop” planes rather than the jets. ““It’s not going quite as well as we would like it,” one official said. Link
- Santa Clarita Transit may get $2.8 million transit tech: The City Council will decide tonight whether to spend some $2.8 million to build a “Transit Information Network” that would track city buses, paratransit vehicles and other vehicles with GPS technology and would assist Santa Clarita Transit in monitoring and improving “key performance indicators such as on-time performance, fare collections, and ADA compliance.” The system would also include “electronic stop annunciators” (”Now approaching McBean Parkway and Valencia Blvd”) and would alert the general public about any delays in local and commuter service. All this tech whiz-bang and the $2.8 million price tag might have you upset since most of us drive our cars; but don’t worry, Uncle Sam is picking up 81% of the tab. The project involves city transit and IT staff and the contractor is based in New Zealand. Awesome Project
- Trash rates may go up: The City Council is set to discuss trash fees tonight. Katie Geyer reports rates may go up 4 percent if the council approves an amendment to franchise agreements it holds with two waste haulers. One wonders if the MRF plays a part in this. Link
- West Nile found in SCV bird: It’s that time of the year again, and once more a bird (a crow this time) in the SCV has been found with the West Nile Virus, according to the Los Angeles Times. That’s nothing compared to Orange County though, where at least a dozen birds have been found with the disease that can jump over to humans and even kill elderly or those with compromised immune systems. What’s helping the virus spread? Vector officials say foreclosed homes with un-maintained pools are breeding mosquitos all over the OC. Thank goodness we take care of our pools here. Link
Miscellaneous
- Evaluating the Tejon Ranch deal: Was the agreement announced earlier this month to set aside up to 240,000 acres of land in the Tejon Ranch area for open space a clever divide-and-conquer strategy by a developer or a win-win for environmentalists? More press is emerging on the deal, including an AP story where a condor expert says the Tejon Ranch company tried to buy his silence. And then, on the flip side, a pair of environmentalists with the Audubon Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council say it was a good deal that will stop the Tejon Ranch area from turning into a new Santa Clarita: “Newhall and Valencia have sprawled for decades… There, conservationists have been battling against piecemeal development for years — winning some and losing some — and the result is a patchwork of housing subdivisions, commercial projects and unconnected open space.”
- Signal columnist backs white supremacist for judge: Roger Gitlin, the Signal’s ultra-right wing commentator, had a Sunday column in which he examined the various candidates for judges for the June 3rd election. Of one contest for office in the Superior Court, Gitlin had this to say of candidate Bill Johnson: “The notorious Los Angeles Times called candidate Johnson a racist. Coming from the Times, a charge like that is very much suspect. Maybe it’s a cheap shot…” Actually, it wasn’t the Times that called Johnson a racist, it was the Los Angeles Metropolitan News-Enterprise, an LA legal journal, which researched Bill Johnson and found that the attorney has written a book under a pseudonym that “advocated deportation of non-whites” from the US and proposed repealing the 14th and 15th Amendements. The Times merely noted the story in a blog post. Does the idea of a white supremacist as a judge make you a bit worried? Don’t; Gitlin emailed him and didn’t “detect any racist leanings.” Link