Tour of California riders depart Town Center (Photo Courtesy of Ryan Drake, click picture for full photo info)
- Tour of California not as beneficial for City Coffers this time around: Because we only hosted a stage start rather than a stage finish, city officials don’t think our ‘take’ from the Tour’s visit to the SCV will yield anything close to the $2 million we made last year, but, as City economics guru Jason Crawford says, “the media exposure is 10-fold [this year] because of Lance Armstrong riding.” Melissa Gasca at The Signal explains. That’s right, Lance Armstrong coming soon to future City propaganda/tourism videos.
- Senator George Runner to leave office early, run for Board of Equalization: State Senator George Runner, a conservative representing the 17th District and much of Santa Clarita, announced over the weekend that he will leave the California Senate to run for the state’s Board of Equalization, the state’s tax board. Runner told the AV Press that his decision to run for the BOE “is a way to continue to stand up and be a part of fighting for taxpayers in the state of California.” Runner would have been termed out in the state senate in 2012. He won reelection in November. Smyth, Strickland et al have already lined up behind Runner run (ha!); he’ll be facing Roy Ashburn, a Republican from Bakersfield, who voted yes on the tax increases in the state budget last week. GeorgeRunner.com has already been updated but inquiring minds want to know, who replaces Runner? Blew this one. Runner is not leaving office per se, he’s still senator. Apologies.
- Speaking of Runner, he was the instigator of Senate rebellion: Remember the high drama last week as the state budget was still being debated in the California Senate? Well, in the midst of all that, the Republican Senators ousted their leader, Dave Cogdill. The LA Times now reports that it was George Runner who initially “made the motion to dump Cogdill as Senate Minority leader to prevent an agreement that includes taxes.” The Times has more on that and the meeting of California Republicans this weekend.
- And closer to home, TimBen Boydston back in the news: He appeared last week at a meeting of SCOPE, one of the more vocal environmental groups in the SCV, and had quite a bit to say about development, planning, and city leadership in this Signal article. The former City Councilman/theater director told the Signal he doesn’t want the SCV to become “another San Fernando Valley, but that’s where we’re going,” if the city doesn’t change its ways. The SCOPE people, only to happy to have such star power at their meeting, fantasized about capping the SCV’s population at 326,000 (lol, is that even Constitutional?) but TimBen’s focus is mostly on development and, it would appear, City development chief Paul Brontzman (who is a staffer, not an elected person).
- MRF rhymes with Smurf, but that’s where the fun ends: So tomorrow night at the City Council meeting, city officials will announce that they are forming a committee to help find a site for the infamous Materials Recovery Facility. The MRF is a special waste collection and processing facility that will sort out recyclables from regular trash, and it’s actually a good thing because it will help the city reach a state-mandated recycling-to-trash ratio. The last time it came up before the council, community residents in Canyon Country organized rapidly to fight a proposed location on Sierra Highway. The City is hoping this time it will go smoother. Jon Dell has the details on how the proposed committee might pick a better spot.
- People filing state taxes early to get refund: The Signal says some taxpayers in the SCV filed their state taxes early hoping to preempt the state’s decision to give IOUs instead of tax refunds. It hasn’t worked out well for at least one person in the article, who filed in January but hasn’t received anything back from the state yet. Another person depends on their state return to fund vacations. Unlike these people, I owe the state every year because I’m not interested in giving them an interest free loan for an entire year.
- Local Obama supporters to issue challenge to local elected boards: Interesting tactic from the new 200+ person strong Organizing for Change Obama group in the SCV: starting at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the group will ask the City to adopt a resolution asking Congressman McKeon to support “President Obama’s program for recovery,” ie the stimulus bill, which McKeon has slammed mercilessly as pork. Bart Bishop, LTE writer, says the request “expresses specific dissappointment in McKeon’s participation in the group of obstructionists in the US House and asks him to proceed with better judgment in the event of future legislation.” But the local elected boards are mostly Republican, what do they care for a bunch of activist liberals? Tim Myers, Signal columnist, answers that saying that the group will call their bluff and ask the local boards “to decline any relief provided by the stimulus.” Tim Myers’ column is worth reading on its own; his use of the word “rump” to describe Republican fortunes in Washington is classic.
- City touts its green cred: In a press release issued last week before the Tour of CA rolled into town, the City of Santa Clarita talked up its green initiatives, saying that city buildings have been refurbished, “saving 439,000 kilowatt hours of energy and 350,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.” The city also says retrofits to irrigation controllers will allow it to “determine exactly how long to run sprinklers.” The Signal has the press release.
- Alan Pollack investigates James Dean & SCV: Did the movie star actually have his last meal at a restaurant in Santa Clarita before he died in a car wreck? Or is that just another SCV suburban legend? Local history man Allan Pollack investigates and the Signal has a good article on the whole affair.
- So long Jettster, thanks for all your service: I’m a sucker for dog stories like this one: the Signal says an 11 year old Swiss Mountain dog known as Jettster died last week. So what you ask? Well Jettster was a Henry Mayo therapy dog, and the giant pooch worked the halls of the hospital for 10 of his 11 years, bringing relief and happiness to sick children and injured adults alike. So long Jettster, see you at the big dog park in the sky.