July 21, 2010 – Daily Brief

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

Care to guess where this was taken? Not in SCV

County Librarian disputes city’s claim that money meant for SCV libraries leaves our community: “The costs that we charge are pretty realistic for a large library system. We’re not spending special tax money elsewhere. Every dollar (collected in Santa Clarita) has been spent in the city.” She also says that the co-op the City would join once it wrests control of the libraries away from the County is slow and not as responsive. SIGNAL
Speaking of the library, Deputy City Manager Darren Hernandez stopped by SCVTalk last night to answer some reader questions in my post about the City’s takeover bid. He reiterated that the plan is to keep the SCV’s libraries open longer and said city residents would be able to check books out from other county libraries through something called the Southern California Library Co-op. And he said that the City would work with the County to allow unincorporated SCV residents to use city libraries SCVTALK COMMENT
Also, County Librarian Margaret Donnellan Todd weighs in with a detailed LTE here, calling the City’s financial picture “grossly inaccurate.”
That’s just swell: the city’s only contingency plan in case of a problem in the Newhall pass is to use whatever freeway is not impacted. This is brilliant except when I-5 is impacted south of the 5/14 split. Then you get a situation like the one we had yesterday. In the technology industry we would call this a “single point of failure” and its consequences can be drastic. SIGNAL
LA County is planning on building an Olympic-sized swimming pool and an 8,000 sq. ft. building at the Castaic Sports Complex. “A superb new addition to the Castaic Sports Complex, this world-class pool project will offer residents a vital recreational opportunity to swim, play and exercise in a first-rate County facility,” Supe Antonovich told KHTS.
That must mean annexation is in the news again. Let me check. Oh yes! Last night, the City’s Planning Commission tackled annexation of the West Hills and Tesoro del Valle community. Our own John B. was there and says at least one HOA was opposed to the annexation, along with Newhall Land. Very few homeowners showed up in support, but the Commission moved the matter onto the City Council, which will tackle it in August.
Southern California’s economy has finally picked itself up off the mat, dusted itself off, and is nearly ready to fight! Bad analogies aside, the LA Times says that though housing and construction industries continue to be weak, tourism and “the entertainment industry is thriving and international trade projections have jumped since February.” LA TIMES
Carrie Prejean, darling of the right and the former Miss California beauty contestant who said that only “opposite marriage” should be allowed by law, has opposite married Hart High alum and Oakland Raiders QB Kyle Boller at a lavish San Diego ceremony earlier this month. E! ONLINE
William S. Hart’s mansion needs a new roof, and the County will start building it next week KHTS
LA County supes pondering a plastic bag ban LAist
Buck Stops Now blog creates a resume for Buck McKeon should he lose in November. BUCK MCKEON RESUME
No comment: “I mean, really? Do suburban housewives not take care of business down there? How does Santa Clarita get by without a good bikini wax?” SCV-FAMILY.COM
Interesting review on the forthcoming Chevy Volt: the author says the new electric car is an amazing feat of engineering (he even got 112 mpg in the mountains) but it’s too expensive and doesn’t offer anything compelling over a Prius. (ht: John B) WINDINGROAD.COM
Apple Store building new Friend Bars for all the annoying iFriends in your life who just can’t stop talking about their new iDevices ONION
Daniel Henriquez, the City Council candidate who claimed he was a secret Navy agent, claims the City of Santa Clarita is suing an Old Town Newhall business and says the City isn’t business friendly SIGNAL BLOG
An unemployed Santa Clarita amateur chef will appear in yet another Gordon Ramsay reality TV food show. This one is called MasterChef, and Christopher Spradley of the SCV will compete LA TIMES
Great column from Gary Horton who writes about friendship in the cotext of an ill-fated Sunday boat trip up the coast in which his boat’s engine died. SIGNAL

Comments (8)

Library loverJuly 21, 2010 at 8:36 am

County Librarian is disputing City’s financial numbers. Also saying the County will sign an agreement guaranteeing revenues collected in the City will stay in the City. THe County library system provides good service. I’m afraid that the becoming a city-run library, we will lose some of the services such as the County pointed out, databases and book catalog. While we are still able to get interlibrary book loans, it might take much longer to do so. I dont want to risk that for sake of keeping 2 of the branches open for 10 hours more a week which is the City’s big selling point. Not convinced this is a good idea.

Kip RockfistJuly 21, 2010 at 8:39 am

I’m sorry…just to be clear, are we blaming the city for not having another major freeway/highway that accesses the SFV by circumventing the Newhall Pass? Just want make sure cause I’m making a list.

JeffJuly 21, 2010 at 9:54 am

No, I should have been clear. It’s not the city’s fault the infrastructure sucks beyond our valley. What’s your list for?

yes, that josh premakoJuly 21, 2010 at 9:57 am

Santa Paula! A nice reminder of day one of two enjoyable off-the-record hangouts with teh jeff@scvtalk.

Darren HernandezJuly 21, 2010 at 10:11 am

The County Librarian is not quite accurate and I’d like to offer clarification. First, the “excess” amount for 2008-09 is is $416,668 and not $231,728. The error is that she does not include $184,940 of operating revenue listed on the statements provided by her fiscal department. The excess for 2007-08 was $428,808 and the excess for 2006-07 was $112,353. Second, not all of the library taxes paid by Santa Clarita Valley residents stays in the SCV. Because the County Library has not kept pace with growth in the Santa Clarita Valley, the residents of the unincorporated areas rely on the City’s libraries for service. (We are not complaining about serving residents of the unincorporated areas). The issue, though, is that in the financial reports prepared by the County Library, they compare revenue collected from within the City of Santa Clarita with the cost of operating three libraries that serve the entire Santa Clarita Valley. They do not mention or include the library revenue they collect from the unincorporated Santa Clarita Valley. We estimate that nearly $2 million annually is paid by unincorporated SCV property owners but is not being kept local. With the City operating the City’s libraries, we can open the libraries on more days, keep them open for longer hours, increase the book budget by 22%, maintain access to the same collections and provide at least the same quality of library services.

navigatorJuly 21, 2010 at 12:21 pm

The unfortunate part, as I see it, is that we can’t get any of the $2MM paid by the unincorporated area. Since that is the case we will be supplying library services to those not paying for it (at least not to the City). We would either have to eat that amount, charge them for service or eliminate service to county residents. None of those ideas works for me.

GangFangJuly 22, 2010 at 9:41 am

Thank god no one made a Berta/bikini wax joke. Move along.

Whiskey Tango FoxtrotJuly 22, 2010 at 9:53 pm

No need to single any one person out, the ENTIRE Santa Clarita Valley values a “clean kitten”. I about fell out of my chair when I read that one.

Library loverJuly 21, 2010 at 8:36 am
County Librarian is disputing City’s financial numbers. Also saying the County will sign an agreement guaranteeing revenues collected in the City will stay in the City. THe County library system provides good service. I’m afraid that the becoming a city-run library, we will lose some of the services such as the County pointed out, databases and book catalog. While we are still able to get interlibrary book loans, it might take much longer to do so. I dont want to risk that for sake of keeping 2 of the branches open for 10 hours more a week which is the City’s big selling point. Not convinced this is a good idea.
Kip RockfistJuly 21, 2010 at 8:39 am
I’m sorry…just to be clear, are we blaming the city for not having another major freeway/highway that accesses the SFV by circumventing the Newhall Pass? Just want make sure cause I’m making a list.
JeffJuly 21, 2010 at 9:54 am
No, I should have been clear. It’s not the city’s fault the infrastructure sucks beyond our valley. What’s your list for?
yes, that josh premakoJuly 21, 2010 at 9:57 am
Santa Paula! A nice reminder of day one of two enjoyable off-the-record hangouts with teh jeff@scvtalk.
Darren HernandezJuly 21, 2010 at 10:11 am
The County Librarian is not quite accurate and I’d like to offer clarification. First, the “excess” amount for 2008-09 is is $416,668 and not $231,728. The error is that she does not include $184,940 of operating revenue listed on the statements provided by her fiscal department. The excess for 2007-08 was $428,808 and the excess for 2006-07 was $112,353. Second, not all of the library taxes paid by Santa Clarita Valley residents stays in the SCV. Because the County Library has not kept pace with growth in the Santa Clarita Valley, the residents of the unincorporated areas rely on the City’s libraries for service. (We are not complaining about serving residents of the unincorporated areas). The issue, though, is that in the financial reports prepared by the County Library, they compare revenue collected from within the City of Santa Clarita with the cost of operating three libraries that serve the entire Santa Clarita Valley. They do not mention or include the library revenue they collect from the unincorporated Santa Clarita Valley. We estimate that nearly $2 million annually is paid by unincorporated SCV property owners but is not being kept local. With the City operating the City’s libraries, we can open the libraries on more days, keep them open for longer hours, increase the book budget by 22%, maintain access to the same collections and provide at least the same quality of library services.
navigatorJuly 21, 2010 at 12:21 pm
The unfortunate part, as I see it, is that we can’t get any of the $2MM paid by the unincorporated area. Since that is the case we will be supplying library services to those not paying for it (at least not to the City). We would either have to eat that amount, charge them for service or eliminate service to county residents. None of those ideas works for me.
GangFangJuly 22, 2010 at 9:41 am
Thank god no one made a Berta/bikini wax joke. Move along.
Whiskey Tango FoxtrotJuly 22, 2010 at 9:53 pm
No need to single any one person out, the ENTIRE Santa Clarita Valley values a “clean kitten”. I about fell out of my chair when I read that one.