November 8, 2010 – Daily Brief

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

Record turnout for Santa Clarita Marathon as nearly six thousand runners take to the streets, paths and paseos for multiple events. SIGNAL But at least one man fell ill with a possible heart attack, says KHTS
City Council Agenda for November 9: awarding a contract to a firm that will automate passenger counts for Santa Clarita Transit, continuing West Creek/Tesoro annexation matters to a “date uncertain,” and something about franchises for waste haulers and waste diversion programs. AGENDA
Today’s the day two groups fighting the takeover & outsourcing of SCV libraries have to prove that violations of the Brown Act occurred prior to the August 24th City Council meeting. Don Ricketts, of Save our Libraries, has taken a different approach in his fight against the library takeover, arguing that California law prohibits private companies from attaining library patron records. SIGNAL
Today’s SFVBJ article on how SFV & SCV real estate agents are faring in our economy is a must-read. Sample: “The difficult market has lingered longer than many had anticipated, and many financially strapped Realtors are hanging by their last thread. Some have picked up second jobs. If they’re young, many are moving back home with their parents. Others are leaving the business altogether.” The fast money and high times are over; the big money in real estate now is in ~~second mortgages~~ ~~loan modification~~ foreclosure law and short sales. SFVBJ (Subscription unfortunately)
Speaking of foreclosures, the New York Times raised some eyebrows with its article this weekend on how many homeowners in Florida are taking out second mortgages on their houses in order to pay lawyers to fight foreclosures. Yes. It’s become that crazy. NYT
Old Town Newhall needs more parking spots and the city should re-lease a parking lot it used to make available to the public if it wants people to come and enjoy Old Town Newhall’s amenities, argues TimBen Boydston and others SIGNAL. Some seniors say they feel unsafe when walking from Newhall Metrolink to the Canyon Theater Guild.
Whooping cough is really becoming a problem in California, with cases of the awful coughing disease rising to levels not seen in 60 years, according to the DAILY NEWS
McGrath Elementary school in Newhall conducts its PTA meetings entirely in Spanish and provides English translators for parents who need it. The school says it will eventually transition PTA meetings to English as McGrath parents take ESL classes. Spanish-speaking parents say they feel more involved in the school -which has really high API scores for such a disadvantaged population- as a result. Predictable ugly comments on the SIGNAL article.
Elsmere Canyon finally belongs to you and me rather than a waste hauler. A triumph for the City of Santa Clarita and the whole valley CITY BRIEFS
Thought we were done with elections for the next two years? Think again. State Senator George Runner won his race for Board of Equalization, which means parts of the SCV will vote on his replacement in a special election next spring, reports the VV DAILY NEWS
Buck McKeon has nice things to say about Rep. Ike Skelton, the long-time Democratic Congressman who chaired the Armed Services Committee and was defeated in last week’s elections. “I have friends on both sides of the aisle and have enjoyed working with Ike, especially in crafting legislation in support of our troops. I wish him well and thank him for his service.” Buck will likely take Ike’s spot come January. MCKEON
Criticism of Buck McKeon’s nascent foreign policy ideas from a right wing magazine, which says McKeon’s plan for Afghanistan is against the American people’s wishes. “They are ignoring at their peril the domestic opinion polls that suggest that Afghanistan is both unpopular and increasingly regarded as a mistake, like the equally protracted involvement in Iraq.” MAGAZINE
No columns from Dave Bossert this week, he’s busy travelling throughout Spain, visiting Salvador Dali’s strange home and writing us postcards. Jealousy ++ WRB
Speaking of West Ranch, anyone know the outcome of their election?
Great column from Myers this week on the invincibility of incumbency in the Camarillo City Council, CLWA and elsewhere SIGNAL
Steve Lunetta – the new Roger Gitlin? He tells us about how he loses sleep over the threat of Islamic culture in America SIGNAL
Signal praises the Domestic Violence Center for continuing its work despite budget cuts and chaos in Sacramento SIGNAL

Comments (24)

Your Web GuruNovember 8, 2010 at 8:40 am

Re City’s idiotic decision to not lease the parking space across from the CTG: Hey City of SC, what’s your problem? Do you not realize how many of your citizens, including seniors and families with children, swarm downtown Newhall when CTG and REP shows are running? Do you know that it is a FAR walk from the Metro station when citizens actually do the right thing and use the crosswalk? Do you realize that you are compelling people to illegally Jaywalk across a dangerous street by chaining up the parking lot that’s just sitting there? If you have a compelling reason, I’d love to hear it. Until then, I think you’re just being kind of jerky!

gobstopperNovember 8, 2010 at 9:20 am

If the theaters need the parking why not just lease it themselves? If the downtown businesses need the parking, why not just lease it themselves? Sounds like no transit riders were using it. I am glad the transit department decided to stop paying for it. Seems kind of wasteful in that respect.

Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 8, 2010 at 12:27 pm

Saying that no transit riders used the lot was completely disingenuous or downright dishonest. Every day when you go to the lot there are transit riders coming to and from there. When the city was asked about it previously they said that because it was a non-exclusive lease and the owner could rent it out to movie shoots with prior notice, that transit riders would call the city to complain about the lot being closed and the city was tired of fielding those phone calls. Which of these explanations is it? Because if you were getting transit riders calling to complain about it then clearly there were transit riders using it, correct? As for the local businesses footing the bill for the lot, frankly it is short sighted on the part of the city to spend the huge amounts of money that they have on redevelopment of the area only to close one of the few convenient lots for seniors and families with young kids over the cost of $24,000 annually. Many of those businesses opened their shops while that parking was available, to now say they have to find a way to help cover the cost of that lot would potentially drive some of them out of business leading to more vacancies. None of that makes sense when you are working to revitalize an area. I suppose we will wait until a jaywalker is hit by a car before we’ll care. It kind of flies in the face of why they closed off main street in the first place doesn’t it?

CCNovember 8, 2010 at 9:38 am

Do you need them to hold your hand while you cross too?

damageincNovember 8, 2010 at 12:15 pm

Entitlement

SCVFanNovember 8, 2010 at 12:44 pm

So….according to my iphone it says the Metrolink lot is a whopping 358 feet away taking approximately 1 minute to walk to the theater. You people are seriously complete morons and the double standards you have are humorous! You guys are always claiming the City has backroom deals with developers, corporate businesses and NOW you want tax dollars to pay for a lot to help a private business. The businesses need to rent the damn lot themselves. Would you guys be ok if the city went around leasing parking lots all over town to help private businesses? Or does TimBen get special treatment because he’s so damn noisy? You guys are ridiculous. And the jaywalking argument is so stupid it’s not worth responding to. Seriously?

Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 8, 2010 at 3:29 pm

It’ll sound really stupid when someone gets plowed into trying to cross the street to come to the farmers market or the theater or the western shop etc. Keep up the anger management classes though, they’re really working.

lindasNovember 8, 2010 at 3:05 pm

Why should the City pay to lease the parking lot for $24K a year when the City owns the 200 space Metrolink lot which is a very short walk (3 minutes) from the theaters? That does not make financial sense. Plus there is a signal at Market and Railroad to cross. If you’re willing to endanger your life to jaywalk to save a hundred feet of walking to the signal, that’s just plain stupid. I would like to challenge anyone to go to Pantages or other theater venues and get to a theater with hardly any traffic and be able to park as close as even the Metrolink station and pay nothing to park. Parking on Main Street is plentiful during the day and if transit users were not using it as that was the main reason why the City leased it in the first place, then I dont think they should continue to do it. It would seem the only beneficiaries of the leased parking lot at this time was for the theaters.

Your Web GuruNovember 8, 2010 at 4:40 pm

You know what? I personally don’t really give a crap how far it is to walk. But the 70+ year olds that do patronize that direct area might. Both theaters draw over 6,000 people to the downtown Newhall area every year and are in part responsible for attracting renewed interest in the revitalization project. I don’t care who pays for it, the fact that the city has decided not to renew the lease after 4 years just sucks for those whose mobility is limited.

ToddNovember 8, 2010 at 7:30 pm

As for those who’s mobility is limited… I’m fairly certain there are plenty of handicaped accessable spots along Newhall Ave, and in priority locations in the Metrolink Station lots. For comparison’s sake: I mapped (walking distance via Google Earth) the furthest point in the lot to Newhall Ave and Main St and it was just under 1100 feet. The lot I generally park at in Burbank (behind City Hall) to the front door of the AMC Theater is 1500+ feet. By no means is it a far walk. Even for me, a generally lazy, generally overweight, and car-transportation loving kinda guy.

Lori RivasNovember 8, 2010 at 8:58 am

Once upon a time, I was a substitute teacher in the Newhall Elementary School District. I had a particularly long run in one Kindergarten class, as the regular teacher was out on maternity leave. I began the school year with these Kindergarteners — the big transition to school, and all. The class was nearly equally divided between English-only and Spanish-only speakers. Since I am fluent in Spanish, I just taught in both languages, thinking, of course, how else would I incorporate these brand new 5-year olds into an all-English environment. I would give instructions in English, then in Spanish. We did not fall behind, I kept up with the prescribed curriculum, and would even have time for extras, like typical Kindergarten fare, Itsy Bitsy Spider, both in Spanish and English. I was really amazed and pleased at how quickly the English speakers picked up on the Spanish! *I* thought it was a great bonus for the English speakers. But, no. By the end of the first week, the English-speaking parents were complaining — not because their children were falling behind — not because their children weren’t learning — not because the children were being mistreated or unhappy — no, quite a few of these parents complained because they did not want their kids in a bilingual class. I was flabbergasted. Who would not want their child to learn another language? It is like there is knee-jerk reaction to anything that is not white Anglo-Saxon American English. It was really sad.

Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 8, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Well said Lori. If the kids were falling behind because they were an afterthought in an all ESL environment that would be one thing, but there is definitely an uppity feel from many parents I have interacted with about even having Hispanic children in their kids’ classrooms. Makes me sad.

Alan FerdmanNovember 8, 2010 at 9:19 pm

Lori How sad. You were doing all those children a great service. Being Bi-lingual, particularly in today’s environment, is a great asset. Being proficient in English is imperative for a Child to effectively compete in the American economy. That sure sounded like a win-win scenario. It is unfortunate that some parents just did not understand the benifit you were providing their children.

TomNovember 8, 2010 at 10:09 am

Interesting, 2,000 more people showed up for food trucks than the marathon. Next year, all food truck attendees should be required to enter the marathon to burn off all those excess cupcake calories.

CCNovember 8, 2010 at 11:42 am

Yep!

JaneNovember 8, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Parking – since when is it the duty of the city to provide parking? Why should everyone else have to pay for the parking for customers of these businesses? Business owners, why don’t you lease the lot for your customers? I’ve read that one person is claiming that 30,000 customers a year visit his business, surely you could get them to pay $1 for parking and you will have paid for the lot and made $6,000 to boot.

SCVFanNovember 8, 2010 at 3:30 pm

drum roll please…..the most brilliant line of the day goes to….JANE!!! “Why should everyone else have to pay for the parking for customers of these businesses? ” It really is that simple folks. The businesses should all pitch in and pay for the lease. They should maybe even negotiate with the private owners for a better rate. $2,000 a month is crazy. And since it’s not leased the owners should be willing to take at least SOMETHING. Come on TimBen…go negotiate “for the people” for your own business and leave us taxpayers the hell alone.

Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 8, 2010 at 3:56 pm

Because it’s in the city’s best interest to have those businesses remain viable and successful, so they don’t wind up with a couple of .99 stores and a bunch of vacancies. It’s good business for cities to have merchants stay in business… especially when they have spent so much money on revitalizing.

Need for Involved CitizenryNovember 8, 2010 at 3:48 pm

The City should be providing and worrying about parking in Downtown Newhall. The City wants to develop a Village in downtown Newhall and create a destination people will want to come to. They won’t come without parking. Crossing from the Metrolink Station to the CTG is just plain dangerous. Folks come down Railroad at some pretty good speeds and there is no crosswalk at that corner. Doing that crossing in the dark is even worse. The City is trying to tout how pedestrian friendly it is and will become. A crosswalk across Railroad would help as would leasing the parking lot on Main Street. Take some of that redevelopment money and build a garage. It will certainly be needed in the long term. Glendale has parking structures to help promote it’s downtown businesses like the Alex Theater.

CalimanNovember 8, 2010 at 4:20 pm

There is a crosswalk at Railroad and Market St. take a look I have gone across it hundreds of times. I have had no problems. I do like the idea of the Village sounds more appealing to me then Old Town Newhall. If the CTG only needs the lot three days a week for shows they should surely be able to strike up a deal to lower the rent. Having people paying for parking, wow that just seems foreign to people. Yet, everywhere in LA you have to pay to park.

Need for Involved CitizenryNovember 9, 2010 at 5:39 am

Sure, there is a signal at Railroad and Market. But there is a Metrolink parking lot south of that intersection that is closer to the CTG. That is the one most folks park at. But there is no crosswalk at that intersection. Sure you can charge people for parking but will they pay? Will they park in neighborhoods to avoid paying (yes). The streetscapeing in Downtown Newhall sucked up a good number of on street parking spaces. This will continue to be an issue unless the City does something about it. None of the downtown Newhall merchants are big enough to do anything on their own.

gobstopperNovember 8, 2010 at 5:02 pm

Not sure what you are looking at, I see crosswalks there. I use crosswalks there.

FrankNovember 8, 2010 at 8:04 pm

I was surprised to discover the Staples store at Soledad Cyn and Whites Cyn went out of business on Saturday 11/6. Canyon Country retail is devastated by the recession, Soledad Cyn has numerous large stores vacant including the former Powerhouse Gym. Many small retail stores including a handful of coffee shops have gone under.

Mark JohnsonNovember 10, 2010 at 3:44 pm

Was there ever more news about the runner who suffered a heart attack during the half-marathon? I came upon him as other runners were trying CPR and everything they could for him. One was calling emergency services, and other runners were nurses who also stopped to help. The KHTS story said one of them went with the man to the hospital.

Your Web GuruNovember 8, 2010 at 8:40 am
Re City’s idiotic decision to not lease the parking space across from the CTG: Hey City of SC, what’s your problem? Do you not realize how many of your citizens, including seniors and families with children, swarm downtown Newhall when CTG and REP shows are running? Do you know that it is a FAR walk from the Metro station when citizens actually do the right thing and use the crosswalk? Do you realize that you are compelling people to illegally Jaywalk across a dangerous street by chaining up the parking lot that’s just sitting there? If you have a compelling reason, I’d love to hear it. Until then, I think you’re just being kind of jerky!
gobstopperNovember 8, 2010 at 9:20 am
If the theaters need the parking why not just lease it themselves? If the downtown businesses need the parking, why not just lease it themselves? Sounds like no transit riders were using it. I am glad the transit department decided to stop paying for it. Seems kind of wasteful in that respect.
Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 8, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Saying that no transit riders used the lot was completely disingenuous or downright dishonest. Every day when you go to the lot there are transit riders coming to and from there. When the city was asked about it previously they said that because it was a non-exclusive lease and the owner could rent it out to movie shoots with prior notice, that transit riders would call the city to complain about the lot being closed and the city was tired of fielding those phone calls. Which of these explanations is it? Because if you were getting transit riders calling to complain about it then clearly there were transit riders using it, correct? As for the local businesses footing the bill for the lot, frankly it is short sighted on the part of the city to spend the huge amounts of money that they have on redevelopment of the area only to close one of the few convenient lots for seniors and families with young kids over the cost of $24,000 annually. Many of those businesses opened their shops while that parking was available, to now say they have to find a way to help cover the cost of that lot would potentially drive some of them out of business leading to more vacancies. None of that makes sense when you are working to revitalize an area. I suppose we will wait until a jaywalker is hit by a car before we’ll care. It kind of flies in the face of why they closed off main street in the first place doesn’t it?
CCNovember 8, 2010 at 9:38 am
Do you need them to hold your hand while you cross too?
damageincNovember 8, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Entitlement
SCVFanNovember 8, 2010 at 12:44 pm
So….according to my iphone it says the Metrolink lot is a whopping 358 feet away taking approximately 1 minute to walk to the theater. You people are seriously complete morons and the double standards you have are humorous! You guys are always claiming the City has backroom deals with developers, corporate businesses and NOW you want tax dollars to pay for a lot to help a private business. The businesses need to rent the damn lot themselves. Would you guys be ok if the city went around leasing parking lots all over town to help private businesses? Or does TimBen get special treatment because he’s so damn noisy? You guys are ridiculous. And the jaywalking argument is so stupid it’s not worth responding to. Seriously?
Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 8, 2010 at 3:29 pm
It’ll sound really stupid when someone gets plowed into trying to cross the street to come to the farmers market or the theater or the western shop etc. Keep up the anger management classes though, they’re really working.
lindasNovember 8, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Why should the City pay to lease the parking lot for $24K a year when the City owns the 200 space Metrolink lot which is a very short walk (3 minutes) from the theaters? That does not make financial sense. Plus there is a signal at Market and Railroad to cross. If you’re willing to endanger your life to jaywalk to save a hundred feet of walking to the signal, that’s just plain stupid. I would like to challenge anyone to go to Pantages or other theater venues and get to a theater with hardly any traffic and be able to park as close as even the Metrolink station and pay nothing to park. Parking on Main Street is plentiful during the day and if transit users were not using it as that was the main reason why the City leased it in the first place, then I dont think they should continue to do it. It would seem the only beneficiaries of the leased parking lot at this time was for the theaters.
Your Web GuruNovember 8, 2010 at 4:40 pm
You know what? I personally don’t really give a crap how far it is to walk. But the 70+ year olds that do patronize that direct area might. Both theaters draw over 6,000 people to the downtown Newhall area every year and are in part responsible for attracting renewed interest in the revitalization project. I don’t care who pays for it, the fact that the city has decided not to renew the lease after 4 years just sucks for those whose mobility is limited.
ToddNovember 8, 2010 at 7:30 pm
As for those who’s mobility is limited… I’m fairly certain there are plenty of handicaped accessable spots along Newhall Ave, and in priority locations in the Metrolink Station lots. For comparison’s sake: I mapped (walking distance via Google Earth) the furthest point in the lot to Newhall Ave and Main St and it was just under 1100 feet. The lot I generally park at in Burbank (behind City Hall) to the front door of the AMC Theater is 1500+ feet. By no means is it a far walk. Even for me, a generally lazy, generally overweight, and car-transportation loving kinda guy.
Lori RivasNovember 8, 2010 at 8:58 am
Once upon a time, I was a substitute teacher in the Newhall Elementary School District. I had a particularly long run in one Kindergarten class, as the regular teacher was out on maternity leave. I began the school year with these Kindergarteners — the big transition to school, and all. The class was nearly equally divided between English-only and Spanish-only speakers. Since I am fluent in Spanish, I just taught in both languages, thinking, of course, how else would I incorporate these brand new 5-year olds into an all-English environment. I would give instructions in English, then in Spanish. We did not fall behind, I kept up with the prescribed curriculum, and would even have time for extras, like typical Kindergarten fare, Itsy Bitsy Spider, both in Spanish and English. I was really amazed and pleased at how quickly the English speakers picked up on the Spanish! *I* thought it was a great bonus for the English speakers. But, no. By the end of the first week, the English-speaking parents were complaining — not because their children were falling behind — not because their children weren’t learning — not because the children were being mistreated or unhappy — no, quite a few of these parents complained because they did not want their kids in a bilingual class. I was flabbergasted. Who would not want their child to learn another language? It is like there is knee-jerk reaction to anything that is not white Anglo-Saxon American English. It was really sad.
Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 8, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Well said Lori. If the kids were falling behind because they were an afterthought in an all ESL environment that would be one thing, but there is definitely an uppity feel from many parents I have interacted with about even having Hispanic children in their kids’ classrooms. Makes me sad.
Alan FerdmanNovember 8, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Lori How sad. You were doing all those children a great service. Being Bi-lingual, particularly in today’s environment, is a great asset. Being proficient in English is imperative for a Child to effectively compete in the American economy. That sure sounded like a win-win scenario. It is unfortunate that some parents just did not understand the benifit you were providing their children.
TomNovember 8, 2010 at 10:09 am
Interesting, 2,000 more people showed up for food trucks than the marathon. Next year, all food truck attendees should be required to enter the marathon to burn off all those excess cupcake calories.
CCNovember 8, 2010 at 11:42 am
Yep!
JaneNovember 8, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Parking – since when is it the duty of the city to provide parking? Why should everyone else have to pay for the parking for customers of these businesses? Business owners, why don’t you lease the lot for your customers? I’ve read that one person is claiming that 30,000 customers a year visit his business, surely you could get them to pay $1 for parking and you will have paid for the lot and made $6,000 to boot.
SCVFanNovember 8, 2010 at 3:30 pm
drum roll please…..the most brilliant line of the day goes to….JANE!!! “Why should everyone else have to pay for the parking for customers of these businesses? ” It really is that simple folks. The businesses should all pitch in and pay for the lease. They should maybe even negotiate with the private owners for a better rate. $2,000 a month is crazy. And since it’s not leased the owners should be willing to take at least SOMETHING. Come on TimBen…go negotiate “for the people” for your own business and leave us taxpayers the hell alone.
Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 8, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Because it’s in the city’s best interest to have those businesses remain viable and successful, so they don’t wind up with a couple of .99 stores and a bunch of vacancies. It’s good business for cities to have merchants stay in business… especially when they have spent so much money on revitalizing.
Need for Involved CitizenryNovember 8, 2010 at 3:48 pm
The City should be providing and worrying about parking in Downtown Newhall. The City wants to develop a Village in downtown Newhall and create a destination people will want to come to. They won’t come without parking. Crossing from the Metrolink Station to the CTG is just plain dangerous. Folks come down Railroad at some pretty good speeds and there is no crosswalk at that corner. Doing that crossing in the dark is even worse. The City is trying to tout how pedestrian friendly it is and will become. A crosswalk across Railroad would help as would leasing the parking lot on Main Street. Take some of that redevelopment money and build a garage. It will certainly be needed in the long term. Glendale has parking structures to help promote it’s downtown businesses like the Alex Theater.
CalimanNovember 8, 2010 at 4:20 pm
There is a crosswalk at Railroad and Market St. take a look I have gone across it hundreds of times. I have had no problems. I do like the idea of the Village sounds more appealing to me then Old Town Newhall. If the CTG only needs the lot three days a week for shows they should surely be able to strike up a deal to lower the rent. Having people paying for parking, wow that just seems foreign to people. Yet, everywhere in LA you have to pay to park.
Need for Involved CitizenryNovember 9, 2010 at 5:39 am
Sure, there is a signal at Railroad and Market. But there is a Metrolink parking lot south of that intersection that is closer to the CTG. That is the one most folks park at. But there is no crosswalk at that intersection. Sure you can charge people for parking but will they pay? Will they park in neighborhoods to avoid paying (yes). The streetscapeing in Downtown Newhall sucked up a good number of on street parking spaces. This will continue to be an issue unless the City does something about it. None of the downtown Newhall merchants are big enough to do anything on their own.
gobstopperNovember 8, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Not sure what you are looking at, I see crosswalks there. I use crosswalks there.
FrankNovember 8, 2010 at 8:04 pm
I was surprised to discover the Staples store at Soledad Cyn and Whites Cyn went out of business on Saturday 11/6. Canyon Country retail is devastated by the recession, Soledad Cyn has numerous large stores vacant including the former Powerhouse Gym. Many small retail stores including a handful of coffee shops have gone under.
Mark JohnsonNovember 10, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Was there ever more news about the runner who suffered a heart attack during the half-marathon? I came upon him as other runners were trying CPR and everything they could for him. One was calling emergency services, and other runners were nurses who also stopped to help. The KHTS story said one of them went with the man to the hospital.