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November 17, 2010· scvtalk.com · WordPress (SCVTalk 3.0) · Wayback capture

November 17, 2010 – Daily Brief *

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

  • * New County library for Stevenson Ranch? That’s what County Librarian Margaret Donellan Todd says in an LTE to the Signal, saying that Supervisor Antonovich “recently announced that a new library will be constructed in Stevenson Ranch with interim service established until the new library is ready.” Now the County will have Acton/Agua Dulce, Castaic, and a Stevenson Ranch Library, forming a pincer around the City of Santa Clarita and its nascent 3-branch City library system. Cracks are forming in the City’s library plans and this s*** just got real. SIGNAL
  • LA County Superivsors -with Mike Antonovich dissenting- voted yesterday to ban plastic bags at grocery stores and shops in unincorporated LA County territories. The ban will cover some 1,000 stores in those areas by 2012 and will require shoppers to bring their own bags to stores or pay $0.10 for a paper bag. One 60 year old SCV man told the Signal he’ll never carry canvas bags to the store because it’s “sissy” to do so LA TIMES, SIGNAL
  • 51,000 sq. ft. expansion of COC Library underway. Once built-out, the expanded library will feature over 100 computer workstations, an art gallery area and other amenities SIGNAL, KHTS
  • Who’s going to get MRFed? Committee narrows down MRF locations to three spots: Newhall’s Gate-King area, the Hondo Oil Refinery on Sierra Highway, and the Saugus Industrial center off Railroad Avenue. Another spot on Sierra Highway that prompted outrage from Canyon Country residents will not be MRFed after all SIGNAL
  • Or maybe not. The Canyon Country Advisory Committee gets down in the weeds on MRF site selection WRB
  • Transit strike averted as Teamster drivers sign new contract with MV Transportation, the City’s transit contractor. Drivers get paid between $10 and $18 an hour and their benefits include a 401k plan and “employee-only medical” coverage SIGNAL
  • A Santa Clarita real estate agent tells a Las Vegas newspaper that the foreclosure documentation problem slowing down foreclosures and harming the housing industry is being blown out of proportion. “All that will come of this is another delay in the housing recovery. We need to stop playing with it and let it go through the process.” REVIEW JOURNAL
  • Meanwhile, a man who does “securitization audits” created a flow chart to try to find out who actually holds the mortgage on his house. It took the auditor over a year to create the chart and a lot of arrows lead to a place called “Black hole” SOME BLOG
  • SacBee learns that nearly two dozen California state legislators, including our own Cameron Smyth, were at an expenses-paid conference with lobbyist/corporate types in Maui when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called a special session to deal with the latest budget crisis. The Bee couldn’t get names of the legislators who were at the conference so they called the hotel. SACBEE
  • Antonovich Deputy, Paul Novak, gets top job at LAFCO, the Local Agency Formation Committee, the group which processes and approves/denies annexation requests SIGNAL, KHTS
  • Santa Clarita homeless shelter opening a few weeks away COUGAR NEWS
  • County Planners kill several small projects in SCV due to inactivity. Most of the developments were “mom and pop” type projects, small multi-tenant projects on little plots of land in unincorporated county areas SIGNAL
  • Former Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy who lives in Santa Clarita gets jail time for sexting and molesting a teenage girl in Ventura. He will serve 210 days in jail VECO STAR
  • Gary Horton’s moving tale about how he almost ran over a young mother and her child while glancing down at his cell phone. “Still stopped at the crosswalk, the driver saw the mother fall to her knees at the plaza, hugging her daughter closely. She had just recognized how closely she and her daughter had come to true tragedy. The driver saw them and felt intense guilt and shame — and relief that he had not caused such harm.” SIGNAL
  • Church group to host smalls food truck event LD
  • LA Times has a preview of the new cars that will be showcased at the Los Angeles Auto Show LA TIMES
  • Letter writer wants Creekside road to become family-friendly destination where families can bring their kids to impress upon them the importance and benefits of car culture. “Then since purchasing a used or new vehicle is often a family decision, I would bring families down to Creekside. Offer the vacant spaces to local fundraising groups, golf practicing and/or a pitch and putt layout with a small enclosed driving net. Soccer contests, mobile electronics demonstrations, roadster showdowns, what’s up with NASCAR, new cars on display. Give each dealership its own special day to show off its models with small cars for kids to drive. ” SIGNAL

Comments (20)

  1. cashNovember 17, 2010 at 8:39 am
    I told you before he was elected, that Smyth was too friendly with the Edison company. This includes using the Edison Suite at Angel Stadium with his family. Caution, hotels do not normally give out the names of their guests.
  2. NickelDimeNovember 17, 2010 at 9:01 am
    Brilliant maneuvering on the part of LA County / Antonovich to surround the City with brand new libraries. For the first time, the County actually has a valid argument for unincorporated residents to remain as they are: “why would you want to leave the world-class LA County Library system?” Add yet another thing the City Council did not expect when this was rammed through.
  3. Daddy Joe GNovember 17, 2010 at 10:14 am
    Not really a brilliant maneuver, more an inevitable one. Did the city think the county would just abandon the unincorporated areas? As for reasons for remaining unincorporated, Newhall redevelopment and its $30M anchor at the north end of Main St. should have taken care of that.
  4. NateNovember 17, 2010 at 10:47 am
    Sure they are getting a library but where is the budget for descent law enforcement coverage?
  5. Coastal SageNovember 17, 2010 at 11:07 am
    Nate, after Proposition 13 was enacted by voters a long time ago, the Legislature passed several laws carving money for libraries out of each county’s revenue stream from real estate taxes. As a result, it becomes an un-invadable fund that the Supervisors cannot use for law enforcement in unincorporated areas, let alone for any other purpose. You and many others may not agree with that prioritization, but until the Legislature and new Governor agree on changing those laws, they will stay that way, even if county law enforcement agencies need more money.
  6. Saugus SplasherNovember 17, 2010 at 10:52 am
    Unincorporated neighborhoods can thank the city of Santa Clarita for, once again, embarrassing the LA county into providing more services to the SCV. More libraries are good for everyone!
  7. Coastal SageNovember 17, 2010 at 11:32 am
    “Add yet another thing the City Council did not expect when this was rammed through”. Apparently that is not really the case, assuming the City Council members were briefed by City staff on their economic assumptions relating to the library take-over, construction of the Newhall Library and the refinancing of the City Redevelopment Agency’s debt to the City’s General Fund using library real estate taxes the City will receive starting July 1, 2011. In the City documents produced to local residents, to date, under the Public Records Act, City staff-prepared documents show that they were counting on receiving the “library real estate taxes” from the surrounding unincorporated area to be able to make the “interest payments” on the huge “bond” offering they intend to sell…something like $25 Million. In announcing the plans for a Stevenson Ranch Library, Supervisor Antonovich is clearly saying that the Board of Supervisors is not about to vote to give up the library real estate taxes from County taxpayers, to help the City of Santa Clarita finance and operate the City libraries. That means that the City won’t have as much library related cash in flow, and that the amount they borrow on the “bond” offering will be reduced….assuming the underwriting company (aka lender) organizing the bond offering is smart enough to look past any b.s. peddled by the City in terms of how much real estate tax money it will take in, related to the libraries. Obviously library economic issues will be worked out in negotiation between the City and the County over the course of the next several months. However, I doubt Supervisor Antonovich would embarrass himself by changing course on this issue relating to libraries for County residents, so at least one of the City staff’s assumptions about a cash flow bonanza from taking over the libraries has now collapsed.
  8. Darren HernandezNovember 17, 2010 at 1:40 pm
    Jennifer, please know you are completely wrong. We (City staff) did not assume the City would receive library property tax and/or special tax revenue from unincorpated areas. In fact, in our detailed fiscal analysis we include only revenue generated from within the City of Santa Clarita. I do not know your “source” of information, but I can tell you with certainty that your source, and your statements above, are incorrect.
  9. NateNovember 17, 2010 at 9:03 am
    Sissy = a man so insecure he attaches his sexuality to his shopping bags.
  10. Daddy Joe GNovember 17, 2010 at 9:38 am
    It may come as a shock to SCVites, but some people actually walk to and from the market. Plastic bags are much easier to carry then cloth or paper.
  11. NateNovember 17, 2010 at 10:43 am
    I am calling BS, cloth bags are just as easy as plastic.
  12. Jeff (But not the one that runs this blogNovember 17, 2010 at 12:10 pm
    Easier, they don’t break when you carry them half a dozen blocks.
  13. JaneNovember 17, 2010 at 10:05 am
    Gary Horton column – appreciate your honesty, but “no” it could not have been me that day. I do not feel the need to compulsively check my phone every minute as some folks do.
  14. NateNovember 17, 2010 at 10:45 am
    *said from high horse
  15. Daddy Joe GNovember 17, 2010 at 10:51 am
    The important thing to remember is that the city as a legal right to take over the libraries, and, like it or not, it has happened. We should stop wasting time trying to change their (and I use the term loosely) minds and take Ms. Todd’s offer of help more seriously. The county is on our side. The city is not. Ms. Todd can be contacted at mdtodd@library.lacounty.gov or (562) 940-8400.
  16. Coastal SageNovember 17, 2010 at 12:02 pm
    I agree that the City has the right to take over the libraries. However, the City does not have the right to violate Santa Clarita library patrons’ right to privacy under state law. While some people may be willing to have their right to privacy invaded, but others may not. Neither those who are in favor of the library take over, nor those who are merely indifferent about it, have the right to dismiss the privacy rights of others. City Manager Ken Pulskamp has already negotiated and signed a contract with LSSI (a Maryland corporation with foreign majority owners) to manage the City libraries. There is no blunt acknowledgment in it, by LSSI, to take steps to secure the Santa Clarita library patrons’ private information (e.g. drivers license number, address, phone number, names of books checked out). LSSI has a separate contract with SirsiDynix, a Provo Utah business, to store library patrons information on SirsiDynix’s servers. SirsiDynix makes no promises, whatsoever, to Santa Clarita library patrons, in terms of keeping their private information private. The problem is that while your bank and your doctor are bound by Federal privacy laws, SirsiDynix and LSSI operate in a totally unregulated status. That situation does absolutely nothing to deter identity theft. The Signal’s recent editorial opined that if LSSI or its employees violated California’s privacy laws, they would be arrested. That is one of the most profoundly stupid statements I’ve ever seen. Just ask an L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy about his/her authority to go over to Utah, Maryland, England or France and arrest somebody.
  17. NoreasterNovember 17, 2010 at 12:40 pm
    I was surprised to read that LA County will be building a new library in Stevenson Ranch. Stopped by the Valencia branch a few days ago looking for the New York Times. Checked with the reference librarian, and was informed that they’d discontinued the NY Times because “it was too expensive”. Assume this is the County’s tit-for-tat in response to the city takeover.
  18. Daddy Joe GNovember 17, 2010 at 12:41 pm
    SirsiDynix, a Provo Utah business, already stores COLA library patrons information on SirsiDynix’s servers. How do we stop them from giving that info to LSSI without involving the city, county or state of California law?
  19. KellyNovember 17, 2010 at 2:38 pm
    I’ve been on a plastic bag diet x 2 years and it’s no big deal. No big deal. Yes, I know, we all get those plastic bags for free, Not! Ralph$ and Von$, etc don’t give them to you out of their goodness of their corporate heart, Really. Actually, resuable bags are more ergonomic than plastic, carrying multiple bags can injure your fingers and shoulders.
  20. john adamsNovember 17, 2010 at 2:58 pm
    Just read where Newsweek Magazine claims the presidency is to BIG a JOB for just one man. Guess what? This is not the first time they will make this claim. The did it just over 30 years ago for the last in over your head buffoon.

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