Happenings: Unger Demolished, Kellar Criticized, Cemex Hopes Revived

Sam Unger: unintelligent, disingenuous, out-of-touch, or patronizing?[1]  I’m not sure which proportion of each Mr. Unger is, but the Executive Officer of the LA Regional Water Quality Control Board did not come off at all well during tonight’s meeting.  He was invited by Mayor Kellar to deliver information about the chloride issue, but the presentation quickly turned into a tongue-lashing from all members of the council.  It took up the better part of the evening.  There was a bit of controversy about an oil pipeline and words exchanged about the Mayors Prayer Breakfast, but tonight’s meeting was mostly a chance for Claritans to come to a collective realization that they want to challenge unreasonable water quality mandates.  As Councilmember Frank Ferry would convincingly say at one point, “We are that crazy”—in other words, Santa Clarita is ready to fight nonsensical chloride standards, whatever the odds or whatever ridiculous means are necessary.

After Ferry’s invocation—he read from a speech by Cardinal O’Malley following the bombing in Boston—we learned that Mayor Kellar had invited Sam Unger to talk chlorides with Santa Clarita.  Unger, who umm-ed his way through some cheesy PowerPoint slides didn’t make a great impression.  He was trying to explain why chloride total maximum daily loads (TMDL) were set to 100 mg/L, explained the history of setting the TMDL, and so on.  It was almost embarrassing when he tried to explain the “science” that justified the limits set on chloride levels.  After explaining that the law required protection of the most chloride-sensitive beneficial uses—farming of avocadoes and strawberries, for the Santa Clara River—he held up binders of “science”.  What’s embarrassing is that these weren’t results of studies conducted with SCV wastewater on crops or even modeling or meta-analyses based on prior chloride/agriculture research.  They were print-outs of other studies, which a team of purported experts reviewed to come to chloride TMDL recommendations.  As Maria Gutzeit would very hilariously put it in her comments, “Calling this science is like calling a book report a great work of literature.”  He quite literally wanted us to think gee whiz, that’s a lot of paper, you must have done a lot of good science.

Unger was then thoroughly lambasted by every member of the Council (except for Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste, who is marching to her own peculiar drummer on the issue).  Marsha McLean kicked some serious ass.  “I am going to try to be as respectful to you as I possibly can, but some of the statements you made are difficult for me to handle,” she began.  McLean then pointed out that the “independent advisory panel” that reviewed “the science” was weighted in favor of Ventura’s agricultural community.  She noted that farmers had enjoyed bumper crops despite chloride levels, and she wondered why TMDLs would be switched from 100 to 117 mg/L only if an expensive treatment plant were built by Santa Clarita.  She also asked why there hadn’t been any field studies to go along with the literature review, to which Unger replied, “There would not be any further science that would be unraveled…”  Essentially, she was frustrated that there was no “science” to back up TMDL standards or to support the notion of chloride-based crop damage.

 Laurene Weste addressed Unger next, and she basically just had him talk about all the horrible penalties that could be imposed for violating chloride limits, unsuccessfully trying to make a point that compliance was a cheaper option (I think: I don’t know what point she’s making half the time).

Frank Ferry was more aggressive.  He talked about how state water is already very salty, and how we’re given water to drink that isn’t good enough (in terms of chloride levels) to water avocadoes with.  This is when we like Ferry to be brusque, and he didn’t disappoint.  “What agency’s responsible for common sense to come through?” he growled rhetorically.  He talked about how Ventura farming lobbyists were pulling strings but would be desperate for compromise if Santa Clarita stopped pumping water downstream for them to use.  He suggested diverting our water to a big lake instead, saying “We are that crazy.”  Ferry wouldn’t let Unger say science had prevailed over agricultural lobbying, demanding “Please do not insult this community…do not state it is not a political process with political appointees on a political board.”

 

TimBen Boydston also did well.  He read from the scientific literature review noting that they had claimed no definitive chloride limits could be set for strawberries and ornamental plants.  He pointed out that the only damage shown for avocadoes was leaf burn on one farm, and that yield of fruit hadn’t been affected.  He asked a long list of questions about legal appeal options and how the choride TMDL could be challenged. 

Finally, Mayor Kellar graciously gave Unger a chance for closing comments, which he squandered.  This let Kellar finish with an anti-invasive-government tirade—verbal ground he has clearly tread before—about having to comply with exhausting regulations and wasting time and money fighting to keep some level of self determination.

Public Participation

 Public Participation followed.  Many community members spoke.  Alan Ferdman said “I do not like being threatened” to Unger and noted that one of the threatened penalties would cost each household $73,000 a year in taxes.

 Chemical Engineer Maria Gutzeit, a chemical engineer, ridiculed the TMDL science.  Many others shared her sentiment.  It was only Lynne Plambeck who used the chloride debate as a chance to lament rapid growth and a lack of standards enforcement for new developments.

 On the topic of not-chloride, Susan Wachter wondered why an anti-gay individual was going to speak at the Mayors Prayer Breakfast.  In response, Mayor Kellar pointed out the event is not run by the City and that he wanted it to be about prayer, not personalities.  Kellar described himself as being in a “no-win situation” for the breakfast/speaker. A break followed.

 Comments, Consent

 At 8:27, the Council Members made their brief presentations to the City.  Cemex was on the mind of Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste, who spoke about SB 771 from Senator Boxer’s office with co-sponsorship from Senator Feinstein’s office.  Congressman McKeon has promised to support the bill “when” it makes it to the House

 The Consent Calendar passed without much fuss.  Councilmember Boydston asked if the City was paying a fair price for some open space near the planned Cemex mine, and he was assured they were.

 

Finally, there was discussion of an oil pipeline in Santa Clarita.  Primary concerns were about a major accident, which could be exacerbated if a more explosive substance that crude were flowing through the pipeline.  Thus, the Council decided to allow the pipeline but to require another meeting if the pipeline would switch to conveying a different petroleum product.  On the once-more-controversial topic of campaign posters, the new ordinance allows people to pick up confiscated signs after the election.  The meeting ended at 9:05

 

[1]Agenda

Happenings: EDC Makes Case for Self

Santa Clarita has a Chamber of Commerce and an Economic Development Division, but what would we do without three more years of an Economic Development Corporation (EDC), too?  It supports at least one job--that of Jonas Peterson, the EDC CEO--and does some other stuff, too.  Really, they promise.  After tonight's meeting, the EDC will receive $200,000 in taxpayer support each year for the next three years.  Additionally, we learned why building a conference center doesn't make economic sense for Santa Clarita, Mayor Kellar was grumpy, and TimBen Boydston didn't back down on MayorDude, though Frank Ferry did--a little.

Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste read the Gettysburg Adddress for tonight's inovcation.  She admitted that she might have been a bit early for a Memorial Day gesture, but she liked the sentiment.  Next, a choir of old men called the Men of Harmony (debatable) gave so-so renditions of "The Star-spangled Banner" and "Oh Shenandoah".  There were recognitions for organizing a state-wide chess torunament ("It is a higher thinking reading critical skill: chess", said the eloquent Councilmember Ferry), for National Librarby Week, for the 50th Anniversary of the Santa Clarita Swap Meet at the Suaugs Speedway, and for Arbor Day as well.

Public participation began with Councilmember TimBen Boydston speaking on behalf of himself.  Since he's not allowed to talk about his benefits at the dais, he used a three-minute speaker block to challenge Councilmember Frank Ferry regarding benefits.  Recall that at the last meeting, Ferry said that Boydston was new on Council but wanted the same benefits that everyone else receives; right now, Boydston receives far less for waiving his healthcare.  Boydston pointed out that Ferry received the same benefits as everyone else when he was new on council.  He said a lot more, but the feed at santa-clarita.com, while delightfully commercial free, had audio issues the whole night, so I'm not sure what else was said specifically.

Ray Henry, representing the Sand Canyon Mobile Home Park, said he wants residents to get a fair hearing again.  Alan Ferdman spoke out against funding for Community Conservation Solutions, noting that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on the group for outreach efforts that Ferdman finds of questionable utility to the people of Santa Clarita in the midst of its water crises and perhaps even a counterproductive use of funds.  Cam Noltemeyer came forward to give Ferry a talking-to about his conduct.  She said his words to Boydston last week were "completely out of line" and brought up all the important catchphrases of City Council discontent: "gang of four", "Citizens for Integrity in Government", and so on.  She, too, cut out for audio, so I didn't hear all of it.

Comments from individual council members came next.  Ferry had nothing to say.  McLean, likewise, had nothing to say, but it took her much longer to say it.  (She addressed State issues we can't really do much to influence).  Weste said that the community gardens will be expanding with more plots.  Boydston didn't back down on Mayor Dude.  He said his comments last week were made to protect Santa Clarita from investing in a similar program in the future.  Ferry pointed out that three years of silence on the campaign meant it was a non-issue, but he didn't get nearly as impassioned and vocal as he did last week. 

EDC Promotes Its Many Vague Accomplishments

The most-discussed item on the Consent Calendar was an item to support businesses, or as Mayor Bob Kellar calls them, "bih-niss-es."  The Santa Clarita Economic Development Corporation is a group of local businessmen (mostly) that use local taxpayer dollars to leverage additional taxpayer dollars from LA County and then spend it on advertsising themselves and Santa Clarita to the business community.  They also woo businesses and help them perform simple tasks, like helping with "site selection".  Several speakers from the EDC made a case for their continued existence tonight.  Jonas Peterson, the Executive Director, said he wouldn't go into the specific during his comments (after all, who wants to hear those?) but promised "the best is yet to come."  Dante Acosta claimed 2,800 jobs had been created or saved and promised these results had been "verified."  (By whom?)  Others pointed out that for every $1 the City invested in the EDC, $3 in additional funds were raised.   

The one specific case that was offered was helping to attract St. John Precision Dynamics.  Apparently, the EDC helped with site selection, "provided community information...and permitting assistance", for which they claimed credit in helping to bring "200+ jobs" to Santa Clarita.

Councilmemnet Boydston, rather hilariously, said that you could tell just how much money they wanted City Hall to spend based on who was showing up: "there's quite a power lunch here this evening."  He snuck this little jab in amidst praise of business and mentioning that he is a smal business owner himself.  Boydston and McLean called for more specifics on what is actually accomplished by the EDC, and McLean asked for an escape clause in the contract to fund the group for the next three years.  With these measures, this item--and the rest of the consent calendar--passed with unanimous support. 

It's important to note that perpetual naysayer Cam Noltemeyer spoke on Item 5 (second reading of the Habitat for Heroes project) and had no criticisms, which was so remarkable that Boydston actually pointed it out and said how pleased it made him to have such a unviersally supported project.

A $65M Conference Center?

Santa Clarita paid for a detailed study/plan for a conference center, and there was a lengthy presentation tonight.  We learned that a 40,000 - 60,000 square-foor center (this size would support a ballroom that could accomodate 1,500 people) would need 5 - 12 acres of land, be best located in the town center, require expensive and expansive parking, and might generate $250,000 per year for the City in direct tax benefits.  The total cost of land, building, and so on would be about $40M - $65M.  There were options for how to cut costs, but it looked like a very expensive proposition.

Concilmember Boydston pointed out that if 50,000 attendees were attracted each year (a wildly optimistic number based on projections), each would need to spend $10,000 for the City to earn enough sales tax to cover construction costs and financing.  "I want everyone to understand how little sense this makes," he said.

Some speakers were offended that Boydston had thrown around the term "corporate welfare", and more than one person insisted that this would make money for Santa Clarita despite the numbers.  Ferry said of Boydston, "You want us all to drive a horse and buggy"--he was saying that Boydston is always against new projects that end up being worthwhile.  Mayor Kellar, who had let the old men sing for 10 minutes at the start of the meeting, was grumpy that Boydston was having a lengthy discussion on a potentially $65M conference center, so he asked him to keep his comments brief.  On the recommended action of pursuing a public-private partnership to build the center, everyone voted yes, except for Boydston.  The meeting ended without further public participation.


[1]Here's the agenda.  Read it, if you dare.

Happenings: Ferry Won't Fake It Anymore

March 26^th marks the day that the real Frank Ferry returned to the Santa Clarita City Council.  After being provoked by an admittedly annoying TimBen Boydston, Ferry revealed that he would no longer abide the advice of friends who told him to restrain himself.  He revealed a new persona, “The Tiger”, to attack Boydston, whom he has labeled “The Sheep.”  In a tour de force of sloppy analogies, naked threats, and passionate—if unsound—arguments, Councilmember Frank Ferry has promised to make the remaining year that he will serve with Boydston (unless he runs again, which he only half-jokingly threatened) a very unpleasant year indeed.  While The Signal and KHTS will probably focus on the Habitat for Heroes Development as tonight’s big story, support for that project was a foregone conclusion—the real news is that Frank isn’t faking it anymore. 

 

SCVTV began the broadcast some 20 minutes late, and once they decided to start airing the meeting, the USTREAM player interrupted the meeting every 15 minutes to broadcast two commercials.  One day, perhaps, SCVTV will be able to broadcast a meeting start to finish without distraction, but I’m not holding my breath.  Happily, though, the feed started just in time to see TimBen Boydston deliver comments that broke the camel’s back—or roused The Tiger’s furor, to use Ferry’s spirit animal.

 

Boydston Needles

 

During individual comments from each member, TimBen Boydston gave a very long, rather self-righteous account of his quest to determine whether the “Mayor Dude” campaign of four years ago had been a legal use of taxpayer dollars.  In this campaign, ads featuring photos of Frank Ferry were released in an apparent attempt to make City Hall more accessible to youth and uninvolved residents.  The campaign occurred as Ferry was running for another term, and Boydston felt it amounted to improper reelection advertisements at taxpayer expense.  Boydston’s hunch was right, at least partially.  City Attorney Joe Montes confirmed that then-Mayor Frank Ferry should not have been allowed to have his picture placed in non-subscription publications at taxpayer expense.  However, Montes said that Ferry lacked the intent required to make this a serious violation; he didn’t know it was improper.  And unfortunately, Boydston had an unwelcome air of political false piety, if I can use that phrase, during his lecture.  He talked about discussing the campaign during his ethics training, and about how he hoped to prevent this from happening again in an unappealingly smug way.

 

Ferry Threatens

 

Councilmember Frank Ferry had had enough.  He gets confused when he gets excited, and he tried to have it both ways at first.  He painted himself as a victim of TimBen Boydston (“he has brought a hateful, hateful tone to the City Council”) and simultaneously as Boydston’s doom (Ferry called himself “The Tiger” that would destroy any candidates that TimBen “The Sheep” Boydston supports).  Then Ferry tried to say that the Mayor Dude campaign hadn’t helped him at all (he won re-election by just over 30 votes) yet simultaneously maintained that it had been a huge, popular, rousing success for the City (Ferry pointed out its notoriety and visibility in the community). 

 

Eventually, his passion crystalized into a mission to no longer stay quiet.  He threatened to start a State Independent Expenditures Committee bearing his name that would let him challenge any candidate that Boydston supports to take Ferry’s seat in the upcoming elections.  “Am I allowed to still run?  I can ruin those plans a little bit, still,” Ferry mused aloud.  He promised that he would be silent no longer, saying, “The tiger’s awake, I get a year of saying what’s on my mind.”  Another highlight was Ferry’s bizarre, unwelcome insistence on bringing his son into the conversation.  He said that Boydston’s attacks on Ferry’s character were also attacks on Ferry’s son: “I can’t think you have even minimal human decency for me and/or my son.”  Ferry concluded by telling Boydston that “I don’t want it [the City] going to hell as a result of you and your minions”, and calling on an inquiry into how much taxpayer money was wasted by Boydston seeking staff time and legal opinions on things like sign ordinances and health insurance benefits.

 

Boydston added fuel to the fire by calmly asking City Attorney Montes if he should leave the Council while Ferry discussed his benefits package, so there was nothing improper.  “If you wanna leave while I talk yeah, that’d be awesome,” said Ferry.

 

The Rest

 

I have to run now, but I’ll more coverage later.  The rest of the meeting saw widespread support for the Habitat for Humanity project to build a bunch of affordable homes for military veterans, support for pre-zoning movie ranches to be annexed into Santa Clarita, support for Marsha McLean to continue her work with SCAG, and the self-righteous Glo Donnely coming forward during public participation to deride Boydston for coming forward to “to bitch about something that was so stupid.”

Happenings: Nothing, nothing at all

With the State of the Union, the Christopher Dorner shoot-out, Mardi Gras-ing and all the rest, it was probably just as well that tonight’s city council meeting was short and dull[1].  The homeless shelter will be allowed to stay at its present location for three more years, and the city council allocated funds to maintain basic city infrastructure and services.  That’s all that happened, and now that you know, we can move on to the important stuff, like why Ferry was gone again and the McLean-Ferdman alliance and TimBen’s favorite KFI talk show hosts, “Ken and Bob.”

Mayor Kellar broke the news about Councilmember Frank Ferry gently: he was “unable to be with us” for the evening.  Ferry, who has not sat through an entire City Council meeting since November 2012, blew off the whole thing tonight.  Perhaps it’s unfair of me to phrase it like that, but I assume if it had been an emergency, Kellar would have justified the absence.  Ferry was supposed to deliver the invocation, so Kellar had to pinch-hit.  He read something that a Castaic man wrote about being a man, but encouraged women to take the advice to heart as well.

Leading the pledge was a WWII veteran and purple heart recipient.  He and other were honored thereafter, and Santa Clarita has apparently become an official Purple Heart City.  Next, the Boys and Girls Club presented the City with a plaque for its financial support.  Some 300-400 kids visit every day, and the City funds have allowed it to remain open Fridays. 

Public participation consisted of two speakers and signaled what may well be the end of the Sand Canyon Mobile Home Park saga.  Recall that City Attorney Joe Montes was charged with preparing a report about the recent increases in rents, which residents called unfair and illegal.  The community’s Ray Henry asked to have a meeting with the city manager to go over the study.  John Lang, who sits on the local manufactured housing panel, spoke to the fact that the panel allows increases only in accordance with our rent control ordinance.  He said that the City could review that ordinance, but as it stands, the rent increases had been perfectly legal.  City Manager Ken Striplin directed staff to work out a meeting to go over all of these issues with Ray Henry. 

During individual comments, Councilmember Marsha McLean wondered about the potential for a public-private partnership to build more freeway lanes on the 5.  Use of these lanes would require a transponder and cost drivers.  While McLean was trying her best to make it a facts-only speech, her derisive use of the word “toll lanes” and her encouragement of people to give their opinions about these roads revealed her true feelings.  Councilmember TimBen Boydston applauded Mayor Kellar’s town hall event for Newhall earlier this month, and he encouraged people to continue paying attention to a potential tax increase that John and Ken (“Ken and Bob”) of KFI dubbed the “rain tax”.  It would have property owners pay a new storm-drain feee when they’re already paying to treat storm-drain runoff.  Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste talked about a new website that makes it easier for people to find the bricks that honor veterans at the Veterans Memorial Plaza[2].

The recommended actions on the consent calendar—mostly just money to upkeep utility trucks, concrete, and bus security cameras—passed without comment from anyone.

The last item of the evening was considering a proposal to let Santa Clarita’s Bridge to Home Homeless Shelter stay at its Drayton Street location for another three years.  It was originally intended to move to a new location every three years.  With no one opposed to the plan and several prominent Claritans in favor, it easily passed.  As a condition, Bridge to Home must meet a different milestone each year that should conclude in it finding a permanent location in Santa Clarita in year three at Drayton.  Additionally, Boydston and McLean added provisions to have the group increase its insurance coverage to $2M and to come before the City before taking action based on achieving its milestones towards a permanent location.

The meeting ended a little after 7, but not before Al Ferdman made a comment about wanting to support McLean's efforts to inform the public (and oppose) plans for toll lanes.  It was an unusually complimentary, chatty sort of comment between Ferdman and McLean.  Is Ferdman aligning with McLean when both run for City Council?  I may be reading far too much into a three-minute comment but, then again, I may not.

[1]Here's the agenda
[2]Go to www.santa-clarita.com/veterans

Happenings: Economic Development Over-Hyped, Committee Changes

All of Mayor Kellar's City Council meetings have begun the same way: Boydston, Kellar, McLean, and Weste take their seats, and Ferry's chair waits: empty, alone, uncertain what's to come[1].  While Councilmember Ferry would arrive later in the evening, his fellow four council members were quite capable of navigating this less than crucuial chapter of Santa Clarita history on their own.  Apart from securing janitorial supplies, allocating money to build more athletic fields, and changing a few committee appointments, rather little happened.

Awards and presentations this evening were few in number but skillfully drawn out.   Some 900 volunteers were cheered for making Santa Claria'ta marathon a successful event.  The City hosted over 5,000 runners, including some who made a last-minute trip after New York's was cancelled. Mayor Kellar read a letter from a trio of Nebraskan runners who fell in love with SCV during their run. 

Representatives from the Santa Clarita Economic Development Corporation came forward to speak next.  It was a riot.  Don Fleming deadpanned promises to share stories of the EDC's "remarkable" acheivements and promised his colleagues would share "very specific, impressive results."  Then we heard about all these stellar accomplishments: they got the media to run stories about local businesses (wow!); they helped some businesses grow and hire new people (so specific!); they sponsored some events and produced some publications (powerful!); and they called 500 businesses to pitch the perks of relocating to Santa Clarita (oh yes they did!).  We weren't told exactly how many set up shop here after the calls, but I'm sure it was pretty much all of them.  Kellar went to such lengths praising the EDC's efforts that it almost seemed like he wasn't in on the joke...almost.

Hunt Braly spoke first during public participation.  He asked that the homeless shelter stay at its present location on Drayton Street location rather than move to Castaic, at least for the next three years.  Alan Ferdman offered sincere appreciation for the opening of the Canyon Country Community Center.  Ellen Blankenship asked for a new community room in the Saugus area, as demands on the current room prevent residents from having as many of the pre-school age programs that those living elsewhere in the City enjoy.  Bill Reynolds said that he looked into whether any Claritans had died during the Vietnam War, then read the name of the fourteen who had perished.  Reynolds asked that their names appear on a plaque at the Veterans Memorial Plaza.  Carl Boyer began his plea to consider splitting up LA County with a quotation from Martin Luther KKing, Jr.: "Faith is taking the first step, even when you can't see the whole staircase."  He said LA County has a larger population thatn most states and many nations and needs to be split up.  Boyer wants to move forward with changing LA County in a public process with Santa Clarita's support.  Ray Henry of the Sand Canyon Mobile Home Park came forward to speak on behalf of residents.  He conveyed thanks that the City was looking fully into the legality of recent rent increases. 

City Manager Ken Striplin responded to comments, noting that relocating the homeless shelter was a somewhat complicated process.  Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste emphasized that a permanent solution to the need to provide homeless shelter must be sought. 

Next, each of the councilmembers took to the microphone for updates and announcements.  Councilmember TimBen Boydston was heartened by the turnout to oppose LA County's proposed stormwater tax, which he and others have said amounts to double taxation.  The Board of Supes extended the protest period an additional 60 days.  Boydston thought Boyer's ideas about the future of LA County deserved consideration, and Mayor Kellar suggested a study session as a first step.  Councilmember Frank Ferry read a press release for an art-in-public-places exhibit soon to open.  Councilmember Marsha McLean attended a meeting about a new HOT lane prosposal that would let driver pay to drive in special lanes on the 5; participation in the program would require a transponder and monthly fee, and more details will be out soon.  Finally, Mayor Kellar talked about new legal protection for anyone who calls in emergency overdoses; they can't be prosecuted even if they've used drugs themselves.

The consent calendar passed with the recommended actions on all items and without any additional discussion.  If you're keeping track, this means that Royal Paper Corporation won a coveted janitorial supplies contract, $200K will secure more sports fields at Central Par, and City Hall will get a seismic retrofit.

With the consent calendar out of the way, there was a special presentation on an external audit of Santa Clarita.  The council and  audience sat riveted as an accounting firm partner gave the most intimate details of the audit.  After what seemed like an eternity--a thrilling eternity, but an eternity nonetheless--we got the verdict: there were no material misstatements made by the City over the past fiscal year.  While the audit was dull, it was heartening to have such an earnest accountant speak and not overdo it on praising Santa Clarita.  If I have to hear about how we're in the black while other cities are going banrupt, I'll just scream.  TimBen Boydston asked how thorough the check was and posed a couple of other questions about sufficient pension funds and other details.  His questions didn't lead to any shocking revelations. 

The last item tonight (an item concerning traffic stops was continued to a future meeting) involved changes to committee appointments.  Mayor Kellar suggested a few changes, nearly all of them proposed so that he, as mayor, would sit on some of the more crucial committees.  The cnages were as follows:

*League of California Cities Alternate: Weste replaced by Kellar
*School Trustee Association: McLean and Boydston serve, Ferry moves to alternate
*Budget Committee: Kellar and Weste serve, Boydston is alternate
*Community Services Grant: Kellar and Weste serve, McLean is alternate
*Downtown Newhall Specific Plan: Kellar and Weste serve, McLean is alternate
*Sanitation District: Kellar replaces Ferry

Councilmember Marsha McLean was not pleased to lose her spot with Downtown Newhall Specific Plan.  She explained that she has a special relationship with some businesses in Newhall which have grown "used to me."  Kellar listened, but was unswayed.  Everyone assented to the changes. 

There was no additional public participation, so the meeting ended at 7:40. 

[1]Here's your agenda.  Or the City's, rather.

Happenings: Water's Expensive

Councilmember TimBen Boydston read a prayer from Dwight D. Eishenhower to begin this first meeting of the new year[1].  I feared we might very well need the prayer to endure what promised to be a long meeting--at least judging by the size of the audience.  But after endless awards, recognitions, and announcements, rather little happened. The process of selecting a mayor remains unchanged, our water wars continue, and we're getting $160,000 worth of mulch.  Happy 2013.          

One chair sat empty at the beginning of tonight's meeting--do I really have to say whose?  Mayor Kellar explained that Councilmember Frank Ferry would be arriving a little late (we later learned he had been at his son's soccer game).  In his absence, Boydston recognized the Saugus High girls' cross-country team for their 7th consecutive CIF championship.  There's a word for their acheivement: unprecedented.  The Saugus boys did well, too, placing second in the state.

John Dow of the Arts Commission spoke before the council next.  While the commission had planned on establishing an arts foundation in 2012, they decided the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to start and staff such a foundation made it an imprudent option for the time being.  He said a foundation will be established eventually, however; Councilmember Marsha McLean suggested they work on getting the structure in place now even if there aren't the funds to operate it.  Dow also described a study on how non-profit arts impact the local economy.  He said that Santa Clarita sees an annual $11.4M in art-related expenditures, and that the arts support 300 full-time equivalent jobs in the city. 

The final presentation before council was of a person, namely Assistant City Manager Frank Oviedo.  He's only been in town for two days, but he said he was happy to be back in Santa Clarita (Oviedo worked at Santa Clarita's City Hall some years ago before he was city manager of Wildomar).  

Public Participation

There was a half-hour of public participation spanning topics from drugs to politics to rent. 

A spokesperson from Assemblymember Steve Fox's office conveyed well-wishings from Fox, whose district includes the northeastern bit of Santa Clarita in addition to the lesser cities of Palmdale, Lancaster, and Rosamond.

Krissy McAfee, who gave one of the most impactful three-minute speeches ever heard by the city council two years ago, returned to speak tonight.  Recall that in 2010, she described the death of her son, Trae, from a heroin overdose, and in so doing she was largely responsible for getting the community to focus on the growing heroin problem.  She spoke about an up-coming "Good Samaritan Walk" in recognition of a new law that protects people who call to report a friend who has overdosed, even if the reporter has been using drugs as well.  She said that there were 15 deaths from ODs in 2012, and hoped the law would help prevent future deaths.  Another mother who lost her child to an opiate overdose also spoke of the need to tackle our community drug problem. 

Alan Ferdman spoke about just how costly it would be to treat chlorides in water we send down the Santa Clara River.  Even the current "smaller" option would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, he said.

A self-identified older woman asked the City to consider a law regulating smoking in and around apartments. 

Cam Noltemeyer was deeply dismayed about CLWA's acquisition of Valencia Water Company and its polluted wells.  She distrusts their leadership, accusing them of not complying with the health department.  "Now we have probably the worst people in charge of all of these contaminated wells," said Noltemeyer, who was at a loss for why the City was being so hands-off when it came to water providers.

Former Mayor Carl Boyer asked officials and residents to speak in favor of county governance reform, i.e., the problems of the behemoth LA County, which is more populous than 40 states. 

We heard more about concerns over rent increases in a Sand Canyon mobile home community, particularly whether they were in fact legal. 

Finally, a young Claritan named Isabella Clark delivered news of the success of her program to get kids to walk to school.  She said hundreds of students in the Newhall School District have participated in the program "for their and the planet's health." 

City Manager Striplin acknowledged all of the issues raised, but none of the concerns attracted much more than a promise for further investigation by staff.

The Council Comments

It was 7:06 when individual reports from council members began.  Councilmember McLean made an appeal for information about the disappearance of Sarah Alarid, the 19-year-old young woman who has been missing since New Year's Eve.  Councilmember Ferry asked that the City contact someone about re-striping the area around the 5 and 14 freeways, which is so marred with paint, lines, and marks that it's almost causing accidents.  Councilmember Boydston asked to have the City Attorney look at the mobile home rent increases brought up during public participation.  He said that the mobile community residents might not have the resources to hire their own lawyer.  Boydston also brought up the topic of chlorides, which led to an utterly uneccesary rehashing of statements already said many times.  It's a frustrating situation, this chloride treatment business, but little progress was made as the same points were repeated again tonight (e.g., we got rid of water softeners, no science to back chloride limits up, very expensive, etc...). 

Consent Calendar

The Consent Calendar passed easily.  The new historical ordinance has been officially adopted, the City awarded a contract for purchase and delivery of 300 cubic yards of mulch, and there was landscape maintenance district re-shuffling.  That was it. 

Mayor Me

It can be difficult watching City Council meetings online, especially when there are five minutes of dead-silence as TimBen Boydston explains why he'd like to work out some kind of mayoral rotation.  My lip-reading skills proved inadequate.  I'm sure details will be published when KHTS or TMS run their council stories, but for now, all you really need to know is that Boydston's proposal to shake up how a mayor is selected was rejected in a 1-4 vote.

Ferry pointed out that the unofficial rotation had been altered to avoid Klajic as mayor because she refused to join the rest of council, often dissenting in votes.  This seemed to be a warning to Boydston to fall into line. 

More Water Woes

If it's not chlorides, it's broadscale stormwater pollution.  The "Clean Water, Clean Beaches" proposal to tax homeowners for stormwater treatment is widely unpopular in Santa Clarita.  Tonight, it was called double-taxation (we already pay to treat stormwater), a money-grab, and all sorts of other unflattering names.  It would mean an extra $54 in taxes for most property owners.

There's a week left to send in a protest to the measure.  If a majority of property-owners do not protest, the LA County Board of Supervisors may put a vote on the tax on the ballot.  The City Council decided to file a protest for all City-owned properties, and there was talk of letters and educating the community and pointing out a jurisdiction overlap (i.e., City/County both charging to treat stormwater?) as well. 

Relatively little has changed as a result of tonigtht's meeting, but that may well be the case for some time to come.  Many of the problems before Mayor Kellar et al. are big ones, and they're unlikely to be resolved in a single council meeting--or even at the council level.  The meeting ended at 8:53.

[1]Here's the agenda.

Only in SCV: Christmas, a time for counting Birds

It's time for me to make that perennial call to arms--or, rather, binoculars.  This Sunday, December 23rd, LA-area birders will meet at the Western Bagel by Valencia Blvd./Bouquet at 7am.  From there, they shall disperse to identify and count all the birds they can in the official Santa Clarita count circle.  The information they collect will be compiled by the National Audubon Society, made available online, and analyzed to look at local and nation-wide trends in bird populations. Birds are easy to observe, diverse, and respond rapidly to environmental changes, so they are a great indicator of what's going on in the environment at large.  And with over 130 counts in California and well over 1,000 counts nationwide drawing tens of thousands of volunteers, the Christmas Bird Count is an amazing example of "citizen science"--regular folks collecting data that is used to inform scientific research and policy. 

You'll note that I said LA-area birders will be meeting at Western Bagel, not Claritan birders.  That's because Santa Clarita is pitifully under-represented on its own bird count--at least the years I've gone.  It helps if you have binoculars and can identify birds, but there are plenty who join the count just to get out for a hike or to help more skilled bird-watchers find and navigate the hidden city parks of Claritadom, which may be harboring birds aplenty.  And when all the birds are counted, the counters assemble for lunch at Tacos y Burritos El Pato in Newhall--and you know how much your city council members want you to support small businesses in Newhall.  So if you've done your Christmas shopping, consider spending the morning of the 23rd doing something for the birds.  For more details, you can visit Audubon's website here:
http://birds.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count
and the page of the count organizer here:
http://www.cooperecological.com/SCRCBC.htm

Happy counting.  (Below, I've posted an example of some of the information that emerges from these counts.  Santa Clarita's quail numbers seem to be falling, while the familiar mockingbird holds steady, and exotic Eurasian Collared-Doves continue their invasion of California, growing quickly in numbers.  Dozens and dozens of other species of birds are showing their own unique trends.  What will this year reveal?)