With a sparse agenda after summer recess, the City
Council relied on residents to supply most of the discussion this evening.
Another war memorial, little libraries, and noisy soccer games were among the
unagendized items considered. This didn’t make for a particularly action-packed
meeting. Luckily, Al Ferdman’s incipient let’s-slow-down-on-Laemmle campaign
and the first ever shout of “¡Putos!” from the podium made
for an interesting night.
The
Feel-Good Stuff
“I have something very, very…very, very special,”
teased Mayor Marsha McLean as she opening the meeting. McLean called forward a
Canyon High student named Sarah Kennedy and Kelsey, her friend from the “Yes I
Can” program. Sarah has autism, and she’s been working to build autism awareness
and to make friends far and wide. “I make friends by offering gumballs,” she
explained, and she showed a video of the thousands of connections she’s made
with students, politicians, and celebrities over gum. McLean applauded Sarah’s
efforts and said, “Friendship is everything.”
Following the flag salute, the City Council
recognized Kirstin Campbell and Andrei Mojica for earning “world champion”
titles in taekwondo competitions at the ATA World Championships. McLean read
from a prepared statement that said spectators “from over six continents” came
to cheer on thousands of marital artists. The second recognition of the evening
went to the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Department team that helped quickly locate
a missing teen girl earlier this month. She was found hiding in the garage of a
sex offender and all were grateful for the discovery before things got even
worse.
A
Word from the Public
Most of tonight’s public participation speakers
addressed the topic of military memorials. Kevin Duxbury, a veteran, asked that
the council consider moving the tribute on Fallen Warriors Memorial Bridge. It’s
difficult to access, he said, and it might be more fittingly placed in Central
Park. Several other speakers said they were in favor of building a new memorial
to honor all of those Claritans who have died in military service. The idea was
Bill Reynolds’, and he envisioned a substantial granite monument in the shape
of a “V” (for valor) placed in the Veterans Historical Plaza. Reynolds and his supporters
felt that the other military memorials in Santa Clarita weren’t as
all-encompassing, accessible, or imposing as the proposed monument would be.
The crowd was supportive and applauded a couple of times, but McLean stepped in
to stop the disruption: “Ladies and gentlemen, um, if you don’t mind please,
we, um, need to kind of move along and applause is kind of not the norm here so
please, if you don’t mind.” Thereafter, clapping was stifled.
Drake Hougo, a senior at Saugus High School, came to
the podium to describe his love of Santa Clarita, community service, and
placing unpermitted miniature libraries in the public right-of-way. Indeed,
Hougo has made the news lately because he put up some boxes for taking and
leaving books in high-traffic spots in the city. Problematically, he did so
without seeking the landowner’s (i.e., the City’s) permission. Thus, he was
ordered to remove them for the time being.
He argued that it was hard to argue with the popularity of his
libraries, and he claimed that they fit in with the city’s goals because,
“Santa Clarita has a very heavy arts emphasis.” Hougo’s father supported his
son’s intentions and shouldered the blame for not going through the required
process.
At the last meeting, you might recall the public’s unbridled
enthusiasm for a Laemmle Theater to anchor Old Town Newhall. The council then
agreed to enter negotiations with Laemmle and its partner, Seranno Development
Group, to build a parking structure, six-screen theater, and mixed
retail/residential spaces. Laemmle and Seranno were looking for some $13M in
city “participation.” During his comments tonight, Alan Ferdman asked a lot of
questions about the wisdom of the proposed project. He said that Laemmle has
closed 6 theaters in the past decade. It could take over 80 years for taxpayers
to see their investment return in the form of tax revenue, he warned. And
Ferdman also worried about less-than-optimal parking and which funds would be
used to subsidize the development. In short, Ferdman suggested that residents
chill on the Laemmle brand. He pointed out that it’s a profit-driven movie
chain just like the others. It may play up its arthouse leanings, but Laemmle theaters
will readily play big mainstream releases if that’s what its clientele is
looking for. The theater’s fanboys/girls were not present in sufficient numbers
to counter Ferdman’s concerns.
City Manager Ken Striplin was the first to respond
to public comments. He handled the issue of the little sidewalk libraries with
sober enthusiasm. He liked the idea, but he pointed out that there are concerns
about liability, litigation, and loss of access when people just build stuff in
the public right-of-way. Striplin apologized for having to disappoint Ferdman
on the Laemmle development—with negotations underway, there was too much
uncertainty to answer all (or really any) of his questions. Finally, Striplin
left it up to the council as to whether it wished to consider adding a monument
to the Veterans Plaza.
The council was uniformly in favor of considering a
monument for the plaza, so a formal discussion is likely soon. However,
Councilmembers Laurene Weste and Dante Acosta expressed some concerns about the
other idea floated during comments—to move the plaque at Fallen Warriors Memorial
Bridge. Acosta contended that it was a decision best made after consulting
Santa Clarita’s gold star families. Councilmembers also politely encouraged
Drake Hougo to follow the rules when it came to building and installing his
miniature libraries. General comments from the City Council followed. Several
focused on recent passings, including the tragic death of teenager Wyatt
Savaikie and the death of former City Attorney Carl Newton. The upcoming annual
Santa Clara River Rally was mentioned. And Mayor Pro Tem Bob Kellar even got in
a “little plug” for a local business: “You cannot believe the amount of
inventory they have in Paul’s Paint and Hardware…let’s go visit those folks!” So
it was very much business as usual, the only remarkable thing being Councilmember
TimBen Boydston’s uncharacteristic terseness.
Quiet
Consent
The consent calendar had a few items of note. There
was a design contract for the Vista Canyon Regional Transit Center and another
for removal of all turf from city street medians. Staff proposed no-stopping
zones in a couple of heavily-trafficked spots. But it was only a lease for a
temporary fire station that garnered any comment. Weste worried that fire
personnel might be stuck in some temporary shack of sorts, and she wanted to
make certain that accommodations were suitable for the men and women dedicated
to protecting public safety. City Manager Striplin said the term “temporary”
could be a little misleading—structures were still designed to hold up—but he
would investigate further. All of the items were then approved unanimously with
the recommended actions.
Noisy
Neighbors
The second round of public participation focused on the
trouble with living next to a busy soccer field. Residents of Villa Metro said
they’ve been in their new homes for mere months, but the living situation is
already unbearable. Living next to the Santa Clarita Soccer Center means non-stop
noise from games stretching from morning to eleven o’clock at night. Lights and
errant soccer balls and people trespassing into yards are also problematic, but
the noise is what has put residents on edge.
Two couples and a single mother attempted to convey
what their experience has been like. One woman grew very emotional as she
described feeling like a prisoner in her own home. The cursing in Spanish has
really upset her because she can understand curse words that
non-Spanish-speakers might be able to more easily ignore. She has been told to
play music, run the air conditioner, or shut up her house to dampen the noise,
but she lives in California and wants to be able to open her windows. The owner
of the soccer center apparently tried to console her by saying that games aren’t
held on four days a year. The most dramatic statements came from Chermaine
Fontennete. She jarred the council chambers as she banged on the podium and
yelled, “Putos! Javier! Gooooooal!” to simulate what it’s like every weekend morning.
“I am a heavy duty truck operator,” she explained—an exhausted one. Working for
the City of Los Angeles, she is supposed to get ten hours of rest to safely
operate her heavy truck for ten hours a day, but she said that this is impossible
living next to the soccer field. “I could kill people, kill children, because I
can’t sleep.”
One may be wondering why these people bought their
homes in the first place. Most claimed that the true extent of the noise hadn’t
been fully disclosed. Fontenette mocked the disclosure, which she said came
very late in the process. “Oh, we have a little disclosure…there’s a small
soccer field over there. Kids play.” She argued that it’s not just kids, it’s
not small, and it’s operating at very late hours. McLean pointed out that “When
you purchase a home you kind of look around and see what’s around.” It was a
valid point, but she seemed almost apologetic for even bringing it up. Indeed,
most of her comments were much more sympathetic to the homeowners, and she
promised to try and find a solution for them.
Steve Petzold also spoke during public participation,
touching on topics such as CVRA lawsuits and illegal immigrants and the justice
system. His remarks were not addressed. Finally, seven comment cards were in
favor of the little libraries were also received and acknowledged.
With the hope of a soccer noise crackdown, the
meeting ended.
