Routine Council, Some Public Venom

Tonight's Santa Clarita City Council meeting lacked controversy, tension, and suspense. Most items were financial in nature--investment policy, bonds, fees, service contracts--and decisions were more formalities than turning-points. It was the kind of meeting you forget, even as it's happening. But I persevered to recap, if solely for the sake of a few quotable moments.

"That's a plus."

Councilmember TimBen Boydston read some excerpts from President Barack Obama's National Day of Prayer speech. Mayor Kellar then welcomed a Boy Scout Troop--"all the way from Canyon Country!"--to lead the pledge. It took an inordinate amount of time because the young scout at the helm added grave and dramatic pauses whenever possible.

Next, May was proclaimed "Bicycle Month." Fittingly there will be group rides and events and the Amgen Tour to celebrate bicycles and the people who ride them. Mayor Kellar said he's delighted to see what must be "thousands" of bicyclists riding about Santa Clarita each weekend. Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta was in charge of the next presentation. He described the awards Santa Clarita's communications team received from the California Association of Public Information Officials. Gail Morgan arranged her mostly female team for a celebratory photo with the council, and Councilmember Weste observed, "They're not only good at their job, they're gorgeous, so, that's a plus." I suspect the remark would have played somewhat less favorably had it been delivered by a male councilmember. 

"Vengeance is mine saith the Lord."

Public participation was short and bitter. Elaine Ballace, who spoke shortly after the pledge, said, "Liberty and justice for all...unless you live in a mobile home park." She complained about how the new(ish) mobile home ordinance has been put into practice and asked for more support from the council, naming some city staff members she's found less than supportive (e.g., Erin Lay) of residents struggling to get by as rents continue to rise. Ballace ended with a rather foreboding proclamation: "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord!"  

Next, an elderly Claritan man from Belcaro gave his thoughts on a memorial for SCV veterans. He thought that a proposed outdoor monument wasn't the best idea (it gets cold/rainy and hot/unpleasant outside, he fairly pointed out) and suggested a museum as his preferred alternative. He explained that it could educate young people about veterans and American history, which he said is not really being taught in the schools. Cam Noltemeyer spoke next. She enumerated her many and familiar grievances against redevelopment in Newhall. Using the library as an anchor and lavishing subsidies on private entities were among the choices that Noltemeyer found "disturbing." 

The final speaker was Steve Petzold. He drew parallels between Measure M (the College of the Canyons one from 2006), Measure S (the billboard one from 2014) and Measure E (the College of the Canyons one going on now). For all these measures, Petz was interested in who was funding support efforts. He has researched it (this required a trip to Norwalk) and found support from the philanthropic arm of COC and several other parties, including "Westfield Valencia Mall [for] $12,500." Petzold's opposition, he re-stated, was based on having the people of Santa Clarita pay for the college despite accounting for only about half the attendance. "This is a scam folks," he cautioned.

City Manager Ken Striplin's responded once public participation had concluded. His remarks were polite acknowledgements of speakers or refutations of some of the more outraged contentions. Updates from the council were protracted and routine, for the most part. Mayor Kellar spent some time encouraging residents to purchase banners for members and veterans of the armed forces. The banner program includes the display of large, personalized banners along the road for major, patriotic holidays. The families then get to keep the banner. While the costs of the banners are being partially covered by donations from local businesses, families must cover the rest. Kellar explained that this made sense--another city had covered costs in a similar program and eventually ran out of funds. This seemingly innocuous comment would become important later.   

"I know it's kind of confusing."

The consent calendar brought more questions than answers. Councilmember Boydston asked if there were any derivatives in Santa Clarita's investments (Item 5 was a review of investment policy). There aren't, apparently. Al Ferdman spoke on Item 8, which had to do with initial administration of the recently formed Santa Clarita Parking Authority. "What is it going to do?" Ferdman asked. Item 9 added to the confusion, because it replaced the Redevelopment Successor Agency with the Parking Authority in the Santa Clarita's joint powers agreement. "I know it's kind of confusing," said City Manager Striplin. He explained that one agency was just being swapped for another and that despite the name, it didn't have to do with the parking structure proposed for the next stage of Newhall redevelopment. "The two just kind of coincided," he said of the authority and structure.

The consent calendar passed with the recommend actions on all items.

"Let's pay for the whole deal."

A few more items followed the consent calendar. First, the annual stormwater pollution prevention fee was determined at $24.04 per year for an average 7,000 square-foot parcel. Councilmembers Marsha McLean and TimBen Boydston expressed some displeasure over county/state plans to increase the fee. This hasn't happened yet, but it was clearly on their minds. In a rare, almost affectionate moment, Mayor Kellar remembered an amusing remark Boydston made when testifying about stormwater fees before the LA County Board of Supervisors. Kellar recalled, chuckling, "God gave us rain and government's trying to figure out how to tax us for it."

The final items had to do with refunding Golden Valley Road and open space bonds, which saved the city some cash, There was no discussion or comment.

The meeting would have ended then and there, but Al Ferdman decided to submit a card for the closing round of public participation. He said he hadn't planned on it until he heard a particular remark. "Then something happens that raises the hair on the back of my neck," he said, building suspense. He explained that honoring veterans with banners was great, but not covering the costs was "shameful." (Recall that Kellar had made a case for asking families to cover some of the costs.) Ferdman pointed out that the city spends almost $100,000 on holiday lights for Newhall and will be giving about $4M to Laemmle Theaters. Why, Ferdman queried, couldn't it spare about $20,000 for veterans? "Kick in that twenty grand and let's pay for the whole deal," he emphatically suggested. The meeting then ended.