Happenings: Lawsuit to be Challenged, Las Lomas to be Open Space

I had a chance to catch up with Lindsey Newhall, yes that Newhall, at the Fourth of July Parade.  She said that if Santa Clarita is broken into voting districts, her family will reinstitute their monarchic reign over District Newhall. 

 

 

 

Tonight’s two-hour meeting was the last before the council members take their summer hiatus through the end of August[1].  (Councilmember Frank Ferry’s empty chair indicated that he hiatus-ed early).  There was much ado about roads, talk about placing a plastic bag ban on an upcoming agenda, the end(?) of the Community Conservation Solutions debate, purchase of a big parcel of land for open space, and a decision to fight the voting district lawsuit.  In short, it was the kind of meeting Joe Clarita couldn’t care less about.  Nearly 10 people watched the broadcast at santa-clarita.com. 

Voting Lawsuit Will Be Challenged

As a result of tonight’s closed-session meeting, the lawsuit that claims Santa Clarita’s at-large voting system somehow deprives Latinos of political representation will be challenged.  There wasn’t much discussion, but when this stance was revealed, scattered applause was heard.  A handful of public speakers would also mention that the City was doing the right thing.

Without Ferry to deliver the invocation, Mayor Bob Kellar spoke first.  He reminded Claritans that the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall will be in town in late September.  Presentations to/from the City were delightfully brief.  Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste recognized Richard Cook, who has flown every rover mission to Mars.  For his role, he was named as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2013.  “I always wanted to meet and know a rocket scientist,” said Weste.  When Cook came up to receive a certificate, he described living in Santa Clarita as “a privilege.”  Damn straight, rocketman; damn straight.

Public Participation

I want more James Shepherd.  As the first speaker during tonight’s public participation section of the meeting, he voiced concerns about pretty much everything during his three minutes.  He wondered about the roundabout in Newhall and if there would be pedestrian bridges; asked the City Council to fix roads that are so full of potholes they’re like “some sort of corn field,”; complained that buses block traffic when they stop to exchange passengers; said the parking lot for Vons was atrocious; and demanded a solution to the bus stop for Golden Valley, which dumps school kids off in dust or mud, depending on the season.  Despite presenting similar concerns a couple of years ago, he said “Nothing’s happened.”  Shepherd closed with a simple directive for the City Council: “Fix all that stuff!”

Diane Trautman and Sandra Cattell both spoke about their desire to see plastic bags banned from stores in Santa Clarita.  This struck a chord with Councilmember Marsha McLean, who broached the subject in the past.  Now that some lawsuits have made their way through the courts, City Manager Ken Striplin explained, it seems that cities can regulate plastic bags by at least some means.  This led McLean to ask her fellow council members if they’d consider agendizing the topic of a plastic bag ban, and all agreed to it.  If I’m reading the Council correctly, McLean, Weste, and Boydston would vote in favor of the ban (there’s your majority), so it may just be a matter of time before all of the SCV’s stores will be plastic-free, not just the unincorporated ones.

Council Comments

Per usual, TimBen made a rather long production of his updates and comments.  He returned to the topic of Community Conservation Solutions, the group Santa Clarita hired for wastewater/chloride expertise.  Boydston found that the initial dealings with the organization had been mediated via a “verbal agreement”, which he found a less than ideal way to conduct business—especially since that verbal contract put Santa Clarita on the line to pay for services which Boydston felt may have been over-priced.  This group has been mentioned for being expensive, for having formerly had Laurene Weste on its board, and for not doing much to help the chloride situation—that’s why you’ve heard the name before.  Therefore, Councilmember Boydston was satisfied when he asked City Manager Ken Striplin, “Are we finished with this company for now?” and got a “Yes” in response.     

The Business of the Agenda

Much of the agenda dealt with traffic-related issues or had second-readings of items discussed at previous meetings.  The whole thing passed with the recommended actions for each item.  However, Boydston voted “no” on Item 4 (giving the council a 6% raise) and Item 7 (adoption of the Lyons Corridor Plan).  There was no discussion over the re-appointments of Councilmembers Boydston and Ferry to the Library Trustees Board. 

Alan Ferdman spoke out on a public hearing concerning adoption of the Congestion Management Program, arguing that the City has done little to improve congestions.  However, City Manager Stripling explained adoption was more of a “paper exercise” than anything else and was mostly about reporting development to meet the mandates to receive gas tax revenue.

On the topic of developing an “Enhanced Watershed Management Plan”, Cam Noltemeyer and Alan Ferdman noted that many of the players in the chloride battle were also part of this action.  Allan Cameron dealt more directly with the chloride war in his comments, and claimed someone was challenging him on his opinion of the topic—though it was all a little vague.

Las Lomas No More

Las Lomas was the project slated for the hills south of the SCV that never really had any legs to stand on.  With steep topography and major access issues, the development was not approved.  The Trust for Public Land has been arranging a deal to acquire the 302 acres in this region for $4.65M—they have grants that may cover as much as $3.3M, and the City is throwing in Open Space District funds to cover the balance and to make up for any delays in grant disbursement.  There are options to end the deal if the grants don’t come through.

This was popular with every on the Council and from the public except Cam Noltemeyer, who thought the land had been over-valued.  There was a lot of interesting language thrown around.  Mayor Bob Kellar called this action the “proverbial wooden stake” in the heart of the Las Lomas development, and Allan Cameron said the land acquisition was “succulent and satisfying,” and that he lacked “adequate superlatives” to express how pleased he was. 

The meeting ended shortly after 8.

[1]Here’s the agenda.

 

Happenings: A Raise, Lyons Planned, Presentations Aplenty

After tonight’s meeting, there is an official vision for the Lyons corridor, council members will be paid more starting next term, and at least a fraction of Santa Clarita’s youth are committed to being drug-free[1].  But none of it may matter if the whole valley becomes an ashen wasteland as the worst fire season in a century approaches. 

The Worst Fire Season in a Century

With Independence Day drawing nearer, Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste quoted Thomas Jefferson for the invocation and then spoke about the great and glorious tradition that is Santa Clarita’s Fourth of July Parade.  This year’s theme, “The Winning Spirit”, is sure to inspire Claritans valley-wide.

Presentations to the City Council followed; the bad news came first.  LA County Fire Chief Daryl Osby spoke about the upcoming wildland fire season.  He went on record with the prediction that the worst fire season in a century awaits us.  Fuel (or plants, as us non-fire people say) will be reaching a critical combustion stage in July rather than in fall, as would be expected in wetter years.  He stressed the importance of avoiding fireworks, clearing brush from around homes, and following evacuation orders—if it should come to that.

Next came an update on the recently implemented “Drug-Free Youth In Town” (DFYIT—“defy it”) program.  Students from seven junior high schools and six high schools volunteered for the program.  This involved a few hours of community service (just over three on average, based on the summary statistics), getting educated (learning things like drug “refusal skills”), and undergoing random drug tests.  Some 800 students signed up and, encouragingly, 100% of their drug tests were negative.  Then again, I harbor serious doubts that the teenage heroin addicts most in need of such a program are very likely to sign up when they know random testing awaits them.

Finally, Santa Clarita won the SCAG Compass Blueprint Award for working with LA County to plan One Valley One Vision.  Councilmember Marsha McLean said that when the honor was initially bestowed, LA County reps took the award, so she had to request this special presentation and an award to display at City Hall, too.  Typical LA County, jaded Claritans muttered.  (Not really.  Well, maybe.) 

Public Participation

Public Participation began with Alan Ferdman, who reminded us that he is running for City Council even though everybody already knows and we really doesn't need to hear the "in the interest of full disclosure" bit every single time.  Anyhow, he was pleased that LA County's Clean Water, Clean Beaches proposal has been set aside for a bit again, noting that the plan is costly, controversial, and perhaps the result of interests more political than environmental.  Cam Noltemeyer spoke next, asking about $210,000 that was approved to give to Community Conservation Solutions.  This comes in addition to the approximately $900,000 that has been given to the group already for outreach and education about water and chloride issues.  She asked, essentially, what we’ve got to show for the expenditure of over one-million dollars.  A representative from Goodwill (I missed her name) spoke about the new career center that will open tomorrow morning on Lyons.  Ron Haywood with SEIU spoke on behalf of City employees, asking why (“with the City thriving as well as this one is”) employees have to worry about the vesting schedule and the diminishment of benefits for those hired recently.  Local punctuation enthusiast Steve Petzold asked to hear more specifics about which chloride treatment option the City is considering as the least onerous choice to meet mandates.  “I would like to see more leadership,” he said.  Finally, Alan Cameron used his sonorous voice to mask the fact that his predictions about chloride treatment mandates weren’t as rock solid as he seemed to think.  “We are going to win this chloride situation […] it is inexorable that we’re going to win.”  He cited some recent legal cases and predicted the State would relax chloride standards if a lawsuit forced them to pay for the cost of treatment.

From the Dais

Most of the updates from members of Council were the same old thing…this event was a success, this other event is coming up, do these really obvious things to make your summer safer, etc.  There were two exceptions.

First, Councilmember TimBen Boydston said that he was shocked that the Castaic Lake Water Agency’s Dan Masnada would be so cavalier as to claim Santa Clarita has water in abundance, so much so that we could tap the local aquifer to meet the provisions of one of the chloride treatment plans without ill effects to current residents or new growth.  Second, Mayor Bob Kellar asked Mike Murphy to come up and describe the lobbying that Murphy, Kellar, and Weste conducted in Washington, D.C. last week regarding Cemex mining.  They met with representatives from the offices of Senators Boxer and Feinstein along with several members of the House.  Boxer introduced bill S771 to “resolve the now 14-year-old dispute” (yes, it’s been that long).  Murphy went to some pains to express how sincerely Congressman Buck McKeon supported the bill despite the fact that he would introduce no companion legislation himself, given the House’s rule against earmarks.  It wasn’t terribly convincing.  In short, Murphy said conversations were had, and there might be a hearing for S771 in the late summer or fall, but as of yet, nothing concrete (get it?) has been accomplished. 

By 7:13, we finally got to the Consent Calendar.

The Contentious Raises

Mayor Kellar did an awful job of organizing the discussion of tonight’s consent calendar.  By having everyone from the public give comments on every item all at once (rather than on an item-by-item basis), he ensured that the issues got muddled.  Then everything was brought up again as the city manager responded, then items were brought up a third time as the council members commented.  It was a mess.

With regard to the City budget and several specific projects, Cam Noltemeyer expressed unease over how freely funds were borrowed and transferred from once district or account to another.  She wondered about who benefits and who pays.  (City Manager Ken Striplin would respond that all of the City’s budget policies were legal, prudent, and transparent, even if they look convoluted at times.  Trust us, to paraphrase.)  Apart from the 2013-14 budget, the consent calendar also included items for a substantial bridge widening, beautification of the Sand Canyon gateway, street improvements and maintenance, and improved parking for the Valencia Library.

However, council member compensation drew the most attention.  Tonight, all members but Boydston voted for a 6% pay raise for the next council term.  Boydston said it would be nobler to say "no" to getting more.  He advocated being a model of restraint.  Alan Cameron, during public comments, disagreed.  He said the Council is underpaid for the work they do, and better pay would allow more people to afford the time to serve on council.  Cameron used the initial unpopularity of women’s suffrage as an analogy with which to parallel  the unpopular—but justified, in his mind—idea of supporting a raise.  It was a stupid analogy, but his deep, booming voice concealed this. 

Councilmember Marsha McLean sounded a bit emotional as she tried to justify the raise which, as City Manager Ken Striplin pointed out, could have been as much as 10% instead of 6%.  “I wasn’t going to say anything, but now I have to,” she said, when Boydston finished his remarks in favor of no raise.  She explained how she spends at least 40 hours a week on council business, and her take-home pay is $1400 per month.  That’s $8.70 an hour, and she hoped no one would deny her or her fellow members marginally more than that.  As stated, the raise passed with everyone’s affirmative vote but Boydston’s.

Lyons Corridor

The final item of the night was a rather drawn-out discussion of the future of Lyons Avenue.  The Lyons Corridor Plan anticipates the growth and changes outlined in the General Plan (OVOV), and directs growth and (re-)development to follow certain guidelines.  There is an emphasis on moving storefronts to the sidewalks, not behind parking areas.  Architectural styles are Victorian and Crafstman, but diversity is encouraged.  Walkability is stressed, and there are incentives to encourage businesses to invest in changing their facades and the like.

The one point most people argued with was an incentive of 20% reduced parking requirements if a business were to dramatically change its structure in accordance with plan guidelines.  People wondered why it would be worthwhile to reduce the number of customers that a business’ lot could accommodate. 

Councilmember McLean, the perpetual micro-manager, wanted to have an option to review essentially all architectural changes, but she relented and agreed to only review the major ones.  Councilmember TimBen Boydston squandered 10 minutes talking about traffic flow grades and how increased development on Lyons would affect them, ignoring the fact that the changes laid out were done so only to be consistent with the master plan.  Eventually, Mayor Kellar interrupted him to say that they couldn’t change or undo a major part of One Valley One Vision that night, and Ferry pushed forward a motion that effectively ended the discussion.  Boydston was the only member who voted “no” on the plan, noting serious concerns about traffic and environmental effects.

 

The meeting ended at 9:09. 

[1]Here's the agenda.

Happenings: A Raise, "The Ferdman Plan", and Budgeting

Tonight’s City Council meeting was about money—I suppose they all are, but this evening was more explicitly about finances than usual[1].  The $180M budget was presented, council members voted to increase their future salaries, and fees were levied.  Councilmember Frank Ferry was absent, Councilmember TimBen Boydston was grandstanding with alacrity, and Mayor Bob Kellar was wishing it would all be over sooner rather than later.  In short, the council behaved as expected throughout.

A Dramatic Opening

Councilmember TimBen Boydston opened the meeting with an emphatic reading of the “Prayer for Government” written by Archbishop John Carroll, the first bishop of the United States, in 1791.  Perhaps it was slightly modified.  He closed by requesting that God Bless Santa Clarita. 

Then, Boydston led the flag salute by inviting those in attendance to “face the flag of the greatest nation on earth” and pledge allegiance. 

Yet more dramatic flair came from Mayor Bob Kellar.  He spoke with sincere amazement and adulation about an Eagle Scout project completed at Wildwood Canyon.  Scout Justin Reust managed meetings, resources, and twenty volunteers to install 2 benches, a kiosk, and some mulch.

The final dramatic flourish came from Alan Ferdman during Public Participation.  He laid out the appropriately—and modestly—titled “Ferdman Plan” for meeting chloride limits.  UV radiation is a central feature of the plan that would save millions of dollars over the existing preferred treatment options.  “That’s quite a title,” said Kellar of the plan.  It was.  Ray Henry was the only other public speaker, mentioning that he would like to have a meeting between Sand Canyon Mobile Home Park residents and members of the panel that review rent increases. 

Consent Calendar

There was very little discussion of the Consent Calendar.  As one might expect in Southern California, the roads received a lot of attention—street sweeping contract, the spiffying up of bus stops, and landscaping and pedestrian improvements on Sierra Highway.  A $110,000 allocation to support the Concerts in the Park series over the next two years and a number of other bookkeeping items rounded it out.  All of the items passed with the recommended actions, though various members abstained, as needed, if they lived too close to a project.

Matters Monetary

According to the agenda, the Fiscal Year 2013-14 budget is $180.6M—or about $900 for every man, woman and child in the City.  Sales tax is the single biggest revenue source, generating 17% of the total budget figure.  In terms of expenditures, public safety has surpassed parks, recreation, & community services, gobbling up $21M while $20.7 goes to parks & rec.  This represents a somewhat staggering 33.5% increase in public safety spending since the start of the recession.  That is staggering, right?  (I've been told I stagger too easily in the past).

City Manager Ken Striplin highlighted some particular changes and expenditures. He noted that extra law enforcement at Jake’s Way (2 two-deputy units) has decreased crime by a third, so it will continue to be supported.  Additionally, over a quarter-of-a-million dollars will go to hire more librarians for young-adult programs and to assess Saugus’ library needs.  I waited for a library privatization critic to comment, but none did.  Striplin made the obligatory speech thanking the City Council for leading the way to a balanced budget with a healthy reserve.  I found TimBen Boydston’s comment more refreshing: he thanked the taxpayers for giving the council money to spend on projects for which the council could then take credit.  He also lamented the expenditure of $9,500 for a River Rally biologist each year and many other state agency-mandated line items, but was generally OK with the budget at large. Ultimately, the budget was accepted and will most likely be formally adopted at the next meeting.  Councilmember Marsha McLean used her exasperated “yes” on the budget hearing as a vehicle with which to convey her annoyance at Boydston’s many questions and rhetorical flourishes.  (I consider myself one of the foremost readers of meaning in McLean’s votes at the dais).

A series of public hearings formally accepted the adjustment and/or levying of fees for open space, stormwater pollution prevention, special districts and the like.

Art!
Paul Strickland left the Arts Commission, and Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste appointed Patti Rasmussen to fill-in for the remaining 7 weeks of his appointment.  The other members of the City Council confirmed her choice, a courtesy not extended to TimBen Boydston when he tried to make appointments last year.  (No one else brought it up so I thought I should).  Weste’s reasoning behind the appointment was that Rasmussen would do well in continuing Strickland’s work to establish an Arts Foundation.  Establishing such a foundation is critical in that it would make art initiatives in Santa Clarita eligible for federal grants and the like.

A Raise For Us, On Us

The City Council is allowed to increase the salary of future council members (they don’t vote on their current salaries but those received in the next term) by up to 5% per year, not compounded.  This is a sore subject, because TimBen Boydston receives significantly lower cash-in-lieu benefits than do the other members of council, though his salary is the same.  As Al Ferdman and Cam Noltemeyer would remind the Council during their comments, this disparity does not sit well with many in the community.  City Manager Striplin talked about the “cafeteria-style plan” with the ability to customize benefits and packages, but it’s an issue that is still rather raw.  When City Attorney Joe Montes chose not to say anything on the subject, Kellar and Weste laughed (more nervously than inappropriately, I think) at the attempt to keep the issue from flaring up again.

Boydston suggested that there should be no increase in salary.  “When we have the opportunity to say ‘no’ to ourselves, it is a good thing.”  No one would second his motion.  Weste and McLean agreed that, like other City employees (which aren’t the same as elected officials…but logic doesn’t always reign at CC meetings) they should receive a pay increase.  McLean suggested 3% per year for the past two years.  Her motion passed, with Boydston dissenting.  The cynical may argue that it was easy for Boydston to vote “no” in the knowledge that he could look selfless while still receiving the pay increase, but he had motioned for no increase initially, so perhaps he deserves the benefit of the doubt.  In any case, effective July 2014, salaries will go up by 6% such that members will make about $100 more than the current $1,728.84 they earn each month.

Public Participation at the end of the meeting included only Cam Noltemeyer.  She was upset that Laurene Weste served on the board of an environmental group that received nearly $1M for chloride and water quality outreach.  Weste pointed out she hadn’t been a volunteer on the board for nearly a year, but this point comes up rather persistently, nonetheless.  Finally, Boydston griped about not being invited to a chloride meeting held between business interests and regional water board administrator Sam Unger (the guy who holds up binders of papers as evidence that science has happened).  Boydston didn’t have any new points to bring up, but he was butthurt—in today’s vernacular—that the council gave the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet that funding doesn’t buy them all an invitation to regionally important meetings.  Kellar, who had been invited, basically advised him to get over it—though not quite so directly.  The meeting then ended.

[1]Enjoy the agenda.  Really, please do.

Happenings: Adjusted

Tonight’s City Council meeting was one of adjustments—to codes, to fees, to fire zone boundaries, to development policy—and consequently, it was pretty boring[1].  Everything has changed, but usually not meaningfully so.  The main reason to endure the meeting was to keep an eye on candidates for the 2014 City Council election, but even this proved disappointing as everyone acted exactly as usual.  The only carrot I can dangle for you, dear reader, is absurdity: a councilmember’s request for good vibes, going to jail for cracks in your driveway, and a debate of the (il)legality of forts in oak trees await you.

 

Mayor Bob Kellar mistakenly thought that tonight would be a short meeting.  Hopefully, he observed, “We have a small gathering tonight; good…we might get out at a reasonable hour.”  (The meeting would last over two hours). 

 

The invocation was provided by Councilmember Marsha McLean.  She mentioned yesterday’s Memorial Day ceremony and said that reading about Bowe Bergdahl really touched her, making her reflect on her own son’s time overseas in the military.  Bergdahl is a US Army Sergeant who has been held prisoner in Afghanistan since 2009, and she made a sincere request to think about Bowe in hopes that “somehow” our “good vibes” would reach him.  Perhaps she was trying to avoid the word “pray” for some reason or another, but that’s essentially what she was hoping people would do.    

 

Next, Santa Clarita received a plaque and some cash from Southern California Edison.  Apparently, the City of SC has reached the “Silver Tier” for energy usage reduction.  By using 29% less energy in municipal buildings than was used in past years, some $154,900 in incentives have been paid to the City since 2010.  Tonight’s check was specifically awarded for fixing up street/parking lot lighting efficiency.

 

During Public Participation, Alan Ferdman spoke about several subjects but was most upset at comments from a recent meeting about the draft EIR for a chloride treatment plant/strategy.  He said that he proposed an option not in the EIR (it combined multiple strategies) that would save the City millions of dollars.  However, his idea was shot down when the representative described data and numbers in the draft EIR—which cost $5M—as overly optimistic or incorrect.  Ferdman was justifiably upset about this as was Councilmember TImBen Boydston, who spoke next.  He noted that the first sentence of the EIR described a problem that is a fiction (i.e., chloride damaging avocados and strawberries).  In short, five-million dollars seems to have been lavished on a document that its own authors and adherents admit is factually flawed.  After this grand lament, the other members of the council gave their own updates on local issues and debated whether they could draft a letter asking for more time to review the EIR.  City Attorney Joe Montes said no—drafting such a letter would have to be agendized—and this annoyed all. 

 

On the Consent Calendar, a second reading and adoption of changes to municipal code drew comments from Ferdman, Boydston, and others.  After the discussion at the last meeting, it was feared that painting a house the wrong color or having cracks in one’s driveways could be treated as a misdemeanor.  Boydston said that cracked cement should not be a criminal but rather an administrative issue.  The response was essentially one of “don’t worry about it; we’ll be reasonable”—which is pretty hard to formalize in the code.  He recalled asking a “former City Manager” (there’ve only been three—we know of whom you speak) to look through code enforcement documents to see if they were reasonable, and he was flatly denied the opportunity.  Mayor Kellar, whose ideological grounding is often baffling, said he could understand this encroachment on freedom—as Boydston painted it.  Kellar said that cracks in a driveway could lead to legal liability and decrease and that they need to be fixed to protect the safety of citizens.  Ultimately, everyone would vote for the code changes except Boydston.

 

Cam Noltemeyer spoke on an item to slightly increase solid waste disposal fees, but the wind was taken out of her sails when Councilmember Ferry pointed out that the fees might be slightly lower (or at least about the same) as they were 8 years ago.  Noltemeyer’s complaint about the annual levy of open space assessments had more grounding, but since the issue has largely slipped from the public’s mind, City Manager Ken Striplin merely responded by saying the assessment had been passed as was legally prescribed, which is, at best, an over-simplification.  These items and the rest of the Consent Calendar passed. 

 

Up next, there was a brief discussion of changes to fire zone boundaries and classifications, which can affect some costs associated with home ownership.  But since the new map didn’t leave much room for change or discussion since it came from CAL FIRE, it was adopted.  Boydston gently ribbed Mayor Kellar, saying that the new map classified Kellar’s ranch in a higher-risk area and, for that reason, Boydston joked he was in favor of it.  Kellar responded with a gracious chuckle, but the meeting had already stretched on too long for his taste.   

 

The final bit of business this evening was the first reading of an update to development code.  There were many changes, and TimBen Boydston mentioned that he had spent some 10 hours going through them with members of staff.  There was a little concern about changes to Santa Clarita’s famous oak tree ordinance.  Lynne Plambeck was concerned that two paragraphs justifying the importance of oaks in the city had been struck-through, but Councilmember McLean, who also a fan of these paragraphs, said they were actually just underlined to indicate they had been slightly moved around.  On the topic of oaks, Boydston asked whether someone could build a tree house in their backyard oak tree (the short answer is “no”), and this saddened him.  Mayor Kellar then provided an anecdote about a treehouse—complete with plumbing—built atop a local oak tree that had to eventually be modified so as not to hurt the oak.  After these discussions of oaks, forts, childhood, and treehouses, there wasn’t much left to discuss.  And with no public participation remaining, the meeting ended.

 

[1]Here is the agenda, for your reading pleasure.

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.”