Happenings: Indecision...and Nuns!

Amen.

Tonight’s meeting was a fine send-off for the City Council, which will be “on hiatus”, as Councilmember Weste put it, until August 23rd[1]. (I hope you didn’t have anything urgent to tell them.) It was remarkable in several regards. This is the first evening in memory that included a superfluity of nuns (yes, that’s the collective noun); neither Lynne Plambeck nor Cam Noltemeyer spoke; and City Manager Ken Pulskamp waxed philosophical: “Iconic art is in the eye of the beholder.” Ultimately, rather little got done over the five-hour course of the meeting. Most items will simply come back before the City Council in a couple of months.

I tuned in beginning with councilmember updates. The male members chose not to speak. Mayor Pro-tem Ender and Councilmember Weste gave brief, forgettable updates. And Mayor McLean was typically verbose. She praised the dedication of 526-acres of open space in Haskell Canyon, suggested implementing a Mayors Information Breakfast for the press (I won’t attempt to force an apostrophe in there given the Mayor’s/Mayors’/Mayors Prayer Breakfast debacle), and reveled in the successful library openings. McLean also asked that staff keep a close eye on high-speed rail developments. It’s adorable that we focus so intently on issues where the City of Santa Clarita exercises essentially no influence of control.

The first contentious item on the Consent Calendar involved changes or updates to City Council norms. It’s a pretty entertaining list, with highlights including: “Council should not make snappy, sarcastic comments to the public or to each other”, “Council shall treat members of the public equally, i.e. refer to citizens by surnames”, and the proposed addition of “any member or other person using profane, vulgar, loud or boisterous language at any meeting or otherwise interrupting the proceedings, who refuses to be seated or keep quiet when ordered to do so by the Mayor or other presiding officer of the Council, is guilty of a misdemeanor.” It was this last bit that had people talking. Deanna Hanashiro wondered about the fine line between being outspoken and criminally disruptive. TimBen Boydston thought that “loud or boisterous language” was not cause for a misdemeanor, citing his and Frank Ferry’s tendency to raise their voices. Berta Gonzalez Barbier was more receptive, hoping the explicit statement about proper decorum might keep certain parties from chatting distractingly throughout the meeting. Ultimately, language about the mayor’s power to order people to be removed was not added to the norms and procedures. The power still exists, but Councilmember Bob Kellar succeeded in convincing fellow councilmembers that an overt statement was too “in the face of our community,” reminding them that “These are our friends out here, this is not the enemy.” Debatable.

Discussion of how to handle abstentions from voting were tedious. City Attorney Joe Montes spent several minutes (and a multitude of hand gestures) explaining, re-explaining, and re-re-re-re-explaining that if five members were present and two voted yes, two voted no, and one abstained, then a motion would pass. That is, abstention was viewed as acquiescence to the motion. This does not follow Robert’s Rules of Order, which would direct such a situation to be interpreted as a tie. Once this was understood, there was debate over which was better ensued.

Despite his many excellent and expressive hand gestures, City Attorney Joe Montes had difficulty getting Council to grasp a rule that would would discourage abstention from voting.

Somewhat ludicrously, Mayor McLean spoke about needing to protect council members who “want more information” by allowing them to defer an item by abstaining. Obviously, she forgot these concerns when the library issue came up and Councilmember Kellar pleaded for one more meeting to gather information. Ferry countered that abstention could be used as a weapon, which didn’t really make a lot of logical sense. He prevailed, however, and a 2-2-1 (yes-no-abstained) vote will officially pass. Unfortunately, no one abstained when voting on the item.

Following a recess at 7:39, the City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance was discussed for the umpteenth time. During the staff presentation, ideas from recent meetings were presented. There had been the discussion over whether to allow owners to “opt out” of having their structure listed as historic, a designation which would severely limit their rights to altering the structure and so on. The option of opting out was popular with most of the public. As an alternative, an independent committee might instead consider listings—if opting out was not an option—to give owners additional opportunity to make their case for not being listed, for instance. Everyone agreed that there should be more incentives put in place for buildings designated as historic, and most thought that informative plaques would be a fair addition to structures that were historic but that were not officially designated as such. The Mayor and City Attorney, in anticipation of numerous comments from the Queen of Angels Church in Newhall, said that churches were exempt from historic designation if there was a protest and such listing would result in financial hardship.

Nearly two dozen parishioners and members of religious orders still took to the podium, arguing that Queen of Angels should not be forced to accept the burdens associated with being designated as a historic landmark. They wouldn’t be so designated, by all assurances, and Kellar asked that a letter be drafted to put this in writing. I didn’t find their repetitive remarks too annoying, perhaps because I’m Catholic (though not the QOA sort of Catholic), but also because they were rightly suspicious of why their church was still on the list of buildings to designate and because they thought other property owners shouldn’t have to endure burdens either. Plus, I have come to realize that there is an inescapable quirk of human nature that leads one to read all prepared comments whether or not they are strictly necessary.

A classier crowd than usual.

Preferring the strongest possible historic protection were Duane Harte and Leon Worden. Worden spoke somewhat incoherently about property values in other communities that used historic designations and about the need to accept the will of the City, whether regarding oak trees or the preservation of 80-year old windows on historic structures.

Ultimately, staff will get back to work on the ordinance, drafting specifics for a committee and writing a letter about exemptions for religious groups and taking another look at the proposed list of historic structures. Ferry called Newhall Hardware more “endearing” than historic, for example, and wanted only indisputably historic structures included on the list. He also made some worthwhile points about a preference for public ownership of truly historic structures rather than counting on cooperation from private owners.

You may recall Councilmember Weste asking about a Veterans Historical Plaza Commemorative Brick Finder. Her idea fell on receptive ears, and staff presented three options that would allow people to find the brick dedicated to their loved ones: paper maps updated every six months, an electronic database/smartphone app, or an electronic kiosk. The option of an electronic database was the cheapest and seemed to be favored, but Kellar wanted formal feedback from the Veterans Memorial Committee. Options will be re-visited in the late summer or fall after additional rumination.

Finally, there was an item concerning a Request for Qualifications for what is intended to be an iconic art project for the roundabout in Old Town Newhall. Ferry wondered why the Arts Commission wasn’t playing a more prominent role, and Weste, too, wanted more expert opinion, noting many times that they want artwork that is truly unique and iconic, in a league not previously commissioned by the City. Pulskamp took an “iconic art is in the eye of the beholder” stance, and seemed confident in being able to get appropriate responses from artists. The City Council seemed receptive to increasing the budget from $45,000, but will wait for a recommendation from the Arts Commission, requesting that the artwork contain an appropriate, local historical emphasis. “We’re not looking for a statue of Paris Hilton,” joked Ender, usefully.

Public Participation was rather brief, including a "thank you!" the City for helping with parking for the Canyon Theater Guild. A man named Adam Parsley came forward to talk about medical marijuana use, saying his little brother had cancer and used it after chemotherapy. He said a drive to Hollywood was very taxing for his brother. Following this, they opened up a family “pharmacy”, which Parsley said is well-accepted by the community and donates to local hospitals. He said that he wants to open a co-op to serve legitimate medical users (and, ostensibly, some of the not-so legitimate users) of Santa Clarita. Ferry expressed his strong opposition to marijuana dispensaries, calling them a “sham” that “just isn’t going to happen.”

The meeting ended at 11pm.

[1]Here is the agenda.

Happenings: Hasley Hills, Suffrage, Contingency

It was a quiet evening[1].

Mayor Marsha McLean began the City Council meeting by speaking about wounded servicemen and an organization—Tempered Steel—that tries to bring the wounded and their stories to the broader public. She addressed a mostly empty chamber and Mayor Pro-Tem Laurie Ender’s empty chair (she was with her son for a national volleyball competition).

Councilmember updates were of the generic sort. Councilmember Laurene Weste reminded the women in the audience to consider turning out for the Fourth of July Parade celebrating the Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote in California. After a proclamation in observance of the centennial, McLean roared meekly, “Yay women everywhere!” “And thank you all the gentlemen who voted for us!” added Weste, who I think has undergone a gradual mental transformation wherein she now sees herself as a suffragette.

The City received a couple of presentations next. First, Darren Hernandez introduced the six librarians that will be managing the libraries for LSSI starting in July. Trotting them out was an absurd, indulgent exercise for Hernandez, who is apparently trying to make up for his earlier incompetence by demonstrating that he can manage floor tile situations (see last meeting and the $300K contingency expenditure this meeting) and basic introductions.

Next, there was a presentation on air quality. It seems fine particulates are the new ozone, and they are being targeted through a variety of programs wherein individuals, government agencies, or businesses can trade in the old for the new. It’s old lawnmowers for quiet electric ones, gas guzzling vehicles out for natural gas powered cars or electric vehicles, and so on. These programs are being actively used or evaluated by the City.

At 6:53, the Consent Calendar was discussed. The City adopted a small grant to support golf’s equivalent of T-ball—a sports program that will teach the young how to golf, an ability that remains annoyingly mandatory for those with a Y-chromosome. There was a second reading of an ordinance to adjust animal keeping/breeding fees. $297,000 from the Contingency Account was dedicated to repairs at the Canyon Country Library, and McLean will serve on the Santa Clarita Library Board of Trustees (a technical reappointment that one man protested, saying that McLean “voted to destroy the library book by book by book,” and that “we do not want you anywhere near the libraries,”—a little dramatic, I know). And the next City Council will officially receive a 10% raise (Kellar dissenting on this item).

Roger Ludwig of Hasley Hills expressed his hope that the City wouldn’t withdraw their annexation application from LAFCO. Ferry made this suggestion at the last meeting, noting that tens of thousands of residents will be added to the City through existing annexations, and that it wasn’t necessary to push through more contentious annexations, like Hasley Hills. Bob Kellar sympathized with those who had worked hard to initiate the annexation process, calling it “downright painful” to have to put a stop to their efforts because of certain, obnoxious power players fighting the annexation (not his exact words). The City Council approved of the withdrawal excepting Mayor McLean, who abstained from voting.

A 2% assessment on hotels to fund the Tourism Marketing District passed easily, and nine parcels were added to the City’s streetlight maintenance district.

There was no Public Participation this evening; a silent end to an uneventful meeting.

[1]Here is the agenda.

Happenings: OVOV Accepted; 10 Cats per House; District Woes

One Valley One Vision had its night. The recent revelation that a well was closed due to ammonium perchlorate contamination did little to dampen the enthusiasm of City planners and councilmembers for the immense planning project, now at the end of its ten-year realization. Councilmember Weste was “in the other room” for the OVOV discussion and other portions of the meeting; decisions in the Placerita Canyon area affect her financially, so she abstained from participation. Alan Cameron’s bizarre exchange about the City creating a policy that would kill thousands of dogs fulfilled the evening’s crazy quota. And per requirements for typical 2011 CC meetings, there was continued micro-management of the libraries. Attention was lavished on a mom who wants books for her twins (now!!!), and Darren Hernandez delivered a dissertation on library carpet tiles.

Mayor Pro-tem Laurie Ender offered an invocation relating to volunteerism. She likes it. Ender said that 23,000 hours of volunteering at an estimated value of $21 per hour meant that City events have benefited from about $500K worth of volunteer assistance. I remember jumping through these volunteering hoops when applying for college. It was heartening that Ender did not overtly promote volunteering for LSSI as I thought she surely would. Instead, she cited a study that said two hours per week of volunteering leads to tangible health benefits, and she encouraged more of it.

There was the flag salute, after which Mayor McLean said “Happy Flag Day, everyone. Yay.”

City Attorney Joe Montes intervened at this point, clarifying an item on the agenda that related to pet ownership laws. Staff had mistakenly reduced the number of cats and dogs that a household was permitted to keep, but he clarified that even with the proposed changes in fees and licenseing requirement, people can still have up to four dogs and ten cats. The cat ladies purred with delight.

In one of the stranger installations of awards and recognitions, Santa Clarita’s Sergeant Hargraves was recognized “for adoption of abandoned horse,” in the words of the agenda. He encouraged animal adoption in general. Then, The Signal and her makers were recognized for receiving awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in a variety of categories. Apparently, there were 170 papers competing for various awards and The Signal performed very well, making me fear for the quality of papers elsewhere in California. It was all smiles and friendly quips and laughs as TMS’s staff came up for a photo with the City Council. The City and The Signal: they’re besties.

Michael Millar came forward to give an unfortunately thorough progress report on the Arts Commission. I hardly think these twice-yearly updates are necessary, so I napped. He spoke so long that when I woke up, I found him still talking about art displays and projects and grants and involvement in the Arts & Economic Prosperity study and who knows what else?—the arts are being supported, we get it.

During updates, Councilmember Frank Ferry spoke about annexations. He said that the City has been busily bringing many neighborhoods into the fold and suggested slowing down when it came to the west side of town. Ferry requested that a future agenda include an item to withdraw from the annexation process in certain areas so that staff could work more closely with “west side neighbors.” Ender described a lobbying trip to Sacramento where she expressed support for enterprise zones. She said that she wasn’t optimistic that the zones would be able to offer the same benefits they currently afford businesses. Ender also reacted to the freshly proposed political districts mapped out for Santa Clarita. She was quite quotable, saying the committee members “weren’t even close to what they said they were going to do,” and that the congressional district includes “the craziest line you’ve ever seen […] somebody got crazy with the crayon.” This was in reference to the inclusion of a small piece of Newhall with a much larger chunk of the San Fernando Valley. “They didn’t realize there’s a complete mountain range separating our valley from the San Fernando Valley,” remarked Mayor McLean, “Our city needs to remain whole.” Weste is looking forward to have women lead the Fourth of July Parade that, this year, celebrates women’s suffrage. Weste put on a period plum hat and invited Claritan women to get their own suffragette costumes and help lead the parade. Comments concluded with McLean, who showed off new library card designs. She picked an “open space” themed card that doubles as a bookmark.

To waste some time, Deputy City Manager Darren Hernandez came forward to speak about closure of the Canyon Country Library. He offered explicit details on a moisture problem in the community room, describing carpet floor tiles and how their corners can curl up; detailing the process of collecting and analyzing core samples to help identify the extent of the moisture in the room; and speculating about potential sources of floor dampness. It was profoundly useful.

On the Consent Calendar, most items passed as recommended, including the final acceptance of the 2011-12 operating budget and a resolution of intent to establish a Tourism Marketing District. Hotels will pay a 2% assessment on guests that will generate an estimated $400K annually for marketing and promotion of Santa Clarita as a tourist destination. Not all items passed unanimously, however. Ender and Kellar both voted “no” when it came to the second reading of a proposed pay raise for the next City Council. The other members disagreed, and pushed the 10% raise through.

On the item regarding pet ownership licensing fees and penalties, Alan Ferdman, Berta Gonzalez-Harper, Diane Trautman, and Allan Cameron were all pleased that they could still keep four dogs. Each had planned to protest the printed reduction is allowable dog numbers from four to three, but had been mollified by the statement that it was just an error, and four dogs were still allowed. Only Allan Cameron insisted on taking the better part of his comment period to express his relief. Apparently, he had sent out a “dog killing” email to a number of people, suggesting that reducing the number of pets allotted per household was tantamount to killing dogs, as more would have to be euthanized at animal shelters. Ender found the email particularly “upsetting.” She asked that he send out a correction email, but he said he would only do so if Ender sent special notifications of animal-keeping ordinance updates to various facilities with a vested interest. He called it a counter-offer and grinned as he delivered it.

People get worked up about animals, but the real discontent was reserved for the discussion of One Valley One Vision. (Though there was perhaps not as much as may have been expected.)

I won’t provide an extensive detail of the plan and EIR, as I gave these details during my updates on Planning Commission meetings this year and last (search “planning OVOV” if you want to read these). Jason Smisko went through a presentation of the now very familiar OVOV plan. He said the family of pertinent documents comprised the Final EIR, General Plan, Land Use Maps, and Entitlement and CEQA Resolutions. “This has been 10 years in the making,” he began. Smisko noted that the plan laid out 840 goals, and that half of the page count (8,000) was devoted to environmental concerns. Preemptive, defensive statements punctuated his summary (e.g., “It’s not an entitlement,” and an emphasis that they weren’t mandating this development). Concepts like walkability and a valley of villages were touted. In short, it’s a plan for a more densely populated Santa Clarita Valley (up to 483,000 people) with everything (jobs, shops, recreation, transit) closer and more accessible. Theoretically.

Paul Brotzman came up to address the “water issue.” He correctly anticipated that speakers would be emphasizing their concerns about overall water availability, which the plan assumed would be adequate, in light of perchlorate contamination. That is, the Valencia Water Company announced that it closed a well in 2010 because ammonium perchlorate was found[2]. Brotzman argued that “There is definitely adequate water,” because “that perchlorate issue will not affect the water supply issue we’re looking at.” He called it an issue of treatment, not availability, and noted that pumping the contaminated water would help prevent the plume from spreading. How reassuring.

Public comments came next. Mitch Glaser of LA County’s Department of Regional Planning spoke first. He said that the Santa Clarita and LA plans were virtually identical in the various major aspects. Terri Crain gave the plan the blessing of the Chamber of Commerce. With these endorsements, what else was needed? But protests followed. Carole Lutness asked why the City hadn’t said anything about the perchlorate-related well closure last year. She assumed they had known about it and that withholding the information “smacks of possible collusion with Newhall Land Lennar”, which, she claimed, “would stand to gain if this information was kept from the public.” Later, City Manager Ken Pulskamp said he was informed by the Valencia Water Company General Manager, Keith Abercrombie, on the same day of the recent press release. (That’s pretty shady.) Lutness worried that the spread of the plume of contaminated groundwater might cause supplies to dwindle, and spoke about her own thyroid removal and concerns for the health and safety of her granddaughter. Diane Trautman addressed a major complaint that most of the comparisons presented in OVOV were between projections under the existing and new general plan, not comparing on-the-ground conditions with future projections. Most everyone—whether environmentalists or homeowners in Placerita Canyon or those who just hate sitting in traffic said that they wanted more time to review the documents.

The City responded, via Paul Brotzman.

Public Point : Brotzman’s Counterpoint

*No comparison to existing conditions: Originally a “correct” complaint, but he said they added some comparisons after the Attorney General directed them to
*Traffic woes: The new general plan improves traffic conditions, but again, relative to the old plan—Brotzman was promising improvements to traffic conditions that had not yet been realized in actuality, which isn’t terribly useful
*F-rated road intersections: Argued that it would be prohibitive to widen roads to avoid rush hour gridlock, so gridlock at some major intersections is a simple eventuality
*Population growth too fast: Brotzman only addressed growth within the City, ignoring the central notion that Santa Clarita be treated as a whole. He said there might be a climb from 180K to 225K in 50 years at current growth rates, but again, that’s within City boundaries and uses average growth since the late 80s to project future growth. It was a rather annoying answer.
*People not pleased with how he responds to their questions: “We think we’ve done a good job bringing this into balance,” and people are always going to complain.
*Removal of bike lanes for wider roads or development: Said they “placed an emphasis on expanding bicycle use and we have incorporated the non-motorized vehicle plan,” but didn’t argue that some bike lanes will be lost as others are gained.
*Alan Ferdman’s point that increasing population while reducing greenhouse gas emissions seemed like goals at odds with one another: not addressed

Dan Masnada came forward to speak more about perchlorate concerns. He led off by talking about perchlorate present at 5-12 parts per billion in the contaminated well, and how a part per billion is a very small quantity. Smiling, he showed that if the distance to the moon was broken into billionths, one ppb would be about a foot. This was a condescending and utterly stupid way to start the discussion. We detect things at parts per billion because they concern us at parts per billion (botulinum toxin is lethal if ingested at one part per trillion parts body mass). Talking about how small a unit of measurement just isn’t useful. Masnada affirmed that there were the resources to treat effected water and suggested speakers were over-stating concerns about how serious a problem it was.

Finally, a suit from Impact Sciences said they answered responses to their EIR at the same level of specificity or generality in which they were asked. This was to address concerns that responses weren’t to the questions actually asked by residents.

The City Council liked OVOV. Speakers were critiqued for having not been more involved from the beginning (though many were), misunderstanding some issues (deliberately or otherwise), and not trusting the experts. Mayor McLean called the General Plan a “living document,” by which she likely meant that they will ignore it as they wish, like they do with the existing plan and frequent exemptions or exceptions to it. So it passed with Laurene Weste sitting out the vote. I’m not sure why she had to sit out when the document, by its very nature, affects all of the councilmembers, but she does have the most at stake.

Next up was a discussion of the Compass Blueprint Concept Plan for the area of Newhall along Railroad Avenue, including areas in West Newhall and near the Masters College. Placerita homeowners were not pleased at the plan, which proposed far more development than they thought their community could sustain and new traffic patterns they thought might lead to problems. “We’re gonna disrupt your little corner of heaven,” Sandra Cattell said (her pronouns referring to what the City was essentially saying to residents). She said she would prefer a school/park combination and expressed fears about traffic and creeping medium-high density mixed-use developments. Others noted that Weste stood to gain financially from the acceptance of the concept plan (she sat this vote out, too).

“We’ve tried to create a concept where we’re discouraging traffic from penetrating further into the Placerita Canyon area,” countered Paul Brotzman. Mayor McLean actually hounded him a little bit about whether he had made sufficient efforts to reach out to homeowners. But ultimately, since the plan was designed to guide rather than mandate, it was yessed through.

Next, Ferry gushed over Susan Shapiro, saying she was the best of many outstanding candidates for a seat on the Arts Committee. She got it.

During Public Participation, Scott Wilk explained that he didn’t like the Gorman to Malibu proposed State Senate District for Santa Clarita, and he said that his group will be presenting an alternative map. Wilk said that Claritans need to make more noise and try to keep Santa Clarita whole and within compact political districts. Susan Huffman, the mother of 7-year-old twins, spoke next. She said “The timing couldn’t be worse” with regard to the closure of public libraries for the LSSI takeover. The mother was at a loss for what to do without access to books for her daughers’ summer reading. Cam Noltemeyer was more exasperated than usual, saying “Your arrogance is infuriating” to the City Council, having not effected change to the outcome of OVOV.

Huffman got immediate attention. In an unusually interactive exchange, there were two back-and-forth with McLean, Ender, and the bookless mother about how they could get her kids something to read before the libraries re-open in July. There were suggestions for Parkmobile conversions or elementary school libraries opening, but Pulskamp said the practical solution was just to go to county-run libraries in Agua Dulce or Castaic. This didn't sit well with the mother or the Mayor.

The City Council was looking for more responses to public comments, but Frank Ferry walked out of the meeting at 10:54, saying “C’mon Mayor, adjourn us” as he strutted to the door. Official adjournment came a minute later.

[1] Agenda
[2] Here's an article from TMS

Happenings: Budget, Ball Game, Trashed

Tonight, we saw the juxtaposition of small town and growing city[1]. The Council rearranged the agenda so Assistant City Manager Ken Striplin could run off to coach his son’s baseball game while, moments later, approving an operating budget of $160M—more than the GDP of the Republic of Kiribati. Nearly all matters before the City Council this evening involved big expenditures and the raising of fees that help support such spending: $8M to acquire library properties and materials (well, all materials except the historically unique ones, which the County may well retain), $3M to buy new property for the open space initiative, $2.2M for a roundabout in Newhall as part of the 2011-12 operating budget, and $50K for artwork to adorn said roundabout.

After Councilmember Bob Kellar delivered an invocation encouraging the meaningful observance of Memorial Day, the agenda switcheroo occurred. Ferry was able to get Striplin’s big presentation on purchasing libraries facilities and materials moved before everything else on the agenda so that he could make his kid’s playoff baseball game. I thought it was nice he wanted to support his son, but why didn't they just formally arrange the agenda in a way that allowed him to leave without making such a to-do? About $5.5M was required to obtain the libraries themselves and another $2M for most of the materials.

Cam Noltemeyer and Lynne Plambeck were none too pleased to have such an important matter moved from the end of the meeting to the beginning. They said that people who had planned to speak on the item would miss their chance, having not anticipated the need to arrive so early. (In all fairness, this maneuver just saved speakers the trouble of voicing their concerns to a Council that is largely disinterested in them.) Plambeck called the impromptu revision of the agenda “a slap in the face, once again,” and was concerned about the rising costs of the library takeover, predicting “it’s going to be fifty-million dollars by the time you get done with it!” On the Council, discussion mostly revolved around historically significant and locally meaningful volumes, contributions by Claritans like Randy Wicks and A.B. Perkins. When Councilmember Laurene Weste asked Deputy City Manager Darren Hernandez about what would happen to these cherished pieces of Claritan culture, he said that—as far as he knew—the significant volumes/collections were not part of the materials the City was buying. The County had the right to retain them, he explained, and might house them at the new Stevenson Ranch Library now in planning. Once the item passed, Striplin ran off to his game. Ferry, who can’t abide a City Council meeting without texting his way through it, would later reveal that Striplin had texted him the winning score of eleven to one.

Awards and recognitions came next for the Lions Club (Thanksgiving dinner for seniors for 32 years), Deputy Shoemaker (Every 15 Minutes Program), and the Castaic Lake Water Agency (congratulating the City on saving 600 acre-feet of water per year by using weather-based irrigation.

Councilmember reports and updates came next. Ferry, who apparently hadn’t been given a Henry Mayo press release to read this month, praised community gardens and safe grad nights. Mayor Pro-tem Laurie Ender recounted the Relay for Life event this weekend. Participants raised about half of a million dollars for cancer research. Mayor McLean announced a service that will save bees swarming in your yard or attic, collecting them and moving them to a new location. She also announced a few open houses on climate change that will be sponsored by the City.

The Consent Calendar was approved without remark. And indeed, it was unremarkable with a provision to replace traffic lights with LEDs, a vote of support for a bill protecting desert lands in California, and a contract for cleaning bus stops.

A number of public hearings followed. The Council reviewed the 2011-12 Annual Operating Budget. Some $160M in revenue will support City services and operations, with the biggest chunks going to public safety and parks and recreation. There is a far more detailed breakdown in the agenda[2]. Alan Ferdman was unhappy that the public was given only three days to review it and three minutes to speak about such a large budget. Still, it was accepted.

The next public hearings increased fees collected by the City, levied special district assessments, and were profoundly boring. There was a ritualistic back and forth twixt the Mayor and Clerk, a chanting of prescribed phrases followed by rote responses that sanctify the collection of more money this year than last.

Not helping matters, an impossibly long discussion of trash was next on the agenda. After negotiations over terms of franchise extensions, Burrtec and Waste Management were afforded a 2.64% rate increase and a number of “extraordinary rate increases” ranging from 1.5-2.5% that can be looked forward to in the coming years. The City Council highlighted the perks of the agreement, however, such as Santa Clarita’s enviable position as the lowest-paying service area in North Los Angeles County and a 20% discount for those who will trade in their 96-gallon bins for 35-gallon bins. Literally every detail of the agreement was discussed by Robert Newman. In the end, the rate increase and other franchise extension conditions were approved.

Councilmember Kellar’s long-awaited discussion of a Public Safety Committee finally took place. Kellar dominated this discussion, but Ender chimed in to make sure that the committee would take a very broad view of public safety, consulting with the Fire Deparment and even public works (safe bridges, anyone?) in addition to the Sheriff’s Department. Others agreed, and the Committee was formed with Mayor McLean and Bob Kellar as its first members.

The matter of councilmember compensation was next. Having not raised their salaries in years, the City Council (except Bob Kellar and Laurie Ender) voted to increase the salaries enjoyed by the next sitting City Council. That is, they gave themselves a raise that was a bit confusing—Ferry said 5% raise applied twice, which isn’t the same as a 10% raise, which others seemed to equate it with. So who knows? Shockingly, Cam Noltemeyer was against this action. She said that the generous benefits given to the CC were at odds with their cost-cutting values. She said “drop ‘em” of their health and other benefits. But they did not.

Finally, a 526 acres in Haskell Canyon will be purchased for $3.1M. It’s close to existing communities and will help curtail northward expansion, it was explained, and all City Councilmembers were happy to make the purchase.

Public Participation included only Cam Noltemeyer, who wanted to know who was benefitting from the open space acquisition (i.e., off-loading undesirable land for a good price).

[1]Agenda
[2]Budget

Happenings: A Little Support

Tonight’s City Council meeting was Ferryless[1]. Mayor Marsha McLean began the meeting by assuring concerned Claritans that he was fine—i.e., not suffering ill health—in reference to his absence following severe surgical complications this past winter. Because of his absence, it was decided that discussion of the new Public Safety Committee would be delayed until the next meeting. This left an agenda comprising symbolic votes of support and rather more concrete increases in levied assessments. And then there was concrete support ($200,000) for the Economic Development Corporation that takes mostly symbolic actions, so it was a rather symmetrical evening, in the end.

During the Awards and Recognitions phase of the evening (that’s the come-get-yer-photo-taken-with-the-mayor! Section), the College of the Canyons Ice Hockey Team was recognized first. They won the Division 3 National Championship, apparently the only team of more than 400 to go undefeated. Next, Sandy Fischer received an award for her work on and initiating the Arts Commission, a post she had to leave unexpectedly soon due to medical reasons. Fischer took her acceptance speech as an opportunity to express not only gratitude, but also specific recommendations for providing continued funding to the commission. It was a bit long, and McLean seemed a bit less than enthused that this was the direction she took. Finally, Gail Ortiz, officially Communications Manager, unofficially High Priestess of Propaganda, was recognized for receiving the CAPIO Lifetime Achievement Award. (That’s California Association of Public Information Officials). Mayor McLean noted her focus on civic engagement and building relationships for the past 21 years in Santa Clarita. Ironically, Ortiz chose to remain uncommunicative following the award, taking a photo and walking quietly back to her usual post, sans speech. The City Council expressed their admiration of Gail. Mayor McLean said she admired her for being able to “take what we each wish to say and make sure we say it correctly!” Something tells me that statement wasn’t passed by Gail.


Next were councilmember updates and reports. Mayor Pro-tem Laurie Ender talked about Santa Clarita’s upcoming cupcake wars, today’s rather depressing version of panem et circenses. People will wander the streets with other people who, shockingly, also enjoy individually-sized portions of dessert items. More interestingly, Ender gave an update on redistricting and decided that another letter was needed to strongly encourage the preservation of Santa Clarita in one voting district. It’s become more apparent that no other cities want to join Santa Clarita, so it’s hard to decide where district lines should be drawn in this area of Southern California. Ender warbled a rather horrific metaphor: “Cut the baby here, cut the baby there.” Councilmember Bob Kellar congratulated man and woman of the year Harry Bell (Elks, Rotary). He made a reminder about the Memorial Day program at Eternal Valley.

On the Agenda, the City voted to support and oppose various pieces of State and Federal legislation. Support went to Senator Barbara Boxer’s bill to resolve Santa Clarita’s twelve-year old battle with CEMEX over mining in eastern Santa Clarita. Congressman Buck McKeon has failed every year he introduced a bill to similar effect, but Michael Murphy laid out a plan for this bill (hearing in July, after which it is incorporated into an omnibus natural resources bill) that gave an illusory sense that it might just work this time around. Or it could just become another of Boxer’s long string of accomplishing nothing on the Senate. The City Council chose to oppose a State bill that would let citizens vote before their libraries changed from public to private operation. This came at least partly response to the debate over library management that has played out so gracelessly in Santa Clarita. The usual public library supporters said it was only fair that the people express their views on such an important matter, throwing around the phrase “right to vote” rather a lot, while Berta Gonzalez-Harper said that the bill would protect unions, not the public. There was also support lent to extending the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program, which obviously benefits Santa Clarita. In all cases, no one beyond Santa Clarita will take notice of Santa Clarita’s positions on these matters.

In terms of taking money in, the City Council approved an increase in the Open Space Assessment of $1.50, bringing the total to $29 per parcel. Various other assessments were also levied and adjusted.

And in terms of spending money, the City Council could not resist throwing another $200,000 at the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation. This group performs services that are, at best, redundant—Santa Clarita has no shortage of support for local business. Bill Kennedy could offer very few examples of what the SCVEDC has actually done apart from expanding the enterprise zone, an action that may well prove meaningless given Governor Brown’s push to eliminate these zones. Otherwise, the SCVEDC has held meetings, the odd conference, and made a website. It’s an immensely worthwhile cause for public support.

Finally, in terms of concrete actions (literally), there were some road adjustment plans. The ever unwelcome lobbyist Hunt Braly said that one of his clients would be adversely affected by a traffic change in Newhall that would affect the Burger King business there. He said he wanted the City Council to continue the item, as his client was vacationing in Alaska and hadn’t been reached. Yes, I’m totally serious. Braly said that he had spoken with staff on the issue earlier. Refreshingly, Braly got no special treatment, as City Manager Ken Pulskamp had said that the City had extended three letters and two phone calls to the client since June 2010 regarding changes that might affect his business.

Finally, there was a bit of streamlining in terms of Santa Clarita’s committees, some of which are out-dated or unnecessary.

The meeting ended at 7:55 with just one comment under public participation, TimBen Boydston’s praise for Newhall having turned a corner and being on the road to full realization.

[1]Agenda here

Happenings: Library Tax Avoided, Vista Canyon Embraced

This evening’s meeting began with Councilmember Laurene, who was clad head-to-toe in Weste-ern garb[1]. She can hardly wait for the Cowboy Festival (to be fair, neither can I) and read Johnny Cash’s prayerful “Oh, Bury Me Not” for the invocation: “I've never lived where churches grow/ I loved Creation better as it stood/ That day You finished it so long ago/ And looked upon Your work and called it good.”

Next, Mayor McLean moved onto the Consent Calendar. This first visitation of the Consent Calendar is just to determine which items need discussion, but she had Dave Lutness come up to speak on Item 10 for the heck of it (he wants checks to be published online for review; they will be). Perplexingly, the other CC speakers were reserved until later on in the meeting.

During Awards and Recognitions, the SCV Veterans Memorial Committee was applauded for their work honoring America’s heroes. They will hold a Memorial Day ceremony next month. Next, Grace Baptist Church members were recognized for assisting in neighborhood beautification and in Extreme Neighbor Makeover efforts. While Jesus focused more on the glory of basic charity--“For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in” (Matthew 25:35)--Santa Claritans embrace the glory of more suburban charity: “For my lawn was unmowed and you sheared it down; my siding was weathered and you painted it beige; my yard was unkempt and you made it tidy.” I don’t mean to be the ludicrous sort of person who criticizes good acts for not being good enough--it’s just a shame that simple courtesies once extended by neighbors now require a concerted church-city effort.

Finally, Mayor Pro-tem Laurie Ender spoke about Autism Awareness Month. She drew attention to Santa Clarita’s Special Needs Registry, maintained by the City in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Department. Autistic persons can wear trackable bracelets so that law enforcement can reconnect them with their families should they go missing.

Councilmember Frank Ferry read from his obligatory HMNMH press release, highlighting the grand opening of the helipad. It rests atop the giant, oppressive parking structure painted in vile pastels. Ender sought support for the Relay for Life. Councilmember Bob Kellar promoted Memorial Day observation and reflection. Laurene Weste solicited help for Castaic Animal Shelter’s “Big Sunday” in May wherein they will try to get a lot of projects and improvements completed with community help. Then she floated ideas about regulating non-conforming uses (e.g., auto) in downtown Newhall using amortization ordinances—she really, really wants it to be an unbesmirched arts district and wants it now. Weste also suggested that staff “look into wind energy”. It was the vaguest of requests, but she drew comparisons to home solar units after Bob Kellar tried to get her to be a little more specific. So I *think* she wants staff to see if it’s feasible to encourage business or homeowners to implement small-scale wind energy projects? Perhaps she wants Santa Clarita to enter the electricity industry? Anyhow, Kellar used the topic as an opportunity to say that California needs “balance” between environmental regulations and promoting economic interests lest it become even harder to do “bih-ness” in the State. Finally, Mayor McLean spoke about chlorides. She said that she was able to request a meeting on the topic when Governor Brown visited last week, and she is already in communication with one of his staff members. She also gushed about a bi-coastal duet as part of CalArts’ Wild Beast Concert Series. A pianist in New York played music with the pianist in California, linked by some advanced Yamaha piano technology.

After these reports, the City Council returned to the Consent Calendar, which would be approved unaltered. There were some second readings to approve the pre-zones for the Norland Road/Robinson Ranch Area as well as Elsmere Canyon. Assemblyman Cameron Smyth’s bill to make for objective, state-wide chloride water standards was supported (despite the fact that it’s going nowhere because agricultural interests requested a couple of years of whining rights before the bill that might force them to be reasonable is discussed). And finally, there was some community support for a new MOU between the City and COC, allowing community access to the Performing Arts Center for another year for $70,000. Speakers requested that the City consider 5-year MOUs or contracts in the future.

Next, the City Council considered closing the public hearing for the development and annexation of the Vista Canyon area. Per the requests of Laurene Weste some weeks ago, the developer had agreed to many conditions of development, including widening the river corridor in some areas, decreasing the number of residential units, adding trails, eliminating parking next to the wildlife corridor, restoring the Mitchell Hill cemetery, etc. The usual chorus of project boosters spoke next, no one saying anything of use or interest. Anyone who has heard of the project by now also knows that Canyon Country feels neglected and that many of her residents want the new housing and jobs that are promised by this project. Following this was the chorus of naysayers, who repeated the usual stuff about needing to import half-a-million cubic yards of soil to build in the floodplain and the inadequacies of the EIR. One new statistic was brought up by TimBen Boydston, who said that this supposedly transit-oriented project only foresees 16% of its population using transit for commuting. The Council--minus Bob Kellar, who had to recuse himself due to business dealings--approved the recommended action for the item.

Next were a number of library-related issues. To summarize, Deputy City Manager announced that Santa Clarita has been successful in its bid to join the Southern California Library Collective (one "formality" awaits, he said). This will add access to another 29M items for Claritans. He also found that "levying and collecting the special library tax is not necessary." That is, the library tax that the City couldn't collect without putting a new tax measure on the ballot wasn't needed--Hernandez essentially boasted about not needing a tax that the City wasn't entitled to collect anyhow. He gave some budget projections over the coming years, and said that there will be operational "surpluses" (conventional wisdom dictates that you place any Hernandez promise in quotation marks) over the coming years so that the library fund can repay money it borrowed from the general fund in about a decade. Said Berta Gonzalez-Harper in light of the need for no special library tax: "Despite the critics, somebody is doing something right." Deanna Hanashiro, stalwart COLA Library defender, still lamented the LSSI transition. She said that contrary to City spin, none of the 13, full-time professional librarians who currently work in City of Santa Clarita libraries will remain come July 1. She did say she was glad that the City wouldn't be collecting the tax that it wasn't allowed to collect in the first place.

There was minimal discussion from City Council on any of the library issues, but Laurie Ender did thank Gonzalez-Harper and other members of the citizen library committee for enduring angry emails and comments from misinformed citizens who liked the libraries the way they were. Ender gave one of her trademark, critics-be-damned smiles and said "Another good piece of good news along the way."

Next, nearly $400,000 was approved for implementing an RFID system that will allow for quick inventory and check-out of library books at Santa Clarita libraries. The system allows a whole stack of books to be scanned at once, so long as they're within the general proximity of the RFID reader. This will be important for Santa Clarita to conduct efficient exchanges with the Inland Library Network. Valerie Thomas and others who have criticized the library takeover process wondered about this additional expense. Mayor McLean actually asked Darren Hernandez whether it had been a planned expense, and Hernandez took the typical path of obfuscating instead of illuminating: "This was not unanticipated." A little vague.

The final library item was appointing the City Council as the Library Board of Trustees. Speakers and even Councilmember Kellar wondered if there were others who were better qualified on library matters and whether independent voices might not be welcome. However, the City Council will take control for at least the first couple of years, it seems, though they will revisit the structure and openness of the Board to outside members a year from the date of the library takeover.

After a 5-minute break, there was a discussion of redistricting. As we know, Santa Clarita is not large enough to warrant its own representatives, so the City must band together with other, similar areas in order to ensure appropriate representation. Ferry and Ender, who comprise the Council Legislative Committee, had some recommendations. Their essential goal was keeping the Santa Clarita Valley undivided, but there was debate over whether it would be best to try and join communities in Western Ventura County (like Fillmore), the Antelope Valley, or the North San Fernando Valley. Each of these areas has its own interests as well, and the AV, for example, wishes to stay separate from most of Santa Clarita. Ender and Ferry's recommendation was to join with communities like Granada Hills, Northridge, and Chatsworth as well as other communities at the northern end of Los Angeles County. There wasn't meaningful resolution and a number of options seem acceptable so long as Santa Clarita was preserved intact and wasn't lumped with areas of LA that might have different or competing interests. Scott Wilk, who is probably more involved with these efforts than anyone else locally, advocated crossing county lines (against State wishes) to join similar communities in Ventura. In the end, it seems that advocating a holistic approach to redistricting the Santa Clarita area will be advocated.

During Public Participation, noted community volunteer Tom Haner came forward to say that "I got crippled by one of our Deputy Sheriffs." Though his account wasn't perfectly coherent, it seems he accused a deputy of pushing him around leaving lasting injuries (the event happened a couple of years ago), which he hesitated to bring up. Mayor McLean requested that someone speak with him. Last, Steven Petzold requested that the "In God We Trust" posted next to the City Seal have its quotation marks removed. He though they implied a certain irony, a "degree of disbelief or sarcasm." While I agree that they're unnecessary, I'm even more delighted that this was the first punctuation-driven comment I've seen at City Council. Hooray.

[1]Agenda, here.

Happenings: Public Safety, Public Nuisance

NOTE: Blogger isn't preserving my formatting into distinct paragraphs. I fear you'll have to wade through this one big block of text. I was a little late getting to tonight’s City Council meeting[1], but it seems they had a late start anyhow. I tuned in just in time to see an elementary school class getting its picture taken with the City Council; it seems the CC had been the focus of a letter-writing lesson. The class was there to see government in action, witnessing more government inaction instead, as is the norm for the start of these meetings. . After Mrs. Vasquez’s second-graders had their photo taken, new LA County Fire Chief Daryl Osby was recognized and welcomed to the community. He said that Santa Clarita was the first of 58 cities served to invite him out—that’s just how Claritans roll. Chief Osby used the word “strategic” rather frequently, as in strategic plans to deal with budget cuts and Santa Clarita’s strategic place in the county. A number of firefighters joined him for the obligatory photo with the City Seal (the round, not flippery, sort). The second-grade kids and their parents took the shuffling about as a chance to flee the chamber. “Bam! They saw an opportunity and they bailed!” guffawed Councilmember Ferry, lustily, wondering whether the firemen would be savvy enough to do the same (they did). The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life was recognized next. A passionate speaker said that since its first year of participation, Santa Claritans have raised $4.3M for the cause. During councilmember reports, Ferry continued with his unofficial job in hospital PR. He read the news that Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital had been ranked 21st out of 138 hospitals in the Los Angeles region by US News & World Report[2]. Providence Holy Cross, the preferred choice of many Claritans, was 18th on the list. So, at least by USNWR standards, the hospitals are closely ranked. Mayor Pro-tem Laurie Ender talked about all of Santa Clarita’s trees in recognition of the City’s 21st consecutive “Tree City USA” award and the approach of the Earth Arbor Day celebration. This Saturday at Central Park, there will be 1000 free tress and 1000 free bags of mulch distributed. Councilmember Bob Kellar spoke about the funeral services for US Army Spc. Rudy Acosta, saying he had never been prouder of Santa Clarita than when he saw the massive show of support. Councilmember Laurene Weste gave an update on the community gardens. She said they have been very successful and that people are adding “amazing personal flair” with everything from stained glass to hummingbird feeders. She then read some basic facts on the Civil War (e.g., it changed America forever, has been known by many different names) that she thought were important to have on the record in light of the Battle of Fort Sumter being fought on April 12th, 1861--150 years ago today. Finally, Mayor McLean said that there will be a new Metrolink schedule implemented in May providing more trains for those commuting from the Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys to LA. She mentioned a drive-thru car wash at the Hyatt on April 17th to benefit Bryan Stow, the paramedic who was severely beaten after a Dodger Stadium baseball game. McLean also said that she was applying for a new library card in preparation for the library takeover by LSSI. “The application is extremely simple and very easy,” she said, redundantly. You can get your application at santaclaritalibrary.com, where there are ungrammatical advertisements for the revamped libraries (they omit hyphens and have unorthodox capitalization). The Consent Calendar was approved without discussion. The only major item was the second reading and adoption of the ordinance to regulate mobile billboards. Two public hearings on annexations followed, the first for prezoning the area of Norland Road/Robinson Ranch, and the second for approving the annexation of Elsmere Canyon. McLean called the latter achievement “fantastically wonderful,” a sentiment with which we can all agree. If you’ll recall, there was an agenda item some weeks ago that pertained to landscaping some on-ramps and off-ramps—a $260,000 contract. An out-of-town company, Valley Crest Design, submitted a higher bid than a local company, Santa Clarita Landscape Development, but they were selected by staff on the basis of more experience. This led Bob Kellar and Laurie Ender to vote no on contracting with the out-of-towners while McLean and Weste voted in favor. Since Ferry was gone, City Attorney Joe Montes opined that the two votes were all that was needed to break the tie and award the contract to Valley Crest Design. The issue was revisited this evening. Curtis Nay, Assistant City Engineer, came forward with new information about how Valley Crest had scored a 92 on questions relating to qualifications, experience, and expertise whereas the local Santa Clarita Landscape Development, Inc. scored in the 60s. He added that, though located in Santa Ana, Valley Crest would likely use local sub-consultants and thus benefit local workers. It was the kind of information that could have averted the whole kerfuffle in the first place. Kellar thanked Nay for the update, and said he was now in agreement with staff’s choice of Valley Crest. There was one public speaker, Alan Ferdman. He recalled his reaction to the 2-2 vote on the initial measure, “I was astonished; a tie represents a majority—how can this be?” Based on official FAQs for city governments, Ferdman concluded that Montes was “misinformed” in his opinion on the number of votes needed for the ordinance. Montes countered that there wasn’t a specific code section for this type of ordinance, and the City would do well to clarify its policy on ties over such ordinances. Ferdman was rather dramatic when talking about the implications of the purportedly mistaken legal opinion, and this inspired a defensive response from the City Council. Bob Kellar said Ferdman had made an “unnecessary attack,” and McLean said “Some of those remarks from Mr. Ferdman were unwarranted…as usual,” with her usual eye-roll. In new business, the City Council discussed formation of a Public Safety Sub-Committee composed of two coulcilmembers who would meet regulalrly with Captain Paul Becker. It was Bob Kellar’s idea from back in January, and he thought monthly meetings would be a swell idae. I thought the plan would be enthusiastically embraced. However, the other members of the City Council seemed to be advocating a more reasonable position than Kellar. Unusual, I know. They reminded him that Becker had a lot of people to report to already: he spoke with Pulskamp almost daily, by Pulskamp’s account; there were County officials to answer to; and he already offered regular updates before the whole City Council. “I’m not sure there’s a need for it,” summarized McLean, who seemed to prefer updates delivered to the public and whole City Council. Kellar insisted that the sub-committee and monthly meetings were warranted, arguing that if the City has a vector control sub-committee, it should certainly have on devoted to public safety. (Apparently, there are about two-dozen sub-committees, and Ferry thought it was time to clean house and get defunct committees “off the books.”) Ultimately, staff will return with information on the parameters of such a sub-committee and what purposes or needs it would fill. During Public Participation, a speaker compared the City’s LSSI dealings with how the Democrats rammed healthcare reform through the US Congress against public opinion, an analogy that none of the City Council Republicans likely found very flattering. Scott Wilk asked the City Council to emphasize the need to be involved with California’s redistricting efforts. “Our population’s only large enough for about one-half of an assembly seat” said Wilk, and on Saturday, April 30th, there will be hearings in San Fernando that will shape our future representation. It’s a date cunningly set to coincide with the Cowboy Festival, when SCV power players will be preoccupied with Baxter Back and buffalo tri-tip. Valerie Thomas spoked next, and said that she wished the City would answer more questions about the LSSI library takeover. “Councilmembers, you are our elected representatives. Please represent us.” She said that they presently don’t, and “treat the public at best as nuisances.” Finally, David Gauny read aloud from City Council norms and procedures in response to McLean’s dig at Alan Ferdman. He found some gems, such as “Council will make the public feel welcome,” and “Council should not make snappy, sarcastic remarks.” Ken Pulskamp responded to the library by spouting the usual bullshit about extensive public outreach and involvement in the library takeover process. To be fair, there was extensive public participation—the City just didn’t act in a way that made it seem like they had been listening. Regarding Valerie Thomas’s perception of being thought of as a nuisance, Pulskamp said “I take offense at that.” He said he can’t always respond immediately to the hundred or so emails he receives every day, but does his best to address every question in a timely manner. Mayor McLean agreed that her words to Ferdman hadn’t been the best, but said “When we are constantly attacked, and things are taken out of context, […] we get a little frustrated.” She closed with a little mock martyrdom, saying “I should have sat here and listened to you berate us.” The meeting ended shortly before 8:00. [1]Here is the agenda. [2]US News rankings