Last week The Beacon celebrated its fourth anniversary and on that very day we received a “threat” because we are writing about issues that we think are important. Those issues are making some folks in the Santa Clarita Valley angry because we are shining a light on them in a very blunt way. The actual threat that was made and who made it is irrelevant but I did feel compelled to write some thoughts about the threats, lies and character smears that go on regularly in the local political scene.  

The thing about a threat is that it is generally just empty words unless the person making the threat acts on it. More often than not that person is just saber rattling and is trying to scare the person they are threatening into changing a behavior.

Think of it as a parent or teacher saying if you don’t do X then they will do Y. If you don’t do your homework you will get detention or if you don’t clean-up your toys you’ll go to bed early. It is usually a specific threat with a specific outcome if you do not comply with the request.

Threats may work on children but they don’t necessarily work on adults. They certainly don’t work on me!

That hasn’t stopped some of the local jackals from making clandestine threats in order to maintain some kind of control. These are the creeps that are smearing people and spreading ridiculous lies about individuals in order to tarnish their reputations all for the sake of getting their own way.

This is already starting with the slandering of City Council candidates David Gauny and TimBen Boydston. The local politico is in overdrive with chatter about these two candidates and why they shouldn’t be elected. There are blatant lies about infidelities, unspoken motives, past behaviors and character assassinations that are being circulated around well in advance of the spring City Council elections.

This is how some chose to play in the City of Santa Clarita political scene. It’s an absolute disgrace and one that has kept descent people on the side lines for fear of having their good name trampled.

That’s not politics; that’s despicable, dishonest and deplorable behavior because it shows how the local political process has mutated into something grotesque and unrecognizable. It’s become no longer about serving the community or constituents but rather it is about a few trying to maintain control; holding onto power above all else.         

That’s not what public service is all about!

That is all the more reason to expose those rats that are not playing fair; that are not interested in truly serving the community but rather are working the system for their own gain. It’s time to get voters whipped up enough that they will actually think when they enter the voting booth and not just simply vote for the incumbent just because it’s the incumbent.

It’s about educating the voters and making them aware of what is really going on in this valley. Making them care enough to understand the issues at hand and the individuals that are bidding to represent them. It’s about actually putting thought into who is running; why they are running and will they be the best person to serve this valley.

You have to realize that for the past dozen years or so that I have been community volunteer and have endured plenty of threats, lies, and smears. I’m in tune with it which is why many have underestimated my resourcefulness. All you need to do is look at this site and the impact it’s had and is having locally.

Do yourself a favor and make it a point to look beyond the mindless chatter and character assassination that has already started and focus on the facts, the real tried and true facts. The rumors, lies and smears are petty, more often than not baseless and are the tools of handful of local relics from a bygone era that are desperately trying to hold onto some vestiges of power.   

I’ve seen how some in this valley operate first hand and it has made me even more passionate to exposing it as much as possible.

If you’re going to threaten me, know that I am a student of physics and that one of Newton’s basic laws of motion is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Well, I usually step that up a notch in that there will always be a much greater and more creative reaction from me.

Hey, what can I say but I’m an artist!   

Dave Bossert- Commentary

Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.