The West Ranch Beacon - News & Commentary for the Santa Clarita Valley

Lynn Plambeck and other former City Council candidates have littered the city with campaign signs which are still up almost a week after the election. This is visual pollution! It is offensive that whenever there is an election that these signs and placards are posted all over town and never taken down immediately after the election. Many of these signs are left up for weeks after an election.
Honestly, it is shocking that a local environmentalist like Lynn Plambeck would litter the city with signage and placards and not have volunteers go around and remove these after her lose. This makes her look like a hypocrite! She is always screaming about the environment but hey it’s okay for her to through her garbage all over the city.
I think that the City of Santa Clarita should go around and remove these signs two or three days after and election and charge the candidates a fee for the service. This might help add some much needed revenue to the City’s till!

If you haven’t noticed there are some new signs in our communities welcoming everyone entering. These signs were installed by Los Angeles County as a way of identifying the individual communities of the west side. There are signs for Stevenson Ranch, as pictured, and Castiac along The Old Road.
I like these new signs as it gives a welcoming to new visitors and a sense of identity. I grow up on the east coast and these kinds of signs are common place; Welcome to the Village Massapequa in the Township of Oyster Bay. It is a very warm and inviting sign and I’m glad the County has installed these around our community.

Here is an article on the Traffic in the Santa Clarita Valley by former City Council candidate Jack Murphy. Enjoy!

Traffic traffic and more traffic. Welcome to the San Fernan, um Santa Clarita Valley. As our Valley’s population swells so does the traffic. Each new household brings in on average at least one new car to our roads. Is this just what we have to live with the rest of our lives or is there a solution to this growing crisis?

Having just completed a few months of Campaigning that included many meet and greets, forums, debate and tons of glossy mailers I have found a few ideas on congestion reduction actually viable. In this, my first story for the Mighty “The Beacon” I will discuss one plan that I found both interesting and easily implemented. The two things we tax payers like. Cheap and easy.

Candidate Ken Dean from Canyon Country had this basic idea. Have a set speed limit on all main roads in the Valley and have all the lights timed to meet those speeds. This concept would in theory keep traffic moving, especially during heavy volume periods, albeit at possibly lower speeds. Ken said that the City of Chicago, Illinois does this and it is what makes their traffic run so smooth. Now, I have been to Chicago and for the life of me I cant remember traffic patterns. I remember Gino’s pizza, Rush street and the kitchen floor of a friends one bedroom Dearborn Street apt. And frankly, I have to work hard to remember that much.

The only way to see if this is a doable plan is to actually try it. So, a few weeks ago I did just that. From Canyon Country to Valencia to Stevenson Ranch over the 5 at Lyons and back over at Mcbean. The verdict: If the lights were timed it would work. It would NOT work at the proposed 35 miles per hour and if the other motorists didn’t want to kill for doing 35 I wanted to kill me for doing 35. It did however work at 45 miles per hour. Again, the lights would need to be timed but at 45 miles per hour I was able to keep pace or even over take cars on most roads except Soledad. I think the average speed on that road is like 100. Wait until semi trailers start using that road via the cross valley connecter. But that’s for another day.

So we move major congested streets and intersections from sensors systems to timers, reduce or increase the speed to a set level of 45 and traffic should flow smoother. The best part of this is that it is cheap and easy to try. If it doesn’t work we can all look back and say, well at least it didn’t cost $240 million like that “other” road. Is this worth a try? Sure. Heck we can buy plastic bags to cover the speed limit signs that say 35 and set the lights on the timer systems and see what happens for a few weeks. If it doesn’t work, take the bags off the signs and reset the lights. Seems pretty simple. But then again, if it seems too easy and costs too little, you will never get a politician to endorse it.

Jack Murphy
Saugus, CA

Well the day after the City of Santa Clarita council election shows that the status quo is alive and well. The local shopper commented in an editorial that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and so goes the election. There was a very diverse slate of candidates that ran but ultimately the low voter turn out proved to be favorable to the incumbents.
Marsha McLean was the top vote getter with 4857 votes or 16.79%. Frank Ferry was number two, very appropriate, with 4781 votes or 16.52%. Laurene Weste got 4553 votes or 15.74%. Mark Hershey made a very good run at a seat with 3817 votes or 13.19%.
I actually thought that at least one of the incumbents would have lost out. Many were predicting that Marsha McLean would possibly lose her seat, were they wrong! It certainly doesn’t look like the relationship between the city and the unincorporated areas will be changing anytime soon.

Dear Diane Savanian,
I have read the first and second part of your three part commentary on annexation and can’t wait to see the third part in the “Mighty” Signal. Normally I would have waited to read the final installment but your pieces were so rife with misinformation and hearsay that I couldn’t wait any longer. You see, I respect the fact that you have an opinion, which clearly is pro-annexation, but I don’t respect that you have not done your homework when it comes to the facts. Some of your statements are nothing more than the regurgitation of spin doctors at the Santa Clarita City Hall and perpetuated by the local papers.

You stated numerous times in your column that you have “heard” this or that around town. The real kicker was your admission that you haven’t attended a West Ranch Town Council meeting for years. In fact I can say that you have not been to a Town Council meeting on the west side for at least two and half years. So basically you have missed out on the monthly conversations and updates regarding annexation. You have also not contributed your view point to those discussions. What you have missed is a group of elected council members that are genuinely interested in making sure that our communities are treated fairly and respectfully.

In regards to the sheriff services in the unincorporated areas of the valley you are truly misinformed. One just needs to do the math and look at the facts. First, the City of Santa Clarita, as you stated, has 15 Deputies per shift for the city which has a population of approximately 175,000. That would be roughly one Sheriff Deputy for every 11,667 residents.

The flip side is that the unincorporated areas surrounding the city have a population of approximately 49,375. The non-city areas have 15 Sheriff’s Deputies (yes, 15!)not the 2 you “heard” were patroling the unincorporated ares. There are 9 Deputies working in radio cars serving West Ranch, Castaic, and unincorporated Canyon Country, 4 are assigned to Pyramid Lake and Gorman, 1 in Community Relations, and 1 is assigned as a School Resource Deputy.

But wait there’s more, we have an Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) patrol which consists of 2 Sergeants and 6 deputies and as of April 24th 3 COPS Deputies. As a side note, the West Ranch Town Council and the Stevenson Ranch Civic Association lobbied for, and the Sheriff received, state grant money to fund the OHV patrol.

Now, let’s divide 49,375 by 6 assigned Deputies (we won’t include the OHV patrol, the COPS Deputies and only part of the regular Deputies for the most populated West Ranch/Castaic areas) to the unincorporated areas and you get roughly one Sheriff Deputy per 8230 residents.

Big difference huh! Going by square miles is ridiculous since much of the unincorporated area surrounding the city falls into the Santa Susana Mountain Conservancy, private land, or developer owned land virtually all of which has no population.

This would account for the FACT that crime is lower in the West Ranch Communities. In fact, according to the Sheriffs, crime has been trending lower for some time in the West Ranch communities and actually trending higher in the City of Santa Clarita. You would have known this had you attend the West Ranch Town Council meetings where we get a monthly update from the Sheriff’s department.

Let’s face it, if you want to blindly jump into the arms of the City of Santa Clarita without first fully investigating the issues and facts, be my guest. I’m sure that there will be plenty of Lemmings that will follow! But for me, I would rather ask hard questions, investigate the information being disseminated from all sides and truly understand the facts before I make a decision. Annexation is a complex matter that requires time and intellectual understanding, not basing important decisions on things we “hear around town”.

Tomorrow, Tuesday April 11th, is the City of Santa Clarita city council elections. Do the entire valley a favor and get your city friends out to vote Frank Ferry off the council. Of all the candidates he is the one, dubbed King Frank by some, that should be booted off the council. His tactics and arrogant behavior have been divisive to the valley as a whole. He considers himself a shoe-in and it would be nice to see him get a surprise. Here are a few websites to review other alternatives:

http://scvgop.org/local.php

www.voteformurphy.org

It’s hard to believe that the oak tree once dubbed Old Glory made national attention just a few short years ago. The tree was used by local environmental groups as a pawn to try and prevent the widening of Pico Canyon. The hordes of people and media circus from outside of our community, including the tree squatter, who professed to care about this majestic oak are long gone. The venerable tree is as beautiful as ever in it’s springtime bloom and no worse for the wear.
Old Glory, in it’s new location on Pico Canyon near Stevenson Ranch Parkway, is resting quietly in a terrific natural park area for all to enjoy. In our fast paced lives it’s nice to stop and smell the flowers once in a while or in this case take in the visual majesty of this Oak, a wonderful display of Mother Nature.

Thanks to Ron Mechsner for taking such great minutes. This will now be a regular feature on this blog. The minutes will only be posted after the council approval.

West Ranch Town Council
Minutes for the Meeting Dated: March 1, 2006

A. Call to Order / Roll Call:
a. Meeting called to order at 6:35 pm
b. Present: Paul Ash, Dave Bossert, Ron Mechsner, Brian Toqe, Randal Winter, Betty Griffin
c. Absent: James Zimmerman
B. Approval of February Minutes
a. Approved by a vote of 6 – 0
C. Treasurers Report
a. Treasurer was not in attendance, no formal report provided. The balance is believed to be the same as for the February report - $989.75.
D. Presentations to the Council
a. Steve Teeman – Castaic Town Council and a member of their Vision Committee made a presentation based on the information developed by the Committee and the Castaic Town Council regarding Incorporation and LAFCO.
i. Steve advised that the presentation remains a ‘work in progress’
ii. The presentation was a representation of the process and a timeline developed for the Castaic Town Council for Incorporation of a New City based on working back from the current end date (7/1/09) for bill AB1602. This Legislation is currently being considered in Sacramento that would restore for a limited period of time funding for new cities from vehicle license fees. (VLF revenues were ended in 2004.)
iii. The question was posed to the West Ranch Council as to our interest to partner / work with Castaic Town Council towards incorporation as well as an offer for discussion regarding boundaries. Paul Ash indicated that an answer would be provided to Castaic Town Council in 30 days.
b. Virginia Maloles representing Los Angeles County made a presentation to the Council on the proposed franchise system for the open-market areas of unincorporated Los Angeles County (36 total – 18 for the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valley areas) regarding solid waste collection. The areas could be exclusive, semi-exclusive, or open / non-exclusive. Bids were being collected for the entire area – 7 major categories in the evaluation process. Public meetings are scheduled for 4/27 (Castaic Sports Center) and 5/26 (LA Cty Public Library in Canyon Country).
c. James McCarthy – Park Project Coordinator, North Agency, County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation made a presentation to the Council regarding a proposed improvement to Jake Kuredijian County Park. Parks and Recreation was seeking Council feedback as to adding either a Restroom facility to the Park or Children’s Playground area to the Park.
i. The decision was made to poll residents / park users to determine their preference as well as meet with the School officials, PTA, and the Stevenson Ranch HOA to determine their preferences / concerns before making a decision next month.
E. County Business
a. Parks & Recreation – Doug Newell: Flag Football starting – will run from 3/11 to 5/20. The Skateboard facility was temporarily closed as the program was being re-evaluated given the safety concerns (many trying to use w/o safety equipment. Ground Maintenance for the softball field scheduled for 3/14. Newsletters available on other upcoming events (Easter egg hunt, etc.) Also present, Al Evans, Park Manager for Santa Clarita Valley –Sylmar area – responsible for park programs, special events in the area.
b. Sheriff’s Department – Deputy Sgt. Wallace indicated that crime was down significantly in the month – Feb 06 being the quietest month in 6 years. The rest of the SC Valley did not match this. The incident on Hemingway from late Jan is still an open investigation.
c. Supervisor Antonovich’s office – Bob Hauter: Presented a County of Los Angeles Certificate of Appreciation to Lennar Corporation for their efforts and partnership with the County and Community at the Parks.
F. Committee Reports
a. Community Liaisons:
i. Randall Winter – Southern Oaks: Nothing to report
ii. Brian Toque – Westridge: HOA is attempting to enforce a 1 to 1 ratio of vehicles to licensed drivers at each residence with government vehicles being exempt.
iii. Chuck O’Connell – Sunset Pointe / Enclave: Reported continued positive response from the community regarding the revised Lyons Canyon project.
iv. Stevenson Ranch HOA: None.
b. Bylaws Committee – report by Paul Ash. Discussion on Election Standards and Timeline. Staggered election – top 3 vote getters, 2 year term, next 4 vote getters – 1 year term needed initially to establish new pattern of 2 year terms. Additional discussion (executive meeting to be planned) needed regarding confirming timeframe (around 4th of July) and fee / application process for candidates. Final report anticipated for the April Council Meeting.
c. Public Safety & Security: Covered in County report – 2 vehicle burglaries only.
d. Parks – Dave Bossert: Meeting in mid March with County Fire Department regarding 4th of July show. Needs volunteers and assistance for the show – particularly on the day of the show at the park.
e. Government Relations – Dave Bossert: More activity is planned by this committee. Met with Lennar – viewed new design plans for the work currently underway around Magic Mountain. More information to be presented at a future meeting. Work involves new residential / office units.
G. Old Business
a. None
H. Meeting Adjourned at 8:19 pm.

With spring upon us, hopefully the end of rain is in sight, it’s time for action on several fronts. As you can see we have a nice new look for the Blog and I will be trying to add more pictures going forward.I would like to have more contributors to the blog. Ron Mechsner has done a terrific piece on the school board meeting last week and I hope to see him contribute more. If you or anyone you know is interested please let me know. I’m around!
Also, I think that this year will bring a lot more west side activity. Apparently the City of Santa Clarita has asked the Westridge Homeowners association to form an Annexation committee. Isn’t becoming a quasi-political organization against the spirit of an H.O.A.? That’ll be interesting to watch!
There are also lots of discussions going on with how to respond to the City’s two tier park fees that are a slap in the face of non-city residents. One thing for sure is that we are a very creative bunch.
I have to say Councilman Ferry’s outburst, which was peppered with personal attacks, at last weeks City Council meeting really energized me!!!!

Here is the agenda for tonight’s West Ranch Town Council meeting. Hope to see many residents at the meeting as there are important topics to discuss including the Lyons project update.

A. Call To Order/Roll Call
B. Approval of February Minutes
C. Treasurers Report and Banking Update
D. Presentation
1. Jasch Janowicz re Lyons Canyon Update
E. County Updates
1. Parks and Rec
2. Bob Haueter
F. Committee Reports

1. Election Standards and Timeline, Budget and Seats
2. Security/Public Safety
3. Governmental Relations- City/County Park Fee Differential
4. Parks
5. Westridge and Southern Oaks Liaisons
6. Sunset Pointe Liaison
G. Old Business
H. Public Comment
I. Adjournment

The West Ranch Town Council will be holding its regular monthly meeting on 6:30 PM Wednesday April 5, 2006 at the Southern Oaks Club house. Agenda to be posted soon.

Here are a few site to check out some of the other candidates that are running for Santa Clarita City council:

http://scvgop.org/local.php

www.voteformurphy.org