The West Ranch Beacon

Here is “My view from the bleacher seats in SCV” Jack Murphy’s column early for the holiday weekend. As a reminder, Jack’s opinions are his and do not necessarily reflect those of the West Ranch Beacon or its other contributors.

I never ever like to use other peoples material for my essays, but I have to this time. It’s not a cop out on my part, it’s just that I have not found a better story to describe the war on terror then this below. It’s short so please take the time to read it. I get worried and concerned as most people do when I see and read about Iraq. I want us to succeed and move on. But I always fear that the people of Iraq just don’t care enough to start to take control of the problem themselves. This is just something for all of us to think about. maybe its really NOT the people in Iraq we should worry about but Bin Ladin and his followers.

I don’t believe the below is a slam against Rep. John Murtha. I do honestly think that he is speaking from the heart and I do not denounce his intentions albeit wrong in my opinion.

I admit that if John Murtha speaks for the Democrat’s then I am happy because honestly, good or bad, he is the first one to come up with a real plan to be debated. And debate is a very good idea for us as a country. I am happy we debate. In France they riot over political questions and in Iraq apparently they blow up each others Mosques. Here we yell and scream and then write about it. I like our way better. I get to go to bed by 9 still and wake up to plant flowers or something.

Ok, here it is and its short. Taken from The Weekly Standard, July 3rd - July 10th edition. Scrapbook section. Author unknown.

Jack, Meet Osama

“When we went to Beirut, I said to President Reagan, ‘get out.’ Now, the other day we were doing a debate, and they said, ‘ well, Beirut was a different situation. We cut and run.’ We didn’t cut and run. President Reagan made the decision to change direction because he knew he couldn’t win it. Even in Somalia, President Clinton made the decision, ‘We have to, we have to change direction.’…We need to change direction. We cant win a war like this…At some point you got ot reassess it like Reagan did in Beirut, like Clinton did in Somalia. You just have to say, ‘okay, its time to change direction.”

Representative John Murtha,
Urging a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq,
meet the Press, June 188,2006

“We have seen in the last decade the decline of the American Government and the weakness of the American Soldier, who is ready to wage cold wars and unprepared to fight long wars. This was proven in Beirut when the Marines fled after two explosions. It also proves they can run in less then 24 hours, and this was also repeated in Somalia…After a few blows, [The Americans] ran in defeat…They forgot about being the world leader and the leader of the of the new world order. [They] left, dragging their corpses and their shameful defeat.”

Osama Bin Laden,
ABC New Interview, May 28, 1998

Jack Murphy

I originally set this blog up on a whim because I didn’t think that there was an outlet for me to publish opinion pieces, news that was relevant to our community and the occasional satire. Yes, you read that right, satire which would make me the occasional satirist.

The dictionary defines satire and satirist as follows:

satire n. 1. a) A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit. b) The branch of literature constituting such works. 2) Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity.

sat•i•rist n. 1) One who is given to satire, especially a writer of satirical works. 2) a humorist who uses ridicule and irony and sarcasm.

Yesterday, I posted a piece titled “CalArts and Vista Valencia Golf Course Possibly to Annex into West Ranch!” in which I wrote in “sarcasm and folly” that some how an annexation was afoot for CalArts and the golf course. I laid out the theory that there was an un-named “river” running through the West Ranch community and that it was a “tributary” to the Santa Clara River. Complete bunk! A total joke that was poking fun at the way the City of Santa Clarita has tried to circumvent our community in regards to annexation. I even went so far as to call residents, which I am one, “pesky homeowners”.

Well, by mid-afternoon the prime mates and knuckle draggers at the local advertising circular (fish wrap) had their panties in a bunch and were calling County officials to find out if this was true. God help us all!!! Now, I have been told for years that apparently the local fish wrap regularly tries to piece together stories from other publications and that in recent months they apparently have been reading this blog daily to get information that is turned into content.

Let me tell you, there was a butch of us around the Santa Clarita Valley and the County who had a really great belly laugh yesterday. The phones were ringing and the emails were flying! It was absolutely astounding to us all that the local “paper” actually took the posting seriously even after I signed it “..sometime satirist”.

As for the simpletons at the “fish wrap”, here’s the thing, if I ever post an essay on say “Martians Buying Real Estate in West Ranch”, that there is “A Discovery of a New Sub-Continent west of I-5”, or maybe that “The Bureau of Land Management Okays new Kryptonite Mine”, just check and see how I signed the piece. If it says “satire” or “satirist” anywhere take it as just that, satire. Please don’t bother calling County Officials when you read some satire as it just wastes their time and makes you look like even bigger fools than you already are.

Los Angeles County Mayor Michael D. Antonovich, will hold a news conference announcing a Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Santa Clarita and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to provide for the management and oversight of the open space dedications resulting from the Newhall Ranch and Westridge development projects. Approximately 4,350 acres of open space will be acquired and managed by the JPA. The JPA allows for the acquisition, development, improvement, management and conservation of park and open space lands dedicated for public purposes of passive and active recreation, wildlife habitat protection and conservation projects.

Speakers will include Paul Novak, Deputy, Office of Mayor Michael D. Antonovich; Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Director Russ Guiney; City of Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste; Joe Edmiston, Executive Director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy; Greg McWilliams, President, Newhall Land and Sherry Teresa, Center for Lands Management.

The press event is Thursday, June 29, 2006 at 10:00 a.m. on the west side of The Old Road street. There is a driveway entrance from southbound Old Road, halfway between Valencia Blvd. and McBean Parkway. Backdrop is the oak savannah of the initial 150 acres to be dedicated to the JPA. There is a dirt clearing that will accommodate parking. (Los Angeles & Orange County 2005 Thomas Guide page 4550, D6)

North Los Angeles County near “Grapevine” – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) advises motorists traveling over the upcoming July 4 Weekend on the northbound Golden State Freeway (I-5) north of Santa Clarita near the “Grapevine,” to please PLAN AHEAD and LEAVE EARLY to avoid expected holiday-related delays
– due to
an ongoing lane closure on northbound I-5 at Templin Highway, approximately five miles north of Castaic. The lane closure is caused by an earlier mudslide and ongoing slope stabilization repairs. Three northbound lanes and all southbound lanes remain open to motorists.

Motorists can expect delays of up to 30 minutes on Friday, June 30; Saturday, July 1; Sunday, July 2; Monday, July 3; and Tuesday, July 4.

The speed limit is reduced to 45 miles per hour in the construction zone for the safety of the motoring public. Motorists are also reminded that traffic fines are doubled in freeway work zones. In Santa Clarita and Castaic, The Old Road is a suggested alternate route during periods of congestion.

There is an advantage to knowing your community and Chris Fall recognizes that. After eight years with Waste Management and 11 years in the industry, Fall has embarked on his own business enterprise – Advantage Disposal. As president and CEO, Fall is already on his way offering roll-off bins and temporary services.

Advantage Disposal will start commercial routes beginning July serving the unincorporated areas of Santa Clarita and the Antelope valleys. He believes in a more personal touch and recognizes the frustration customers may have when it comes to dealing with large corporations. He has ordered his first set of trucks and bins and has been making the rounds to let the community know about the new service.

“I think I know what the community wants and what they desire,” Fall said. “I can provide that service. I know this business extremely well and I have people working with me that are just as knowledgeable.”

Fall said he learned a valuable lesson early on when it comes to business. “It is not as much of who you know, than it is who knows you,” he said. “I know a lot of people in both valleys and it is more about who is willing to say they know me and want me to provide their disposal and recycling service.”

“I am starting to feel the garbage love, so to speak,” Fall said with a smile

Fall has a proven record of his commitment to both the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. He serves as chairman of the SCV Chamber of Commerce and sits on the Antelope Valley Illegal Dumping Task Force and the regional advisory board of the Painted Turtle, a campground for terminal ill children, to name a few. Fall said will continue to support several charitable groups in town including the Lexus Jazz & Blues Festival, the Boys and Girls Club auction and the Hoefflin Foundation, “Evening Under the Stars” event.

“I am dedicated to these communities and I want to stay involved,” Fall said. Advantage Disposal is ready to serve your needs. Do you have the Advantage?
For more information, contact Fall at 661/252-0023.

Last year the City of Santa Clarita tried to annex the Valencia Commerce Center, which is in Castaic, by claiming a connection through a drainage ditch that ran under the 5 Freeway. At the time it seemed ridiculous to claim a connection essentially through a drainage pipe but then the whole Stonecrest annexation issue popped up a number of months ago.

What the Stonecrest annexation spotlighted was that the City of Santa Clarita could go down a dry river bed, bypassing the Stonecrest community, to annex the Cemex Mine. I started to think about that and realized that there is a river in West Ranch that crosses the 5 Freeway. That river starts high in the Santa Susana Mountains above Pico Canyon and makes itself known during heavy rainstorms. Last year it was a raging river during some of the worst storms in half a century and made its connection to the Santa Clara River known. Our river is actually a tributary to the mighty Santa Clara River that rages through the Santa Clarita Valley.

Although our river doesn’t currently have a name, I’m hoping that we can call it the West Ranch River, it nonetheless is a river bed and crosses under the Valencia Market Place, the 5 Freeway and cuts through the Vista Valencia Golf Course on its way to the Santa Clara River. This is the key to CalArts and the golf course annexing into the West Ranch area. Let’s face it, if the City of Santa Clarita has the option of going down the Santa Clara River bed to annex the Cemex mine then nobody should object to the West Ranch community going down a river bed to annex CalArts and the golf course.

CalArts will be the prize since the school pumps more than $33 million into the local economy annually. It is also an internationally known art institute which is just the kind of organization that would fit in nicely with our community. As for the golf course, well you just can’t have enough open spaces where folks can whack a small white ball towards a little hole in the ground.

Tomorrow, the Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich will be holding a press conference on the Old Road in the West Ranch community and I’m hoping that the official naming of our river will be part of that press event. Hopefully all the paperwork will have been completed by then. That will be the first step in being able to get this annexation going and we won’t have to deal with any pesky home owners, just a school and a business!

Dave Bossert
Commentator and Sometime Satirist

The West Ranch Beacon will be giving away thousands of dollars in FREE Sattellite TV systems at the Stevenson Ranch Fireworks Show this year. That’s right, FREE gift certificates that are worth up to $1000 will be given away (while supplies last) to anyone and everyone attending this years Stevenson Ranch Fireworks Spectactular. You don’t have to live in the West Ranch area to receive this FREE gift certificate, you don’t even have to live in California to receive one of these absolutely FREE gift certificate. All you have to do is show up to watch the Fireworks Show and you can get a FREE gift certificates worth up to $1000.
Each certificate is good for a satellite dish, up to four receivers with remotes, and installation all for FREE. What is great about this offer is that the certificates are completely transferable so if you want to give to a relative, friend or loved one anywhere in the 50 U.S. States FREE satellite TV you can!
Look for the booth at the Stevenson Ranch Fireworks show as you enter the park and get your FREE gift certificate courtesy of The West Ranch Beacon and Dish Direct!

With days to go before the submission deadline, there are currently only four candidates vying for the three seats on the West Ranch Town Council that are up for election. The deadline for candidates is this Friday June 30th for all applications and the $300 fee to be submitted.
The election is taking place on Tuesday July 4th at the Dr. Richard Rioux Memorial Park in Stevenson Ranch. The polls will open at 4:30 PM and will close at 8:45 PM. All registered voters in the West Ranch area which includes Sunset Point, Southern Oaks, Stevenson Ranch and Westridge are eligible to vote in this election.

A few days ago I met a resident of the Stevenson Ranch community, will call him “Bob”, and we had a nice conversation about the real estate market. Bob asked me, in the midst of this pleasant discussion about homes for sale, what the deal was with annexation. He was interested in knowing why we didn’t just annex so his kids could be treated as equals in regards to the City of Santa Clarita parks programs.

I asked him what he knew about annexation and he admitted that he knew very little. So I told him that was the point, the majority of the West Ranch community knows little or nothing about the whole question of annexation. I told him that the West Ranch Town Council has been trying to gather up information on the three options that the community has; annexation, city hood, and staying as is in the County. He was surprised that the community had options and agreed that the more un-biased information he could get the better he would be able to make a decision.

I pointed out to Bob that it is not a simple decision because there are so many services that the West Ranch area receives daily, weekly and monthly that our community needs to make a thorough comparison. This is something that our town council has been attempting to do over the years but it seems that it has gone in fits and starts with the City. It appears that every time we have sat down with the City to ask questions the meetings never seem to continue. At some point issues or items get brought up that the City just doesn’t even want to discuss.

One of the items that the City doesn’t want to talk about is the Mello-Roos bonds that many in the West Ranch area are paying off. By the way, a Mello-Roos bond issue allows for financing of public improvements and services. The services and improvements that Mello-Roos can finance include streets, sewer systems and other basic infrastructure improvements like, parks, libraries, museums and/or other cultural facilities. Bob had initially thought that the Mello-Roos bonds were for financing the schools and was surprised to learn that these bonds were actually used to put in the infrastructure in the community including the widening of the over passes at Lyons Ave and McBean Parkway.

I asked Bob a simple question, if you bought a new car and financed it over a 4 year period and two years into the payments were told to give that car to a stranger but continue to make the car payments for the remaining two years, would you? He said no, of course not! Think of the Mello-Roos bonds in the same way, why would you give the community away for nothing but continue to pay for the infrastructure? It just seems logical that we would talk about this issue.

But wait a second, not every one in the West Ranch communities is paying off a Mello-Roos bond! That’s right, some neighborhoods had the infrastructure costs amortized into the price of their homes and that certainly needs to be taken into consideration. That would have to be part of the discussion which would be adding to our collective education.

Bob realized at the end of our conversation that the question of annexation was a complex one and that our community does need to get much more information. This is something that the West Ranch Town Council has been having many conversations about with the County, LAFCO and the City over the years. It is a shame that the City keeps breaking off talks and instead tries to circumvent the Town Council and community when ever possible. That behavior is only prolonging the process and in turn making it increasingly more difficult to count annexation as an option.

Just as a reminder, it was about 5 or so years ago that Councilman Frank Ferry told the West Ranch Town Council that if we didn’t annex, the City would bury us! Still haven’t felt any shovels full of dirt dropping down on us yet………………….

Cameron Smyth, candidate for State Assembly for the 38th District, is confirmed to speak at the Stevenson Ranch July 4th Fireworks Spectacular. The event is scheduled to begin at 7:30 on Tuesday evening July 4th at the Dr. Richard Rioux Memorial Park located on Faulkner Dr. in Stevenson Ranch.
The fireworks show is being presented by the Stevenson Ranch Civic Committee in association with Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation and is a free event to the community. The park will open to the public on July 4th at 4:30 PM. Residents are encouraged to walk to the park as there will be no parking inside of the park and there is limited parking on the streets around the park.
More updates to come over the coming week.

Today I had an opportunity to hear Sen. John McCain speak at our Burbank office. He is not only a great American but also a very inspiring speaker. I have always liked the Senator for a number of reasons but mainly because he comes across as a very moderate and pragmatic individual. For me, he represents the every person in America, neither to liberal nor to conservative.

Senator McCain spoke for about twenty-five minutes before fielding questions from the audience. The three main topics he touched on were 1) out-of-control spending in Washington D.C., 2) Immigration, the hot topic today, and 3) the War in Iraq.

On spending the Senator was passionate about the fact that we are mortgaging our children and grandchildren in respect to the amount “pork” that is being earmarked onto legislation. One example was the recently passed Highway Bill which had over 1000 earmarks attached to it when it was signed. It included the now famous $200+ million dollar bridge to an island in Alaska that has a population of 50. If nothing is done about this now then later on down the road the American Public will have to swallow some very harsh medicine.

Sen. McCain spoke about the Immigration Bill that he and Sen. Ted Kennedy are co-sponsoring. He clarified what some conservatives have wrongly characterized as an amnesty program, which it is not. He strongly spoke about enforcing the immigration laws and punishing illegal immigrates for breaking the law, not rewarding them with amnesty. The Senator went on to say that our great country was built on immigration it should continue but legally.
On the Iraq War the senator told us that things are improving but that it will continue to be a tough road and that more serviceman and woman are going to be injured and/or die.

He went on to say that this is not a war against Iraq but a war against radical fundamentalists who are out to destroy our way of life. I could not agree more! I equate these radical fundamentalists in the Middle East with the German Nazi Party during the 1930’s and early 1940’s. They want to destroy everyone and anyone that has a different belief system and a different culture then they do. These Islamic Fundamentalists will stop at nothing to destroy Western culture. We must stay the course and fight these terrorists one by one, country by country until they decide to live in peace. He was hopeful that Troop levels could start to reduce significantly by 2008-2009.

Finally, Senator McCain talked about the bi-partisan’s in Washington D.C. and the fact that the system is “broken”. The lobbying scandals, the party bickering all of it isn’t working anymore. Amen! He believes that this is the most divided that Congress has ever been and believes that we may see this come out at the polls in November with lower voter turn out. It certainly is clear that system is not only broken at the Federal level, but at the State and Local levels as well.

He was asked if he was going to run for President in 2008 and smiled while being none committal. Senator McCain would certainly make an excellent President based on what I saw first hand. He was candid, funny and truly knew what he was talking about on the various topics that were discussed.

It is being reported today that Six Flags Company is planning on selling up to six of its parks including Magic Mountain here in the Santa Clarita Valley. The company is exploring a sale or the possible closing and dismantling of these parks.
The company is facing mounting losses and is looking for ways to reduce its dept load. In recent years Six Flags has faced various challenges including a proxy fight last year and declining attendance.
At Magic Mountain, there have been many problems associated with gangs and teens loitering without spending any money. This has apparently driven the family segment of the parks attendance away from the park. They may have been able to stem the tide of red ink had Magic Mountain management tried to cater more towards the local families.
I can tell you that I have never, in the 26 years that I’ve lived in the Santa Clarita Valley, ever stepped foot in Magic Mountain. In fact, it is referred to in the entertainment industry as “Six Stabs Tragic Mountain”. It’s no wonder they are having the problems they are currently. What’s more amazing is that it could be a great park for the entire family if they just tried to think outside the box.