The West Ranch Beacon

A short time ago, Sen. George Allen made a racial comment that he tried to explain away. His explanation was about as weak as you could imagine. He claimed he didn’t know where the word came from and that he is not sure why he said it. Huh? How about just tell the truth George? Tell us that as a kid your Mom and Dad used that word all the time and you actually never understood what it meant. Now that you said it, and people have told you what it means you should tell them the truth. Your a dork and it should cost you your seat. As the commercial says, ” People judge you by the words you use”. You lose!

Having said that, how about the rhetoric from the Democrat’s this election season. If we elect the Democrats we will have lower gas prices along with less dependency on foreign oil. How is that possible so soon? If we elect them they will fix Health care so that every American has coverage. How is that possible in a free market? They gonna force insurance companies to provide health care to anyone that applies to them at no cost? Or are they going to institute a Government run health care program? If so, then how do they intend on paying for it? Who is going to manage it? Imagine the cost to manage a program like that let alone the annual cost to maintain the health care rolls. Do you force Doctors to take less money, yet still have to pay huge insurance premiums for E and O coverage? As it stands now we are losing Doctors left and right because of the costs to run an operation and costs they incur to pay for litigation and malpractice insurance. Trial lawyers support the Democrat party, I wonder why? Seems like hypocrisy to me. ( I spelled it correct Chris. lol ).

How about the War’s? They are going to bring all the troops home or as they now say position them “outside” the hostile zones and be ready to come in with-in a moments notice. Ok, so where ya put them? Saudi Arabia? Kuwait, UAE? According to UBL, having US troops stationed in their holy lands is why they are so damn mad at us to begin with. So where exactly is the ” zone”, Nebraska? Detroit? That’s effective. Well, maybe the Detroit part is.

Lastly, as Robert Kennedy Jr. has claimed, George Bush has single handedly turned back the fight on global warming by 50 years. His crowd claim’s that if in office they will sign the Kyoto protocol and start to reverse the damage he has done. How? Read that darn thing. We would have to close all refineries, coal plants ( read electric generating plants here ) and cut down on vehicle emissions. Do they understand that an economy runs on fuel? What exactly will we replace these sources of energy with? Nuclear? Well that would just bring out a whole new batch of ticked off people now wouldn’t it! Or since they would be in power would that then be ok? Anyone but them attitude?

I am not a scientist, by far to be sure. But when I read all that I can on the subject I see one thing that no one discusses. Yes, CO 2 is a culprit in the greenhouse effect, but the largest culprit is water vapor according to every scientist. How do we fight humidity? What if we go to hydrogen vehicles? Isn’t the by-product of hydrogen water? Seems like that would be the biggest threat to global warming.

Ok, so lets recap. If we elect the Democrats we will have No War, Health Care for everyone, Stop and reverse Global warming, and eliminate the need for foreign oil by making our own or doing something else they wont tell us about. Seems GREAT!!!! I’m a Democrat at heart for sure then. I want all the above and want it NOW! But, at what cost will this all be, if possible………………..

How about some of the highest taxes in the history of the world. How about drilling for oil everywhere on US soil ( That’s the only way to reduce dependence on foreign oil today ), how about building a wall around the entire USA and every time there is a problem in the world we ignore it and just tell the UN or whom ever that its “Not our Problem”. How about another 50 nuclear power plants spread out all over the country. Net result would be the biggest depression in the history of the world. Imagine the unemployment rate if we where to do these things. There would not be enough people making enough money to pay all those tax’s so they would have to raise tax’s again and again and again. That would have a great impact on what’s left of our economy don’t you think?

Ya see, lies are lies. Whether its a goofy guy from Virginia claiming the unbelievable all the way to the talking heads from the Democrat party saying that George Bush and the Republicans are responsible for everything that’s wrong with this world and by electing them they will fix it all and make us utopian perfect.

This is what is wrong with politics. Say ANYTHING to get elected. I think we are all smarter then these folks give us credit for. I’m voting for Steve Allen, not George Allen.

Jack Murphy

The West Ranch Beacon has uncovered more facts into the Stevenson Ranch HOA recall petition. As you have read here, the recall petition was filed by Keith Pritsker, a property owner of The Arts, and David Harvey a resident of the Diamondhead Condominium complex.

Earlier this year The Arts sub association, which Pritsker is the delegate of to the master association, became embroiled in a dispute over The Arts corner monument (pictured above). At issue was the fact that the monument was apparently not constructed within the architectural guidelines of the Stevenson Ranch Community Association (HOA). The size of the lettering and the materials used were not in keeping with the design aesthetics of the community.

As was reported on David Harvey, he apparently has had problems with The Stevenson Ranch Community Association over the past several months. The HOA minutes indicate that Mr. Harvey was called to an HOA hearing, a week before he signed the recall petition, for making threatening statements to a private HOA security officer and the contracted security company.

It is clear that both Pritsker and Harvey have had their issues with the Stevenson Ranch HOA this year. For those who attend the regular HOA meetings it appears obvious why these two individuals have spearheaded the recall of the entire HOA board. This is an action that apparently has caused confusion and anger among the master associations delegates which echoes Pritsker’s tenure on the HOA Board. It is worth noting that neither Pritsker or Harvey have attended a meaningful number of Stevenson Ranch Community Association HOA meetings over the past several years.

However, Mr. Pritsker was on the master association board up until November 2001. He was partly responsible for the hiring of the previous property manager, The Management Company, in Stevenson Ranch. He was also involved with the community fence painting project which started, no surprise, with his own neighborhood of The Arts.

The Management Company, while Pritsker was on the board, entered into a painting contract with a painter but did not use the associations painting contract as written by the HOA attorney. The painter hired under this contract did a terrible job and actually caused damage to the fences. Apparently, the painter was paid for fence lines that were not even painted! The painting contractor was fired in late 2001 and was not paid for the remaining work.

After Pritsker left the Stevenson Ranch Community Association board in 2001 The Management Company was terminated. The association’s books were left in a shambles which required the new management company to hire an extra full time person to straighten out the accounts receivable. Ultimately the association had to write off tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid receivables and appointed a committee to oversee the association’s finances.

Now, Keith Pritsker is running for a board seat on the Stevenson Ranch Community Association board. It is no wonder why some of the delegates are angered by the recall petition. There is much more to this story than meets the eye.

Next Wednesday October 4th, at the West Ranch Town Council meeting, Newhall Land and Farming Company will unveil a proposed new office building project. The project is to be developed on an approximately 9.95 acre site located at the northwest corner of the intersection of The Old Road and Magic Mountain Parkway. The proposed project would consist of two buildings (pictured above), each with approximately 100,000 square feet and four stories high and associated parking. Access to the site will be provided from The Old Road and Magic Mountain Parkway.

The project site is currently graded and vacant. The proposed project represents a modification to an already approved project for this property. Specifically, the County of Los Angeles has already approved the development of up to 200,000 square feet of office and hotel. The hotel is not proposed to be built at this time.

The West Ranch Town Council will holds it’s regularly monthly meeting on Wednesday October 4, 2006 at the Southern Oaks Community Center. The meeting will begin at 6:30 PM and will feature guest speaker Carl Boyer. Mr. Boyer will give a brief overview of his book on the formation of the City of Santa Clarita followed by question and answers.

West Ranch Town Council Agenda Wednesday October 4th

A. Call to Order/Roll Call

B. Approval of August Minutes

C. Treasurer Report and Banking Update

D. County Updates
1. Doug Newell Parks and Rec
2. Sheriff’s Liaison
3. CHP Liaison
4. Bob Haueter LA County- Good Guys Update, La Quinta Update
5. Lennar/Newhall Land- Update

E. Carl Boyer/ City of Santa Clarita Book

F. 1.Discuss Castaic Vision Committee position
2. Discuss potential appointment to vacant council seat
3. November -Attorney Scott Campell on the Brown Act, December Larry
Mankin/Chris Fall SCV Chamber
4. Update to organize a Town Hall meeting with Castaic TC, Aqua Dulce TC, and
Supervisor Antonovich. Date, time, location TBD

G. Committee Reports

1. Election 2008
2. Security/Public Safety
3. Governmental Relations
a. Homeless Shelter Task Force
b. Westridge HOA and TPC issues Update
4. Westridge and Southern Oaks Liaisons
5. Sunset Point Liaison

H. Old Business

I. Public Comment

J. Adjournment

The outage in Stevenson Ranch, as reported here, was caused by an underground equipment failure last Saturday evening. Southern California Edison responded by switching circuits and getting customers power restored.

The extend of equipment damage is currently being reviewed. Edison may have to have a planned outage to repair some of the underground equipment within the next few weeks. More information will be posted when it becomes available.

In today’s Financial Times there is a terrific article in the commentary and analysis section entitled “Apostles of the Blogosphere” by Gideon Rachman. If you click on the headline above it will link you to the article on the Financial Times web site.

It is an interesting article that comments on how “bloggers are…….holding the Goliaths of the Media and the political world to account”, which was right on the mark. The article discusses how some world political figures are now using blogs including Sen. Hillary Clinton, Tory Party Leader David Miliband and President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad of Iran.

Some of these political bloggers have been successful and others have not. A great example of what not to say on a blog was a posting by the Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsary, who “confessed to lying constantly to get elected; a revelation that prompted riots in Budapest.”

Imagine that, a Politian lying to get elected! Check it out; the article is a great read.

Reuters is reporting, on Yahoo Finance, that due to a steeper-then-expected drop in the U.S. housing market Lennar Corp.’s quarterly profit was pushed down 39 percent and prompted the home builder on Tuesday to slash its fourth-quarter forecast. Responding to a deteriorating market, some large U.S. builders have pulled back on the number of homes they build to protect their gross margins. But Lennar has pursued a different course — trading margin for volume.

The larger publicly traded builders, which comprise about 23 percent to 25 percent of the new home market, are suffering along with the rest of the sector. According to the U.S.Commerce Department, home starts fell 19.8 percent in August compared with a year earlier to their lowest level in more than three years.

Click on the headline above for the complete story at Yahoo Finance.

The West Ranch Town Council will have their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday October 4th at 6:30 PM. The council meets at the Southern Oaks Community Center in the heart of the Southern Oaks neighborhood off of Pico Canyon.

Carl Boyer will be the guest speaker at the October meeting. He’ll discuss his book on the formation of the City of Santa Clarita. Mr. Boyer’s presentation will be followed by a brief question and answer session.

The meeting will also have regular updates from the County, Sheriff’s department, Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles County Fire as well as Parks and Recreation. The full agenda for the October meeting will be posted on this blog site soon.

If you have been reading this blog for sometime you’ve no doubt noticed that there are occasionally some misspelled words. Simply put, I am an awful speller; always have been, always will be! Sadly though, that is something that some of the snarky idiots in the valley just love to jump on and pound.

I view people who want to harp on something like a misspelled word as small minded. They are missing the point of an article because of a misspelled word, a kink in the armor to attack. These are the folks that don’t have much in the way of intellectual depth. They have to go after you on something as simple as a misspelled word or show off their academic prowess at cutting and pasting a definition.

Better yet, if they read what you wrote they’ll respond to it by bringing up something that isn’t even in the article. Their not interested in acknowledging that they agree with you, they’ll dredge up something that you wrote in another piece and keep twisting on it. That is the sign of someone that can’t move on. They can’t just agree to disagree.

Sure I use spell check all the time, but even then a word or two slips through. String me up at the nearest tree! By the way, the Blogger spell check is just terrible. Even I can tell that it is bad!!!

But guess what? I have always acknowledged that I’m a terrible speller. So what! If you continue to read this blog be rest assured that, from time to time, there will be misspelled words. Get over it!

Dave Bossert

There was a major electrical black out on Saturday evening which affected a large portion of West Ranch. All of Southern Oaks, The Stevenson Ranch Market Place and a large swath of Stevenson Ranch were without power for hours.

Apparently a transformer blew out in one of the underground vaults in the community. Residents were using flashlights to get around their homes and made the best of the outage. Others took advantage of the situation by un-corking a bottle of wine and having a romantic evening by candlelight.

Traffic lights were out at major intersections including Pico Canyon and The Old Road, Constitution and Pico Canyon, Stevenson Ranch Parkway at Pico and at Poe Parkway. Some of the signal lights were still out on Sunday morning but were back to normal by Sunday afternoon.

Last Thursday, September 21st, a homeless woman apparently disrobed in order to change clothes. The nude woman was spotted in the Jake K. park by yard duty personnel from the nearby Pico Canyon Elementary School.

Although it was in the morning prior to school beginning, there were children being dropped of at the elementary school early. Typically the children arriving early would head out to the playground for fun and games before school started. However, because of the naked homeless woman, the school personnel had all the children go into the multi-purpose room instead.

I was originally going to title this commentary “The Signal: Jackass 3” but I didn’t want to disparage the Paramount Pictures movie franchise that was debuting this weekend. Non-the less, the editors and managers (if you can call them that) are complete and utter jackasses for the front-page article that was printed in the Saturday, September 23, 2006 edition of the Signal.

It was the West Ranch Beacon, this blog, which first reported on the recall of the Stevenson Ranch Community Association Board. The Signal does not even have the decentcy or the integrity to acknowledge sources for stories that they run. In fact, when the reporter from the Signal called to get more information (yes, the reporters call on a regular basis) about my blog posting on the HOA recall I specifically requested that the Beacon be sited as the source for the story.

I have no doubt that the reporter put the Beacon as the source into her story only to have it edited out by the dirt-bags running that inked stained wad of recycled garbage. Further, the final article appears to be so edited that it is factually incorrect for the most part and heavily biased to one side. As history has shown this is typical of that local rag, which over the years has continued to get the facts wrong, and regularly misquotes local individuals.

What is shocking is the level of wrong information and outright lies that are peppered throughout the Signal article. It refers to Lynette Finley as the property manager for the Stevenson Ranch Community Association, which is completely false. Ms. Finley is a resident and board member of the association. Euclid Property Management is the current manager of the Stevenson Ranch Community Association (HOA).

The article goes on to blame her for raised dues and fewer services, which is false. Lynette was part of a board of directors that voted collectively for any increase in dues. For the most part, the board has voted unanimously on almost all proposed dues increases. The Stevenson Ranch Community Association dues are among the lowest in the area at only $33 a month paid quarterly.

As far as services are concerned, the association seems to have increased services and benefits to the community since Mr. Pritsker’s tenue on the board. One thing for sure, the legal expenses for the association have declined since Pritsker’s involvement ended.

Mr. Pritsker is quoted as complaining about the fences in the association “rotting” when in fact the fence maintenance was started under his watch as an association board member. During which time the board, including Pritsker, and the previous managers from The Management Compamy appear to have mishandled the entire project costing the association members thousands of dollars. Mr. Pritsker needs to take as much responsibility for the failures to properly maintain the association fences as he is freely hoisting on Ms. Finley.

As for David Harvey, he apparently has had problems with The Stevenson Ranch Community Association over the past several months. The HOA minutes indicate that Mr. Harvey was called to an HOA hearing, a week before he signed the recall petition, for making threatening statements to a private HOA security officer and the contracted security company. It appears that his motivation for the recall may be different then he stated in the Signal article .

The article goes on to claim it could not reach Lynette on Friday afternoon for comment. This is an outright lie! The Signal called Ms. Finley and myself to get comments on the recall. Lynette actually called me after speaking to the Signal reporter mid-afternoon on Friday, September 22nd!

The Signal article is so incomplete it should be considered fiction, and bad fiction at that. Once again, the local paper drops the ball on getting the facts straight for a relatively simple story. The Signal is a complete disgrace as a local paper as it continues to short change our community on factual information. One has to ask, that if the Signal blatantly lied and misrepresented the facts in the article on the recall, how can you trust anything that they print?

Dave Bossert
Rooting out facts and Exposing the Frauds