For the last several months I have sat back and watched the proposed City of Santa Clarita takeover of the local County Libraries unfold. The outcome was predictable from the first whiff that the City was eyeing the libraries and even before then with the controversy over the design of the new library slated for Newhall. This was a done deal from the moment it was couched. (more…)

What a beautiful and picturesque city Zurich is in the summer! The weather has been spectacular here for the last several days. Last night I was taken to a wonderful restaurant called Chasalp which was up on top of a mountain overlooking Zurich. The specialty of the restaurant is fondue! Yes, fondue in which you dip pieces of bread and/or potato into hot melted cheese and wash it back with beer or wine. (more…)

Well, I am off on another adventure this time to Switzerland; we’re currently cruising at 35,000 feet and going about 625 miles per hour. That seems a tad faster than usual but the Captain was making up for the late departure from LAX. It seems that someone forgot to close one of the cargo doors completely! Fortunately just as we were at the end of the runway readying for take-off the Captain noticed the warning light and we taxied off the runway so that a mechanic could come out to the plane and properly close the hatch. It wouldn’t have been a good thing to have the cargo door blow off the plane at a high altitude!!! (more…)

After speaking with a very well respected local mover and shaker a week or so ago, I wanted to revisit a commentary that I wrote several years ago. This one titled “Modern Dating or the Caveman Approach?” had a great reaction when it was first published in 2004 and again when it was republished in 2006 and 2009. I wanted all our readers, old and new, to be able to read this piece again as it still resonates today. The City of Santa Clarita has been attempting annexations to get a toehold on the Westside of the freeway for years. More recently the City has started to move on a proposed annexation of the Tesoro del Valle development, north of its boundaries, against that communities desired timeline. This is another example in which the City of Santa Clarita is doing everything it can to expand without having to speak with the community leadership. (more…)

I received a call from Signal Staff Writer Natalie Everett who wrote the article “Tesoro a step closer to joining the city” in the Signal. She had just finished reading this Beacon commentary and assured me that she would now be writing a follow-up article to her piece that would have more information! Once again, the so-called local paper of record has printed a flagrantly misleading article. No, the article is not made up like the fabricated story the Signal spun into an editorial earlier this year. Rather, it is clever in that it does not report all the facts; just the spin it wants, or should we say what the City of Santa Clarita wants! The story, “Tesoro a step closer to joining the city”, which ran on Monday, July 26, 2010, was for all intents and purposes a piece of City propaganda that was masquerading as local reporting. It was so thin on actual facts that all one could say was that it was merely a fluff piece at worst for the City of Santa Clarita or just more sloppy journalism from the Signal at best. (more…)

In June of 2009, I attended an Army Corp of Engineers meeting held at the Rancho Pico Jr. High School to comment on the Newhall Ranch development. It was a painful meeting to sit through not because of the dry material but because there were a number of individuals from outside of Santa Clarita who drove their SUV’s and Luxury cars here to speak out against the Newhall Ranch Project. The problem was that most of them didn’t know what the hell they were talking about! (more…)

This past week the William S. Hart School Board finally made a decision by choosing the Romero Canyon property to build the proposed new Castaic High School. This puts to rest the long drawn-out political jockeying over where to site the new school and actually gives hope to all parents in the Hart School district that the Castaic High School will open its doors for the 2013-2014 school year. (more…)

I’m baaaack!! Well, I got back from Maine a few days ago fully relaxed and recharged for the coming year. Yet, I am already looking forward to my sabbatical next summer and contemplating expanding it from 10 days to more like 16 or 17 days. That should quell the fact that my time off in Maine absolutely flew by; I mean it seemed like it was over in a snap! (more…)

Here is a vintage piece that Dave wrote back in April of 2009 and we thought it would be nice to share it again. Dave will be back next week with new commentaries on a variety of topics. This time of year is truly marvelous to sit and look at “Old Glory” the oak tree that was the center of much controversy some six years ago. Every Spring since then the tree blooms with beautiful fresh budding leaves. When the light hits it just right in the mornings it almost has a lime-greenish glow. (more…)

I’ve been in Maine for several days now and it is not hard getting use to a slower pace of life. The weather could not be more perfect for sailing which I did on Saturday afternoon aboard a 48 foot schooner; we had 20 knot winds and it was magnificent riding the rails! (more…)

Since the City Council election is long over and there is still controversy continuing we decided to run this column again to showcase the incestuous relationships the local “newspaper” has with the City of Santa Clarita. There was a great response to it the first time around and we hope that local residents will contemplate the substance of this commentary. Especially in light of the information published here on The Beacon regarding Marsha McLean being chauffeured around by City staffers and other issues surrounding the City Council incumbents. None of those allegations have ever been investigated by The Signal and you can count on that paper to endorse and defend the City of Santa Clarita and the current Council regardless! (more…)

I’m soooo ready! Every year for the better part of a decade and half I have taken a 7-10 day “sabbatical from life” in the great state of Maine. During the summer time every year I head up to the same sparsely populated area in the northern part of mid-coast Maine, by myself, for a little R&R; a life force reset if you will. (more…)

At the Tuesday, June 22, 2010, Santa Clarita Clity Council meeting Frank Ferry’s proposal to to reform the city’s campaign finance laws passed with a 4 to 1 Council vote. Councilman Bob Kellar was the only council member to truly represent the city voters by casting the only no vote against this misguided change. What’s funny is that this change will now come back to haunt them in next council electuion because they didn’t tyhink it all the way through! Councilman Ferry is trying to set the stage for the next Santa Clarita City Council election by attempting to reform the current city campaign-finance laws. You can bet that this has nothing to do with creating an even playing field or making future campaigns fair for all. No, Ferry is up to his old dirty tricks again and the City Council needs to reject this proposed change to the campaign-finance laws or be viewed as complicit in election trickery. (more…)

The shenanigans continue at the William S. Hart School Board and there is no real end in sight. Oh sure, the School Board claims that it will make a decision in July as to which property, either the Hasley/Sloan or the Romero Canyon, to build the new high school on in Castaic. But the truth is that it is all about politics now and nothing else; overcrowded schools or the how it is impacting our children don’t seem to matter; it’s all about the players at the school board and the SCV Facilities Foundation which owns the Hasley/Sloan property. (more…)

The new and improved, grammatically and spelling corrected version! I recently flew to Houston, Texas to attend my brother Phil’s retirement ceremony from the United States Air Force. He has spent the last 28 years serving our country in a variety of capacities including flying combat missions in the Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Afghanistan conflicts. Through it all he has been the consummate example of an outstanding leader. I want to give you a little background on my brother’s education so that you can have a better understanding of who he is and what I have learned from him over the years. (more…)

Have you seen the latest folly being doled out at Santa Clarita City Hall; Councilman Frank Ferry wants you to be sued if you are critical of any proposed plans before the City Council. That’s right, if you voice your concern about a proposed project or ask questions or even, dare we say it, make a suggestion that is counter to the myopic City thinking, Ferry and others don’t want to hear it. In fact, Councilman Ferry is advocating legal action against anyone that voices an opinion that is contrary to what he or the City Council may want. (more…)

About a month or so ago, The Beacon received a note from a medical professional asking if we could setup an area of our site where residents and professionals could rant or rave about Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital (HMNMH). This individual felt somewhat disenfranchised in that any constructive comments this person has made about the hospital seemed to fall on deaf ears. (more…)

The opposition to the Hasley Hills/Live Oak/North Bluff and Valencia Commerce Center proposed annexation continues to stack up against the City of Santa Clarita. First it was the Castaic Area Town Council that came out against it; then the Castaic Chamber of Commerce, Newhall Land and Farming, and the Valencia Commerce Center Association all sent letters to the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) expressing their opposition to the proposed annexation. Now the West Ranch Town Council has weighed in with its unanimous opposition to this unwelcomed and belligerent land grab by the City of Santa Clarita. (more…)