Candidates in Santa Clarita Ready 11th-Hour Dash to File

Prospective candidates for the Santa Clarita City Council are on tenterhooks as they await today’s vote by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on setting a date for a cityhood election.

If supervisors allow the measure to be placed on the ballot in November as the Santa Clarita City Formation Commission has requested, the candidates will have only until 5 p.m. Friday to collect signatures on nomination petitions and file their papers.

Several of those planning to seek council seats said Wednesday they will attend the supervisors’ meeting and leave immediately for the county registrar-recorder’s office in Commerce to pick up the required papers. One announced candidate may fly home from a Hawaiian vacation to file her papers.

“It’s a horrendous squeeze,” said Carl Boyer III, formation commission chairman.

However, he said that he knows of no serious candidates who have indicated they will not run because of the time constraints.

“It’s going to be a little tight,” said Linda Storley, a Canyon High School government teacher who has declared her candidacy. “But I think it kind of weeds out the people who are not really sure about what they’re doing.”

Vote Postponed 4 Times

Storley said she and several other council hopefuls attended Tuesday’s supervisors’ meeting, hoping to pick up their papers that day. The vote was postponed for the fourth time by Board Chairman Mike Antonovich, in an effort to gain support of two of his colleagues.

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, who supports placing the measure on the November ballot, has said he will attend today’s meeting--his first since he suffered a stroke in January. Supervisor Ed Edelman, who has not announced how he will vote, has said he tends to favor the November election.

Supervisors Pete Schabarum and Deane Dana have said they oppose the November election because a favorable vote would allow the city to incorporate in December, costing the county about $3 million in sales-tax revenue. Schabarum has proposed an April or June election.

$3-Million Revenue Loss Disputed

Cityhood backers have disputed those figures, saying the sales-tax figure is only about $1.3 million. They have also noted that county officials have not taken into consideration the revenue that will be received from contract services for which the city will pay the county.

Three “yes” votes from supervisors are needed to set the election.

Candidates need the signatures of only 20 registered voters on their nomination petitions, but many potential candidates said they plan to obtain twice that number to be on the safe side.

“It’s a little bit of a problem,” said Kenneth Dean of Canyon Country, an architectural interior designer who has sought political office twice before. “You have people who say they’re registered voters when they’re not. I don’t think it’s fair. It doesn’t give people very much time.”

Connie Worden, cityhood spokeswoman, said she fears many qualified candidates will not run because of the postponements by the supervisors.

“They’ve given up and gone on vacation,” she said. “We have no guarantees it won’t be put off again. We have been so beaten up by the Board of Supervisors that many people don’t believe the vote will be taken.”

Jan Heidt, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Homeowners Coalition, had announced her candidacy before she left for Hawaii earlier this week. She had arranged for her campaign manager, Don Jennings, to send the papers to her by express delivery. But, now, Jennings said, there is no time to file the papers in that way.

“It puts her in a bind,” he said. “It was very difficult for her to give up her vacation just on the possibility that the supervisors might vote to hold the election in November.”

Heidt had not made up her mind late Wednesday whether to return home to file her papers. Jennings said he will attend today’s meeting and pick up the papers for her just in case.

Rita Garasi said neither she nor her husband, Louis, both mentioned as possible candidates, will run.

“We’re leaving on vacation,” she said.

2 Activists Won’t Run

Rita Garasi headed the successful campaign to impose taxes on developers for new schools in June. Her husband served as co-chairman of the committee that persuaded the Local Agency Formation Commission to approve the Santa Clarita cityhood bid.

Rita Garasi said she believes more time is needed in order for candidates to make an intelligent decision.

Other possible candidates include JoAnne Darcy, Antonovich’s field deputy; Gil Callowhill, a member of the Castaic Lake Water Agency board; Ernest Spencer, a former member of the water board; Buck McKeon, chairman of the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital board of directors; William Hilton, a minister at Newhall Christian Church, and cityhood formation committee members Worden, Boyer and Louis Braithwaite.

“We want to see good people run for the city council,” Braithwaite said. “Some people may take out papers and not return them. If we have good candidates, we won’t have to run.”

Several candidates said they will take advantage of a cityhood fund-raiser being held at 5:30 p.m. today to collect signatures on their petitions. It will be at the new cityhood headquarters, 26111 Bouquet Canyon Road, Saugus.