Santa Clarita Cityhood Issue Put on Nov. 3 Ballot

Backers of cityhood in the Santa Clarita Valley won a major victory Thursday when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to place an incorporation measure on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, attending his first meeting since he suffered a stroke in January, was the hero of the day. “You people remember that I made this effort just for you,” Hahn told Santa Clarita residents after the 3-2 vote.

Cityhood backers gave the wheelchair-bound Hahn a standing ovation. Several blew him kisses.

“We owe him a special thank you,” said Jill Klajic, a member of the City of Santa Clarita Formation Committee.

Thursday was the last day supervisors could set the November election. Prospective candidates for the city council in the proposed municipality have only until 5 p.m. today to file their nominating papers with the registrar-recorder’s office.

Under the cityhood proposal, the unincorporated communities of Newhall, Saugus, Valencia and part of Canyon Country would be united into a 40-square-mile city with about 100,000 residents. The area is one of the fastest-growing in the county, with the population expected to more than double by the turn of the century.

A simple majority of voters needs to approve incorporation for the city to become a reality.

Vote Had Been Postponed 4 Times

It was the fifth time that the cityhood election issue had been on the supervisors’ agenda. Board Chairman Mike Antonovich, who represents the area, had four times postponed the vote, anticipating Hahn’s support upon his return. Hahn left Thursday’s meeting shortly after the cityhood vote.

Supervisors Pete Schabarum and Deane Dana consistently had opposed the Nov. 3 election on the grounds that it would cost the county $1 million to $2 million in revenue, mainly from sales taxes.

“Let’s have faith that this city will produce revenue for the county once it gets going and grows,” said Hahn, noting that “the best government is the closest to the people.”

“It will be good for the people of the Santa Clarita Valley to have home rule,” he said.

Hahn said that, when he took office in 1952, the county had only 31 cities. If approved by voters, Santa Clarita will be the 85th.

Supervisor Ed Edelman agreed with Hahn. “The thrust of California law is to allow home rule,” he said.

Edelman said that supervisors should take note that cityhood proponents had agreed to reimburse the county $2.7 million for street and park maintenance and law-enforcement services provided by the county between the December incorporation and June 30, the end of the county’s fiscal year.

A new state law that went into effect Jan. 1 requires newly incorporated cities to pay back counties for services provided. But Edelman pointed out that Santa Clarita, which filed for incorporation last year, is not covered by that law.

“This is the first time a city has recognized the county’s dismal financial condition,” he said.

Schabarum and Dana proposed that the cityhood election be held in April or June of next year, so that the new city, if approved, would be incorporated closer to the end of the county’s fiscal year.

“I’m elated,” said Carl Boyer III, formation committee chairman, after the vote. “We’ve gone down a long road to self-government.”

He said the Santa Clarita Valley has twice before attempted to form its own county. “Traditionally, the Board of Supervisors has been inaccessible to us,” Boyer said.

Boyer said the Nov. 3 election will mean the city’s first elected officials will have a longer transition period to organize a government.

Cityhood spokeswoman Connie Worden noted that the county has had the use of millions of dollars produced by the Santa Clarita Valley for several years. “We’ve been the cash cow,” she said.

Worden said the short filing period might shortchange some prospective candidates. But at least two candidates for city council who attended the meeting said that anyone who is serious about running has time to file nomination papers. Worden, who had been mentioned as a candidate, said she will not run.

At least nine candidates rushed to the registrar-recorder’s office in Commerce immediately after the supervisors’ vote to pick up their papers. They were Boyer; Louis Brathwaite, a city formation committee member; JoAnne Darcy, Antonovich’s field deputy; Linda Storli, a Canyon High School government teacher; Andrew Martin, an insurance agent; Gil Callowhill, a member of the Castaic Lake Water Agency board; Kenneth Dean, a business executive; Don Benton, an insurance agent, and Roger Muir.

Another candidate, Jan Heidt of the Santa Clarita Valley Homeowners Coalition, was preparing to fly home from a vacation in Hawaii to file her papers. Don Jennings, her campaign manager, said he picked up the documents for her Thursday.