27 File to Run for 1st City Council in Santa Clarita

Twenty-seven people have filed nominating papers for the five seats on the city council that would be created if voters approve incorporation of Santa Clarita Nov. 3.

At least nine of the prospective candidates had rushed to the registrar-recorder’s office in Commerce immediately after the 3-2 vote Thursday by Los Angeles County supervisors to put the cityhood issue on the ballot. The remaining 18 filed by the 5 p.m. deadline Friday.

Some cityhood proponents worried that the short filing period would keep down the number of prospective candidates but later agreed that the turnout was substantial.

“It was a pretty good turnout for such a short period of time,” said Jan Heidt, one of the candidates and a spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Homeowners Coalition, a group of 26 homeowners associations.

Among those running were a community college trustee, a fire captain, several educators, merchants, engineers, retired people and many community activists.

“This is a very involved and concerned community,” said Jo Anne Darcy, a senior field deputy for County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who is also running for a city council position. “And local control is the answer to growth and development.”

The Santa Clarita Valley is one of the fastest-growing areas in the county, with the population expected by analysts to more than double by the turn of the century.

The proposed city would consist of a 40-square-mile area, with about 100,000 residents, covering the unincorporated communities of Newhall, Saugus, Valencia and part of Canyon Country.

On Agenda 5 Times

The cityhood election issue had been on the supervisors’ agenda five times, but had been postponed four times because of Supervisor Kenneth Hahn’s absence while recovering from a stroke suffered last January.

The 27 applicants are:

Donald Benton, Newhall, community college trustee; Carl Boyer III, Newhall, teacher; Louis E. Brathwaite, Valencia, a city formation committee member; William J. Broyles, Canyon Country, school district employee; H.G. (Gil) Callowhill, Saugus, retired businessman; Jeffrey D. Christensen, Newhall, general contractor; Dennis Conn, Valencia, recreation consultant and planner.

Also Jo Anne Darcy, area field deputy, Saugus; Kenneth Dean, Canyon Country, architect and designer; Barry E. Golob, Valencia, studio driver; Monty L. Harrell, Valencia, businessman; Janice Heidt, Canyon Country, community activist; Bill Hilton, Valencia, minister and businessman; Gail Klein, Valencia, businesswoman and planning adviser; Andrew Martin, Newhall, insurance agent; Roger A. Meurer, Saugus, civil engineer; Frank A. Parkhurst, Saugus, advertising consultant.

And Robert Silverstein, Newhall, retiree; Dennis Koontz, Saugus, fire captain; Michael D. Lyons, Saugus, businessman and engineer; Vernon H. Pera, Canyon Country, manufacturing representative; Howard (Buck) McKeon, Canyon Country, retail merchant; Ronald J. Nolan, Valencia, law clerk; Edmund G. Stevens, Valencia, businessman; Linda Hovis Storli, Valencia, teacher; Maurice D. Ungar, Valencia, land-use consultant, and Richard M. Vacar, Valencia, airport manager.