Point / Counterpoint : The Issue: Santa Clarita Cityhood : FOR

On Nov. 3, Santa Clarita Valley voters will decide whether to create a separate city. At the same time, voters will chose among 25 candidates for a five-member city council. To shed light on the issue, The Times asked representatives for and against the proposed city of Santa Clarita to write guest columns. Anthony J. Skirlick Jr. of Valencia is a founder of the Citizens Against Cityhood, which opposes incorporation. He is an air traffic controller. Connie Worden of Newhall is spokeswoman for the City of Santa Clarita Formation Commission. She is a planning consultant.

The primary impetus for forming a city in the Santa Clarita Valley is to give residents an opportunity to control their own destiny and to protect the quality of life and life styles they came here to enjoy. Santa Clarita Valley is geographically separated from the San Fernando Valley and is a lovely area of populous canyons, steep mountain ridges, and flood plains, all of which are being impacted by rampant, ill-thought-out development.

An integral part of our heritage is the belief that government is best that is closest to the people. Cityhood has been accomplished 84 times already in Los Angeles County alone, so the change is hardly revolutionary. Without the creation of municipal government, the area will simply become another San Fernando Valley, which the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley view as a series of overbuilt developments, clogged arterials, mini-malls and garish billboards.

Let’s examine life in the Santa Clarita Valley today. The rapid growth has brought more than a few bottlenecks. There are congested streets, overcrowded schools, threats to the water supply and a disappearing quality of life. Let us see:

SCHOOLS--Rapid growth has created overcrowding of the schools and a pent-up demand for more classrooms. There is currently no mechanism for building schools. In June, 1987, out of frustration and the need to protect the present quality of education, the public by an 85% majority voted to assess developer fees for new construction.

ROADS--Because of rapid development and an inadequate funding base, road assessment districts have been formed to build needed routes. Even if all the roads projected as needed by the Los Angeles County Public Works Department are built, “six major intersections will be at failure” said Lou Muto, department assistant director, in 1986. It means that a type of gridlock will occur. The City of Santa Clarita must find a solution for roads; the county doesn’t have one.

WATER--Water experts say at the rate growth is occurring, we will run out of water in 1991 unless a guaranteed source of water is found. While a new city will not take over the water districts, certainly the attitude toward growth will impact decisions on water needs. Growth won’t occur without an adequate water supply.

EMERGENCY SERVICES--The new city would contract for fire, paramedic and sheriff services from L.A. County just as 37 cities already do. There can be, by law, no diminution of services and the city can tailor these necessary services to meet their individual needs.

A five-person city council, elected at large, is not a huge legislative body. These people would be responsible to the Santa Clarita Valley voters and would easily be held accountable. Yes, developers could “buy off” city council persons if we were to elect some culpable ones. But, through the recall method, we could easily throw the rascals out of office! If everyone in the Santa Clarita Valley believed our supervisor was in the hands of any special-interest group and tried to vote his ouster, it would still only be 5% of the 5th District voting public, and would matter very little.

As is appropriate under good government concepts, the city will take over municipal services, but there still will be the county government providing for regional needs. The county will maintain regional parks (such as Castaic and Hart), the county library system, and welfare and medical assistance programs. The national forests (they’re not in the city) will remain the same and the water and school districts will not be affected by the incorporation. Since the passage of Propositions 13 and 62, cities and counties must live within the present tax structure. Only by a vote of the people can the taxes be raised. Creating the City of Santa Clarita will mean keeping here some of the tax dollars now going to the county. Even the conservative Los Angeles County Local Agency Formation Commission predicts there will be a $3.5-million surplus of revenues over expenditures the very first year of operation. Every community in the Santa Clarita Valley will retain its own identity, name and zip code. The City of Santa Clarita will have no zip code. Bel-Air is still Bel-Air, even though it is in the City of Los Angeles, and Northridge is still called Northridge. In the Santa Clarita Valley it is that diversity, as it is in a larger scale in our nation, that makes the city both appealing and strong. Our melting pot of interests, backgrounds and life styles is a microcosm of the nation in which we live. Blue-collar workers, professionals, young families with small children and many seniors comprise the fabric and texture of this healthy, diverse society. This will make us a strong, powerful and viable city. This element will prevent any one special-interest group from holding sway over others. As a city, the special districts such as the landscaping and lighting districts in Valencia will remain as they are. Canyon Country will not be subsidizing them any more than Valencia will subsidize the rural horse trails in Sand Canyon.

Nighttime city council meetings may indeed be held because, as a working community, it is the time when the majority of the citizens and council members can conduct city business with citizen participation. No more taking off from work for those 70 to 100 round-trip miles to Los Angeles county offices only to encounter frustrating hours, many delays and contemptuous treatment by officialdom.

What about the 1 1/2-day filing period? No group worked harder than the City Formation Committee to convince the supervisors to set the election in plenty of time for candidates to file. For months, an intensive lobbying effort took place. Neither Peter Schabarum nor Deane Dana could be persuaded to vote for the city, since they wanted to keep the surplus revenues for the county. In the last analysis, it was Edmund Edelman and the ailing Ken Hahn who supported Michael Antonovich and supplied the three necessary votes.

The committee supported the short filing time for two compelling reasons--to allow the city time to negotiate contracts, recruit and hire personnel, rent office space and establish lines of credit as well as to take advantage of the dramatic financial benefits of incorporating in December. Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon estimates that the new city will gain a balance of $2 million during the seven-month period to the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

When the dust settled two days after the favorable vote of the supervisors, there were five times as many candidates as there are council seats, which ensures ample opportunity for careful selection. Cityhood is simply the process of coming of age. It is time to have something to say about governing our own affairs. The Santa Clarita Valley is the largest unincorporated area in Los Angeles County. No similar area has gone this long without taking over municipal services. Within the 100,000 current residents are many leaders. They can and should be encouraged to come forth.

Local control under cityhood will produce a better, more responsive and more economical government than will the existing remote administration 40 miles away.