Cityhood’s Foes Asked to Identify Selves

The latest groups opposing cityhood in the Santa Clarita Valley should come out of hiding and reveal themselves to voters before the Nov. 3 incorporation election, state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) said Tuesday night.

“They have a right to take a stand, but they should come out and say who they are,” Davis told a meeting of the American Assn. of University Women in Newhall.

Davis referred to two organizations, the Santa Clarita Caution Committee and the Coalition for the Right City, that surfaced last week to oppose cityhood. It is unclear who is supporting either group, but it is apparent they have significant financial backing.

Flyers from the Caution Committee began arriving at homes of more than 47,000 registered voters in the proposed city last weekend. A mailing of that size would cost about $10,000, officials said.

Another Mailing Planned

Marilyn A. Wenburg, a Newhall resident who signed the flyer, said the group plans another mass mailing. She said the group is made up of “concerned business people” but declined to name any of them.

Davis said he has received two Caution Committee flyers at his home in Valencia. “They’re well-heeled all right, they have a lot of money invested in this,” he said.

Davis, who has previously endorsed cityhood in Santa Clarita, said the Caution Committee is sending one flyer to each registered voter in a household, which is expensive.

Davis said the anti-cityhood groups will have to identify themselves at some point. “If they don’t do that, they’re breaking the law,” he said.

He said he has been disgusted with the incorporation process throughout the state and questioned the independence of state Local Agency Formation Commissions, created in each county to oversee incorporations. The commissions are supposed to be nonpartisan, but they can be influenced by the counties that finance them, he maintained.

Davis said he is considering offering legislation to revamp the operation of the commissions.

He said he has represented newly incorporated cities such as Agoura Hills, Westlake Village and others, and that “none has asked for de-incorporation.”