Local News in Brief : Santa Clarita Council Terms to Be Staggered
Gov. George Deukmejian signed a bill Monday creating staggered terms for the Santa Clarita City Council.
The bill by state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) modifies an obscure state law that would have put the entire City Council up for reelection in April, 1990, because the city was incorporated in an odd-numbered year, 1987.
Under the new law, the two highest vote-getters in November’s incorporation election, Mayor Howard P. (Buck) McKeon and Jan Heidt, will serve four-year terms ending in 1992. The other council members, Jo Anne Darcy, Dennis Koontz and Carl Boyer III, will face reelection in April, 1990.
Under the old legislation, staggered elections would not have begun in Santa Clarita until 1992.
Hunt Braley, an aide to Davis, said the senator introduced the bill at the urging of cityhood proponents who said the simultaneous election of five council members could lead to unstable government.
The law also affects the cities of Mission Viejo in Orange County and Twentynine Palms and Highland in San Bernardino County, all of which incorporated in 1987.
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