LOCAL ELECTIONS / SANTA CLARITA CITY COUNCIL : Champions of Cityhood on Defensive

What a difference two years makes.

In two years, a city was created, a City Hall was opened, and the Postal Service was trained to deliver mail to a new Los Angeles County address--the city of Santa Clarita.

A tiny staff grew to 80 employees who now carry out the mandates of a $24-million budget.

And a simple lesson of politics was learned: Once in office, the revolutionaries who championed change in the first place became, justly or not, the new target of discontent.

When Santa Clarita incorporated in December, 1987, residents said they voted for cityhood because they were tired of fighting an unresponsive, pro-growth Los Angeles County government. Winners in that election ran on the savior ticket: They would save their neighborhoods, their roads and their schools from overbuilding approved by the county Board of Supervisors.

But now the incumbents are being blamed--many say unfairly--for the very troubles that vaulted them into office. And with Santa Clarita’s first City Council election since incorporation coming up Tuesday, the community’s leaders are busy fighting among themselves.

“We have to get rid of those people on the City Council,” fumed candidate Herb Wolfe at a recent forum.

“I voted for cityhood to stop all this,” complained another candidate, Wayne Carter, referring to the thousands of new houses and apartments sprouting throughout the city and surrounding Santa Clarita Valley. “The City Council hasn’t stopped anything.”

Throughout the 1980s, thousands of families flocked to the valley, making the area, now with 150,000 residents, the fastest-growing region in the county for the last four years.

The valley and its scores of new housing tracts became a stucco haven for families looking for affordable homes and a small-town atmosphere. Locals call it “Leave It to Beaver Country” and “Des Moines With Palm Trees.” As testament to Santa Clarita’s family values, a recent UCLA study found an unusually high number of diapers in the city’s garbage.

The three incumbents seeking reelection say they are being unfairly blamed for a host of problems that Santa Clarita inherited from the county. Mayor Jo Anne Darcy, Councilman Carl Boyer III and Councilman Dennis Koontz say that the traffic congestion, crowded schools and overdevelopment are legacies of county rule.

Almost all the homes under construction in Santa Clarita were approved before incorporation. Another 20,000 county-approved units have yet to be built, said Councilman Howard P. (Buck) McKeon.

Conversely, the city of Santa Clarita has allowed only 500 new housing units in 2 1/2 years, Darcy said. And, unlike the county supervisors, the Santa Clarita City Council has refused to approve housing projects unless the developer wins the endorsement of local school officials.

But in letters to the editor, testimony at City Council meetings and comments at candidates’ forums, citizens have lambasted the council with terms once reserved for the supervisors--corrupt, pro-growth and uncaring. These broadsides are aimed at people who just three years ago were leading the effort to secede from the county.

“It’s part of politics,” Darcy says with a sigh.

What is happening in Santa Clarita mirrors the experience shared by many other new cities. Fran Pavley, who has served on the Agoura Hills City Council since that city incorporated in 1982, said residents there blamed the City Council for development approved earlier by Los Angeles County.

Incumbents facing voters for the first time since incorporation, “can’t point to a lot of tangible achievements,” Pavley said. Creating a new city government involves lots of nuts-and-bolts chores, such as financial audits and traffic studies, not likely to excite voters, she said.

To be sure, Santa Clarita can point to some accomplishments. The city’s crime rate dropped 4.2% last year. Council members attribute that to increased police protection paid for by the city.

Of the disappointed residents, McKeon said: “I think they thought this would become Camelot. They expect the city to solve all problems.”

Growth and traffic have emerged as leading issues in the campaign that pits seven challengers against Darcy, Boyer and Koontz. Along with Wolfe and Carter, the challengers include Kenneth Dean, an architectural designer; Vera Johnson, a retired educator; Linda Calvert, a realtor; Andy Martin, a rancher, and Jill Klajic, a longtime community activist.

Some challengers are hoping to capitalize on the public’s anger over the council’s decision to place a $275-million tax measure to build roads on last November’s ballot. The measure lost by a 4-1 margin.

“They got in office because they promised us slow growth and no taxes,” Wolfe said. “They have gone back on us on every single promise.”

The election has produced no firebrands and, except for minor variations, the candidates are running on similar platforms: All oppose landfills near the city; all worry about traffic congestion, and all say developers should pay more to build schools and roads.

One local newspaper reader complained that, after reading the candidates’ platforms, he felt as if he had walked into an ice cream parlor and discovered all the flavors were vanilla.

At a recent candidates’ forum held in the back yard of a private home, about 50 residents opposing a condominium project lounged on lawn chairs under hazy sunshine as the candidates denounced the project and growth in general.

There were no carefully scripted speeches, just off-the-cuff remarks. Many of those attending were parents; some had brought their preschoolers along.

The candidates attacked development as the root of all evil in Santa Clarita. The forum, incidentally, was held in a housing tract that opened just a year ago. Up and down the street, many homeowners were still putting in their landscaping.

Finally, Johnson, who regularly attends council meetings, offered a few words in defense of the incumbent city lawmakers. “I don’t think they deserve the bashing they are getting,” she said. “They are not in with the developers. I know it’s probably a mistake for me to say that.”

“It is!” one man muttered.

When Johnson finished her remarks, there was only a smattering of applause.