Students Press Santa Clarita City Officials on Malls, Money

Forget growth and traffic congestion. A girl at Skyblue Mesa Elementary School wanted Santa Clarita City Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy to answer a question of major importance to the city’s youth:

“Do you know when they’re going to start building that mall?”

When Darcy, speaking at a school assembly Thursday, replied that construction on the city’s first mall was scheduled to begin in 1991, a clutch of girls let out an appreciative “ooooh.”

Clearly, Darcy had found a happy group of constituents.

Malls, bike trails and video arcades were just some of the topics covered as Darcy and Councilwoman Jill Klajic met with about 100 upbeat and curious students as part of a monthlong celebration of the city’s third anniversary.

The aim was to give the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders a first-hand look at the history and workings of a city that isn’t much older than they are. As it turned out, the exchange revealed more about the eager interrogators than Santa Clarita.

“Do you get paid good money?” one boy asked.

About $600 a month, Darcy replied.

Oh.

The boy was not impressed.

“Are you rich?” a student asked Klajic.

Klajic laughed and said no, being on the City Council doesn’t mean you’re rich.

“I’m not rich either,” Darcy added.

But the students had more than money on their minds. Derwin Maxwell, 10, wanted to know if Darcy had ever received a letter from the President. (She met President Bush when he dedicated a prison in Castaic.) Josh Temple, 10, asked what Darcy liked about being mayor. Timothy Latta asked Darcy for her autograph.

Klajic and Darcy said some questions showed a surprisingly good grasp of local affairs. Candi Friend, 10, sounded like a veteran slow-growth activist when she asked suspiciously, “I hear they were going to make some condos by the bike path.”

The condos in question were part of the ill-fated Santa Catarina project, the most controversial issue to face the City Council in Santa Clarita’s brief history. The proposal was squashed under an avalanche of public protest last summer.

When Darcy realized Friend was referring to Santa Catarina, she just smiled. “I don’t think so,” she said deadpan.

Students at Skyblue, along with youngsters from the Wiley Canyon and Sulphur Springs elementary schools, also drew Santa Clarita birthday cards, which are on display at City Hall. John Wasiel of Wiley Canyon penned a reassuring message to accompany a drawing of Bart Simpson:

“Happy 3rd Santa Clarita. Don’t have a cow man. You’re only 3.”