In Santa Clarita, only your hairdresser and...

In Santa Clarita, only your hairdresser and City Council member know for sure.

Deciding that it’s time to find out what the citizenry is really talking about, the council has invited 75 beauticians and barbers to tell all at a coming luncheon.

City Manager George Caravalho came up with the idea while “brainstorming (in Oxnard, by the way) with the City Council,” said spokeswoman Gail Foy. “We’re trying to get more of our 120,000 residents involved in government.”

Falling somewhat short of that goal, the city opted for the next best thing. “He (Caravalho) said, ‘Everyone talks to their hairdresser,’ ” Foy observed.

Naturally, the council is interested in hearing about public issues such as growth and government services rather than personal gossip, Foy said. “Besides,” she said with a laugh, the gossip’s “probably already known.”

The luncheon was set May 13 in this city about 30 miles northwest of downtown L.A. because that’s a Monday--the day that hairdressers traditionally have off. Their comments will be compiled in a report to the City Council to help members determine future policies.

While Jon Peters, noted former hairdresser, is now a studio executive, this is believed to be the first time that a group of beauticians has acted as a political advisory body.

Mayor Carl Boyer hopes that the city can persuade “people that, if they want to communicate with us, all they have to do is call City Hall.”

Or their hairdresser.

Like nearby Magic Mountain, Santa Clarita’s City Hall often comes up with colorful ideas.

A council member once theorized that illegal aliens would stay away if the city handed out flyers saying there were no jobs available. Another member suggested scrapping all the addresses in the city and coming up with more logical numbers. Another proposed that Santa Clarita become a Veal-Free city. None of the ideas were put into law.

More recently the city has been studying the recommendation of a consultant that new front lawns be no larger than 10 feet by 10 feet.

And, as with hair, neatly trimmed.

Calling Dorothy and Toto:

While some L.A. boosters saw the city’s recent rejection of a proposed nightclub for the World Trade Center as a setback, author Ray Bradbury thinks he has a better plan for attracting nighttime visitors.

“You pave a Yellow Brick Road from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to Broadway to Little Tokyo to Olvera Street and then to Union Station,” he said.

“You put up a framework of lights. You have little vendors and little cafes along the way. Every half hour you have a singing mariachi lead groups down the hill on the Yellow Brick Road. You’d give people a reason to walk downtown.

“Every time I suggest it to Mayor Bradley he says it’s a great idea. But then I never hear anything more about it.”

In our list of L.A. institutions that have recently disappeared, we listed Buzz magazine. Soon our telephone was buzzing. Editor Allan Mayer called to say that the trendy journal, which suspended publication after its February-March issue, will reappear in September now that a new investor has been found.

Buzz’s motto is “The Talk of Los Angeles,” not to be confused with “The Talk of Santa Clarita.”

Perhaps Buzz’s return is the start of a trend. Maybe grilled Dodger dogs will reappear next.

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