City Pins Hopes on Billboards to Stir Voters

In an effort to prod an apathetic electorate to turn out for Tuesday’s City Council election, the city of Santa Clarita has mounted a billboard campaign reminding residents that “one vote counts.”

Its point: Although the campaign has been quiet, with most major candidates agreeing on most major issues--development, crime and schools--the city considers this a “pivotal election” and that casting a vote could still have a large impact on the young city’s future.

In one message, Santa Claritans are reminded that California’s statehood was ratified by a single vote in 1850. In another, that a single ballot by America’s founders in 1776 determined that English and not German would be the primary language of the former colonies.

It’s a point that should be well taken in Santa Clarita, a city where retiring Councilman Clyde Smyth was reelected by fewer than 20 votes in 1994, earning him the sarcastic moniker, “Landslide Clyde.”

The public service messages are both a reminder of the importance of this year’s elections--in which three of five council seats are being contested--and an acknowledgment of the expected difficulty in getting voters to the polls when there is little conflict among the major candidates.

Only 16% of registered voters cast ballots in local elections in 1996, down slightly from 1994. But because of a greater number of mail-in ballots received by the city, officials are predicting a somewhat higher turnout Tuesday.

A record-breaking 14 candidates are vying for the three council seats this year. The sole incumbent, Jo Ann Darcy, is a heavy favorite to keep her seat but the retirements of longtime council members Smyth and Carl Boyer III mean that at least two newcomers will be elected to a council that has seen little turnover in its first 10 years.

The candidates are: Kent Carlson, Dennis Conn, Michael Egan, David Ends, Frank Ferry, Ryan Krell, Marsha McLean, Jeffery O’Keefe, Wendell Simms, Chuck Simons, Cameron Smyth, Ed Stevens and Laurene Weste.

As Santa Clarita enters its second decade of cityhood, the issues that have concerned voters since the city’s inception continue to top the list.

According to a recent city survey, Santa Clarita voters are most concerned with reducing traffic, improving the quality of education in local schools and mitigating the impact of developments such as Newhall Ranch. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently gave tentative approval to the development, which would bring up to 70,000 residents to a 19-square-mile site just outside the city limits in an unincorporated area of the county.

Another big issue for voters is safety. Although Santa Clarita, which is policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, was recently listed as the fourth safest city in the United States, voters continue to rate crime as one of their main concerns.

The campaigning has been relatively tame even though Santa Clarita faces several key decisions in coming years, city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz said.

“It’s a little strange because this is a pivotal election and there hasn’t been a lot of passionate debate,” Ortiz said.

“I think to some extent that reflects that most folks have been pretty satisfied with the way things have gone. It’s not that we can’t do better, but right now things are OK.”

Among the important decisions to be made by the next council will be where to build sorely needed roads. Political arguments have stalled the building of an east-west road in Santa Clarita for years and officials say the city risks losing state highway funds for the project if a decision is not made soon.

In addition to Darcy, who is also a senior field deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, insiders say the candidates most likely to garner enough votes to finish in the top three include Ferry, a 32-year-old high school teacher who narrowly lost in the 1996 council race; Smyth, 26, an aide to state Sen. Pete Knight (R-Palmdale) and the son of the outgoing councilman; McLean, 57, a businesswoman and community activist who led a successful fight to keep a dump from being built in Elsmere Canyon, and Weste, 49, a park commissioner.

There has been talk this year of a youth movement in Santa Clarita, where 40% of the population is under 22 but where the council has been dominated by middle-aged and older residents. Not only are Smyth and Ferry among the favorites, but there are other youthful candidates in the race, including Egan, an 18-year-old Valencia High School senior, and Krell, a 19-year-old College of the Canyons student.

“While I am younger in age, I have more knowledge about government policy and community issues than anyone else running,” said Smyth, who describes himself as a fiscal conservative who aims to bring high-paying jobs to the Santa Clarita Valley so fewer residents will need to commute to Los Angeles.

“We have a young city and I think it is important to get some younger people on the council,” Darcy said. “But you need a balance. You don’t want to throw out all your old-timers.”

McLean said the age of the candidates was not as important as electing officials who are “free from alliances.”

“This is a local election and it should be free from outside influence,” said McLean, who listed relieving overcrowded schools as one of her priorities.

“We need independent voices, not people who are beholden to the major developers,” she said.

Councilwoman Jill Klajic, the council member who has been the most vocal opponent of development, said it came as no surprise that the candidates widely viewed as the favorites were those who spent the most money on their campaigns.

Campaign disclosure forms show that Darcy, Smyth, Weste and Ferry all raised more than $24,000 and spent at least $18,000--nearly twice the amount as many of their rivals.

“People don’t think that you can buy an election, but in reality you can,” said Klajic, adding that most of the candidates are “wimps,” unlikely to stand up against those who helped fund their campaigns.

“I believe this election is going to make or break this valley,” Klajic said. “Are we going to work as hard as we can for the community or are we going to roll over and give the keys to the developers?”

Smyth, for one, rejected Klajic’s claim, denying he would be beholden to anyone.

“I don’t think $250 put me in anybody’s pocket,” he said, referring to the maximum political donation allowed in Santa Clarita. “We need development that’s managed responsibly” as opposed to rejecting housing projects out of hand, he said.

“I find it hypocritical for people who’ve come to Santa Clarita to say, ‘That’s it, no one else is welcome.’ ”