West Ranch Town Council comments spur online battle between Santa Clarita's East Side and West Side.

A nasty online battle is unfolding between the East Side of Santa Clarita vs. the West Side of Santa Clarita.

West Ranch Town Council president Dave Bossert recently posted on his blog that "it appears that area [Canyon Country] is a cesspool of crime week in and week out." He goes on to say "It seems that the City of Santa Clarita needs to allocate more police resources into that area to quell that unlawful behavior or at least contain it to that side of town."

Mr. Bossert makes abundantly it clear that he doesn’t want West Side funds to be used for East Side improvements or law enforcement in his comment, "It truly is no wonder why some residents in the City are so vocal on wanting to annex areas on the west side of the Santa Clarita valley. They want to make sure they get their hands on more revenue to pump into the dilapidated and crime ridden area on the east side of the City."

Mr. Bossert really needs to take a broader and more complete view of this whole situation. First of all, more than half of the West Side’s funds are currently being allocated to who-knows-where in the Los Angeles County area controlled by Supervisor Antonovich. That’s $20 million to the West Side, and $22 million to never-never-land according to recent reports. If a portion of those funds were allocated to what Bossert calls the "dilapidated and crime ridden area on the east side of the City", then quite likely the crime rates would decline. And the West Side wouldn’t be losing any more funds than they are now, with Los Angeles County sucking up West Ranch’s funds already for unstated and unaudited expenditures. Not to mention the fact that California laws prevent the County from being "harmed" by any new incorporations, so that $22 million would remain with the County even if the West Side were to incorporate into a new city. On the flip side of this is the fact that annexation of the West Side into the City of Santa Clarita would KEEP all of those funds within the City’s limits, to be used for East, West, and all areas in between. That, Mr. Bossert, would be an effective way to use local funds to improve the local lifestyle.

SCV Talk then followed up with a tongue-in-cheek article about the West Ranch "Green Zone" proposal, complete with a wall and military checkpoints to keep East Siders out of West Side Territory. If you want a bit of a laugh, then this article is worth reading!

Bossert’s comments were apparently the result of his review of recent crime logs showing incidents in Canyon Country areas as well as the recent rape reports in that area. With much of Canyon Country included as part of the City of Santa Clarita, the annual crime reports from the Sheriff’s Department appear to tell a different story. The statistics below are for Part I Crimes, which include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, grand theft auto and arson. Note that the area in square miles changed from 2005 to 2006 due to recent annexations, including the Valencia North Park area and the Stonecrest area in Canyon Country. Also note that the West Side’s crime statistics are included in the Unincorporated figures.

2006 Crime Statistics for the Santa Clarita Valley Station

2005 Crime Statistics for the Santa Clarita Valley Station

While Mr. Bossert and the West Ranch Town Council claim to represent the majority of the residents of the West Side areas of Stevenson Ranch, Westridge, Southern Oaks and Sunset Pointe, statistics from the most recent election show more apathy than support for this group. According to The Signal, the last election for the West Ranch Town Council was held on July 4, 2006 from 4:30pm to 8:45pm, which is when most residents were likely either out of town or preparing for their 4th of July feasts and fireworks shows. And, to make matters worse, they didn’t bother to place any signs showing the location of the election either (it was in a Stevenson Ranch park, which is an unwritten "forbidden zone" for Westridge residents). As a result, only 54 people turned out to vote, so of course the incumbents remained in their seats unchallenged. That’s less than one percent of the area’s population, so it really cannot be considered to be a true representation of the residents of the entire West Side.

The bottom line here is that the East vs. West battle is being fought by only a small percentage of the residents on the West Side (basically by only the 54 people who bothered to vote the West Ranch Town Council members into their current seats). It’s time to take a true vote from the entire West Side as to their feelings on annexation and incorporation, rather than just lobbing insults at the East Side and accusing them of wanting to use the West Side’s funds to beef up their supposedly crime-ridden areas.

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