Most of the residents who spoke up at the meeting had a common theme: They want local government representation and local meetings instead of having to travel downtown to voice their concerns, and they want that government entity to actually care about what happens in their area. One speaker eloquently stated that they didn’t want to be "stranded in the land of County emptiness".

The only dissenting commentary was by Steve Teeman of the Castaic Area Town Council. He says that since he and his fellow council members were "duly elected", that they should have more of a say in what happens in the Castaic area in regards to annexation. He also says that the Castaic Annexation Support Team (CAST) is "not the voice of Castaic". Seems a little silly, doesn’t it, since CAST collected signatures in favor of annexation from about 72% of the residents in the Castaic areas of Hasley Hills, Live Oak, North Bluff and the Valencia Commerce Center. It would appear that by virtue of these signatures in favor of annexation, the residents have voted against their Town Council’s current stand on the matter.

The $35,000 allocation to begin the required annexation and planning services was unanimously approved by the Santa Clarita City Council after a short discussion period. Frank Ferry made sure to point out that the $25,000 study that had already been approved regarding West Side annexation will still move forward, and stated that there would be plenty of time to consider any findings from that study before the annexation process is complete, since the study should be completed within the next few months and the annexation process should take at least one year.

At the May 22 Santa Clarita City Council meeting, representatives of the Castaic Annexation Support Team (CAST) presented signatures from about 70% of the residents and other property owners and requested that this annexation process begin immediately. The City’s current annexation policy requires signatures from only 60% of the residents and business owners, so the Castaic residents have clearly exceeded this requirement.

The $35,000 budget will pay for the annexation and planning services as well as the required State and County fees, as follows:

• $16,000 for Map and Legal Description
• $ 4,000 for Fiscal Impact Analysis
• $ 8,500 for LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission for the County of Los Angeles) fees
• $ 3,500 for State Board of Equalization fees
• $ 2,000 for required notifications
• $ 1,000 for miscellaneous expenditures

The annexation process requires many steps and is expected to take about a year. Included in this process are a fiscal impact analysis to analyze revenues and expenditures, public hearings, the adoption of a general plan amendment, preparation of environmental documentation including a proposed sphere of influence amendment, and approval by LAFCO for the annexation. A map of the proposed Castaic annexation area can be found here.

Opposing this annexation process are members of the West Ranch Town Council, who favor a more "united" approach to the West Side’s future, preferably as a new city instead of being part of the City of Santa Clarita. This whole thing has turned into a pretty nasty online turf war, with Dave Bossert slamming this process every chance he gets.

What Bossert and others seem to forget is that the residents of the Castaic area started this process themselves by initiating a campaign to collect signatures favoring annexation starting two years ago. And they also seem to forget that forming a new city will not keep Los Angeles County from skimming off the reported $20 million of excess funds collected from the West Side to support their unaccounted-for pet projects in other parts of the County. Only annexation into an existing city (as in the City of Santa Clarita) can keep those funds local unless the rules change at the State level.

Still, Bossert continues his online rant about the unfairness of this proposal, apparently forgetting that it was initiated by the Castaic area residents themselves. Castaic Area Town Council members have also expressed concern, stating that annexing only part of Castaic would be "cherry picking". Could it be that these local town councils are more concerned about their personal political agendas than the desires of their residents? Scary thought, isn’t it?

Members of the Castaic Town Council and the West Ranch Town Council have indicated that they prefer to take a more united stand for the "West Side" of Santa Clarita, but residents don’t appear to agree with this stance. Perhaps it’s just political posturing on the part of the Town Councils, but it would seem that they should pay more attention to what their residents truly want.

Signatures from about 70% of the residents in the Castaic areas of North Bluff, Hasley Hills, Live Oak and the Valencia Commerce Center have been collected in favor of annexing to the City of Santa Clarita. The City only requires 60% of the residents to vote in favor of annexation, so they’ve surpassed those minimum requirements. However, in order to move forward with the annexation process, one thing that has to be shown is that it would be at least "revenue neutral" for the City of Santa Clarita, meaning that the property tax revenues allocated to the City from that area would have to at least cover the services that the City would provide in return.

Brian Roney, who is one of the leaders of the Castaic Annexation Support Team (CAST) says, "Our group is not so much opposed to incorporation as supportive of annexation because that can happen right now." Roney and others presented these petitions at this weeks Santa Clarita City Council meeting for review at a future City Council meeting.

Also on the side opposing annexation is Newhall Land and Farming Company, and for obvious reasons. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has been rather lenient when it comes to building new developments in the unincorporated areas of the Santa Clarita Valley, and a portion of the area represented by this petition is undeveloped land owned by Newhall Land. Says Marlee Lauffer of Newhall Land, "We are opposed to our undeveloped property being part of the annexation. Our philosophy has been that it is within the county, and that’s where we’re processing our tentative tract maps."

Residents of the Sunset Pointe area, which is supposedly represented by the West Ranch Town Council, are also taking matters into their own hands. Sunset Pointe residents are also apparently in favor of annexation into the City of Santa Clarita rather than formation of a new west-side city.

Meanwhile, studies paid for by the City of Santa Clarita regarding annexation and by Supervisor Antonovich regarding the incorporation of a new west-side city are still pending. These studies are expected to begin within the next month and take up to three months to complete.

Remember that earlier reports showed that of the $42 million in property tax revenues collected from the west side, a whopping $21 million went to support Los Angeles County areas outside the Santa Clarita Valley. Ken Pulskamp, Santa Clarita’s City Manager, says, "Annexation allows you to keep your tax dollars local. The money that is spent on this side of the freeway can be spent anywhere in the county now, and let’s face it, this is not the area the Board of Supervisors is seeing as having the highest need."

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

	Area in Square Miles	Population	Crime Rate per 10,000 for Part I Crimes
Total Area	646.6	242,100	222.39
Unincorporated	594.7	73,294	207.66
City of Santa Clarita	51.9	168,806	228.78

2005 Crime Statistics for the Santa Clarita Valley Station

	Area in Square Miles	Population	Crime Rate per 10,000 for Part I Crimes
Total Area	647.4	252,127	214.89
Unincorporated	596.2	82,485	181.25
City of Santa Clarita	51.2	169,642	231.25

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.

Up for discussion at the February 27 Santa Clarita City Council meeting is a revision to the existing policy that would allow for annexation if 5% of the registered voters of an area vote for the annexation. Once this level of support is received, the City of Santa Clarita will then survey the community to determine the level of support for annexation. The new policy also allows the City of Santa Clarita to pursue annexation any time there are other overriding circumstances.

The 5% threshold is identical to that found in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, the State law that regulates annexations. Under this law, 5% of the registered voters must sign a petition to initiate the process.

While the Castaic Town Council seems to be initiating this change, it’s not clear whether the City of Santa Clarita will approve annexation for the Castaic area only, or if they will go for the entire West Side as well (including Stevenson Ranch, Westridge, Sunset Pointe and Southern Oaks as well as Castaic and Val Verde). Economically, the City of Santa Clarita would be much better off if they annexed the entire West Side, including the retail areas in Stevenson Ranch.

Castaic students who are already at West Ranch High will remain there. Incoming freshmen for the next two school years will go to Valencia High, unless they have older siblings already at West Ranch High. Then for the following two years, incoming freshmen will go to West Ranch high. There will also be open enrollment available at some of the district schools for those who want to take advantage of it.

Castaic parents are not pleased with the decision, but the only way that Castaic’s entire high school could have remained at West Ranch High for the next four years would have been to install temporary buildings there at a cost of millions of dollars. While I understand why Castaic parents aren’t thrilled about having their children moved around (again), just think what that money can be used for to improve the district’s facilities at existing schools!

The construction of Castaic High School is currently tied to the SunCal development in the area, and is scheduled for completion in 2010. However, there are many reasons why a project like this can get delayed, so the 2010 deadline may be a bit optimistic. 

Meanwhile, the City of Santa Clarita and the Castaic area are starting to explore the possibility of the annexation of the "West Side", including the Castaic area, into the City of Santa Clarita. Could this improve the chances that Castaic High at least gets built on time? The Hart School District crosses the boundaries of the City of Santa Clarita and the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County that include Stevenson Ranch, Castaic, Sunset Pointe, Val Verde and Southern Oaks.

Could school construction be simplified if the school district boundaries were under one jurisdiction, instead of being split into City and County areas? Maybe they can use that $20 million surplus from the West Side that Los Angeles County is using for out-of-area services to build new schools!

Funds collected from the West Side and other unincorporated areas of Santa Clarita in the form of property tax, sales tax and the utility users tax amount to about $42 million per year, yet that same area only receives about $21 million in municipal services from the County.

So where does all this money go? Nobody seems to know! The County is not required or obligated to account for the revenues it receives from a particular area, nor is it required to "pay back" those revenues to the area in one form or another.

Even if the West Side were to incorporate into its own city, any surplus revenues would not be given back to them. This is due to a statewide "revenue neutrality" rule that was instituted in 1992. Since that time, there have been no new cities incorporated in California, which is not a big surprise.

The catch here is that the annexation process apparently avoids this "revenue neutrality" rule. When an area is annexed into an existing city, that city gets to keep all of the sales tax revenue and a portion of the property tax revenue generated by that area.

The City of Santa Clarita reportedly spends all of its revenues locally within the City limits, although they may not all get spent in exactly the area they were collected from. Still, that’s $20 million that can be spent to improve our local environment instead of going to Never Never Land in the County’s coffers.

Given these rules, it’s in the County’s best interests if an area incorporates into a new city rather than being annexed, because then the County gets to retain all of the surplus revenues. Is it any big surprise then that Supervisor Antonovich anteed up $25k for the preliminary cityhood study for the West Side, and also paid the fees for the members of the West Ranch and Castaic Town Councils to take cityhood classes in Sacramento? What’s $25k plus a few hundred in class fees compared to a whopping $20 million surplus kitty?

Considering that we have some Stevenson Ranch parents up in arms because their taxes are funding some of the education costs for Castaic area high school students attending West Ranch High, that’s just chump change compared to what the County is doing with their tax dollars. Seems we need a change of focus here!

Antonovich’s funds are earmarked for a study to determine whether the West Side areas could form their own city or not, which does not consider the annexation option. He has also reportedly paid for 2 of the 3 members of the West Ranch and Castaic Town Councils to travel to Sacramento for a class on forming new cities.

Based on these actions, it would seem that Antonovich favors the formation of a new city instead of annexation into the City of Santa Clarita. Seems he never did buy into the "One Valley, One Vision" concept, and is instead doing his best to create a great divide between the West Side and the rest of Santa Clarita by funding one point of view and not the other.

West Ranch Town Council members are just happy to be getting two independent studies paid for so they can better decide how to move forward with either forming a new city or annexing into the City of Santa Clarita.

There’s already been somewhat of an uneasy relationship between the City of Santa Clarita and the West Side, where the West Side threatened to boycott Santa Clarita nine months ago when the City of Santa Clarita raised its Parks and Recreation fees to residents in unincorporated areas.

With the High School Wars going on between Castaic, West Ranch and other Santa Clarita schools, will this issue create even more of a challenge for parents of high school children? If the West Side and Castaic incorporate into a new city, would the Hart School District still have the authority to move children around from one city to another to ease overcrowding?

Otherwise known as the West Side, this area has been debating whether to form their own city (or cities) or annex into the City of Santa Clarita instead. This is largely a financial decision, since a city would need to be able to support itself financially, and of course the City of Santa Clarita would want to explore the financial impact of any annexations as well.

Two members of the West Ranch Town Council will join one member of the Castaic Town Council in Sacramento shortly for a two-day seminar on the formation of a new city. Supervisor Antonovich has already contributed $25,000 towards the initial cityhood study.

Anyone interested in joining the Citizens Advisory Group should attend the West Ranch Town Council meeting on March 9.

Castaic has been considering these options for a while now, but this group has apparently stepped up to take charge of the process. They have met with city representatives from Fillmore and Calabasas to discover how those cities were formed and what steps they need to take to form their own city.

Castaic neighborhoods have made annexation requests to the City of Santa Clarita in the past, but they were apparently too piecemeal for the City to consider. The Castaic Now group plans to develop a more focused proposal to the City of Santa Clarita, as well as further exploring the possibility of creating a separate city to include Stevenson Ranch and other areas west of Interstate 5 in the Santa Clarita area.