He had his big political coming out party today at City Hall. KHTS gushes:
Standing in front of City Hall Friday morning, community activist and local businessman David Gauny unveiled his approach to how the city of Santa Clarita should be run, as he officially announced his candidacy for City Council.
I want to put aside whether he can win or not and just focus on what he says. We’ve mostly heard from Gauny when he’s 1)been opposed to the G&L/Mayo hospital expansion and 2) morphed that organization into some sort of new “Smart Growth” movement which will be his main plank if his press conference today is any indication:
To wit:
Targeting specific issues, Gauny touted zoning and planning to be among his chief concerns.
“In the mid- to long-term, I am committed to higher quality development in our valley,” he said. “Such strategic planning takes much more effort but we can and must avoid the high-density, strip mall mentality that has ruined greater Los Angeles. Our city can enjoy similar tax revenues without further cheapening our neighborhoods, clogging our roads, or ruining our quality of life.”
What the hell does “we must avoid the high-density, strip mall mentality” mean? Aren’t the two mutually exclusive? The strip mall was born in Los Angeles and is the hallmark feature of low density suburban sprawl. That’s how Los Angeles was built; low density communities spread out over a huge geographic area with automobiles as the primary transportation.
High density places, like, say, New York City, don’t have strip malls. They have tall commercial, residential and industrial buildings. They don’t have the room for a typical SCV-style strip mall. That’s pretty elementary.
People like me would like to see some higher density in the Santa Clarita valley because 1) it makes for better use of land, 2) it offers an alternative to building out across the hillsides, and 3) it makes for livable and walkable neighborhoods.
So was this a flub or is Gauny just using two relatively unpopular concepts to make himself sound more attractive to the typical SCV Nimby? (no one really likes the term ‘strip mall’ after all)
Finally, how precisely can the City of Santa Clarita “enjoy similar tax revenues” without the strip malls that generate all that sales tax?
Moving on:
“Just increasing densities triple and four times, as is proposed in One Valley One Vision, doesn’t bring smart development,” Gauny said. “It requires people sitting down and planning our city, and I think that our Council needs to be instrumental in that and I’d like to bring more checks and balances in that respect.”
Gauny went on to say that he would like to see a top-notch corporate center and a premier arts or convention center in an effort to attract tourism and larger corporations. All this, he says, helps to keep residents employed locally and boost the city’s revenues.
“We need to look at how we’re developing,” he said. “We need to get back to the 30,000-foot view and take a look at what’s going to be the crown jewel of Santa Clarita. Is it going to be urban sprawl? Or is going to be premier venues where we have a convention center and maybe a good commercial center?”
Does the OVOV plan increase “densities triple or four times” as Gauny says? I haven’t read all parts of the plan.
As for the rest- I agree. I’d like to see an SCV convention center, an arts center or regional museum. For that matter, a “top notch corporate center’ to me would mean a Central Business District (you know, with skyscrapers, like other cities of 250,000 people), but I’m sure Gauny didn’t mean it that way because much of Santa Clarita has tall building phobia.
I have to give Gauny credit for one thing: he’s talking about substantive and important issues that get to the heart of what Santa Clarita is and what it can be. I’m looking forward to the spring.
Update: David Gauny’s campaign website : http://www.electdavidgauny.com/
I don’t have much time but a couple of comments for the sake of clarity:
We’ve mostly heard from Gauny when he’s 1)been opposed to the hospital and 2) morphed that organization into some sort of new “Smart Growth” movement which will be his main plank if his press conference today is any indication.
Jeff – My argument was with a for-profit venture married to a nonprofit hospital on a “hospital expansion” that never contractually included the hospital itself. That’s all – and I’d appreciate it if you’d note this in the future.
Not sure about your “morphed” Smart Growth comment. This is not my intent and I never said it was.
What the hell does “we must avoid the high-density, strip mall mentality” mean? Aren’t the two mutually exclusive?
Yes, mutually exclusive and I’m opposed to both if there are not better checks and balances from city council members to protect our neighborhoods AND business.
Strip malls have become are scars that draw a clear distinction between areas like Los Angeles and, say, better planned areas of Orange County. In our case, they typically bring low-wage jobs, out of town employees (traffic) who then take earned dollars and spend them in their town, not ours. I believe this is the opposite of what our city needs from every perspective.
I appreciate the conclusion of your post. There are many key issues that are imminent to planning and our future community. I’m ready to talk about them and hope our public will step up and be heard.
Thanks, and I hope to have your support in April 2010.
David Gauny
http://www.electdavidgauny.com
I hate to be a cynic,( I was not born one, but have lived to become one) but let’s keep an eye on how the city works with Lennar to acquire the building NHL will soon vacate.
Our city seems to walk a fine line between being only deceptive and not illegal. The people with money and influence that are capable of a court challenge, have no interest as they are generally the benefactors in one form or another. I thought Ben Curtis had finally called the city council out, but that matter seems to have been swept away.
We need David Guany and TimBen. The incumbents have lost sight of right and wrong, or even the perception there of, something that can happen to those that have been in a position way too long. Especially when those that they enable tell them what a great job they are doing.
“David Gauny”. The least I can do for someone that has helped this community so much is spell his name correctly.
Well, it appears Bob Kellar support David. I hope Bob’s attendance at the announcement indicates this to be the case.
David,
Will you support a year round homeless shelter to help the homeless get jobs all year round?
Will you continue on with the Council’s effort to add a religious affirmation to our city seal?
The fact that you posted to a site like this makes me lean in your direction . . . but I agree with Cash, we need to get away from the ‘Kellar politics’.
Finally, ‘growth’ decisions are made by the residents in their homes versus developers who only build for the ‘demand’ that exist.
Until the public grasp that concept, they keep electing people to do something about growth that really have no hand in it other to respond to it.
OVOV will allow several very high density communities in Santa Clarita. The problem with high density development in our area is that it just puts more cars on the road. High density works in places like Chicago and New York because they have the transportation infrastructure to make it work. People just don’t need cars! Unfortunately, Santa Clarita has one train line that effectively only goes to Sylmar, Burbank, Glendale and Downtown.
Why would someone buy a property in a high density development in Santa Clarita when they could get the same thing downtown without the hour commute? They wouldn’t so that means these folks will drive through the failing Newhall Pass because these dense developments won’t provide the high quality jobs that folks need out here. Are these folks gonnal take the 50 minute bus trip from Canyon Country to the Valencia Industrial Center? Get real!
Put high density where it belongs – in places that are real transportation hubs – like Downtown LA! Higher Density is not Smart Growth per se. It all depends where you put it.
David Gauny,
will you listen to the “people” about what they really need for commuter bus transportation and not what the city council thinks they need.