Pack your bags because Tim Myers is sending us on a guilt trip with regard to Los Angeles County:
Talking negatively about the county seems proto-atypical of the Santa Clarita Valley. Many will remember a former Sunday Signal columnist who spent nearly every column deconstructing the corruption and evilness of county government, embodied in its enumerated anti-Christ, Supervisor Michael Antonovich, apparent representative of all evil in the world.
I’ve been guilty of that here on SCVTalk. It’s far too easy to bash the County apparatus for problems in the SCV (excepting of course the Sheriff’s Department and LACFD). They’re the big bad guys 35 miles away, out of sight and out of touch with the SCV, yet they make decisions that affect us everyday.
But that’s not fair. Our Supervisor is in touch with his District and with this community. His staff always answers my questions, points out errors in coverage and provides good information. They are accessible, and that’s a big thing in a County with 8 million + people.
And Supervisor Antonovich- well, he is a career politician, but he knows what he’s doing and he has brought a lot of good things to the SCV (there are so many more parks in unincorporated SCV than when I first moved here, for example).
Near and dear to my heart are bicycles and libraries. As Myers pointed out, the public libraries in the SCV are popular and heavily used. And the County is developing a bicycle master plan and has held (and may hold more) meetings in the SCV for cyclists.
Good on Tim Myers for pointing out that we all engage in a little unwarranted County bashing.
I live in the unincorporated area too and I have to say that the County’s Public Works department is very responsive. Anytime there is a pothole, I call and within a day its fixed. Whenever a signal is not working, they are out immediately.
Agreed, in part, but there’s still plenty of griping to go around.
Speaking of libraries, didn’t the city build the CC library, and won’t it also be building the Newhall library?
From what I understand, the City works with the County in building the library and I think the City fronts most of the money needed for building it. The County operates the library so all operations is borne by the County.
Tim, I’m confused: how do you define proto-atypical?
Much of what is “working” for us through the County is a result of Antonovich’s commitment to the area and to supporting the Town Councils.
However, when Mike leaves office, that might change. A new Supervisor is unlikely to be as supporting as Mike has been in the last few years.
Also, give credit to the field deputies, especially the current crew, who are the local reps who get us plugged into the right County resources to get things done. The rubber meets the road in that office.
Interestingly, the first thing the City would do if it annexed the west side is dissolve the Town Councils, and abolish the Community Standards Districts that govern local land use and community design–both triumphs of local governance the County established! The City needs to rethink both those plans.
IHeart:
Better usage would have been “proto-complaint” perhaps?
What I was getting at was that it is reflexive to complain about the county; that is the proto-reason for the existence of the City of Santa Clarita. I agree with Jeff that the County has become MUCH more responsive in the 14 years we have lived in the City with only a few missteps, but one could cogently argue this is self interest since the unincorporated areas could join the City if no reasonable services were being provided. So without the City the same complaints would exist that led to the creation of the City in the first place.
Lost in the annals of history is the fact that local activists tried (and failed) to create their own COUNTY before they created the city (Canyon County). That was really bold thinking!
Jeff,
How do I get tapped into when/where cyclist meetings will be? Also, who is working on the bicycle master plan? I’d love to be able to comment, as my commute involves both city and county roads. Thanks for the blog!
Tim, rememebr the vandalism of the freeway sign on the 14 near the Via Princessa offramp that blocked out the “r” in “Canyon Country”?