This is the first reporting period with reports from all of the candidates and it covers the second half of 2011. So what have our candidates been up to?

We’ll dig deep into these filings over the weekend, but here’s the short of it (as of December 31, 2011):

Bob Kellar 
Started with: $1,412.49
Raised: $10,504
Max donations: two
Spent: $4,879.96
What’s left: $7,036.53
Owes himself: $0

Laurie Ender 
Started with: $2,473.18
Raised: $9,147
Max donations: two
Spent: $570.80
What’s left: $11,049.38
Owes herself: $21,300

Jon Hatami
Started with: $0
Raised: $2,775.00
Max donations: one
Spent: $1,000
What’s left: $1,775.00
Owes himself: $0

TimBen Boydston
Started with: $2,926.41
Raised: $0
Spent: $0
What’s left: $2,926.41
Owes himself: $0

Ed Colley
Started with: $0
Raised: $0
Spent: $51.65
Loaned himself: $5,000
What’s left: $4,948.35
Owes himself: $5,000

On chloride in the Santa Clara: Hatami dons the scientist hat and declares, of the controversial $500 million desalinization plant, that “I’m going to be the first one to tell you; We’re pretty close to the ocean, so there is going to be salt in the water.”

On Old Town Newhall: Hatami goes on an epic tear against Old Town Newhall redevelopment asking where the money has gone, apparently oblivious to all that’s been built in the area. “That is not small government. That is not small government. That is big government gone awry and I’m against that.”

On public school bond measures: ”Every two years there’s a new bond measure. Every two years! You know what that is? That’s Obama.”

But this clip takes the cake:

I don’t know if you caught it, but Hatami committed the cardinal sin of living in the SCV (in my book anyway): referring to our beloved Santa Clarita Valley as “out here.” Not once. Not twice. But several times.

Maybe I could understand it if he was a newcomer with less than 5 years in the valley, but a core plank of Hatami’s campaign is that he Hearts SCV as much as I Heart does.

You’ve seen me bitch about this before…the newscasters who talk about Santa Clarita and gesticulate wildly while saying, “Waaaaaaayyyy out there in Santa Clarita” as if we live in the sticks, as if we’re a bunch of country bumpkins picking our nose, wearing overalls while whistling dixie.

No one who truly loves and lives in the SCV would refer to the SCV as “out here,” a pernicious phrase that calls to mind an “outhouse.” No, true SCVers refer to the SCV as simply “here.” Or AmazingPlace. Or AwesomeTown. Or DisasterVille. Or Hollywood North.

Not “Out here.” “Out here” and “Way out there” are to be reserved exclusively for when you are in or are referring to Acton and the Antelope Valley, not Santa Clarita (which includes Agua Dulce and Vasquez Rocks, mind you).

Remember, we in the SCV are in a great battle. Our soul, our future, our very place in this great state will be determined by this battle: are we Cosmopolitan Los Angeles or are we High Desert hicks? We are equally spaced between these two influential poles and could swing either way; some years we appear to be more LA Cosmo, other years we enter the orbit of that windy, dusty, featureless plane known as the Antelope valley.

Words matter and by referring to the SCV as “out here,” Hatami has put himself squarely at odds with the people who root for a more cosmopolitan SCV. And that, in the end, is why I cannot support him.

PS: in case it wasn’t clear to Team Hatami, the above is said in jest and in a light-hearted mood. Laugh a little. 

• Announcement of a dog license sweep in unincorporated Valencia;
• YMCA has a Pinewood Derby at Saugus High School;
• Pictures of OLPH construction kickoff;
• Energy efficient lights at the City parks; and
• Overnight road closures on the 5 and 14.

• On an equally humorous note, Dave Bossert over at WRB pens a rambling tome on how ANYONE would be better on City Council than Laurie Ender, which then begs the question: Will his head explode when she comes first in the City Council election?
• In the “the po’ people are going to murder us all in our sleep” department, our man Jon Hatami pens an alarmist piece equating the elimination of Section 8 fraud investigators in the Antelope Valley with the imminent invasion of a horde of undesirables into Santa Clarita, also (surprise, surprise) at WRB. Can someone tell me when it is safe to come out from under my bed?

On a more serious note:

• SIGNAL reports that two 11 year olds are detained after starting a brush fire in Canyon Country. YIKES!!! But in a wonderful twist one of the boys confesses to his father who actually brings him to the firefighters to confess.
• I’m not pleased about this one. SIGNAL reports how County will offer 50% off unpaid traffic tickets prior to January 1, 2009. Way to reward scofflaws!!
• Tea Partier Petz asks Santa Clarita government to interfere with people’s constitutional right to “light up the night sky like its Vegas” in an LTE because he likes to look at the “stars.” Sounds like educational elitism to me!

It terms of raw political capital, it’s safe to that Smyth is only second to Buck McKeon in the SCV. With McKeon’s wife in the race, Smyth’s support in the race to fill his expiring Assembly seat is just about the biggest prize up for grabs in this campaign.

There’s no mention of an endorsement here or elsewhere, and even if he did, Smyth has endorsed opposing candidates before. But to my recollection, lending his name and time for a fundraiser in a heavily contested primary is a first for Cameron. I don’t know much about his history with Wilk, but for what it’s worth Smyth’s would-be Senate campaign gave $250 to Wilk’s COC race last year, the only donation it made during the last filing period.

I really expected Smyth to keep an arm’s distance from this race. Consider that Wilk is running against not only the wife of a very powerful Congressman, but also Smyth’s very own local field representative. We’ll just have to see how this plays out.

*Full text here, if you’re into that kinda thing. Note the clever minimum donation of $99, which is just shy of the $100 disclosure threshold.

“The congressman has told people in the district that he plans to lock her in the room, raise all of her money, and win it on her name ID,” Wilk said.

Oh no he didn’t.

Actually yes he did. The entire article is based on quotes from Wilk, who actually talked to the reporter. Patricia McKeon and her campaign “declined to comment for this story.”

So what else did Wilk say? Well he was surprised as the rest of us that Patricia McKeon, heretofore unknown in local politics, had decided to make a run for 38th Assembly.Here’s how he found out:

Wilk said the congressman didn’t call to inform him that Patricia McKeon would challenge him for the California Assembly seat. Instead, the lawmaker dispatched an aide to Wilk’s home at 9 p.m. to break the news, Wilk said. This, after Wilk’s family had donated $6,000 to McKeon’s campaign committee over the last five years.
“I started laughing because honestly that’s a scenario that never crossed my mind,” Wilk said. “Her political acumen stops at seating charts.”

No holds barred ladies and gentlemen.

The piece also goes into why Tony Strickland rescinded his endorsement from Scott Wilk. Strickland, who is no stranger to husband/wife political teams, said this:

The stature of McKeon’s husband is already a factor in the race. One of Wilk’s early backers reneged out of fear of offending the congressman. State Sen. Tony Strickland said he withdrew his endorsement after launching his own bid for Congress to replace retiring Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Calif.
“A lot of folks in the delegation feel uncomfortable going all-out to help me when I’m going against Buck’s wife,” Strickland said.

That’s kind of cowardly of Strickland in my opinion, but you know the saying about friends in Washington (you’d best get a dog).

The larger theme of the article is that Patricia’s decision to run for 38th AD is splitting the local Republican base that used to be hyper-loyal to our Pater Familias Buck McKeon. Indeed that’s accurate, but doesn’t go far enough. Buck McKeon has had a very bad few months of press in the 25th District and particularly in Santa Clarita that’s exacerbating the situation :

• The delay (real or imagined) over addressing the concerns of the father of slain US Army Sgt. Rudy Acosta who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010 by a rogue Afghan security contractor
• His refusal to address and subsequent hint that CEMEX might not be all that bad for the SCV
• The announcement of Patricia McKeon’s entry into the race just a week or two after Scott Wilk -one of a few natural local candidates for Cam Smyth’s seat- made noise about running. This insulted local Republicans who saw the move for what it is
• And last but not least, the latest news that Buck McKeon received a “Friends of Angelo” discounted mortgage ordered by the orange-faced oompa-loompa himself in 1998

We don’t have polling to be sure, but looking at the list above, it’s not hard to see how Buck McKeon has angered just about every type of loyal Republican in the SCV. Even the usual McKeon voters who don’t pay much attention to local politics have taken notice of the Rudy Acosta controversy. It remains to be seen whether Buck’s opponent, Dr. Lee Rogers, can exploit the anger and move past 40% in the newer, tighter, more red 25th District.

In the meantime, the Scott Wilk/Patricia McKeon battle will be the one to watch this spring.