Thanksgiving Day celebrations offer an opportunity to reflect and share what one is most grateful for as many come together with family and friends, and the city’s leaders are no exception. Asked for their Thanksgiving sentiments, the Santa Clarita City Council and some city staff members provided the following:
“Good health is something I am most thankful for. I live in a community that I can enjoy with great health. We have trails to ride on, mountains to hike and beautiful nature all around us. We also have a community where we can all come together for moments like the Thanksgiving dinner at Newhall Community Center on Monday, where we served hundreds of people and sang carols together. Stay safe. We are privileged to live in a safe community where we show that we care about each other. It’s been a very blessed year.” — Mayor Laurene Weste
“I am very thankful for my family and also thankful to all the voters that returned me to office as city councilwoman. I’m excited to continue working for our community, and I wish everyone good health and peace.” — Mayor Pro Tem Marsha McLean
“We have so much to be thankful for living here in the great city of Santa Clarita. It’s because of the people we have here and all of us working together that makes Santa Clarita such a great place to have a family. I wish all of our citizens a beautiful Thanksgiving Day with family and friends.” — Councilman Bob Kellar
“I am most grateful that my daughter is responding well to her chemotherapy. Things are looking great. I’m also grateful that our country, for the most part, is at more peace than it has over the last 15 years. We have less of a military in harm’s way than we’ve had in many years. Of course, I am very grateful for our great city and the plans we have coming up to continue making Santa Clarita a great place to live in.” — Councilman Bill Miranda
“This time of year, I think most about my brother, who’s in the military. I think about the sacrifices that he and others make and all of our military families. Despite all the anger that we see across the country, Santa Clarita is still a special place where people come together and for the better to make our community great. We saw that recently where thousands came out for the tree lighting event, the Thanksgiving dinner at the Community Center and the support our local businesses received to kick off the holiday season.” — Councilman Cameron Smyth
“Like many city of Santa Clarita employees, I’m certainly thankful for the opportunity to give back to the community that I grew up in. However, in working in public transit what I’m most thankful for are the moments that I can get out of the office and bring our buses to an elementary school career day, a service animal training event, or to a senior apartment complex for travel training. It’s times like these that I know my daily efforts ensure that all residents have the simple freedom of mobility.” – Alex Porlier, administrative analyst from Neighborhood Services
“I’m thankful for the many volunteers who selflessly give their time to help make city programs and events successful and make a difference in our community.” – Tess Simgen, supervisor, volunteers from Recreation, Community Services, Arts and Open Space
“I am most thankful for my family, along with our community family of first responders who serve to keep our city safe day-to-day; including emergencies/disasters.” – Donna Nuzzi, emergency services supervisor from Recreation, Community Services, Arts and Open Space
