The city of Santa Clarita announced the agenda for its final City Council meeting before the council takes a summer break, with a hearing scheduled to discuss the removal of a planning commissioner that’s expected to draw a crowd to City Hall.
The city is also looking at subsidizing a local shuttle service in Downtown Newhall, after the local business association declined to foot the bill, and contracts for Bridge to Home and Animal Care and Control services.
Commission talk
Santa Clarita Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste said she wants to get rid of her latest appointee to the Planning Commission and name someone “who wants to talk to me,” according to Weste’s comments at the June 24 meeting.
Weste said she would explain the reason for her request at Tuesday’s meeting, but indicated last month she has not been able to get in contact with her appointee.
“I have had no communication, at all, with my commissioner, and I do not feel like I can do justice to my job and the constituency without communication,” Weste said at the meeting. “And it’s not anything personal. It’s just something I need to do so I have a better handle on doing my job, with the support from a commissioner who wants to talk to me.”
Denise Lite, Weste’s appointee, seemed to take it personally, using public comment later at that very meeting to accuse Weste of a “stunning display of political retribution.”
Lite denied ever dodging any communications from Weste and indicated she would have more to say on Tuesday as well.
Lite is Weste’s second appointee in a year. Weste’s previous choice, Dennis Ostrom, stepped down in August, creating an unplanned vacancy after 20 years of serving in the position.
Shuttle service
At the June 10 City Council meeting, several business interests in Downtown Newhall requested the city look at the feasibility of a summer shuttle “to provide transportation from the city’s peripheral parking areas in Old Town Newhall to businesses along Main Street,” according to city staff.
The city then pitched the plan to the Old Town Newhall Association as a 50% cost-sharing program with the owners, but the feedback, according to the city, was mixed.
While some OTNA members showed support for the concept, according to the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, others felt a shuttle was unnecessary and preferred that visitors walk along Main Street to increase awareness of the businesses in the area and stimulate sales.
“Although OTNA indicated they are unable to provide direct funding toward the service, they agreed to coordinate outreach to their members and local businesses to solicit voluntary contributions,” according to the city, which came out to $5,500 of the estimated $25,000 cost.
The goal is to address limited parking availability during the summer season and reduce walking distances, according to city staff.
“The proposed Pilot Program includes the operation of two small 10-passenger shuttle buses, similar to those used for the city’s Dial-A-Ride service, running every 10 minutes from the Old Town Newhall parking structure, the Newhall Community Center and the parking lot on the south end of Main Street to various locations along Main Street,” according to the agenda.
The service would operate Friday and Saturday evenings from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and on Sundays from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., beginning July 11 and concluding on Aug. 31.
“While the proposed pilot program is expected to alleviate parking constraints during hours of operation, the shuttle service may contribute to traffic and street parking disruptions when the vehicle stops to pick up and drop off passengers,” according to the city agenda report. “To enhance safety and minimize congestion, most shuttle stops would be located on adjacent streets, such as 9th Street, Market Street, and 6th Street, within proximity to Main Street.”
Care contracts
Services for the local animal shelter and support for the homeless population also are in the contracts scheduled to be considered Tuesday.
The city is splitting its Measure A funds between Bridge to Home, which runs the local homeless shelter on Drayton Street, and Family Promise.
Each is receiving $225,337 to support the homeless with housing needs and support services.
Family Promise is building a transitional housing facility with four two-bedroom units in Newhall.
Bridge to Home provides temporary shelter for 69 single individuals and up to eight families.
The budget also calls for $25,471 for the homeless services intern to implement the 2025 Community Plan to address homelessness.
The funding for animal care services represents $50,000 the City Council allocates locally to support its contract with L.A. County Animal Care and Control, which operates the Castaic Animal Shelter.
The projects listed for the funds include trap-neuter-return services, canine enclosures to add capacity to the local shelter and funding to help senior dog and cat adoptions, specifically, according to the council’s agenda.
