The city celebrated the progress of its five-year Santa Clarita 2025 plan Thursday as part of its annual State of the City celebration, which highlighted city programs aimed at helping families, supporting businesses and increasing safety.
In addition to recognizing the city’s past year, Santa Clarita looked at accomplishments in its five-year plan, with a particular focus on the city’s recent acquisition of William S. Hart Park, which officially transferred from L.A. County to city control in July. The theme for the event was called “Celebrating Hart Park: History in Every Frame.”
Inside the Canyon Country Community Center auditorium, City Manager Ken Striplin started by reminding everyone how far the city has come since the city started its plan in the middle of a global pandemic.
The event included a lighter look at City Hall, with Santa Clarita Mayor Bill Miranda introducing a series of humorous scenes shot a la one of Bill Hart’s silent Westerns.
The storylines starred City Council members in various scenes of heroism with shots of storyboards that guided the audience, as in the early days of cinema.
The first short depicted a crew trying to rob a coach with Miranda inside, with Miranda saving the day in the spirit of a cowboy shoot-em-up. In the next silent film, Councilwoman Marsha McLean catches an arsonist starting a fire and then blasts the culprit with an extinguisher and then a firehose. Another black-and-white tableau featured Councilman Jason Gibbs riding a stick rocking horse in cowboy getup to save a “distracted driver” on horseback. Councilwoman Patsy Ayala used an oversized pair of scissors to fight the “twisted” red-tape bandits of bureaucracy in support of local business.
Miranda started the event by sharing a video message focusing on the city’s awards and accolades for its business support, parks and public safety, as well as another year with a balanced budget.
Santa Clarita Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste, a strong supporter of the city’s park acquisition, shared highlights from the city’s 40th park, 160 acres in Newhall that was formerly owned by the silent film star Bill Hart, whose name is ubiquitous in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The eclectic grounds include a museum made from Hart’s Spanish Revival hilltop mansion and a menagerie that includes a herd of buffalo. At a recent meeting, Miranda also has indicated the potential for more venues there that could make the park a regional draw for the area’s arts, as well.
The operation of the city’s ice rink — which Miranda gleefully called “The Cuuuuuuube,” in his booming baritone any time the facility was mentioned — and the start of construction on The Rink, a multipurpose roller skating rink-sports arena, also were among the highlights in Santa Clarita 2025.
Ayala excitedly mentioned it was her first State of the City as a council member, after going to so many over the years as a former representative for the SCV’s state lawmakers. She previously represented former state Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, and Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Acton, who were both in attendance.
Gibbs thanked the city staff and partners that he said made the city great as he introduced a video that focused on the city’s public safety programs and its infrastructure, as well as its youth services and veteran supports.
McLean said she wanted everyone to think of Santa Clarita as “always moving forward, never idle,” thanking businesses for being the driver that keeps things moving.
“Santa Clarita doesn’t just go through the motions,” she said. “We shift gears, we pick up speed and we keep raising the bar so this community keeps moving in the right direction.”
