For more than a decade, Old Town Newhall has been more than the place where I own a business. It is part of my life. When you build a business on Main Street, the people around you become more than neighbors. You watch each other grow, refer customers to one another, celebrate successes together and, when tragedy strikes, you hurt together. That is why seeing the devastation from Monday’s (Aug. 24) fire was heartbreaking. Tribute Beauty Lounge was spared, and I am incredibly grateful. Others were not as fortunate, and my heart is with every business owner, employee and family now facing the difficult question: What comes next?
First, our firefighters and first responders deserve tremendous gratitude for preventing an already devastating fire from becoming something much worse. Now our community has another job: getting Old Town Newhall back on its feet — and doing it with urgency. It took years of investment, risk and persistence from small-business owners to make Main Street what it is today. Those who lost their businesses cannot afford to spend years navigating red tape while storefronts sit empty. They need City Hall to be a partner in rebuilding.
That is one of the reasons I support Denise Lite for City Council. I’ve watched Denise in this community long enough to know that when she gets involved, she doesn’t just put her name on something — she works. When Denise became involved with Bras for a Cause, she worked alongside her fellow Soroptimists to reimagine the event and help turn it into a successful community staple. She brought compassion, energy and determination to something deeply personal to her and helped it flourish.
I’ve seen that same tenacity in her public service. As a planning commissioner, Denise asked difficult questions about the Hartwell project in Newhall and pushed for transparency about decisions affecting this community, even when doing so was uncomfortable. Ultimately, she was stripped of her Planning Commission seat by current City Council members for doing her job, but she never stopped asking questions or advocating for Newhall. That is the kind of change agent I want fighting for Main Street now.
Our Old Town Newhall business owners, now more than ever, need someone who will sit down with them, listen, make the rebuilding process transparent, push for answers and keep pressing until those doors reopen. Denise is caring enough to understand what these businesses mean to the people behind them and tenacious enough to fight to get things done. Old Town Newhall will rise again. I want someone at City Hall who will work every day to make sure it does. That’s why I’m supporting Denise Lite for City Council, District 2.
Josh Rivas
Newhall
