RECAP: (Cautiously) Re-open Santa Clarita!, Council Says
On May 12th, it was clear that there’s still a conservative, LA-wary spirit alive and kicking in Santa Clarita. Her voters seem to have declined Assemblymember Christy Smith’s request for a job promotion.[1] Instead, Mike Garcia is now expected to apply a fresh coat of blue to the 25th District seat that Katie Hill briefly painted red. Meanwhile, Santa Clarita City Councilmembers decided that LA County’s plans to extend COVID-19 “Safer at Home” orders through August simply wouldn’t do. Their reasoning? Within LA County, Santa Clarita is special: especially high unemployment fallout despite especially low infections and fatalities. Councilmembers decided to immediately submit a letter to the LA County Board of Supervisors to seek a lockdown order variance or waiver for the City or region. How well that letter is received remains to be seen, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s recapping to do.
For some context, here are a couple of infographics released during a Facebook Live stream with Mayor Cameron Smyth on May 13th. He noted that a majority of newly confirmed coronavirus cases in Santa Clarita have come from an outbreak at Pitchess Detention Center. He did not address the sensational headlines that inmates there were purposefully trying to get sick.
COVID-19 delay to district-based voting?
As the councilmembers filed in, it was clear that masks were far from mandatory. Only Mayor Cameron Smyth wore one, and he did so only when he wasn’t talking—that mask was off-and-on all meeting long. The other four members of City Council, all of whom are firmly in the age-group at high risk of coronavirus mortality, chose not to wear masks.[2]
The main meeting got off to a late start because the Council had just had a special meeting about the transition to district-based voting. As you likely know, legal actions related to the California Voting Rights Act have forced Santa Clarita to transition from at-large to district-based voting. None of the councilmembers like it, but the City is supposed to be on a tight transition schedule. However, as City Attorney Joe Montes would later explain, there’s a new wrinkle that sounds a lot like a potential stalling tactic. He said that staff plan to “monitor the orders coming out of the County Department of Health with regard to the timing of the appropriateness to have large gatherings of the public in government meetings—City Council meetings, etcetera. If, if there’s not County approval for those types of meetings, prior to the May 19th previously scheduled hearing [on district-based voting], that hearing will not take place and will have to be postponed. And at that point, we would bring back for Council consideration a revised schedule at the May 26th regular City Council meeting.” Clever.[3]
Rent due
For the meeting invocation, Councilmember Marsha McLean praised the Santa Clarita students who are behind Six Feet Supplies, a service that shops for people who can’t risk outings due to their health. The accolades are deserved—the website is slick, and the outreach is very thoughtful. After the flag salute, the public participation portion of the meeting began with complaints from Elaine Ballace (it’s hard to use Zoom; seniors need help with taxes) and Steve Petzold (re-districting discussions should happen in open sessions; don’t extend eviction protection for renters beyond May because landlords need to make money too). Tony Maldonado used his three minutes to argue that district-based voting, which is supposed to remedy racial inequalities, actually exacerbates them. Barbara Welsh commented that LA County renters would have twelve months after the safer-at-home order lifted to pay back rent, but Santa Clarita renters had only six. She said the extra months could make a big difference.
In response to residents’ comments, McLean asked why Santa Clarita chose six months over twelve. Montes explained that the City had just been mirroring the County, which only recently extended protection. With support from McLean and Smyth, it was decided that the Council will re-visit the length of its eviction and rent protections at the next meeting.
All of the recommended actions on a very short consent calendar passed unanimously and without discussion. Items included a $100K contract for electronic library lockers that will provide 24/7 access to pick up requested materials. There were also contracts to repair paseo bridges and add amenities to Mountain View Park.
“All of your haircuts look very good”
Just hours before tonight’s meeting, LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer uttered the now infamous words: “We know with all certainty that we would be extending health officer orders, you know, for the next three months […] unless there’s a dramatic change.”[4] It’s May, and thinking of a whole summer—until mid-August!—with businesses hamstrung and other restrictions did not sit well with Claritans. With scarcely any exceptions, the City Council and the public wanted LA County to know that Santa Clarita was ready to move forward. There was enthusiasm for the idea of re-opening, but everyone was careful to point out that steps forward would need to be careful, well-informed by the past couple months, and likely still in line with orders from Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
The discussion kicked off with Mayor Smyth mentioning Ferrer’s quote about extending the County’s “Safer at Home” order. He said he and others had questions about the constitutionality of such severe restrictions on the public. City Attorney Montes explained that Governor Gavin Newsom has been making his orders using “both emergency and health powers contained in State law,” but tempered his statement by adding that the “scope has been broader than anyone has seen in history,” which could raise legitimate questions.
City Manager Ken Striplin said that the shutdown has hit Santa Clarita’s workers and economy very hard. He predicted that the City was looking at losses of revenue “in excess of ten million dollars” for this year, and he said that Santa Clarita was the third hardest-hit city in California in terms of unemployment and 17th hardest-hit in the nation. It was little wonder, then, that City Hall received 58 calls and over 400 emails in the hours between the LA County shutdown extension comments and tonight’s meeting. Nearly all of the communication advocated moving to reopen more quickly. Striplin said that, while facing some of the most severe consequences of business closures, Santa Clarita was staying relatively healthy compared to the rest of the County. “LA County is looking at LA County as a whole…Santa Clarita is different than a lot of places in the County….our cases are very low…well below County average.” If California counties less-affected by coronavirus can open before hard-hit ones, why can’t the same rule apply at the city/regional level?
The City Council members were eager to add their voices of support to moving forward ahead of the rest of LA County. Councilmember Kellar asked for a “very strong letter” to explain why current restrictions were “over-the-top.” He said the letter should be written and sent to the LA County Supervisors as soon as possible, ideally accompanied by a meeting or phone call with Supervisor Kathryn Barger. Kellar speculated that businesses would be ready to accommodate in-store safety measures to speed re-opening.
At this juncture, Smyth realized he had neglected to let the public speakers have their say, so he went to their calls via Zoom. Several residents echoed Kellar—they wanted the economy to open with safety measures in place. Business voices like Holly Schroeder (SCV Economic Development Committee) and John Musella[5] (SCV Chamber of Commerce) were fully on board with opening businesses in a cautious and thoughtful way. Schroeder mentioned all the sectors of the SCV economy that have been particularly devastated by the pandemic, like the entertainment industry, Princess Cruises, Magic Mountain, airline-related industries, and so on. Garrett Markenson, owner of Garrett Markenson Coiffure, said he wanted the Council to show more leadership in helping his salon and other businesses to prepare to re-open. He goadingly observed, “All of your haircuts look very good; you must be driving to Ventura to get your hair done.”[6] Mayor Cameron Smyth replied, “I do appreciate Garrett’s comments on our hair. I can attest for myself, I have not had a haircut since February, so at least my product is holding long enough.”
One of the haircuts in question.
Following public comments, the rest of the Council voiced their support. Mayor Pro Tem Bill Miranda said that people have called him on the phone in tears, devastated that their restaurants and other businesses may never be able to reopen. He said that people routinely take risks in their daily lives, and now, after months of information and preparation, Claritans were prepared to make informed risks about how they would conduct business or visit businesses. “This is America!”, he repeated several times. Councilmember Laurene Weste was somewhat less spirited, but she agreed that Santa Clarita should re-open faster than more heavily impacted areas of LA County. Of her husband, she good-naturedly joked, “He wants to see something other than me!” Councilmember McLean said that she emphasized with residents because her own small business has been suffering, pleading, “We need to do something and we need to do it now.”
With everyone in agreement on trying to get a variance from the LA County health order, Mayor Smyth used the remainder of the meeting to help nail down more specific direction for City staff. The Council wanted absolute clarity on the legality of Santa Clarita following State versus stricter County orders. Smyth worried that it was possible to follow the State orders while simultaneously violating County orders, which are stricter. This has the potential to create confusion. He mentioned an Oceanside gym owner who was cited for opening his business under these ostensibly confusing and conflicting directives. Smyth didn’t want anyone in the SCV getting cuffed for something similar. Councilmembers were open to a variance for the City or at the regional level. Some Antelope Valley cities have expressed interest in joining Santa Clarita. Whatever the path, it was agreed that the letter was needed urgently—in a day or two given that the current order expires on May 15th.
Before the meeting ended, there was a little remark about forming our own independent county for the residents of Northern LA County, which Laurene Weste said sounded a lot like the late Carl Boyer, one of Santa Clarita’s founding fathers. It was only a joke—for now.
[1]The race hasn’t been called yet, but Garcia is leading pretty comfortably.
[2]I’m not a big fan of COVID-19 shaming, and given rates of infection in Santa Clarita, the odds of coronavirus infection among one of the very few people at the meeting were very slim. Furthermore, everyone was sitting fairly far apart, there was no audience present, the cough count was a mere two (more like throat clearings), and there are limitations on the effectiveness of cloth masks. Still, it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to throw one on, right?
[3]There is, perhaps, a bit of an inconsistency here in that the City will be trying to use the County’s health order to delay district-based voting while simultaneously trying to get out of the County’s health order to help local residents and businesses. That said, there’s plenty of eyebrow raising to be directed at all sides on this voting-by-district move.
[4]The words have since been “clarified” to point out that steps toward re-opening are being taken, but the essential sentiment remains the same: LA County is planning to move slowly in the months ahead.
[5]I forget why, but he blocked me on Twitter some time ago.
[6]Debatable. Salon owner Garrett pictured below. Dramatic!
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