RECAP: Recent Deaths, Kellar Defiant, “Old White Faces”

Tonight’s was the last Santa Clarita City Council meeting before the summer recess. With an uncontroversial consent calendar and no public hearings, it could have been a quiet one. But again, the real action happened during public participation. Speakers continued to push for Bob Kellar’s resignation over alleged racism, and Councilmember Bob Kellar did little to resolve tensions with an off-the-cuff, grumbling account of what’s wrong with the world today. Council is almost out for the summer—we’ve just got to get through this recap.

Public Participation, Round One

The meeting got off to a late start at 6:34. During his invocation, Mayor Cameron Smyth’s presaged adjournments in memory of several recently-deceased Claritans: Karen Pearson-Hall, Naya Rivera, and Michael Lodl. He asked that their deaths be a reminder to look out for one another and to “love thy neighbor.”

After some tepid proclamations (Parks and Recreation month; celebrating art by local students for Santa Clarita’s Sister Cities program), the first batch of public participation speakers were heard.

Brian Muehlberger called in to ask that Central Park be renamed to honor his late daughter, Gracie, as well as Dominic Blackwell—the two Saugus High students who died in last year’s school shooting. He explained that the park served as the reunion venue for families and hosted memorial events, so it was a meaningful site. He added that the broader community was behind his proposal, with thousands signing an online petition to rename the park “Central Park In Memoriam of Gracie Muehlberger and Dominic Blackwell.” Frank Blackwell, the father of Dominic, also called in to express his support for the name change and to describe the pain and loss his family still grapples with.

The remarks from Muehlberger and Blackwell were followed by a couple of complaints about unwelcome businesses. Francisco Negrete, owner of Las Originales on Newhall Avenue, said that he cannot compete with the street vendors who sell food near him. He wanted to be certain that they were adhering to all laws and regulations. [NOTE: This complaint was distinct from the broadly covered incident wherein the owners of Bergie’s Bar and Grill harassed a street vendor who set up his cart near their establishment. Several speakers tonight mentioned the Bergie’s incident as an example of racism in Santa Clarita.] Another man called in to complain about Airbnbs. He said that two of the most troublesome properties were rentals near Gold Canyon Drive and Horseshoe Circle. One or both hosted a party with 100+ revelers in the middle of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Concluding the first round of public participation were a few speakers who asked for Bob Kellar’s resignation and spoke about allegedly unaddressed social problems such as racism, discrimination, and homelessness.

In response to the speakers, City Manager Ken Striplin said that there was a process for permitting street vendors, but he said that most vendors are still operating illegally as relatively few permits have been sought. He also pushed back against accusations that Santa Clarita wasn’t doing much to deal with homelessness. He mentioned studies and planning projects focused on the homeless; the Homeless Task Force; the City Council’s monetary support for Bridge to Home; and impending work with Family Promise.

City Council Comments

Many of the councilmembers gave rather extensive comments during the next portion of the meeting. They won’t have another meeting for over a month, so there was a lot to be said.

Councilmember Marsha McLean asked Claritans to visit speeup.santa-clarita.com to help build an accurate picture of Internet service that will be used to focus future improvements. McLean’s memorial adjournment was for Karen Pearson-Hall. She fought alongside McLean and others to preserve Santa Clarita’s open spaces all through the 90s and 00s. A trailhead is named in her honor.

Councilmember Laurene Weste’s memorial adjournment was for Glee actress Naya Rivera, who was born in Santa Clarita and attended Valencia High School. Weste began tearing up as she said that Rivera’s last moments before drowning in Lake Piru were likely spent saving her son. Weste then offered some observations about the recent coronavirus (re-)shutdowns. She said that “we can’t hide from the virus," and suggested that the most fragile should be protected while others keep getting back to normal. She also asked for more concrete solutions, like using UV light to reduce germs in building ventilation systems.

Mayor Pro Tem Bill Miranda decided to address the park renaming request that had been made by the fathers of the victims of the Saugus High shooting. He somberly expressed his sympathies and stated that something must be done. However, he didn’t necessarily think that something should be renaming Central Park. Miranda requested agendizing an item to discuss an appropriate memorial, and this opened up a rather lengthy conversation among the City Council. (The conversation went on uncomfortably long for City Attorney Joe Montes, who likes to remind the Council that they should give brief direction to the City Manager and agendize items for the future meetings rather than discuss unagendized items at length.)

It soon became apparent that the fathers had spoken to all of the councilmembers individually and that they were quite set on having Central Park renamed to Central Park In Memoriam of Gracie Muehlberger and Dominic Blackwell. Given the immense gravity of the situation, it was all rather tense. The councilmembers sympathized deeply with the parents, but most seemed to think that a special memorial site within Central Park was a better idea than renaming the whole park. Ultimately, there will be a discussion of some potential options presented for discussion at the next meeting. Mayor Smyth worried that, “The City Manager is looking flummoxed” because everyone had given him slightly different directions. And it may be that there isn’t any simple solution to be had. Since the vision of the families and the vision of the City Council do not align on this very important matter, a long and contentious discussion may well be in store for the next meeting.

Councilmember Bob Kellar decided to speak up for the first time in weeks regarding current events. He started by lamenting the aggressive tactics of protesters who had gone to Congressman Mike Garcia’s home for a demonstration. Just as he closed one topic, he started riffing on another, moving from his stance on illegal immigration to political polarization to homelessness to policing to the education system to Marxism to the “silent majority” in America at large. He pushed back against what he considered political correctness in a way that seemed designed to provoke the people who have been calling for his resignation: “Excuse me, I guess the word’s ‘undocumented.’ No: they’re ‘illegals’, and it has compromised the workability of a lot of Americans and there has been a lot of problems as a result of it.” Acknowledging calls for his resignation, he said that he had no intention of leaving his seat before his term expires.

Given the intense scrutiny of Kellar’s past remarks, the full seven-and-a-half minute speech may be of interest (recording below; I didn’t transcribe it all):

Most of Kellar’s comments were frank at best, intentionally abrasive and insulting at worst. But since most everyone has made up their mind about Bob Kellar already, it seems doubtful that these most recent remarks will markedly change anyone’s opinion.

After Kellar’s statement, Mayor Cameron Smyth gave the last memorial of the evening. He had the difficult task of remembering Michael “Mehow” Lodl, a high school student who recently committed suicide. Smyth had watched him grow up and even coached him when he was younger. He remembered Lodl’s athleticism and potential. Smyth emphasized the importance of thinking about mental health and how to support and protect young people. He ended his comments by asking for an update on efforts to begin a community roundtable on diversity/racism/social issues—the new iteration of the Human Relations Forum. Janine Prado, Director of Recreation and Community Services, said that City staff are working with the Hart District to build a diverse forum. A first event should take place in the fall.

Consent Calendar

The consent calendar was rather long, but only a few items attracted any particular attention and discussion. Item 5 proposed extending a moratorium on rental evictions through the end of August because of COVID-19-related hardships. Steve Petzold told the Council to let landlords and tenants work it out among themselves, citing legal processes already in place. Tony Maldonado asked for an even longer extension through the end of September.

Other items on the agenda included an agreement with CalArts that will afford them access to high-speed Internet over two dark fiber strands. Numerous transportation-related projects were funded. The agenda also recommended that the Council communicate their opposition to some State Assembly and Senate Bills. AB 3269, SB 1120, and SB 1135 would limit certain local land use authority—local authority could be pre-empted if homelessness didn’t decrease, and housing development projects could be OKed in lots zoned office or retail commercial.

Ultimately, the Council went with the recommended actions on all items.

Public Participation, Round Two

Before the second round of public participation could begin, Bob Kellar excused himself. He said that he was under the weather, but he promised that he would watch the comments of speakers on TV as soon as he returned home.

If he did indeed tune in, Kellar would have seen another round of speakers demanding his resignation. Just as in prior weeks, a number of high school students like Cassidy Bensko and Quynn Lubs spoke out against Kellar, whom they viewed as racist and needing to resign. They were appalled at his remarks. However, in a new twist tonight, several of the speakers started campaigning against Jason Gibbs, Kellar’s would-be successor to City Council, and promoting Kelvin Driscoll as their preferred candidate instead. Bensko said that she opposed Gibbs because she felt he had anti-Muslim and pro-gun rights stances. Gibbs association with Kellar was seen as problematic.

A couple of voices that have been involved in the Kellar turmoil, just not necessarily on microphone, were featured more prominently this evening. Anthony Breznican lamented, “Bob Kellar just humiliates our town, our city, our home […] Every politician in town should be recoiling from Bob Kellar.” Breznican was dismayed that the Council had been silent instead of directly renouncing him. Another man named Zagley(sp.?) Najar also spoke. He identified himself as an educator who has been encouraging his students, several of whom spoke tonight and in the past, to think critically about the City of Santa Clarita and its history. [NOTE: It was unclear to me if he also goes by David Najar or is a relation of David Najar, who teaches at Santa Clarita’s Global Prep Academy (GPA). GPA’s Twitter account has weighed in on the issues discussed tonight.]

Najar’s comments mostly dealt with the future of the Santa Clarita City Council. But he first took time to interrogate Councilmember Weste about an earlier comment. He asked, “Did you abdicate your responsibility for doing something about COVID-19 and actually mention something about ultraviolet lights? Is Lysol next? We’ve got to do better. The information that you give out to the public matters, Laurene. You have to be careful with that. Please. OK?” Najar was drawing a comparison to an ignorant medical faux pas that President Trump had made about using light/disinfectants to treat COVID-19 patients. Perhaps in his eagerness to scold Weste, though, Najar had missed the fact that she had been talking about using UV light to kill germs in building ventilation systems—a not uncommon practice that has shown efficacy against other coronaviruses.

Kellar and Najar were not so different tonight when it came to speaking in an off-the-cuff manner that others could find insulting. Najar was a bit more careful and self-aware, though, trying to correct himself for repeatedly dismissing the councilmembers for being old:

“Now, as I look at this dais, I see old Santa Clarita. I see a future though. And I’m really excited about, and I hope that everyone’s listening, I see a future of Kevin Driscoll, a man who looks much more like the future of Santa Clarita. Someone who’s gonna represent the marginalized voices in Santa Clarita. Imagine replacing, everyone listening, imagine replacing Bob Kellar with Kelvin Driscoll. Go to his website. Read about him. He’s an amazing man and we can make a change for, in the system that we see on the screen here. So instead of all of these old white faces—God bless you all, [Mayor Smyth gestures in exaggerated mock offense] Cameron you’re not that old, and I’m older than you, I know! I’m older than you. I see you. Umm, and listen, you two women, I’m not, this is not ageist [McLean and Weste exchange looks], but, but, if Bob is so concerned about the health and welfare of young people, or Marsha and Laurene, you were talking about young people and their health and welfare, but then Bob went suddenly started talking about how bad our youth are. They’re fantastic, and they’re gonna make a change in this city, and we’re gonna see people like Kelvin, Everyone who’s listening, get ready to vote for Kelvin Driscoll. [sing-song-ily:] I yield…the rest of…the night.”

Mayor Smyth gestures in protest of being lumped in among the “old white faces” at the dais.

Mayor Smyth said that he appreciated “the dramatic close.”

There were also few comments not on the topic of racism or Bob Kellar. Mountasia’s Michael Fleming called in to ask for help in allowing his outdoor activities to be open for business. He argued that it could be done safely, and he stated that Mountasia would have to close shop permanently by September if the shutdown continued. Tony Maldonado spoke about the City of Santa Monica winning a California Voting Rights Act appeal. Like Santa Monica, Santa Clarita is facing a lawsuit-compelled transition from at-large to district-based voting, and he was hopeful that the ruling could be used to put up a fight. There was another comment about problematic Airbnbs as well.

The City Council and City Manager Ken Striplin responded. Striplin said that the City had the tools necessary to address Airbnb issues—they’ve contacted the offending property owner and have more forceful options available. The Council brainstormed how to keep Mountasia and other businesses alive, but there was no great headway made. Businesses have the Council’s support, but they can do only so much to act independently of LA County or the State of California. The meeting ended and the next won’t be until the end of August.