Hopefuls tackle economy
City Council candidates discuss economic development during forum
A dozen candidates for Santa Clarita City Council were asked for their take on economic development at the Valley Industry Association’s forum this week.
Each candidate was challenged on how they saw the need to balance economic growth and the benefits it would bring against issues such as traffic and congestion.
“There is sometimes frustration by residents over growth and traffic,” said forum moderator Ed Masterson, chairman of the VIA board. “From a business point of view, growth equates to economic growth. How as a council member would you, or have you if you were a council member, balance those competing interests?”
Each of the candidates had one minute to answer.
TimBen Boydston, former city councilman
Boydston said he would like to see more commercial and industrial space built because it brings higher-paying jobs.
“Never say no to commercial and industrial space and make sure that your housing density is low and that way reduce the number of cars and going over the hill because you can work here,” he said.
Ken Dean, teacher
Dean believes in a business-friendly city. He would like to see more upscale businesses, but he’s aware that there’s a “tremendous problem with traffic and congestion” and thinks the issue needs to be one of the first addressed, he said.
“We need to look at them both rather than one or the other,” he said.
Jason Gibbs, senior project manager
Gibbs believes both development and traffic, inevitably, go hand-in-hand. He would like to see road projects, such as Via Princessa, finished, and Magic Mountain Parkway stretch across the valley to reduce congestion.
“If we bring that development with us we will get people off the roads, and people like me won’t have to be sitting in traffic staring at a windshield, instead be at home staring at our children,” he said.
Brett Haddock, software engineer
Haddock said the solution is to bring as much business to Santa Clarita as possible “so that people have to go to neither direction for work.” He also added that there need to be more distribution centers, with companies like Amazon, to create a more self-sustained community and avoid having to commute.
Marsha McLean, Santa Clarita mayor pro tem
McLean said traffic is something she knows well and has worked on while on the council. While she said she recognizes that people are alarmed about the traffic, McLean said, “You need a strong business community and strong economic growth in order to be able to pay and help pay for the new roads that we need.”
Bill Miranda, Santa Clarita councilman
Miranda said the city’s implementation of technology, such as its Traffic Operation Center, which allows operators to control the flow of traffic at all intersections, is one technique to treat traffic.
“I don’t know how we can get better than that, but we will get better than that,” he said.
Sandra Nichols, retired
Nichols said that, as someone who is disabled, she no longer drives and finds that there is a lack of advocacy for public transportation. To lessen road congestion, “We need to advocate more people taking the municipal buses...that people carpool in their community instead of each individual driving.”
She would also like to see more high-paying jobs.
Logan Smith, nonprofit organizer
Smith believes housing, jobs and traffic are all interconnected. He thinks the number of commutes can lessen if there are more good, mortgage-paying jobs such as green jobs and through private partnerships.
To cut traffic, he would like to see an increase in bus ridership by offering “free, subsidized fares for seniors, students and disabled individuals.”
Diane Trautman, nonprofit organizer
Trautman said there needs to be a balance, with a focus on housing and additional transportation options.
“We have to have housing so people can live near where they work and ... have jobs so people can work here and not have to commute,” she said. “We need other options for transportation ... like micro transit within the city to get people where they need to be.”
Sankalp Varma, driver
Varma said he would like to see a monorail system connecting all Santa Clarita Valley areas. As a rideshare driver, Varma said he has heard from several customers that there is “a big need for real nightlife” and “a safe, reliable place for people to get medical marijuana.”
Laurene Weste, Santa Clarita Mayor
Weste recognized that Santa Clarita has strong economic growth and she looks forward to continuing the work she has done so far, including the Cross Valley Connector, a network of roadways that opened more than 10 years ago.
“How do we do that? We have to have good housing, affordable housing, high-end housing and you got to build your city’s master-plan highways,” she said.
Paul Wieczorek, postal carrier
Wieczorek said he believes in zero growth as Santa Clarita is overcrowded — and this is the third election he has run with the same campaign platform, he said.
“We are too far out here in Santa Clarita,” he said. “We don’t have enough places to build roads here to make (congestion) go away. We have a lot of (business) vacancies out there. I would rather see that than more building.”
The remaining candidates Cherry Ortega, an investor and entrepreneur; Sean Weber, a local businessperson; and Matthew Hargett, an emergency medical technician, did not attend the forum.