City announces appointments
Santa Clarita City Council members recently appointed nine residents to serve on various city commissions and panels.
There were eight vacancies available with two positions on each body as they expired Dec. 31. Earlier this month, the City Council unanimously approved the following nominations for four-year terms, which are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2024:
▪ Planning Commission: Renee Berlin and Timothy Burkhart.
▪ Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission: Henry Rodriguez and Jonathan Waymire.
▪ Arts Commission: Vanessa Wilk and April Scott-Goss.
▪ Open Space Preservation District Financial Accountability and Audit Panel, or FAAP: Kyle Jellings and Sunil Rajpal.
Most of the appointees are new members, according to city officials in a Thursday news release:
Rodriguez, who was nominated by Councilman Cameron Smyth, is a local business owner and board member of the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce and SCV Economic
Development Corp. He also serves as chair of the Latino Business Alliance, and has previously served on the FAAP and parks boards.
Jellings, also nominated by Smyth, is a lifelong resident of Santa Clarita, a father of five and active in serving his church and community. His knowledge of and involvement in city development grew in his seven years working at AM1220 KHTS, including as station manager and program director.
Burkhart, nominated by Councilman Jason Gibbs, is vice president of Six Flags Magic Mountain, and has previously served on the Planning Commission, including as chair from 1999 to 2019.
Waymire, a Gibbs nominee, is a manager for Northrop Grumman in Palmdale and holds leadership positions as the president of the Meadows Elementary School Site Council and the executive vice president of Junior Chamber International (JCI) Santa Clarita.
Scott-Goss, also nominated by Gibbs, is an accomplished artist whose awardwinning thesis film, “Deep in My Heart,” has been showcased at Festival du Film, Cannes and is archived in the Biloxi History museum. She has also helped raise funds to support art programming.
Rajpal, Gibbs’ final nominee, is a resident of Canyon Country, works as a senior civil engineer in the city of Los Angeles Department of Public Works and brings more than two decades of experience in policy development, grant management and project management.
Due to a resignation by Parks Commissioner Ruthanne Levinson, Mayor Pro Tem Laurene Weste nominated Rebecca Skye Ostrom to serve the remainder of the term, through Dec. 31, 2022. Ostrom is a junior high science teacher in the William S. Hart Union High School District, has served on school leadership committees and is a member of the Sand Canyon Trails Committee.