Another Try for November Vote

After a lobbying effort by cityhood committee members Friday, supervisors’ aides are expected to meet tomorrow morning to discuss whether their bosses will vote Tuesday for a November election.

Members of the city formation committee met with representatives of Supervisors Deane Dana, Ed Edelman, Mike Antonovich and Kenneth Hahn.

But barring a surprise appearance by ailing Supervisor Kenneth Hahn Tuesday, cityhood backers do not appear to have the votes to put cityhood on the November ballot.

“I would be inclined to think we would need Hahn at this point,” city committee chairman Carl Boyer said Friday.

Boyer said he was “led to believe” that Hahn might show up at Tuesday’s meeting. The official word from Hahn’s office, however, has been that he won’t attend a board meeting again until August.

If the supervisors do not set an election date before Aug. 6, the November election is dead.

Supervisors Deane Dana and Pete Schabarum oppose the November election, saying the new city would take some $3.5 million in sales tax now going to the county.

Hahn and Board chairman Mike Antonovich support the November election, but Hahn, 66, is still recovering from a stroke suffered in January. Edelman has been noncommittal.

So, both Hahn and Edelman must join Antonovich if city backers are to achieve the November election and a December incorporation date.

Hahn, with his doctor’s permission, began working part time Friday. He will put in about two hours a day.

In their meetings with Dana and Edelman’s representatives, city committee leaders argued that the county would actually lose only about $1.3 million in sales tax to the city of Santa Clarita, if it is ultimately approved by the voters.

The committee arrived at that figure by subtracting the estimated cost for services that would be provided by the city during the transition. The $3.5 million loss reported by Schabarum and Dana is called “exaggerated” by the committee.

Schabarum and Dana have cited the $3.5 million figure and large budget deficits faced by the county in opposing the November election.

In their discussions with supervisors’ representatives, city committee members have argued that an April election would leave little time to negotiate with the county to provide contract services.

The city, if approved, would have to contract with the county Sheriff’s Department for continued traffic enforcement or form its own police department.

The push for a November election has been a central goal of the city formation committee.

An April 1988 election would leave less time to effectively hire personnel and prepare for the transition to city control, committee members argue.

Committee vice chairman Connie Worden noted that a later election would also allow developers a longer period to file new tracts with the county.