There has definitely been a shift in the winds evidenced by the recent suggestion that the City will be formally voting to withdraw its annexation bid in Castaic. There also appears to be some lines of communication opening in the way of email and some friendly conversation.
It is certainly a very timely and welcome shift that, hopefully, will be sustained over the coming years. It has to be an ongoing and sincere change in order for it to bare fruit. This is something that I have written about and re-posted several time over that last six years.
Back in 2004 I wrote the following:
Time and time again, the City has tried to circumvent opening up a productive and sustained dialogue with the communities of these unincorporated areas.
The City refuses to deal in good faith with the elected leadership in the unincorporated areas and has been disrespectful to the resident’s right to self-determination. This tactic will not work, does not work and has ultimately had a detrimental effect on the City and the future of the Santa Clarita Valley.
I would like to use the simple analogy of modern day dating to illustrate what the City should be doing in order to expand. Let’s say your single (the City) and are out at a social function. Across the room you spot someone who is attractive (any revenue generating unincorporated area). Your eyes meet. You walk over, introduce yourself and strike up a conversation. Hopefully you have some things in common.
If all goes well you exchange phone numbers and agree to get together again. You wait a few days and then you call to say what a great time you had and arrange to go out on a formal date. Over dinner you both have another great conversation and realize that you have a lot in common.
This of course leads to further dating and the building of a relationship. Over time, sometimes years, you both build a strong relationship that includes sharing, trust, integrity, and love.
Finally, you both decide that to get married (annex into the City) and live happily ever after. You’ve been dating for a while and really like each other so this marriage feels like the right next step.
Instead, the City of Santa Clarita has decided to take the Caveman approach to dating. Spot someone you like (Valencia Commerce Center, Hasley Hills, Tesoro del Valle), walk over to them, bonk them on the head with a club and drag them off by their hair.
That behavior may have worked thousands of years ago but it does not work now.
As I wrote in 2004, it was always about about building a proper relationship. That was what the community leadership in West Ranch and Castaic were always trying to do and what appeared to be the constant stumbling block with the City.
My personal feeling is that if this new tack; this change of course is a permanent and sustainable one, then our valley communities will benefit and flourish. If the brow-beating and bullying by the City is over and we are now on a path of building a neighborly friendship then the future of the Santa Clarita Valley looks brighter than ever.
But, and there is always a but, if this is just some short term maneuvering, then that will be discovered in time. The unincorporated communities need to see the cooperation and the friendliness, not just in words, but in real actions. There needs to be sustained and honest communications not just to the leadership in the unincorporated communities but also in the dissemination of information to the public.
Building a relationship based on trust and honesty will take time; it will take years. It will be an arduous rebuilding of confidence and belief that what is being said and what is be done is truthful; that it is being said with integrity. That will not happen overnight nor should it.
I do hope that it will happen; that all the valley communities will be treated with the respect and decency one would expect in a neighborly way. If that is the case, if the winds have shifted, then the next several years should be good ones!
May the wind be at our backs moving forward!!
Dave Bossert- Commentary
Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.