Well, the Santa Clarita City Council election is finally over and it wasn’t soon enough. This year’s election will go down as one of the worst as far as I am concerned. It was the lowest and dirtiest. It truly has further soured me on the current management of the City.

The election was certainly a “win-at-any-cost” affair by some of the candidates or their supporters and it was disgusting. The hit mailers; the over blown accusations and the attempted character assassination were absolutely embarrassing to watch. It had nothing to do with the issues or of a greater vision for the City or Santa Clarita Valley as a whole.

I was truly hoping that Laurie Ender would loss only because she was Frank Ferry’s candidate. If she had lost it would have been a public spanking for Frank; a rebuke by City voters tired of the small-minded politics that has festered in the City for so long.

Frank apparently boasted to a friend that when Laurie got elected he would be able to “control” the City Council vote and be able to further his agenda. Now that Ms. Ender has won, it will be interesting to see just how beholden she is to Frank. Only time will tell and her voting record over a period of time will be evidence of that.

Another friend and politically savvy individual assured me that Laurie Ender was her own person and not a puppet for Mr. Ferry. Again, I think actions will speak louder than words. She will have to prove to skeptics that she is in fact her own person and not indebted to Frank Ferry for her election to the City Council.

In any event, the status quo is still intact and there will not be any shift in the City’s vision or lack there of. That is sad. It is also a disappointment because the election itself was a microcosm of what is endemic in the City. It was a display of infighting, back-biting, lying and selfish behavior. The only thing it accomplished was to galvanize the myopic view that is currently the norm in the City.

With the exception of a few candidates, it lacked any vision or sense of serving the community for the greater good. What we will see in the next two years will be more of the same ridiculous circus twice a month at City Hall. One just has to look at the series of “Franken Ferry” videos on YouTube to see how City residents are treated and talked to at those meetings.

Why, in God’s name, would anyone want to be a part of that kind of carnival? Why would any community in the un-incorporated areas around the City want to be subjected to an environment that is not truthful or willing to honor their word? I for one would not consider any arrangement with the City unless it was in writing; a binding contract.

The election sent a clear and precise message that nothing will be changing anytime soon in the City. There will be more disingenuous rhetoric about One Valley/One Vision but the underlying meaning will still be “One City/Our Vision” which is nothing more than an oxymoron.

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.