It's a Santa Clarita Thing...City Council Election

There are over 80,000 registered voters in the City of Santa Clarita and, if past trends hold true, only about 15% of them will vote in the City Council election on April 13th. I truly believe that the low voter turnout is not because people don't care, it's because we lead busy lives, often going in 100 directions at once, and many people think their vote doesn't make much of a difference.

I know you're busy but if you think that your vote doesn't count--you're wrong.

Here's the deal with the Santa Clarita City Council:

• There are five elected councilmembers who serve four-year terms. Every two years there is an election and either two of those seats, or three of them, are up for re-election. Every December the five councilmembers vote to select one of them to serve as the Mayor for a year, and another to serve as the Mayor Pro-Tem (which is kind of a Vice-Mayor who usually becomes Mayor the following year.)
• Our current Mayor is Laurene Weste. Marsha McLean is the Mayor Pro-Tem and the Councilmembers are Frank Ferry, Bob Kellar and me.
• We have what's called a Council/Manager style of government. That means that the five elected Councilmembers work for the citizens of Santa Clarita and the City Manager (currently a guy named Ken Pulskamp) reports to the Council. The City Manager is the top dog at City Hall and each of the departments (Parks & Rec, Public Works, Planning, etc.) report to him.
• Essentially the elected councilmembers are responsible for setting policy. They determine what direction the city should be heading and deal with everything from whether or not the hospital should be allowed to expand to how, when and where parks should be built. Every decision the council makes is done in a public setting (we meet at City Hall every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.) with public input and comment.

A big question that comes up during every City Council election is, "Do we live in the City of Santa Clarita?" That might sound weird but while we all live in the Santa Clarita Valley there are actual city limits and you can only vote in the election if you are inside the city. If you have any question about whether or not you are in the City of Santa Clarita just visit www.votesantaclarita.com and click on "find your polling place."

You are going to hear lots of "vote for this guy" and "don't vote for that guy" and you'll be inundated with mailers and yard signs for the next 30+ days. These are all well-intentioned efforts to get out the vote whether you (or I) agree with them or not. Bottom line is that the City Council works for the People of Santa Clarita. Your opinion matters, your vote counts, you make a difference. I have lots of opinions (understatement of the century) about who should be on the City Council but I'm going to spare you the tirade right now. What matters most is you. Please vote. Please!

P.S. www.VoteSantaClarita.com is a GREAT place to start for finding out more about the election and even for registering to vote...the last day to register (if you've moved or haven't already registered) is March 29th so don't wait!