CITY COUNCIL STILL DIVIDED DESPITE CONSERVATIVE BENT, DISPUTES REMAIN.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - When Cameron Smyth Cameron Smyth is a Republican who has represented Califoria's 38th Assembly district since December of 2006. He succeeded Keith Richman who was term limited. Prior to being elected to the state legislature, Assemblyman Smyth served on the Santa Clarita City Council, where he and Bob Kellar were elected six months ago, many residents thought the days of a divided City Council were over. They were wrong. Although all five of the council members are self-described Republicans, and all were supported by Santa Clarita's business base, several important recent votes have been marked by acrimony ac·ri·mo·ny n. Bitter, sharp animosity, especially as exhibited in speech or behavior. [Latin  crim and
name calling.
``I'm passionate about these issues,'' said Councilman Frank Ferry, who stormed out of the Sept. 26 council meeting after being defeated in a vote to expand McBean Parkway from four to six lanes. ``And that comes through.'' Many expected the council to vote unanimously on most big issues after former councilwomen Jill Klajic and Jan Heidt left the council. The Democrats were usually on the other side of the issue from current Mayor Jo Anne Darcy, Mayor Pro Tem [Latin, For the time being.] An abbreviation used for pro tempore, Latin for "temporary or provisional." A person who acts as a temporary substitute serves pro tem. Laurene Weste and Ferry. ``It's been so much better since the election,'' Darcy said. At the same meeting that Ferry stormed out of, Weste cut him off and refused to let him finish speaking, and painstakingly pains·tak·ing adj. Marked by or requiring great pains; very careful and diligent. See Synonyms at meticulous. n. Extremely careful and diligent work or effort. instructed City Manager George Caravalho to record her motion, saying that often her instructions are garbled and misinterpreted by his office. ``We needed to reach some sort of conclusion,'' Weste said. The council was scheduled to pass a resolution on Sept. 26 that would have explicitly prohibited one council member from interrupting another, and establish a set of norms for the council while codifying practices and procedures. But Weste pulled the item from the agenda, saying later that the resolution violated the First Amendment. ``They have to be enforceable,'' Weste said. ``It's hard to tell people how to speak. The wording has to be better.'' The council members developed the norms in July while at a weekend team-building retreat where they pledged to be cordial cordial: see liqueur. and to allow opinion and information to flow freely among the council members. ``We had a heavy agenda and had more questions that we wanted answered,'' Smyth said of the decision to continue the resolution. The dispute spilled over into a road construction celebration the morning after the contentious council meeting and into Wednesday's council study session on the former Bermite munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. factory. Ferry declined to sit next to the other council members at the study session. But Wednesday morning, he said he talked to his fellow council members and held no grudges. ``I've let it go,'' Ferry said. Caravalho said the council norms wouldn't have prevented the squabble squab·ble intr.v. squab·bled, squab·bling, squab·bles To engage in a disagreeable argument, usually over a trivial matter; wrangle. See Synonyms at argue. n. A noisy quarrel, usually about a trivial matter. that enveloped en·vel·op tr.v. en·vel·oped, en·vel·op·ing, en·vel·ops 1. To enclose or encase completely with or as if with a covering: "Accompanying the darkness, a stillness envelops the city" the council over the restriping of McBean Parkway. The ruckus was part of the new council members feeling each other out and trying to work together, Caravalho said. The resolution was expected to come back before the council on Oct. 24, he said. ``People feel strongly about this issue,'' Caravalho said of the McBean Parkway restriping. ``That's when decorum DECORUM. Proper behaviour; good order. 2. Decorum is requisite in public places, in order to permit all persons to enjoy their rights; for example, decorum is indispensable in church, to enable those assembled, to worship. will go out the window.'' The council is set to face several high-profile issues that will no doubt draw many residents into the council chambers, such as the Valley-Calgrove dispute. The last time the council took up the issue of the barricades, Ferry was the only council member to vote to remove them. Darcy and Weste both voted to keep the barricades, while Smyth and Kellar have never voted on the issue. ``It will certainly be a test,'' Smyth said. |
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