GOP GROUPS UNITE IN NEWHALL IN OUTREACH EFFORT.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Local Republicans don't want to wait until 2002, when congressional voting district boundaries are redrawn, to find out where party support lies - either geographically or demographically.

To muster support in future state and presidential elections, plus heighten the party's profile among Santa Clarita's growing minority community, three GOP groups with members from Santa Clarita, Antelope and San Fernando valleys are uniting headquarters in Old Town Newhall at the corner of San Fernando Road and Market Street.

The headquarters, which is committed to a three-year lease, officially will open to the public Feb. 25, and will hold a ``housewarming party'' on March 7, officials said.

The Santa Clarita Valley Lincoln Club, Santa Clarita Valley California Congress of Republicans and Republican Women Federated will use the facility for meetings and to pool resources for typical party activities like recruitment drives, state election campaigns, telephone polls and candidate workshops.

The location was considered ideal because of its central location among the Santa Clarita, Antelope and San Fernando valleys, said Santa Clarita City Councilman Frank Ferry, a longtime GOP supporter.

A main concern in the coming year will be the November presidential election, plus bracing the GOP stronghold for the state's review of congressional district boundaries. Reapportionment occurs every 10 years, often resulting in new boundary changes and new districts.

New boundary lines have been known to shuffle party support.

Santa Clarita's history shows a long line of GOP support, with voters served in its three highest offices by Republicans U.S. Rep. Howard ``Buck'' McKeon of Santa Clarita, Assemblyman George Runner of Lancaster and state Sen. W.J. ``Pete'' Knight of Palmdale.

But local Democrats - who are represented by the Democratic Club of Santa Clarita Valley and the Democratic Alliance for Action - see party support on the verge of much growth in the area, as new residential growth increases, especially in the northern San Fernando Valley.

As of October, 37,895 residents were registered Republicans among Santa Clarita's 75,910 registered voters, while 24,884 were Democrats.

``No matter where the lines are redrawn, we want to remain competitive,'' said Ferry.

But GOP leaders also envision their 2,000-square-foot Newhall storefront as serving a greater role in the community directly outside its doors, which has high minority populations of Latinos and Filipinos.

Community outreach programs would include blood drives, flu shot clinics and second-language English and Spanish courses for the community and candidates alike. Republicans also hope to sponsor seminars to feature GOP heavy-hitter guest speakers like presidential hopeful John McCain.

``The three groups got together last summer and came up with the idea . . . Initially it seemed like a far-fetched idea, but now we're here breaking new ground,'' said Linda Johnson, president for Congress of Republicans' local chapter and aide to Runner.

At the state and national levels, Republican organizations actively hold a variety of outreach programs to reach minorities, but few locally based headquarters consistently initiate those efforts, Johnson said.

Ferry, who proposed expanding the headquarters' services to include programs such as the blood drives, said Santa Clarita Republicans hope to serve as a model for other headquarters throughout California.

``I'd love for the Latino and Filipino communities to start coming in. The party needs to start being more inclusive,'' Ferry said.

He added, ``Republicans sometimes are perceived as being extremist on certain issues . . . I think if we had more outreach efforts for minorities like Latinos, for instance, they'd see that as a party, we share a lot of similar values.''

Minority populations are exploding in Southern California, especially Latinos, who are projected to become the majority in the next 15 to 20 years, experts said.

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which last week released new findings on Latino issues, reported citizenship is rising for Latinos at record rates; the ethnic group has the highest rate of labor participation among immigrants; Latino-owned businesses in Los Angeles rose to 208,000 since 1992 and more Latinos than ever are revitalizing blighted areas while buying homes and businesses.

United Way also identified affordable housing and homeownership, affordable child care, child and adult education as important issues to the Latino community.

That could be seen as a significant challenge to the Republican Party as a whole, because the Democratic Party has long held the reputation as the fighter for such social programs.

``It's great that they are offering those programs,'' Democrat Diane Trautman said of outreach programs planned at the GOP Newhall headquarters.

``(Republicans) have to go a long way to entice the Latino population,'' Trautman said. ``They should have pushed those programs years ago.''

Trautman, who serves as president of the Democratic Alliance for Action and also is a Santa Clarita City Council candidate, said local Democrats plan to open a party headquarters in Santa Clarita months before the presidential election in November.

Republicans also see the new headquarters as having a potential to find future candidates and leaders.

The new headquarters will offer seminars and classes in downtown Newhall for both would-be candidates and campaign managers, to teach the ins-and-outs of politics from effective campaign strategies, to filing and preparing election paperwork properly.

Republicans said the new GOP headquarters in Newhall will not be used for Santa Clarita City Council elections, which are nonpartisan.