MCLEAN LAUNCHES NEW BID FOR COUNCIL.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Hoping the proverbial third time is the charm, local business owner and environmentalist Marsha McLean on Sunday launched a bid for one of three open City Council seats.

Former Mayor Jan Heidt and Parks Commissioner Duane Harte have already tossed their hats in the ring, joining Mayor Laurene Weste and Councilman Frank Ferry, who are seeking re-election.

McLean said she was running to give Santa Clarita back to the residents, claiming they have not been listened to by the current council members.

``We need three new members on the City Council,'' McLean said. ``It's not our city anymore. I'll be responsive only to the people.''

Councilmen and Cameron Smyth and Bob Kellar bested McLean by about 700 votes during the 2000 election. She said the experience - and the name recognition - she gained in the past two elections would help her bid.

``Over the last six years, I haven't seen this city's problems get better,'' McLean said. ``They've gotten much, much worse.''

Overdevelopment, traffic congestion, crowded schools and a threatened water supply are her biggest sources of concern, McLean said.

In announcing her bid, McLean criticized the way recent City Council meetings have been conducted, saying the council members have read other material or talked among themselves while residents were testifying.

``It's like a county hearing,'' McLean said. ``It's obvious that their minds are made up before the meeting. There needs to be debate at these meetings, and any decision should be made that night.''

McLean announced her candidacy at a fund-raiser held at the Sand Canyon ranch of Reba and Lee Hallerberg, friends and political supporters.

``This time, I'm going to win,'' McLean said, offering a champagne toast.

The candidate was critical of the City Council's depletion of the city's reserve accounts and spending habits.

McLean also called on the City Council to take a more active role in opposing less-than-desirable projects in the unincorporated areas surrounding the city during Los Angeles County hearings.

``It's my biggest pet peeve that the council members say that we can't do anything about developments in the county,'' McLean said. ``We can have an impact. We should not be neutral on any project.''

The 28-year resident of Santa Clarita helped lead the community fight against a planned landfill in Elsmere Canyon. Browning Ferris Industries' bid was rebuffed when former President Clinton signed legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon outlawing dumps in federally protected forests. Part of the 190 million-ton dump was to be built in the Angeles National Forest, about a 1 1/2 miles from Santa Clarita's borders.

President of the Santa Clarita Valley Canyons Preservation Committee, McLean has praised the city's purchase of Whitney Canyon, which is expected to be finalized shortly, and has urged the City Council to buy Elsmere Canyon to remove any future threat of a dump.

McLean said she would like to see Heidt returned to the City Council. Heidt endorsed McLean in the 2000 election.

McLean first made public her intention to run for the City Council last month, at the first meeting of the newly formed Alliance to Reclaim Santa Clarita.

That group is seeking to endorse a slate of three candidates who will be more responsive to residents than the current council members and work to slow the pace of growth in and around Santa Clarita.

McLean is seeking that group's endorsement.

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