Town Councils

The Stevenson Ranch/Westridge area and the community of Castaic each have a Town Council created by the L.A. County 5th District office of  Supervisor Michael Antonovich.

                 

The purpose of these Town Councils is to advise Supervisor Antonovich about local issues.  This advice is non-binding.   The Town Councils are not recognized as a legal political body by the State or the County and have no official  authority or jurisdiction.

 

The Supervisors office considers the Town Councils to be our locally elected representation.  In the City of Santa Clarita, the City Council would be our locally elected representation.  Consider the following contrasts and comparisons between the Town Councils and the City Council:

 

	City Council	Town Councils
Legal Status
Recognized by the State as a legal representative political body?	Yes	No
Recognized by the County as a legal representative political body?	Yes	No
General Powers/Authority
Legislative authority to enact/enforce local ordinances and laws?	Yes	No
Police powers?	Yes	No
Authority to enforce State laws?	Yes	No
Authority to provide municipal services?	Yes	No
Authority to adopt municipal budget and fund programs and services?	Yes	No
Authority to fund and hire staff and legal representation?	Yes	No
Regulatory Authority
Power to approve/deny/modify development projects?	Yes	No
Power to appoint Planning and Parks Commissioners?	Yes	No
Authority to adopt environmental documents and certify EIRs?	Yes	No
Authority to enact/enforce development requirements and guidelines?	Yes	No
Authority to enter into development agreements?	Yes	No
Authority to adopt zoning and general plans?	Yes	No
Authority to require mitigations and apply conditions of approval?	Yes	No
Authority to collect impact fees, such as for schools, parks, and roads?	Yes	No
Elections
Recognized by the County Registrar as a legal political body?	Yes	No
Do elections have to comply with State and County election laws?	Yes	No
Does the County Registrar oversee elections?	Yes	No
Do elections take place at an official polling place?	Yes	No
Do polling places have to remain open pursuant to State/County law?	Yes	No
Do voters have to be officially noticed about elections?	Yes	No
Does the County have to certify the election results?	Yes	No
Meetings
Do meeting have to comply with State laws regulating open meetings?	Yes	No
Do meetings have to be publicly noticed?	Yes	No
Do meetings have to be recorded?	Yes	No
Do recordings of meetings have to be made available to the public?	Yes	No
Do meetings have to abide by the regulations in the Brown Act?	Yes	No
Other
Approve a new stop sign?	Yes	No
Add a crosswalk?	Yes	No
Fix a pothole?	Yes	No
Build a park?	Yes	No
Add a landscape median?	Yes	No
Protect open space	Yes	No
Have a municipal budget?	Yes	No
Enforce County regulations, policies, or ordinances?	No	No
Provide direction to County staff?	No	No
Empowered to carry out any official County functions?	No	No

 

As you can see, the Town Councils have no authority, oversight, or accountbaility.  They are a group of concerned citizens, most of whom truly want what is best for the community.  However, they have no more authority or power than any other unsanctioned volunteer group of concerned citizens, in fact HOAs have more legal empowerement than the Town Councils.     

 

Supervisor Antonovich wants us to believe that the Town Councils speak for the residents of the Westside.  Residents with concerns have even been told by Antonovich's office to voice those concerns to the Town Council, as if the Town Council is a legitimate political body.  This is essentially a disenfranchisement of our right to vote for our local government representative.  It also takes away our constitutional right to address our local government representative.  Why should our concerns be relegated to an unofficial, unaccountable, and powerless group of residents, a group that we never asked for in the first place and that cannot correct them?

 

Supervisor Anonovich uses the Town Councils to try to pursuade us that we have local-elected representation, elected representation that he is unable or unwilling to provide us.    

 

 

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