Residents of the Hasley Hills,
Live Oak and North Bluffs communities, who represent about 20% of the
Castaic Area population, have been pursuing annexation into the City of
Santa Clarita for over five years. We believe the quantity and quality of
City programs and services exceeds those of the County at about the same
cost. We think local governance by the City will support greater property
values and higher quality of life for us in the Santa Clarita Valley. We
prefer to see our local tax dollars spent locally instead of subsidizing the
entire Los Angeles basin. In 2007 we completed a petition drive, as
required by the City to start the process, that demonstrated overwhelming
support among our neighborhoods for annexation.
The City responded by submitting
an annexation application, on our behalf, to the State of California Local
Area Formation Commission (LAFCO). LAFCO is charged with developing and
updating spheres of influence for each city and is responsible for
coordinating changes in local governmental boundaries, including
annexations. LAFCO is currently gathering facts and assessing the merits of
our annexation.
In the mean time, the Castaic
Area and West Ranch Town Councils, who are the local representatives of Los
Angeles County, proposed combining to form a new "west side" city (west of
the I-5). Despite the Fall 2009 advisory ballot measures, that showed a
dearth of support among the broader area for a west side city and
overwhelming support among our neighborhoods for annexation, this
Spring both Town Councils sent letters to LAFCO opposing our annexation.
We believe those letters
attempted to construe a mountain of opposition from a mole hill of facts
by presenting misleading information accentuated by emotional rhetoric. We
sent our own letters to LAFCO, essentially responding to the Town Council
letters. To maintain context, they are best viewed in the order listed
below.
Castaic Area Town Council Letter to LAFCO 04-15-10
Annexation Area vs CATC Letter to LAFCO 05-19-10
West Ranch Town Council Letter to LAFCO 05-15-10
Annexation Area vs WRTC Letter to LAFCO 05-25-10
REMO Inc Letter to City of Santa Clarita 01-12-10
Compare the websites representing our two local
government choices. Need we say more?
City of Santa Clarita:
www.santa-clarita.com
Los Angeles County:
lacounty.info/wps/portal/lac
Additional Information
Local Agency Formation Commission for the County of
Los Angeles: www.lalafco.org/index2010.html
City of Santa Clarita Annexation Brochure
Castaic Annexation Support Team: www.annexcastaic.com
Hasley Hills HOA (this website):
www.hasleyhillshoa.org