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1928 - Little dam victim, thought unidentified & buried in SCV, actually ID'd & buried in Chatsworth [story]
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Now and Then in the SCV | Commentary by Darryl Manzer
| Thursday, May 22, 2014

Darryl ManzerOK. I’m home. It rained today. Felt good. Dust is settled a little. What is wrong with this picture?

It is May. Late May. We had rain. I guess it isn’t that unusual, but isn’t there a law that says it cannot rain in Southern California after May 15?

Hey, TimBen … You missed the point to my commentary. (I have on my “shocked” look – Not.) Could you please name the elected official or officials who have stated in public that they are speaking as a citizen and not as the officeholder they were elected to be? You say it has been done all the time. Who? When? Where? Just asking. Need the facts.

Oh, those pesky facts. Try this one on: The deal to buy and remove the billboards of Edwards Outdoor Advertising would never have happened if the Metrolink-Allvision proposal hadn’t been in the works. Should have said something about that, TimBen.

Makes me want to ask this, too: Is it a lie if I state something I know is false, or is it a lie if I don’t state the truth? Lies of omission. Any answers here? How about one from Citizen TimBen?

If the conspiracy to remove the billboards and install the electronic billboards was to provide some sort of gain, political or financial, to current council members, how come it originated with Metro and Allvision?

I’m just full of all kinds of questions today. Here is another.

Is anyone shocked that the City Council of Santa Clarita, by unanimous vote, endorsed Steve Knight for Congress? I’m not. Why should they want to support the other guy, the hand-picked candidate endorsed by Buck McKeon? Buck really helped with the Cemex issue, didn’t he? Guess he might get one of the “Thank You Buck” signs that was posted after he submitted yet another bill (which had zero chance of getting out of committee) to remove Cemex. Maybe it is our turn really to say “thank you” by electing Steve Knight. As an added bonus, we will be electing someone who really lives within the 25th District.

Are you folks like me in that you hate the same old candidates endorsed by the same old folks who will say the same old things to do nothing except to stay in office long enough to retire? Same ol’, same ol’ all over again.

This whole train of thought started when I opened my vote-by-mail envelope. I’ve read it all. Now I’m derailed. Looking at it, I can only state that I once thought Chicago had strange politics. Here in the Golden State, we can prove ours is as bad – or worse.

More coffee. Stat.

After my trip to Kentucky, I can see that my rapid departure a month ago might mean my humble abode could qualify as an environmental disaster. If only Gov. Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown would come and see it, I’m sure I could get major funding for a cleanup.

Moonbeam said just the other day that it’s going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars to move LAX because the oceans are going to rise 4 feet due to the Antarctic ice melting. Don’t panic. The airport is nearly 100 feet above sea level now. I’m not sure, but maybe he visited some local herb stores in Seattle or Denver. Maybe that is his source of information.

I’ve been following our Assemblyman Scott Wilk’s Facebook postings. He was near Mount Shasta for what? His dime or ours? Hey, Scott, maybe you’ll just order water at those restaurants I see you stopping at all the time? Weight control isn’t easy when your intake is greater then your outflow. I know.

Ever since I started my diet to beat diabetes, I’ve had little if anything that has sugar in it. Wow. Feel so much better. Plenty of energy. One needs to read carefully the list of ingredients on a package before one eats what is in that package.

One also needs to read the list of attributes a candidate does or doesn’t have before voting. When a candidate is offering a sugar-coated fantasy, make sure you don’t fall for that line.

Know the person you’ll vote for – for a change.

What a concept. Informed voters. Who ever would have considered that?

 

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com and his commentaries, published on Tuesdays and Sundays, are archived at DManzer.com. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].

 

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2 Comments

  1. Alan Ferdman says:

    Darryl, it looks like you are the one who missed the point.

    The billboard decision, as initially proposed, used the power of 2 colluding government agencies; to put private business out of business while providing no compensation to the affected companies and eliminated blight in one area of the city by moving it to another. Promises of Open Space, purchased with public funds, be maintained undeveloped, in perpetuity, were ignored in favor of generating a new revenue stream for the city and metro. Concern was also raised by small business owners, as the proposal eliminated their ability to advertise. Lastly, the deal with Edwards was struck by pressuring Edwards to take the proposal or get nothing. All this was spun as a “Billboard Relocation Program” which indeed it was not.

    When looking into the details of this proposal, it became a clear example of “the end does not justify the means”. If our elected officials simply go along silently with every decision the city council makes, it reduces the total city council decision making capability to coalition of 3 council members. In this case, Mr. Boydston was true to his oath to protect the United States and California Constitution. These documents support the concept of citizens having legal methods of addressing their grievances. When an individual becomes an elected official they also do not give up those rights.

    While your proper answer in the Navy might have been “Yes Sir”, US citizens and Santa Clarita residents must have the ability to answer “Wait a Minute, We do not believe you have made the right decision”.

  2. Julie Olsen says:

    Thinking you need more than coffee. What a confusing and incoherent rant.

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