This episode of SCVTV’s Legacy series was taped in 2002. Leon Worden of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society speaks with Carl Boyer III, the first chairman of the city of Santa Clarita Formation Committee in 1986. Boyer discusses the effort to form a city and the challenges of setting it up.

The city of Santa Clarita was incorporated on Dec. 15, 1987.

Boyer went on to run for, and win, a seat on the first Santa Clarita City Council. He served on the Santa Clarita City Council for 11 years, including two terms as mayor. He was elected to the first City Council in 1987 and served until 1998. He was mayor in 1991 and 1996.

After retirement, Boyer documented Santa Clarita’s journey to cityhood in a book titled “Santa Clarita: The Formation and Organization of the Largest Newly Incorporated City in the History of Humankind,” which was published in 2005.

Boyer died in May 2019 at age 81.

The Carl Boyer Room in Santa Clarita City Hall is named in his honor.

This interview also includes footage of City Hall after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Watch this episode of Legacy at https://scvtv.com/2013/12/15/birth-of-a-city-with-councilman-carl-boyer-iii/.

For more information on the history of Santa Clarita visit scvhistory.com or view other episodes of Legacy on SCVTV.com.

First City Council of the City of Santa Clarita. From left: Mayor Howard “Buck” McKeon, Mayor Pro-Tem Jan Heidt, and Councilmembers Dennis Koontz, Jo Anne Darcy and Carl Boyer III. Photo courtesy of SCVHistory.com