It has been an honor to serve the Santa Clarita community as Mayor for 2022. I am proud of all we accomplished as a community over the past year.

We kicked off 2022 with a Winter Games Celebration at The Cube. I enjoyed carrying the torch along with our Sheriff’s Captain, Justin Diez, as we saluted our local and Olympic athletes.

This year we honored some of our beloved city leaders who have done major contributions in our city’s past. We dedicated a conference room at City Hall to the founding father and former Mayor Carl Boyer. The room features an inspiring art display highlighting works from his beloved Sister Cities program. We also renamed Auto Center Drive as Cheri Fleming Auto Center Drive in memory of the beloved community leader and passionate philanthropist. She was an international icon in the auto industry and the President of Soroptimist International. She is missed but never forgotten.

The city was proud to host the first Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Day Walk, celebrating the life and great work of Dr. King. Hundreds of city residents came together at Central Park for the event themed “Together we are Stronger”, and we are!

We also welcomed our second Farmers Market to the Canyon Country Community Center on Wednesday evenings, inducted new honorees into the Western Walk of Stars, hosted the first Graffiti Removal Day with our citizens assisting our staff, welcomed residents to the city’s 36th park at Vista Canyon with its historical Mitchell River House, dedicated more than 200 acres of open space in beautiful Bee Canyon and broke ground on an incredible, new inclusive play area at West Creek Park for all children.

The highlight of the year for me was the glorious return of our hometown favorite Fourth of July Parade. It was so heartwarming to see our residents come out in their patriotic best to celebrate our great nation. This celebration certainly demonstrates the true patriotism of Santa Clarita. Great job to all!

It has been another exciting and very successful year for our City of Santa Clarita. I wish you and all your loved ones all the warmth and joy of sharing with good friends and family, even the beloved pets, “you know the fur children”! So, have a very healthy and happy holiday season.

Mayor Laurene Weste is a member of the Santa Clarita City Council and can be reached at lweste@santa-clarita.com.

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