I am very proud to serve on the Santa Clarita City Council and as the Mayor this year.

Having been part of this community even before Santa Clarita became a city; it has been incredible to see the evolution of our city over the years. We started with only seven parks and transformed Santa Clarita into one of the best park districts in California.

Today we enjoy 34 parks and over 9300 acres of public natural open space connected by 85 miles of trails to use and go explore with more on the way.

Our accomplishments as a community are remarkable in our 30 years as a young city. We are poised for tremendous additional opportunities in our future.

The next few years we will be very busy as we near the culmination of the Santa Clarita 2020 Strategic Plan. Part of the City 2020 Plan is completing the construction of a new state of the art sheriff’s station on Golden Valley Road in Canyon Country. This is a joint effort with the County of Los Angeles. When completed, the SCV Sheriff’s Station will be 45,000 square feet and include a 4,000 square foot vehicle maintenance building and operational heliport. We expect to complete the design phase and break ground sometime this year.

Our City is consistently rated as one of the safest in the state and in the country, thanks to the very hard work and dedication of the men and women of our SCV Sheriff’s Station. We will continue implementation of the three-year Crime Reduction Plan to further reduce part 1 crimes, always working to retain the “safe city” designation.

Many of our Saugus residents are looking forward to having their own local library and arts center which is currently in process for a site as I write this article.

The City Council are strong supporters of the new Senior Center which is on 2.5 acres at Golden Valley Road and Newhall Ranch Road. This wonderful opportunity is a partnership between the City, Los Angeles County’s 5th District, and the Committee on Aging. With eager anticipation we look forward to a permanent new Canyon Country Community Center. This 21st Century project is in the design phase which we anticipate completing this year. The facility will give Canyon Country a vital community hub for residents to recreate, exercise, cook, learn and enjoy everything a community center can provide.

The Arts are blooming in Santa Clarita and we are beginning the work on the 2018 Arts Commission Work Plan. This includes:

Creating a temporary public art program
Beginning to develop a creative live work facility in Newhall
Convening an arts education collaborative
Exploring a board leadership and training program
Developing an arts marketing program and launching the civic art program
I believe 2018 will be looked back at as the year the arts were transformed.

Our City’s premier Arts & Entertainment District in Old Town Newhall will continue its transformation this year as we look forward to opening the Old Town Newhall parking structure this spring. Did you know the top deck of the parking structure is also designed for events? Two other greatly anticipated projects on the same block are taking shape as construction continues for the Newhall Crossings and the Laemmle Movie theatre.

As I always have, I will continue to work on expansion of our parks, trails and our open space greenbelt, helping to preserve the natural beauty of the Santa Clarita Valley for generations to come.

I look forward to adding to the already stellar list of accomplishments our city has earned. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support in keeping Santa Clarita the great place we call home.