The family of Randy Wicks plans to move a collection of the late Signal cartoonist’s work outside of the Santa Clarita Valley once the city’s planned takeover of the county’s three libraries is complete.

“It is clearly in our best interest to transfer presentation of Randy Wicks’ original cartoons to other (Los Angeles County library) locations,” the family wrote in a letter to Josefina Reyes, the county’s Northern Region Librarian.

The Santa Clarita City Council voted 4-1 to secede from the Los Angeles County library system and create a three-branch city library system instead — a move staff say will keep nearly half a million dollars in town.

Critics wonder whether they would lose out on services with the switch, since the city will contract with a library-management firm to run it.

Wicks’ cartoons are in binders at the Valencia Library, said Kiza Hilton, who was Wicks’ girlfriend at the time of his 1996 death at age 41. Hilton acts as caretaker of the family’s collection.

The Aug. 19 letter goes on to claim City Manager Ken Pulskamp and Mayor Laurene Weste were disrespectful to the family and tried to steal the political cartoons in 2008 while the collection was housed in a vault at City Hall.

“The only reason (the city) returned them was fear of legal prosecution,” Hilton said.

Hilton said the family was considering housing the collection somewhere else in Los Angeles County, where they might reach a new audience.

Wicks’ sister Connie Wicks said the family was wary of the city.

“Let’s just say some of the trust has been broken,” Wicks said. “Randy loved Santa Clarita. It was his second home. We don’t want to step on anybody’s toes. We want it to be in a place that can be looked at and cherished.”

City staff said that’s all they want, too.

“Randy Wicks, longtime cartoonist for The Signal newspaper, is a local legend and was taken from us all too soon,” city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz said in a statement. “His work depicting our community’s trials and tribulations over the years should be enjoyed by everyone.

“The city would be honored to continue providing his collection to the public at the local libraries through rotating collections and displays. Keeping his memory alive through his work so the public may continue to view it is an important link in our community’s evolution.”