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Signal Staff Writer
tmarashlian@the-signal.com
Posted: Dec. 29, 2009 9:20 p.m.
After months of campaigning, Santa Clarita Valley voters took to the polls Nov. 3 to cast their ballots for who should govern local school districts, a water district and the fate of governance on the westside.
Despite a low voter turnout, the election provided a few surprises.
Michael McGrath, the only incumbent running in the Newhall School District race, was re-elected, even though he had dropped out of the election months before. McGrath had initially wanted to run to keep his seat on the board, but decided to withdraw citing family circumstances. His name and incumbent title remained on the ballot.
After McGrath’s resignation, the Newhall School District initiated an appointment process where Brian Walters, a local attorney, was selected to join the board.
Kathy Colley was elected to the Newhall County Water District board even though she didn’t campaign at all. She won by about 300 votes and beat contender Michael Cruz.
As usual, all eyes were on the William S. Hart Union High School District race.
After five runs, Joe Messina finally got a seat on the Hart district board. He was joined by Paul Strickland, who was re-elected, and Bob Jensen, who made a transition from the Newhall School District to the Hart district.
Messina credited his victory to timing as Dennis King and Patricia Hanrion did not seek re-elections, leaving what he saw as two of three seats open.
The prospect of westside cityhood suffered a sound defeat by a three-to-one margin in the election, and returns in the non-binding vote from residents in Stevenson Ranch, Val Verde, Castaic, Sunset Pointe, Southern Oaks and Westridge also showed voters would opt by a narrow margin to remain part of unincorporated Los Angeles County over joining the city of Santa Clarita, a story a day after the election read.
Missing teen found dead
Nov. 13 – A community came together to grieve in November when coroner’s officials identified a body found near Interstate 5 as missing 18-year-old Valencia High School student Brigett Andrea Kennemore.
Officials said the Newhall resident used a bungee cord to hang herself from a tree branch.
Kennemore, who relatives said was developmentally disabled, had been missing since Oct. 26 when she was last seen getting off a bus in Castaic.
Relatives said they believed Kennemore had recently broken up with her boyfriend.
More than 50 family members, friends and supporters came together Nov. 21 to remember Kennemore during a memorial service at NorthPark Community Church in Valencia.
“She was a very sweet, vibrant, beautiful, caring young woman,” Kennemore’s aunt Debra Love said during the service in November.
Alamo sentenced
Nov. 13 — Evangelist Tony Alamo was sentenced to 175 years in prison for child sexual abuse.
Alamo’s followers have a compound and a church in a remote part of the Santa Clarita Valley, along with a pair in Arkansas and one in New England.
U.S. District Judge Harry F. Barnes issued the maximum sentence against the 75-year-old, who preyed on followers’ young daughters and took child “brides” as young as age 8, an Associated Press story in November read.
A jury convicted Alamo in July on a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking the girls across state lines for sex.
Castaic high school progress
Nov. 18 — It took more than three hours of discussion, reports and comments from the public, but the William S. Hart Union High School District marched one step closer to building a much-needed high school in Castaic by 2013 when board members picked the Hasley/Sloan and Romero Canyon properties for environmental impact reports and further studies.
The environmental impact report process, to begin at the start of 2010, is expected to take up to 18 months and cost up to $250,000 for each report.
The Hart district has spent the past decade trying to build a high school to serve the Castaic community. Castaic students now attend West Ranch and Valencia high schools, which are dealing with overcrowding. In 2008, local voters passed the Measure SA bond measure, worth $300 million, with the pledge to build a high school.
Celebrating the holidays
Nov. 26 — The holiday season was in full swing in the Santa Clarita Valley as residents joined in a celebration of Thanksgiving.
For the Newhall Bicycle Company, that meant serving more than 450 free Thanksgiving dinners as a way to give back.
“The community has got to take care of the community,” Shannon Hasper, 37 of Newhall said during the event.
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