Archive By Section - Signal Editorials
The 'crisis' is in leadership, not money
"The budget process for California defies a simple, concise definition." That's the introduction to the state Department of Finance's publication, "California's Budget Process," and that's no joke. Sacramento can't explain it because the politicians don't get it. They don't know how to budget. Most businesses, and even most individuals in California, know how to budget. They look at their guaranteed revenues and spend within their means. If they're smart, they sock away any unexpected income ...
Change begins with us
Hope and change. That was the ideological fuel behind President Barack Obama's campaign, and few can deny the power his rhetoric had to stir even staunch disbelievers. Yet rhetoric does not equal action. We stand at an intersection today as a nation - on the heels of Monday's National Day of Service and observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, as we witness this morning's inauguration of a new president. Much has been said, ...
Planned growth is a good thing
There sure is a whole lot of planning going on in Santa Clarita these days. Every time you turn around, it seems there is a new master plan for something-or-other. There is a master plan for parks and recreation. There is a master plan for the arts. There is a master plan for "non-motorized transportation" so you can walk or ride a bike from one side of town to the other without getting run over. ...
Our View: Commission or no, arts need attention
What is the best way to promote the arts in Santa Clarita? The question has vexed our municipal leaders and the arts community for a number of years - although the arts community is fairly united in the belief that Santa Clarita needs a full-blown Arts Commission. The issue came to a head in October when Councilman Bob Kellar proposed just that. Elevating arts governance to the level of Santa Clarita's two existing commissions - ...
Our Nov. 4 voter guide
Our editorials during the last few weeks have provided information and The Signal's position on the various propositions, measures and candidate races on the Nov. 4 ballot. Below we summarize what we previously said.
Thanks, SCOPE, for the lump of coal
Twisted. That's the only word for the logic behind a pair of lawsuits that would block the expansion of our community's only hospital. "What we hope to do is make sure that hospital beds and promised benefits to the community are really built," said Lynne Plambeck, president of Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment. "It's not our intention to hold things up," added SCOPE board member Cam Noltemeyer. Hello? We just went through an ...
Send Republican slate to Sacramento
Santa Clarita has voted Republican since the 1960s, when our agrarian economy gave way to a bedroom community of young urban professionals who worked in Los Angeles.
Our position on November measures
Measure R: MTA Sales Tax - Before we formed the city of Santa Clarita in 1987, our unincorporated valley was sending millions more each year to downtown Los Angeles than we were getting back in services. That's what Measure R does. It taxes you an extra half-cent whenever you go to the store, and spends a disproportionate share of the revenue on politicians' pet transportation projects in downtown Los Angeles. Proponents like to say, "everybody ...
Be careful out there
It was probably as close to a white Christmas as we'll get in the Santa Clarita Valley this year.
Our positions on Nov. 4’s propositions
Proposition 1: High Speed Rail Bonds - The first $10 billion of an eventual $45 billion or more for bullet trains - in this economy? We tried to get a stop in the Santa Clarita Valley but the bullet train people said "no." Turnabout is fair play. We say no.
Let’s turn fouled land into a crown jewel
What incredible foresight the Santa Clarita City Council had a decade ago. That's when a shady group of land speculators wanted to transform a 1,000-acre patch of dirt in the middle of our city into a Mediterranean village of 2,911 homes complete with flyover bridges and escalators to lift happy residents up the mountainside, with a new municipal palace right next door so our city leaders could look down on the rest of us from ...
A tough road to a 'Yes' vote on Hart bond
If a down-and-out friend hit you up for a bunch of money to build a house, and then built only half a house because he wasn't paying attention to how much the framers and plumbers and electricians were charging, how willing would you be to give him twice as much as before to finish the job?
Congratulations to the Saugus girls cross country team
If one could only see the look on the faces of the girls who run for the Saugus cross country team after one of their races.
Again, Hart district parents deserve answers
What are your expectations when you send your teenagers to school? You probably expect them to be safe. You probably expect them to find opportunities for social interaction with their peers. You probably even expect them to learn something, especially in Santa Clarita where excellent teachers, a fine-tuned curriculum, and above-average household incomes and literacy rates combine to place the William S. Hart Union High School District at the top of state rankings year after ...
Thankful to live in a community that cares
As another Thanksgiving weekend draws to a close, we take this opportunity to reflect. The news of doom and gloom in the economy has put many people on edge, and if California's climbing unemployment rate is an indicator, then rightly so.
Articles by Section - Signal Editorials
The ends don’t justify the means
The Obama administration has finally touched a nerve of the mainstream American media.
Main Street still needing to feel better
Despite the recent news that jobless rates are falling, these are still difficult times. Nearly everyone agrees at some level that America is still struggling economically but why and what should we do?
Review of chloride plan needs more time
Last week the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District released two big binders full of information about four different plans for removing chloride from the Santa Clara River.
Einstein needs to get on with its mission
We here in the Santa Clarita Valley tend to elect fiscally prudent local government leaders whom we expect to be responsible with our hard-earned tax money.
Our view: Fighting fire with fire
A recent announcement by the U.S. Forest Service about altering its approach to fighting fires has caught our attention albeit for reasons different than theirs.
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