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206 SANTA CLARITA

had had his turn he had thrown the ball into the dirt. When the time came I
burned it in. I threw a “high, hard pitch to McKeon that was called a strike by
Councilwoman Jill Klajic.” Of course it was a strike. Jill was not about to cut me
any slack. I was told Tommy Lasorda was watching, but no contract was
offered. 20
On the other hand, I was appointed by Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills to the
Regional Issues Task Force of the Los Angeles Division of the League of
California Cities, and was elected chairman of the Resolutions Committee of the
California Contract Cities Association. The importance of the latter position was
that a seat on the executive board went with the chairmanship. Santa Clarita
would be at the table.
Buck McKeon resurrected the idea that we should have a popularly elected
mayor. This time I supported it, because I had come to know what a killer the job
could be, and I felt that if the people could elect the mayor directly they would
support paying a full salary for the position. The problem was not the burden of
conducting council meetings, or doing the occasional ribbon cutting. It was that
we had to represent our large city to the county, state and federal governments,
and that took a major effort. I said that I favored holding the election to change
the system as soon as Jill Klajic had had her chance. Tim Whyte quoted Jill as
saying, “There are still people out there who think Tom Bradley is our mayor.
And they’re very happy with him.” 21
I knew this was true. One afternoon I was making a purchase at ThriftyDrug
on Lyons Avenue, now Rite Aid. The clerk at the register looked at me and said,
“Your face is familiar. Where have I seen you?”
I finally suggested she might have seen my picture in the papers. “I’m the
Mayor,” I volunteered.
“No, you’re not!” she answered brightly. I did not argue. Tom Bradley was
a good deal taller than me, and had a darker complexion.
During the last part of June we had eleven council meetings in twelve days.
We approved the General Plan, the budget and the Capital Improvement Program,
and judged the competition for a city hall design. It was a situation where a lot
of different projects had come together at one time. Completion of the work on
the largest general plan for a new city in world history was topped off by a debate
over Newhall Land’s plans for a five-acre mini mall on the southeast corner of
Seco Canyon Road and Copperhill Drive.
Of the general plan I said, “We have adopted the most stringent, most
effective growth management tool in California. The general plan shows what the
people can expect of this city over a long-range period.” Tim Whyte asked
exactly what they could expect. “They can expect serious attention to significant
ecological areas, to the problems of noise pollution, water pollution, traffic,
roadbuilding, developers paying for infrastructure. An improving situation rather
than a deteriorating situation as we go along. They can expect a non-political
approach, I think. There’s no reason to expect a lot of amendments and
monkeying around.” 22