February 19, 2020
​Meeting



7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Mint Canyon Moose Lodge
Banquet Room
18000 Sierra Highway
Canyon Country CA 91351

The Public is Invited
​Admission is Free


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                Together We Can Make A Difference

                                                AGENDA

Understanding the March 2020 Ballot Propositions
Presented by Jim De Bree, a semi-retired CPA

Homes4Families - Veterans Enriched Neighborhoods
Presented by Bridgett Mills, Director of Program Design
 
Los Angeles County’s New Voting System - How will it stack up against Iowa?
Presented by Alan Ferdman
 
AB 1482 and Whispering Oaks Senior Apartments - The Devil is in the Details!!
Presented by Alan Ferdman 

We hope to see you at the meeting, because…
"Together We Can Make a Difference"
 
Please call 661-713-9344 for more information
CCACMemberInfo@gmail.com



​The Canyon Country Advisory Committee Celebrated 20 Years
At the January 17, 2017 special City Council meeting, Councilwoman Marsha McLean said she would like to see people involved in civic engagement organizations. I believe the Canyon Country Advisory Committee, established by the City of Santa Clarita Valley in 1997, is one of those non-political, civic engagement, organizations.
 
This is a definition of Civic Engagement from Wikipedia: “Civic engagement or civic participation, according to the American Psychological Association, is "individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern". It can be defined as citizens working together to make a change or difference in the community. Civic engagement includes communities working together in both political and non-political actions. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community.”
 
After reading Alan Ferdman’s below article, I think you will agree with me. I have been a member since almost the beginning of the organization.
Judy Taylour, Secretary, Board of Directors

 Always Advocating Alan - Happy Anniversary Canyon Country Advisory Committee by Alan Ferdman
​January 13, 2017 column, Santa Clarita Gazette
http://bit.ly/2jA7WJJ
 
This year marks the City of Santa Clarita’s 30th anniversary. Over the next 365 days, I expect we will be bombarded with articles and mailers telling us everything about the city.
 
In addition, 2017 also marks the Canyon Country Advisory Committee’s 20th anniversary. Originally established in 1997 by the City of Santa Clarita, it was called the Canyon Country Better Than Ever Committee. The City of Santa Clarita had planned on forming a citizens’ group in each of the four segments of our city: Canyon Country, Saugus, Newhall and Valencia. It was at a time when municipalities across the state were establishing community groups within their boundaries. The County of Los Angeles established town councils in unincorporated areas, and the city of Los Angeles initially established almost 100 neighborhood councils.
 
The Canyon Country Better Than Ever Committee, along with the Saugus Action Team, ended up as the only City of Santa Clarita citizen committees and, as such, became the city’s focus on community outreach. The City of Santa Clarita first supported the two citizens’ committees by providing them a yearly budget, staff support, security and a meeting location. City staff would set the meeting agenda, put issues before the group for discussion and report results back to city management and the city council.
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I became a member in 2000. Two years later, the Canyon Country Better Than Ever Committee’s assigned staff liaison left her employment with the City of Santa Clarita. Change was in the wind and the committee looked inward at our goals and objectives. The members voted to change the name to the Canyon Country Advisory Committee (CCAC) to better reflect the organization’s activities and instituted a yearly election process to choose officers. I was elected the organization’s chairperson and have maintained the position for the past 15 years.
 
Over the next several years, Santa Clarita’s city manager reduced support to the city’s community groups, a little at a time. All the while, city staff urged the CCAC to become more independent and establish community events of their own. Taking that advice to heart, in 2006 the Canyon Country Advisory Committee made changes: We hosted the first City Council Election Forum; made changes to the monthly meeting format to be more informational; and started video recording the meetings.
 
In the middle of 2010, Santa Clarita City Manager Ken Pulskamp announced that the city was breaking ties with their community groups altogether. His rationale for doing so was the cost of sponsoring the groups’ meeting locations. The decision caused the Canyon Country Advisory Committee, Saugus Action Team and Whittaker-Bermite Citizens Advisory Group to fend for themselves. Fortunately for our community, the Mint Canyon Moose Lodge stepped up to support the CCAC’s important civic activity by allowing CCAC meetings to be held in the Moose Lodge Banquet Room.
 
The Canyon Country Advisory Committee remains the only organization of its kind in the Santa Clarita Valley and continues to host monthly meetings with the goal of providing information to the public. It is a non-political and non-partisan entity, run entirely by volunteers. The group steers away from partisan politics by not discussing any issues which do not directly affect the Santa Clarita Valley. Presentations are solicited from city staff, developers and community leaders, as well as analyses of community issues by Canyon Country Advisory Committee members. When contentious issues are presented, the CCAC makes every effort to have both sides of the issue represented. In addition, the organization does not campaign for or endorse candidates for elected office. If you cannot make a meeting, presentations are uploaded on YouTube for viewing at your leisure. Over the past three years, 265 individual presentations have been recorded and loaded out on YouTube for public access.
 
Looking to the future, the Canyon Country Advisory Committee formed a board of directors and established itself as the Santa Clarita Community Council, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. We believe that what happens on one side of the valley affects the entire valley. Once again, the group has reevaluated its priorities, and while issues scrutinized were never limited to Canyon Country, our focus on other areas of the valley will be further emphasized, as well as activities promoting the Santa Clarita Community Council.
 
Monthly Canyon Country Advisory Committee meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month, January through November, from 7-9 p.m. in the Mint Canyon Moose Lodge Banquet Room, 18000 Sierra Highway in Canyon Country. If you are coming straight from work or just do not have time to eat, you can join us for dinner. Food services are provided by the Moose Lodge starting at 6 p.m. at a very nominal cost. Tables will also be available in the meeting room.
 
Happy 20th anniversary, Canyon Country Advisory Committee. Everyone who lives, works, attends classes or owns property in the Santa Clarita Valley are invited to attend our meetings, free of charge. It is our hope you will choose to be our guest.