<strong>August</strong> <strong>2015</strong> <strong>Westside</strong> <strong>Reader</strong> • 5 CastaiC town CounCil Voice of the community by Jim Walker Staff Writer Whether the issues are managed growth, possible incorporation/ annexation, landfill expansion, traffic, dust or anything else of concern, the members of the Castaic Area Town Council (aka Castaic Town Council) will consider them, with your best interests at heart. The council is an advisory board, presenting community points of view with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and various county departments, such as Public Safety, Regional Planning, and Parks and Recreation. The Castaic Area Town Council is comprised of ten elected representatives from five regions within unincorporated Castaic. Here we help you get to know your representatives. Region 1: Live Oak, North Bluffs, Hillcrest Park, Hasley Hills and the Valencia Commerce Center John Kunak (council president) Elected November 2012, term expires December 2016 “I moved to Castaic in 1997,” John Kunak said. “It was in 1998 that I became aware that there was a Castaic Area Town Council. It was after the election and I wanted to be very involved in my community and decided that in the next election year, which was 2000, I would run for a seat.” Kunak is a practicing attorney, living with his wife of 30 years, Mary Kunak, and his daughter, Kelley Kunak, 20 years old and a junior at the University of Southern California (his alma mater). “My wife and I are extremely proud of our daughter, who is in her second year as a USC Song Girl (‘cheerleader’—the girls who dance to the songs of the band).” Kunak has served as a community volunteer for the past 15 years. “In addition to being elected to my first term on the Castaic Area Town Council in 2000, I also served on the Castaic Union School District Board of Trustees from 2001 through 2009. I was termed-out as a member of the Castaic Area Town Council in 2008, as we were only allowed to serve two consecutive terms at that time. In 2012, I did run again and have been a member of the council since then. I am currently president of the CATC and also served as president on numerous occasions during my prior service on the council.” Kunak said he has also served multiple terms as president of the Castaic Union School District Board, along with being president of the Castaic Education Foundation and Castaic Lions Club. “I also serve as a volunteer judge on the Santa Clarita Valley Community Court, which is a program to educate and help our youth, who are first-time offenders and need some direction,” he said. “I have learned, through my time in many of the elected and service positions, that there should be no particular personal agenda that one brings forward (at the council), Kunak noted. “I have always felt, and continue to feel, that being a voice of my community and representing the majority view of the community is my mandate. Obviously, one’s personal views cannot help but come into play, but I have made a conscious choice to not come to any decisions until I have heard all points of view and refuse to make any decision, or vote on any particular matter, until a motion is actually made before the Castaic Area Town Council and I have heard our entire community’s views on the matter.” Jessica Roussel Chambers (secretary and website editor) Elected November 2014, term expires December 2018 With a family of three, Jessica Roussel Chambers said she has lived in the Castaic area for 28 years and works in “aerospace-quality.” She first came to the council in January of <strong>2015</strong>. When asked what she hopes to accomplish via the council, she said, “I hope to represent the new families that have and are moving to our area, keeping in mind it is these growing families that are developing in this area — as well as listening to those who have made Castaic their permanent home in the past. I wish to bring Castaic back to its glory years, when I was younger and there were things to do and people were proud to call Castaic their home.” Region 2: Val Verde area Greg Kimura Elected November 2012, term expires December 2016 Greg Kimura is an auto-broker and property manager, who has lived in the Castaic area for more than four years. “There are two of us in our house, and my sister lives here in Castaic, as do our two daughters and three grandkids,” he said. “I came to the council when we had a cell tower issue with a company called Core. About a year later, I ran in the 2012 CATC election,” he added. “Currently, our community has a few major issues, which we would like to have our voice heard on,” Kimura said. “These issues are the expansion of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, resolution of the flooding problem at the intersection of Del Valle and Hasley Canyon, and the substantial growth that is planned in the Castaic area. We may not be able to get everything that we want, but it would be great if we could be included in the meetings and our concerns will be considered when the decisions are made.” Bonnie Blackwell-Nikolai (co-chair, Land Use Committee) Elected November 2014, term expires December 2018 Bonnie Blackwell-Nikolai said she has lived in the Castaic area for seven and a half years. See Town Council, page 16 CastaiC town CounCil Meeting Letter to Chiquita Canyon Landfill nixed by Jim Walker Staff Writer This month’s meeting of the Castaic Town Council was a mostly placid affair, featuring various good-news reports from the field that held little drama and stirred up no controversy. It was just the type of event one might imagine for a “town council” gathering. However, those in the audience who exited the meeting early missed a few sparks. Stepping to the podium Before the scheduled presenters took to the podium, the council and audience were addressed by Linda Storli, who is running for the William S. Hart Union High School District Board. Storli filled everyone in on her background, including her 30 years teaching at Canyon High School, and on her goals, if elected, which include operating from “a teacher’s perspective.” Next at the lectern was Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Byron Wainie, presenting a crime report. With an uptick in commercial burglaries, “window smashes,” as he described them, he also reminded those present not leave valuables on car seats. Officer Robert Byrod from the California Highway Patrol was next, reporting on traffic collisions, citations and arrests in the area — including, surprisingly, only one injury collision for the entire month of July in the Castaic area. He added that the Highway Patrol would have a “maximum enforcement period” from Sept. 4 through Sept. 7, during the Labor Day weekend. Among other reports given, Jesse Hendrick, a director of youth sports at the Castaic Regional Sports Complex, discussed various activities there, including little league baseball and mountain biking. At the end of this, councilman Flo Lawrence reminded all that Sept. 12 will be Grandparents Day at the complex. “We feed the heck out of the seniors on that day,” he said, and added there will be a soccer celebration and 9/11 event on that day as well. Hazardous materials After other presentations and business, and just when it seemed the meeting would slip quietly into the night, the issue of the council possibly sending a letter to the county supervisors was raised. If sent, the letter would include a list of hazardous materials that, in the letter, the Castaic Town Council would recommend not be allowed into the Chiquita Canyon Sanitary Landfill. And that’s when the sparks flew — though all within proper meeting decorum, of course. The divisive issue of possibly sending the letter was brought to the council by member Bonnie Nikolai, of the council’s Region II, which includes the Val Verde area. “A constituent asked me to do it,” she later said. “He said it would be good to ask the supervisors if we could be involved with the conditional See Castaic Town Council, page 12
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