Westside Reader October 2015

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12 • Westside Reader October 2015 WRTC Meeting continued from page 9 added that “the revised plan would allow the entire Pico Canyon area to remain undisturbed, in its natural state.” While the extension of Poe Parkway will increase traffic there, Helfrich said it would still be well below the street’s designed capacity. Further, the extension of Poe, and changes to existing Poe, have been designed to discourage drivers from using the road as a “cut-through” to reach the freeway. Some of the changes include reduction of lanes, the addition of landscaped center medians and the addition of intersection “chokers.” After some questions from the audience, including where traffic lights will be placed on Poe, the WRTC voted to support the proposed roadway changes. What and where In other business, the West Ranch Town Council voted to approve a draft charter that sets out such things as its area of representation, amendments procedure, purpose of the council, and procedures for public participation at council meetings, referendums and more. At issue regarding the northern boundary of the area of representation was an overlap with the Castaic Town Council’s area of A projected map regarding possible roadway changes considered in response to the Newhall Ranch development. representation, and the approved end result was that the WRTC northern boundary would be the creek bed along highway 126. Pay to volunteer The WRTC, a group of volunteers, it should be noted, also voted to approve a membership fee of $100 per year for all council members — which could be waived on a case-by-case basis. As many of the council’s expenses, such as the cost of the mailbox and website, were being paid out of the members’ pockets anyway, this proposal was considered merely a means to have “a few dollars in the treasury” at the beginning of the year. WR Access Road continued from page 7 school district. “This is an effort that the Hart District, Romero Canyon LLC and the county have worked on for about 10 months,” Sturgeon said. Map shows location of a new access road connecting Sloan Canyon Road to the Castaic High School construction site. The timing of the permit is important, he said, because it’s crucial to make as much progress as possible before a potential wet winter that could be fueled by an El Niño condition in the Pacific. “They’ve been really moving since that permit came through, and given that we could have heavy rains this year, it’s important that the district and the developer make sure the roadway is safe,” Sturgeon said. WR 21515 Soledad Canyon Rd. Suite. 123 Santa Clarita, CA 91350 661.284.1200 www.boylesflooringinc.com
October 2015 Westside Reader • 13 Marlee Lauffer moves from Newhall Land to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Foundation By Jim Walker Staff Writer You might call it the “shock felt ’round the valley.” To longtime SCV residents, especially those keeping tabs on our “movers and shakers,” the August announcement that Marlee Lauffer was leaving Newhall Land in early September definitely came as a surprise — one on the level of a complete reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles. Lauffer has been the public persona and standard-bearer for Newhall Land for 26 years, as the company and its plans and projects significantly affected the development of our valley. But Lauffer hasn’t gone far. In fact, as of Sept. 14, she had already begun a two-pronged advancement for Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital — as president of the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Foundation and as vice president of marketing and communications for the hospital, itself. And though in the midst of her hectic and emotional changeover, Lauffer generously gave an hour of her time to the Westside Reader, offering her thoughts on what it all has been, what she hopes it will be, and why it’s not such a surprise, after all. “I have great respect for this company, and had really wanted to see the groundbreaking occur at Newhall Ranch, so now I’ll have to see it as a guest instead of a participant. But I told them I should have a front row seat.” Grew up everywhere Marlee Lauffer currently lives in Valencia with her 17-year-old daughter Katharine Lauffer, who is a senior at Valencia High School. However, Marlee was born in Texas and grew up, as she says, “in a lot of places,” living in several states. She spent her high school years in Southern California, and later graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in political science. After college, she went to work for then-State Assemblyman Tom McClintock. “As a political science major with a communications focus . . . communications was always a big part of my passion . . . and politics is really communications at its finest,” Lauffer said. When a headhunter contacted her about a position at Newhall Land, she said part of her research for it included driving out to Valencia and “looking at the product that they were responsible for, and believing it was done right, and that I wanted to be a part of continuing that growth.” Awesome in Awesometown Lauffer joined Newhall Land in 1989 as director of community relations, and that is when she moved to the SCV. Her initial responsibility was for the company’s public and media relations, and later, for investor relations and master marketing. In 1994 she was promoted to vice president of marketing and communications for Newhall Land, directing all the company’s marketing and communications programs including community relations, public relations, media relations and public affairs. She held this prominent position until earlier this month, when she moved on to work for the hospital. Along with that, over the years Lauffer has been very active on the SCV nonprofit scene and in other arenas, including being part of the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital Foundation, the SCV Chamber of Commerce, the Child and Family Center Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club Foundation and the WISH Education Foundation — and she is a founding director of the Bank of Santa Clarita. She said she has always been passionate about the arts, as well, which has led to her involvement with the city’s Arts Master Plan and promoting other arts-related causes and organizations. And though Lauffer has been recognized for her nonprofit work and community involvement over the years, including being honored by the Zonta Club of Santa Clarita Valley in 2013, it’s the results of that involvement that mean the most to her. “I think some of the things I am proudest of are . . . (assisting) the organizations that quietly and directly help make a difference in people’s lives,” she said. Shaping a valley Through its master-planned and come-tofruition Valencia development, and its simi- larly planned and yet-to-come Newhall Ranch development, Newhall Land has significantly shaped the Santa Clarita Valley infrastructure and lifestyle, as we know them, and into the future. Lauffer has, obviously, been a large part of that over her 26 years with the company. “This is an absolutely wonderful company to work for,” she said. “Everyone takes great pride in our product, which is the community of Valenica and our soon-to-come Newhall Ranch. And I think that because so many of us, over the years, have lived and worked here . . . the attention to detail is even more pronounced. We look at our product every day when we drive to work, when Marlee Lauffer we take our kids to school . . . So it’s a very engaged company . . . The things that we have laugh, “I’ve had a ton of fun with the Awesometown campaign, love it or hate it . . . It been able to bring have really created a balanced community, which was certainly created some controversy, but people still, mostly lovingly, refer to us as Awe- the goal of the company back in the ’60s.” Along with discussing some of the things sometown, in a great, tongue-in-cheek way.” that create that balance, such as open space, Lauffer’s affection for the people at trails and a regional shopping mall, Lauffer Newhall Land was evident on the day of this was especially proud of her part in bringing interview, as she said she had been hugging employers to the SCV, including Princess and crying all day, and this reporter observed Cruises and Logix, among others. “It’s very one such encounter. The affection was obviously mutual. gratifying to hear an employer say, ‘We want to come here because of the work that your company has done in implementing this master plan,’” she said. And she added, with a See Lauffer, page 14
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Westside Reader October 2015

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