Santa Clarita Candidates Want To Ship Their Section 8 to Palmdale
AV News staff report
SANTA CLARITA - Following the lead of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, two candidates for Santa Clarita City Council said they wanted to move Canyon Country’s Jakes Way neighborhood (Section 8 housing area) to Palmdale.

They also suggested they could turn it into a prison instead.

Recently, four of the five county supervisors, who were not involved in a lawsuit regarding Section 8 inspections for fraud and crime in Lancaster and Palmdale, settled with the NAACP and TCAL by agreeing to stop such inspections. The action means that no real inspections will actually be done for at least three years and that the LA County Housing Authority can continue to send Section 8 recipients to Antelope Valley.

The candidates spoke during the first City Council forum for the upcoming Santa Clarita City Council election, according to a story in The Signal – the city’s local newspaper.

Candidates were asked what they felt were the most important issues facing the city. The most controversial topic was Section 8 housing – a federal program administrated by the county which gives vouchers that allow low-income families, the disabled and seniors to afford housing, according to The Signal report.

Both Mayor Laurie Ender and challenger and Castaic Lake Water Agency board member Ed Colley made the  comments about Section 8 during a discussion about the potential annexation of Jakes Way in Canyon Country. The area is known for Section 8 housing.

“Ender said at first that Section 8 housing was necessary to address the housing needs for senior citizens and people like teachers and firefighters, who may not be able to afford housing prices in Santa Clarita. However, after a question from an audience member about what the city planned to do about the potential annexation of Jakes Way in Canyon Country, Ender said that if the city had a choice it might be better if Jakes Way could be moved somewhere else,” stated The Signal article.

“ ‘As far as annexing (Jakes Way) in, I think that if we had a choice, we would just cut it out and move it somewhere else like Palmdale,’ said Ender.

’Frankly, if we could just put a big fence around the problem, the troublemakers, and make that into a prison, maybe that would be a good deal,’ said Colley. ‘Or, as Mayor Ender suggests, moving the whole thing, lock, stock and barrel to Palmdale.’ ”