Westridge Means Jobs

The Westridge Project, under which the Newhall Land & Farming Co. proposes to build 1,868 housing units in the unincorporated area west of I-5 in the Santa Clarita Valley, is a classic struggle between jobs and trees.

The Stevenson Ranch Town Council represents the community that would be nearest to the Westridge Project. As president of the Town Council, I supported the council’s position in favor of the Westridge Project against strong pressure from environmentalists.

On Aug. 15, more than 3,000 people lined up in 108-degree heat at College of the Canyons to apply for jobs in the Valencia Mall scheduled to open in September. Many professionals and skilled workers accustomed to much more lined up for jobs paying $5 to $10 an hour because times are bad.

The Westridge Project would create 14,000 new jobs, generate $100 million annually in business for local merchants, produce $7 million in sales and property taxes for the county’s general fund, and result in $15 million in road and highway improvements for the Santa Clarita Valley.

About 20 environmentalists oppose the project because they say it encroaches on a Significant Ecological Area and would remove 132 oak trees. The no-growth, anti-business environmentalists who control the city of Santa Clarita have turned a deaf ear to Newhall Land’s proposal to plant more than three new trees for every tree removed.

They have chosen trees over jobs for people with families to support, children to raise and bills to pay.

For 20 years, I have worked in government to help create employment opportunities for the unemployed and disadvantaged. I wrote a doctoral dissertation at USC on jobs programs for the disadvantaged.

I have witnessed unemployed men and women crying uncontrollably when they were given jobs that would take them and their families off welfare. I have witnessed African-American youths leaving gangs for minimum-wage jobs. I have watched men lose their jobs and fall into deep depression. I have seen families destroyed by unemployment, poverty and ensuing alcohol abuse.

By avocation, I am an outdoor photographer who appreciates the environment. Every year, I backpack into the Sierra. My photographs have appeared on calendars, on postcards and in major national magazines. God knows how much I want our National Park System expanded and protected, and how much I want our wilderness areas to remain wilderness.

But the Santa Clarita Valley is not a wilderness. It is part of a metropolis that must grow to house its expanding population. Newhall Land & Farming is a responsible company that has a long record of being environmentally sensitive.

The Westridge Project is completely consistent with everything that is good about reasonable development. The handful of environmentalists in this valley who oppose Westridge do not speak for the majority, who want jobs and decent homes in which to live and raise their children.

RICHARD RIOUX

Rioux is president of the Stevenson Ranch Town Council .