Miranda's Got a Lotta Problems with You People—And Now You're Gonna Hear About It!
Santa Clarita's Festivus Fiasco: Wannabe Mayor Bill Miranda's Bitter Rants, Phantom Facts, and the Gentrification Grievance Tour
Did anyone catch Tuesday's Santa Clarita City Council meeting? Talk about weird—Festivus arrived early this year, with “wannabe” Mayor Bill Miranda activating his cranky old man Frank Costanza mode, unleashing a torrent of grievances against anyone who'd ever crossed him. I haven't seen a washed-up has-been this mad since Joe Biden was denied an extra scoop of chunky monkey ice cream. He made it crystal clear that he is a bitter, petty man and his entire rant was personal, how dare the public give feedback and not just go along with every scheme city hall comes up with, in this case threatens to pave over one of the Valley's oldest multi-use buildings—a former Courthouse, Jail, Masonic lodge, and one time home of the Canyon Theatre Guild, which is how it got its "Rafters" nickname.
I called Mr. Miranda a “wannabe” mayor because those were his exact words toward Jason Gibbs—he sneered at Gibbs, calling him a "wannabe congressman" from the dais. Not exactly mayor-like behavior, especially for someone who's never been elected mayor. This didn’t stop Bill from writing a book about the BS title, though—who wouldn’t want to read the adventurous tales of the ins and outs of ribbon-cutting for Fro-Yo and yoga shops? The gig is 100% symbolic, mainly an unfair election perk that allows an incumbent to add 'Mayor' next to their name on the ballot. If you’re not familiar, Santa Clarita is a Charter City with a five-person council, where the mayor's role rotates—unless your name is TimBen, sorry, dude—and a city manager. It's generally more stable, avoiding big directional swings every four years from electing a new mayor... assuming you've got a competent manager, which is a big “if” for our city.
So why was Miranda angry?
The reason Bill was so upset with Gibbs is that his own political stunt got its legs cut out from under him. Bill planned to vote no on this new version of the deal, to make some petty point. Still, since both Weste and Gibbs recused themselves, it left only the required minimum three votes to make the deal go through, so Bill’s ego gave us the “stompy feet” temper tantrum yes vote. Miranda clearly feels played, and his accusations against Jeri and Carl Goldman were assinine to say the least. Why would the Goldmans have Gibbs recuse himself? Instead, those donations actually put their own deal at risk, as any of the three City Council members behind the dias had the power to vote no and kill the deal. Kudos to Marsha for that awkward moment of silence, refusing to second and forcing Miranda to second his own motion. Lol 🤡 This entire circus could be McLean's swan song farewell—going out with a mic-drop on these clowns.
The bigger question for Mr. Miranda is, where did he obtain all these numbers regarding the deal between the Goldmans and the Serrano Development Group, when the parties involved were not even allowed to disclose the details? Where did Miranda get this phantom 1.9 million evaluation of the building’s value? Why does the Signal act like this number is real? It just so happens to be 450k, the amount the bumbling idiots fumbled? There was no appraisal of the property, so where did he obtain this number, and why was he acting as if it were a fact? Even if it was an accurate valuation, what does that have to do with you, Mr. Miranda? How did Bill have undisclosed information he shouldn’t have had? Seems like the Serrano group has someone in their ranks with some loose lips, which, as we know, sinks ships. Now, far be it from me to criticize the quintessential good businessman, but shouldn’t Miranda know that something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it? It is simple supply and demand: you have a very interested buyer, which increases the demand, and a seller who wasn’t interested in selling, which increases the price, in addition to other factors like having to move a radio station, this isn’t like moving into a new condo, KHTS will have broadcast licenses they have to change which because of government probably costs a fortune and will take who knows how long. The city council shouldn’t be getting mad at Downtown Newhall businesses in the area that are responding to the city’s rushed actions.
KHTS and Serrano Development Group do not owe you an explanation or transparency. This is your deal; perhaps you should have done a better job vetting it so you wouldn’t end up bent over a barrel, begging some developer for money. Jason Tolleson disclosed this immediately when discussing the KHTS building with the Planning Commission on March 18, stating that the ideal situation for addressing noise and mitigation issues was to purchase the building—they just hadn't settled on a price yet. The fact that negotiations between the Goldmans and Serrano were happening was fully out in the open from the start. If the City Council had done its due diligence and let the planning commission thoroughly vet the project’s impact, this deal could have been hashed out properly—imagine a talented commission asking tough questions and providing real recommendations. Nope, not in this city; we want yes-people who close their eyes and run like lemmings off the cliff. Instead, you allowed Laurene Weste to expedite this project through Planning Commission and City Council approval, despite history showing that developments of this size typically require 2-4 Planning meetings and several council sessions. This entire thing seems like everyone involved is flying by the seat of their pants.
By the way, how did Miranda suddenly become the heavy in all of this? Weste negotiated this deal, and somehow she gets to take a nap in the back while Bill and Patsy yell at the room of concerned citizens? I have said it many times on this substack: What exactly does the City’s legal counsel do? Why didn’t they interrupt this and say we need to take a short recess and let Miranda know how badly he was screwing the pooch? Watching this rant was like watching a person with multiple personalities—one minute he's angry and sh*t-talking someone, the next he's whining about not getting $750,000 for the city. Then he starts lecturing the Serrano Development Group that they bought a historic building (the old Newhall Hardware), asking "Do you know the building you just bought? Was it a historic building? Did you know that?" as if that's some gotcha; if it's so important, put it on the Historical Registry, which is pretty much just a suggestion at this point anyway. If Miranda needs a refresher, he should read the Signal column from May 24th, where they made fun of the fact that the city council voted to lower the amount the city would receive from $750,000 to $300,000, allocating the remaining $450,000 to the noise mitigation efforts. Did anyone think to ask if negotiations for the building were still happening? Why is everything so half-ass on this project?
Bill wasn’t done; he had to take the opportunity to throw barbs at Denise Lite, who didn’t even speak at the meeting, saying “Denise Lite not only voted for this project, but she voted for it twice… she even seconded the motion,” Miranda said. “So I’m not sure how she goes from asking her questions about the project, knowing all the facts, and voting in favor of it twice, to being a pretend whistleblower.” He then took it a step further with a crass jab at her 2022 election loss: “She didn’t just get beat, she got her ass kicked.”
But let's set the record straight—Lite didn't get her ass kicked. As a political novice who trusted people she shouldn't have, she came up just 1978 votes short in a crowded field. And let's not forget, most city council members lose their first attempt—folks like Jason Gibbs, Cameron Smyth, Marsha McLean, and TimBen Boydston all bounced back after early defeats. Meanwhile, Miranda has been gifted his career: appointed in 2017 after Dante Acosta's assembly win, he has been handed name ID and ballot perks on a silver platter. Why did you get that handout, Bill? Maybe we can discuss it at your “roundtable,” oh, that’s right, only your friends are invited to participate in that. Brown Act be damned, Miranda gets to hold secret government meetings because reasons! So why are you so mad, Bill? Why was Lite removed from her position if she supported the project? Try telling the truth once.
Perhaps Lite wasn’t against the project in theory and had a problem with the process of how it was being done, like how the council ignored the logistical hell that you are about to put these downtown businesses through, getting rid of a lot of scarce parking spots and refusing to push for replacement using a Sacramento law AB 2097 which restricts cities from requiring parking in transit-rich zones, ignoring the fact that it does allow exemptions If a city can prove that the absence of parking would cause a substantial negative impact on public health, safety, or welfare, it may still impose parking requirements. That is a Metrolink station with limited operating hours; it is not a subway. Now you are forcing people to park in the Metrolink parking lot and walk across the train tracks to go to a nice restaurant? This is your vision? You could have easily had them replace the parking spaces they are taking away and add some more. Still, now you hide behind a law that has a clear carve-out. Apparently, having ladies walking across railroad tracks and then 40-50 yards in heels to get to the Junction isn't really a concern for the City Council.
Perry Smith attempted—and got denied—access to answers from City Attorney Joe Montes on his claim that the City Council's hands are tied by California's Housing Accountability Act (HAA, Gov. Code §65589.5), just like with AB 2097. Utter nonsense. The HAA's "builder's remedy" only applies to projects with at least 20% low-income or 100% moderate-income units in non-compliant jurisdictions that fail to meet RHNA goals. Hartwell isn't affordable, so it doesn't qualify—it would have been denied or conditioned more easily if it had violated local standards, such as zoning or density requirements. This surprises no one; the city keeps hiding behind laws that don’t apply to make it look like they have no choice in the matter, all the while doing literal back flips to get some of that sweet developer cash to make up for their own gambling debts.
Why is the city council so desperate to get this project going as soon as possible? They seem to be fast-tracking every aspect of it—rushing through due diligence, bending to every developer whim, completely ignoring public feedback, and resorting to childish personal attacks from behind the dais. Wannabe Mayor Miranda kept saying something didn’t smell right. I think that funky smell might be Miranda past his sell-by date, or the whiff of desperation the council's trying to hide from the Serrano Development Group. One party's negotiating from a position of strength; the other's the city, scrambling, hiding behind state housing mandates, claiming that they need quick approvals or risk lawsuits. This is the kind of stuff that'd make Frank Ferry blush—almost as if the City bit off more than it could chew with that money-sucking acquisition of a certain park named after a certain Hollywood cowboy, that has a restoration bill up over $10M+, and now needs those sweet developer fees to plug the gaps. And City Manager Ken Striplin said the quiet part out loud when answering Patsy's question about what the money is for: "Yes, the original proposal was to provide the money to be used for historical preservation, specifically at Hart Park." This is how the public sector fundraises—shaking down developers under the guise of "mitigation" while the public foots the real bill.
So, needless to say, we respectfully disagree with the Signal editorial staff that “Mayor” Miranda has any valid points—he was an embarrassment and should resign. Stay tuned for more on the scramble to fix William S. Hart Park and beyond by subscribing to Accountable SCV. Consider supporting us with a paid subscription to help keep exposing the shenanigans inside City Hall—and figure out why Patsy Ayala is obsessed with catchphrases and won’t just come clean about the city's inability to afford the Hart Park acquisition, needing to sell off our historical gems to cover the county's mismanagement. Rumor vs Reality or Nah?