Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Activists May Join Together to Gain Power : Politics: Residents hear praise for a Lancaster coalition that has helped elect council members and altered the General Plan.

SANTA CLARITA —  Maintaining that there is strength in numbers, local activists may create a network of citizens groups and homeowners associations in the valley, mirroring coalitions now wielding considerable power in other cities.

As proposed, the Santa Clarita Valley Coalition of Area Neighborhoods would include representatives from area homeowners groups. It would use those forums to discuss issues facing the community and present consensus opinions to the City Council and other governing agencies.

A Lancaster-based coalition that formed in August, 1981, has successfully voted candidates onto the City Council and altered the General Plan.

According to Lancaster Mayor Arnie Rodio, the coalition--with which he has periodically clashed and which has not endorsed him--has improved the area’s quality of life.

Rodio says there is no disputing the effectiveness of the Lancaster Coalition of Neighborhood Organizations during his term in office.

“Sheer numbers is what turns the head of the City Council. Lancaster is a better place today because of the LCNO,” Rodio told a group of 25 Santa Clarita residents Monday night.

The Lancaster coalition’s president, Deborah Shelton, agrees.

“Civic governing bodies will listen to you because you’re a group, better than an individual. The more bodies you can pack in the council chambers, the more impressed they are,” Shelton said.

An effective coalition acts as a lobbyist for thousands of residents, countering the efforts of other special interest groups such as developers or chambers of commerce, said Milt Huckabee, a co-founder of the Lancaster group.

“If you don’t do it, nobody’s going to do it for you,” Huckabee said.

Having such a group in Santa Clarita will help get information out to the public, according to the Citizens For A Better Santa Clarita Valley group that held the Monday night forum to discuss the coalition.

Citizens For A Better Santa Clarita Valley formed in opposition to the alignments suggested for the extension of California 126 through the Santa Clarita Valley. There was a significant lack of information getting out to the public about the California 126 issue and therefore little public reaction to it until the end of the decision process, leader Jack Curenton said.

“Our government tries to be responsive, our representatives try to be responsive, but let’s face it, they’re handicapped. Any government official can only go by the amount of information they’re fed,” Curenton said.

A Santa Clarita valleywide homeowners association was first suggested by activist Jack Ancona, who said existing homeowners groups are established by developers and therefore serve the interests of the builders rather than the residents.