Valencia Employment (CH6)





Well, everyone knows Valencia oranges but they are actually named after the orange trees in Valencia, Spain. Although there are many oranges grown outside of Valencia in farms in and around Ventura County. One of the well known farms in Valencia is Lombardi farms and is a great place to go in the fall to pick out your pumkins. They are well known for their fabulous sweet corn and delicious vegetables. There is also a vineyard about 20 minutes away called Agua Dulce vineyard. This is a 90 acre fully operational winery and vineyard with daily tastings and tours. And then there are the farmers markets at College of the Canyons every Sunday morning and one in Newhall Ranch on Thursday nights. This is a great place to get fresh fruit, vegetables and sometimes even seafood or eggs from farms around the area.




As far as other employment in Valencia it is primarily service based. The largest employers being Magic Mountain Park, Saugus and William S. Hart School District, and Princess Cruises. As you can see on the pie 42% of the business is service related, 22% is in retail trade, and 11% is in finance, insurance and real estate. Most of the businesses in Valencia are small businesses with less than 5 employees. This makes up 59% of the businesses out here, with 19% employing 5 to 9 employees, and only 5% employ more than 50 employees. The pie below shows how the workforce is divided in Santa Clarita. With 124, 200 people employed: 48% are in the service sector, 13% is in manufacturing, and 9% are in the wholesale/retail trade sector. Despite the recent decline in jobs, Valencia has seen a 1.9% growth in the job market since 2007.

Valencia Politics (CH 5)


I have found out a lot about Valencia politics during this whole election process. Tucked away in such a liberal county of Los Angeles seems to be a very conservative town. There are many McCain/Palin signs and yes on prop 8 signs being displayed in many of the neighborhoods around town. I have to drive by about 20-100 people rallying with yes on prop 8 sign almost every day. My friends in Los Angeles don't believe me because it is so liberal there, it is more common to see many Obama signs and the No on Prop 8 seems to just be a given. Most of the information I have found wraps us in with Los Angeles County which has shown a history of voting Democratic for the most part. Even thought the Democratic population has increased we are still seeing a fifteen percent majority over the Democrats by the Republicans.

Santa Clarita is part of the 17th state senate district. In this district 47.1% are Republican, 35.9% Democratic, and 12.9% not registered for a particular party. This district is currently being represented by republican George Runner. Santa Cl aria is part of the 38th State Assembly District and is represented by assemblyman Cameron Smythe. Santa Clarita's mayor is Bob Kellar, Mayor pro-tem is Fran Ferry. The council members are: Laurie Ender, Marsha McLean, Laurene Weste, and the city manager is Kenneth R. Pulskamp.