The following is a KHTS editorial.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich is no George Washington. In a recent Signal Letter to the Editor, Antonovich informed the City of Santa Clarita they cannot stop the Cemex mega-mine expansion and should give up the fight. We suggest the Supervisor study his history.

Ten years ago, our City, with the support of its Citizens successfully stopped a major landfill, Elsmere, from being built. At that time, the County said it couldn’t be stopped. To walk away from the fight against the Cemex expansion now would create a domino negative impact on our Valley, starting with cement trucks traveling on Soledad every fifty seconds, add to that, a significant increase in air and noise pollution,  eventually watching our home values decrease, followed by a decrease in business, lowering the quality of our schools and the overall good life in our valley. Know how many kids in our valley currently have life threatening asthma? Imagine the numbers when the additional dust and particles disperse in our air.

We must use every possible tool we have to prevent this from happening. The annexation of the Stonecrest community is one of those tools. It will add to the City’s arsenal as they continue to fight Cemex by creating a bridge to allow them to annex the actual Cemex property into the City. This will give our City regulation jurisdiction over the mining operation instead of the County. Who would you rather have regulating the mega-mine?

In early May, I traveled with a Santa Clarita Chamber delegation to Washington DC. We met with our Congressman, Buck McKeon, Senator Barbara Boxer and key aids from Senator Diane Feinstein’s office. All of them assured us they would do everything in their power to assist in stopping the Cemex expansion. Funny how the Supervisor has given up, while our more Senior Representatives are anxious to pull up their sleeves and fight. Maybe someone should have joined us from the Supervisor’s office on that DC trip.

We had plenty of representation from senior City officials, to cover not just the Cemex battle, but many other issues impacting the Santa Clarita Valley. Instead, Antonovich, after caving in to Cemex is now asking the City to do the same. Shame on you, Supervisor.

If Antonovich was leading the 1980 United States Hockey team, he’d probably have told them not get on the ice against the Russians. Coaching the New York Jets in the 1969 Superbowl? Don’t bother taking the field to face the Colts. Cassius Clay should never have stepped in the ring against Sonny Liston. And if Antonovich was leading our Army during the winter of 1777, he probably would have instructed his troops at Valley Forge to pack up their bags and go home. The City needs our help to fight the Cemex expansion.

If Supervisor Antonovich doesn’t want to assist, then we respectfully ask him to leave us alone and spend his energy helping out his other two million constituents.