Is Sylmar Seedy? Well, It Beats Indianapolis

To get to Sylmar from the south, you drive up Interstate 5 and take the Roxford Street exit. Here you’ll be greeted by a Chevron, a Mobil, a Denny’s and a Good Nite Inn. This is Sylmar. Not all of it, of course, but part of it.

Drive around a bit and you’ll see other sights, such as the water tumbling down the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the power lines stretched above. Olive View Medical Center is here, and so is the home base of Tutor-Saliba, everybody’s favorite Metro Rail contractor. There are houses and apartment buildings, several of which, of course, are fenced off because of quake damage. There are schools and churches, liquor stores and taverns. There are nurseries, including one specializing in bonsai. And there’s a Main Street of sorts, anchored by a Vons and a Super Mercado y Carniceria and appointed with some restaurants, beauty parlors, dry cleaners, video places and a pawn shop.

But, hey, Beverly Hills has pawn shops. And as this town’s defenders are quick to point out, Sylmar has equestrian property as well.

“I’m willing to grant,” Stephen Green responds, “that it has flies.”

He had his chance. But no. Green, the editor of the California Political Almanac, has outraged Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-yes, Sylmar) and a number of Katz’s neighbors by describing their corner of the City of Angels as “seedy.” When I called, he could have tried to make amends. But he couldn’t resist another cheap shot. Seedy, indeed.

To some people, the term seedy connotes morally degenerate urban areas where a British actor might troll for adventure. Webster’s offers the definitions “shabby, rundown, etc.” and “feeling or looking physically bad or low in spirits.”

When an angry Katz told the Sylmar Chamber of Commerce about it--or perhaps it was the Sylmar Kiwanis Club--member Richard K. Yamauchi sent Green a letter threatening legal action, a copy of which found its way to me:

“Recently I became aware that your journal has defamed our community. . . . I find your description to be infuriating and insulting. I have been a Sylmar resident since 1986. . . . I do not see our community as seedy.

“I demand a public apology from you to be published in the Valley Edition of the Los Angeles Times. . . . If I do not see the public apology, I will organize a committee to take legal action against you for defamation on behalf of every single one of the 75,000 plus residents of our beautiful community--Sylmar.”

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Low in spirits? Not Richard K. Yamauchi. When I told him about Green’s lack of remorse, Yamauchi urged me to put it in the paper. But if any Sylmarians think that they’ll be getting rich over a class-action libel suit, please be advised that Yamauchi is a CPA, not a lawyer.

It didn’t seem likely that Green would purchase advertising space to make his apology, so I offered my services. I reached him at the capital bureau of the Sacramento Bee, where he’s been a reporter for 16 years. On the side, he’s edited the last three editions of California Political Almanac.

Green hadn’t yet seen Yamauchi’s letter, but he’d already heard from Katz. The assemblyman, he said, “was truly put out.”

Had Green ever been to Sylmar?

“Oh, yes,” he said. “You drive through it on I-5.”

So was this a case of drive-by judgment? Not at all, Green says. He says he has contributed to Sylmar’s economy by stopping for gas. And it seems that he has visited “the end of the federal power inter-tie,” the nexus that enables Los Angeles to tap into energy that is generated way up on the Columbia River.

Green described the facility as “scenic” and suggested that the Sylmar Chamber of Commerce might promote it as a tourist attraction.

Green laughed often as we spoke, seemingly insensitive to the pain. But he eased up a bit after recalling a fellow reporter who outraged the San Joaquin Valley town of Shafter in a similar manner. Shafter’s civic leaders invited the reporter down and held a day of events in his honor.

“I’m willing to be convinced that things are better than we portrayed them. I would certainly rather be in Sylmar than Shafter. . . . I’ve lived in worse places than Sylmar.”

Such as?

“Indianapolis. It’s a hole. . . . There are a lot of communities in California that would feel gratified if people only called them seedy.”

Green even went so far as to admit that there are “some very nice areas” in Sylmar. He hemmed and hawed a bit when I asked him to be more specific, then said, “Where Richard Katz lives, obviously.”

This wasn’t an apology, but it seemed like progress. And when I spoke to Yamauchi, he was willing to concede, however grudgingly, that perhaps a few parts of Sylmar might indeed be described as seedy. But certainly not all.

“To use a term like seedy is extremely insulting,” he said. “I have my business here. My wife just got a real estate license.”

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When I asked him to describe some of Sylmar’s virtues, Yamauchi cited the “rural atmosphere” and the “beautiful mountain view” and, of course, the horse properties. He cited the community’s fine volunteer spirit, as exemplified by the Sylmar Graffiti Busters. He hailed El Cariso Park (which, alas, is targeted for closure because of the county budget mess.) He pointed out that Sylmar High School, while ranked very low for academic achievement, did the community proud by winning the city football championship.

Maybe it’s one of those glass-half-full kind of debates. Or it’s horses vs. flies.

When I drove through Sylmar the other day, I spotted four horsemen on beautiful, noble mounts clip-clopping along Foothill Boulevard, past the Super 8 Motel.

And I didn’t notice a single fly.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.