It’s difficult to explain such a multi-dimensional man and list all of his accomplishments in a few pages. A book would be better, (he’s written more than 20), but let’s start at the beginning and attempt to make a dent in defining this humble, intellectual man who was instrumental in the creation of the City of Santa Clarita.

It began in 1966 when 35,000 people lived in the Santa Clarita Valley and Carl and Chris Boyer put every penny into a Del Prado Condominium. Multiple problems arose from the beginning, but most of the owners weren’t willing to fight city hall and were willing to walk away from the property. Wanting to do the honorable thing, Boyer took on the fight. “I was filling the vacuum,” he explained.

The biggest difficulty was that city hall was 32 miles away, and every time Boyer wanted to present petitions or speak he would have to take a day off from his job as a government teacher at San Fernando High School. In addition, Los Angeles County knew very little about the Santa Clarita Valley. Maps were incorrect, phone calls yielded few government people who knew anything about the valley, but ultimately one of the biggest issues was increased taxation without representation. The tax rates were the highest in the county and the services were limited.

In the Beginning

The story of the creation of the “largest newly incorporated city in the history of humankind” covers almost twenty years that are fraught with controversy, countless petitions and meetings, and plain old hard work conducted by a hardy band of citizens. “I volunteered to be a petition carrier. After a while they asked me to be chairman of the Santa Clarita city formation committee,” Boyer recalls.

Connie Worden-Roberts was vice-chairman of the city formation committee and on the first Planning Commission. “Carl was knowledgeable, hardworking and intelligent, who, like the others who served with him, had serving the city uppermost in his mind,” she said.

On the important ballot to determine city incorporation there was also a vote for the first city council. Boyer received the fourth largest number of votes out of the 26 residents who ran for office. The first city council was responsible for setting the bar high for all city services, including fiscal responsibility, schools, growth, public safety and transportation.

Carl Boyer’s passion for representative government drove him to work tirelessly so future residents would have a responsive government. When you call City Hall today, the staff tries to respond the day they receive the call. That’s a huge difference from Boyer’s experience with L.A. County government in 1966. Boyer retired from the city council after serving three terms, including two years as mayor, and was presented with a street sign bearing his name in recognition of his service to the city.

Committees & Classrooms

But there’s more. Boyer was a member of the Governing Board of the Santa Clarita Community College District from 1973-1981 including being president from 1979-1981 and a director of the Castaic Lake Water Agency from 1982-1984. He held these positions before the official formation of the city on December 15, 1987. There were many other gifts that he gave the city that are still important today. For example, Boyer studied the Tax Rates by Code Areas and discovered that no high school district in the state had a higher tax rate than the Hart district. Using his contacts and perseverance, state financial support for education was increased by 30.7%.

All of his public service took place after his day job of teaching government for 35 years at San Fernando High School (40 years teaching total). “I kept pounding on my students that they could make a difference in government,” Boyer noted. He encouraged them to get the phone number of city hall and when they had a problem to use the number. His students took the message to heart. “At one point all the elected officials in San Fernando had been my students, showing people that they can do something,” he added.

A Heart for Healing

Not only did Boyer make a difference in his students’ lives, but his high school French teacher made a difference in his life by talking about the benefits of travel. He has traveled to 117 countries, frequently as a chaperone of student groups or on medical missions to third world countries. “I’ve been to Nicaragua nine times. Some have been to take little libraries of 100 books. It’s more than they have,” he said, as if setting up libraries is something that’s done every day. “Four were medical trips. Family and friends raised $4,000 for basic expenses for the surgeon.”

Medical missions are featured prominently in the Boyers’ lives. In fact, pictures of the seven children that they’ve fostered through Healing the Children are featured with their three daughters and three grandchildren on the wall of their family room. “In church, when Cris Embleton asked in 1993 if anyone was interested in Healing the Children, Chris and I looked at each other. There was something more important than city government,” Boyer recalls. Healing the Children is a non-profit that provides first class medical care to needy children throughout the world including the U.S. Over 174,000 children have benefited from their services through donated life altering medical care in the U.S. or medical missions in their community. Boyer was national president of the organization for two years and president of the local chapter for many years.

“We went to LAX to pick up a cute little two-year-old who was a blue baby dying of a heart condition,” Boyer recalls. “After her surgery we sent her home to Colombia and have paid for her education ever since.” It will cost $1,000 a year for Karol to attend university. Other children from Healing the Children have returned to the United States to attend college and the SCV International program provides scholarships to students who want to attend college, including those from Santa Clarita’s sister cities: Tena, Ecuador and Sariaya, Philippines.

Danna, who spent five months with the Boyers and still touches their heart, is now almost five. “She was so messed up inside with arteries and veins all scrambled and leading to wrong places,” Boyer relates. “She died four times on the operating table. We went into her room and found her with her chest open covered with cellophane because they knew they would have to open her again. Chris took her home on Mother’s Day and was met with TV cameras. It was a Page One story in Ecuador. If you want to see me blubber it’s when Danna says, ‘I love you papa’ over the phone. That was the best investment of five months that I’ve ever made.”

Let’s Talk Books

And still there is more. Most of the books Boyer has written are on genealogy. He has traced his family back to 300 A.D. That’s not a typo — 300 A.D. “If you come from a place with good records like England within the thousands of ancestors are one or two who were nobility and kept records,” he says. He is descended from the last Welsh Prince of Wales and within his lineage are connections to George Bush and tax protestor Lady Godiva.

Boyer continues to initiate and lead dialogue regarding representative government and his latest goal is the division of L.A. County. “A county with 10 million people is ungovernable,” he states. “I feel that if I can plant the germ of the idea someone will run with it.” Consider this information directly from the L.A. County website (www.lacounty.gov): “More than 65 percent of the County – 2,649 square miles – is unincorporated. For the 1 million people living in those areas, the Board of Supervisors is their “city council” and County departments provide the municipal services. The 2009-10 adopted budget is approximately $22.7 billion.” Out of 223 countries with actual or estimated populations by the United Nations, 144 are smaller than L.A. County. Anyone want to take up the banner with Boyer?

Life at Home

On the family front, the Boyers have created a life of service in their 47 years of marriage. Their three daughters also have chosen to serve others through their professions. Michele is a psychiatrist in Idaho, Denise is an entertainer and medical massage therapist in Santa Clarita, and Danielle teaches English in Texas.

Boyer named his work with children and the medical missions as the stand out activities of his life. As a father, Boyer’s heart has been touched by the parents who entrust their child to strangers in order to have life-saving surgery.

When you pass Carl Boyer Drive consider the man who serves his community with a humble heart and whose passion continues to propel him to help those in need.

Boyer is available to speak to groups regarding genealogy, medical missions, travel, city formation and the future of L.A. County. Proceeds from a $20 contribution for his memoir about the incorporation of the city, titled “Santa Clarita, The Formation and Organization of the Largest Newly Incorporated City in the History of Humankind,” goes toward a scholarship set up by the SCV International program and will help with Karol’s education. This book highlights the amazing accomplishments that a group of committed volunteers can accomplish with a never say die attitude. Contact Boyer at cboyer3154@yahoo.com or 259-3154.