Santa Clarita, CA — Denise Lite, a candidate for Santa Clarita City Council District 2 and former Planning Commissioner removed from that position by a 3-2 council vote last July, posted a photograph to her personal Facebook page this Fourth of July showing members of her parade float consuming a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne in the Santa Clarita Valley Fourth of July Parade staging area at 8am — in apparent violation of the event’s published rules, which she had agreed to follow, and which she is asking voters to trust her to make more of.
The photograph was taken by Lite. The Facebook page is Lite’s. The float was Lite’s. The rules are everyone’s.
The Santa Clarita Valley Fourth of July Parade’s published rules and restrictions are not ambiguous on this point, or indeed on any point, having been written in plain English by adults: “Alcohol and controlled substances are prohibited in all parade areas, including pre-parade and post-parade areas, unless otherwise authorized.” Lite is an attorney. We note this without further comment, except to observe that a legal career generally requires a base level of reading comprehension that the photograph suggests was not deployed here.
There is no reading of this situation in which a lawyer who agreed to the rules, photographed their violation, and posted the evidence to Facebook comes out looking like someone who should be making more rules.
Lite’s float won first place in the “Do-Dah / Other” category. Whether the “Do-Dah / Other” category specifically includes operating an open bar as a float was not clear. The parade’s published rules state that violations may result in disqualification and a minimum one-year suspension from the event. It is unclear if this clear violation of the rules will result in Lite’s disqualification and minimum one-year suspension from the event.
Veuve Clicquot is a French champagne house founded in 1772. A standard bottle retails for approximately $65. The label is bright orange. It was clearly visible in the photograph Lite posted to Facebook, because of course it was.
We wish her float the best in next year’s competition, should it be permitted to participate.
Update: As of 1:30pm, 7/6/2026 Denise Lite deleted her incriminating Facebook post. Here’s a screenshot of it:
Jerome Horwitz is a Santa Clarita native. His family traces their lineage all the way back to the 1960s when his grandparents moved to the area to start a farm in what is now Castaic Lake. Growing turnips proved unfeasible below water, so they got out of farming and started a donut shop specializing in Bear Claws. Jerome enjoys watching paint dry, and lurking in local Facebook groups.
