Candidate for Mayor Steve Sojka personally invited me to his fundrasier tonight to take pictures and videos of his supporters explaining why they want him to be the next mayor.

What questions would you like asked?

If you are going to the fundraiser and want to answer a few questions for a real short video talk to me tonight.

In the last post on this event I intentionally called it a funraiser, in reference to an episode of The Office, instead of a fundraiser. I often have typos and other mistakes but that wasn't one of them. If you see a typo please either post a comment or email me. I appreciate it.

Team Huber has also invited me to an upcoming event of theirs and I am going to be checking my calendar to see if I can make it. If not, I will be sure to make an event before the election. Thanks for the invite.

I am posting this late but a group of mostly Democratic Party activists were drawing attention to Rep. Gallegly voting in conflict with his own district.

Barack Obama won in both Ventura County and in the more conservative 24th district. But instead of moving towards the middle to represent the views of the people of this district Gallegly has moved further to the right. I have seen no evidence that he is willing to work with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats in a bipartisan way. Imagine what priorities of ours Gallegly could have pushed if he was willing to cross the aisle on any number of issues.

Rep. Gallegly has been attending Tea Party events but hasn't been holding townhall events. He went to a lecture by a Tea Party leader that frequently calls Barack Obama a dictator and said she doesn't even know if he is a citizen. He might join the Tea Party caucus in congress, which is led by one of the most extreme and bombastic members of congress, Rep. Michele Bachmann. This isn't someone in line with the views of Ventura County voters.

In this video she alleges that Members of Congress and Barack Obama might be Anti-Americans:

Google Michele Bachmann and post your favorite quotes of hers.

Rep. Gallegly's opponent Tim Allison said:

"...part of the bill includes a provision that the extra
compensation spending be budget neutral, so it does not pose an extra burden
on the national debt."

Here is an excerpt from Tim Allison's press release:

The unemployment extension vote comes just after Rep. Gallegly voted "no" to
a bill that would delay new requirements that homeowners purchase flood
insurance. The bill, HR 5114, which passed 329-90 (with strong bipartisan
support), would give homeowners a reprieve from buying the insurance until
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can revise current maps
determining who needs flood insurance.

I haven't seen Gallegly's argument for his vote. If you can find it please post it. You don't need to register to comment but keep it classy.

Click on continue reading for Tim Allison's press release.

Here is some additional coverage of the protest:

KEYT

Ventura County Star

Team Huber told me they are going to have a series of small dollar events in order to bring their message to new people. Here is their invite to an upcoming event:

Many Simi Valley residents will recognize Dr. Austel as he has taken good care of multitudes of Simi Valley citizens. He was my Doctor when I was really young.

I wonder if any of the candidates will be able to earn the endorsement of actor Mickey Jones. You might remember Mickey Jones from the show Home Improvement but in addition to that role he has also made commercials for a few businesses in Simi Valley. I often mention him as potential candidate because he would be a formidable challenger. He has high name ID, a unique story, and wouldn't come across as a professional politician. Bob Huber and Steve Sojka should try to earn his support.

I don't have a budget to pay for fundraisers but I do attend when campaigns invite me to cover the event as a blogger. I am attending Steve Sojka's event this weekend to take pictures and do some interviews. I am open to doing the same for other candidates.

On Thursday Nights I interview candidates, activists, and other people interesting to Ventura County politics. Positions like Harbor Commissioner might not be glamorous or set off debates between Tea Party members and Democrats but they are worth our time. Send me an email if you would like to be interviewed.

Tonight at 8PM I am going to be interviewing Mary Anne Rooney. Check out her website and then read my questions and her answers by clicking on continue reading.

Al Adam is running for a seat on the Thousand Oaks City Council and he is pushing for an initiative to create term limits for that council. Tonight I am going to be interviewing him about his term limits initiative. After 7PM click on continue reading to see my questions and his answers.

Here is a recent Ventura County Star article on the topic. You can learn more at the campaign's website too.

Team Huber has released another campaign video with endorsements from many prominent local politicians. The video has high production quality and I like the content more than the other. I don't recognize all of the speakers though and it would be better if text was added to identify the people in the video.

The video states that Huber has no other agenda except getting elected mayor of Simi Valley. Rep. Gallegly said that is why he is supporting Huber. I don't know what agenda they are alluding to that Steve Sojka might have but I don't mind people that are ambitious. For Sojka to move up to another position, if that is truly his agenda, he would have to serve the people of Simi Valley well. That doesn't bother me.

In the video Rep. Elton Gallegly said:

The main reason I am supporting Bob is that Bob has no other agenda then this city.

Exactly what agenda does Team Huber think Steve Sojka has except this city?

After being attacked by Rep. Elton Gallegly, Sojka won't be able to credibly endorse Elton Gallegly again. An endorsement of Gallegly is an endorsement of his judgment. And Gallegly implied that Sojka has an agenda besides serving the people of Simi Valley. Sojka is not listed among Gallegly's supporters but fellow council members and Sojka supporters Paul Miller, Michelle Foster, and Barbra Williamson are on the list. Also noticeably absent from the list is Glen Becerra. Gallegly is on record implying those three council members that trust him enough to endorse him are supporting a candidate that has an agenda beyond serving the people of Simi Valley.

As you may have seen Rep. Gallegly has been in the news for speaking at tea party events and is considering joining Rep. Michelle Bachmann's tea party caucus in the House. Somehow he doesn't see the value of holding townhall events but he has time to campaign for a candidate for mayor and at tea party events.

This race for mayor is going to divide coalitions that most often support each other. There is plenty of opportunity for challengers for other positions to take advantage of the chaos. Elton Gallegly is a polarizing figure. His involvement gives Sojka a chance to reach out to Democratic activists to convince them they can defeat Gallegly by proxy. I haven't seen enough evidence that Team Sojka intends to do this yet but it could be highly effective. They could easily hold a meet and greet for Democratic activists here in Simi Valley. I bet new VCDCC Chair Richard Carter would help organize the whole thing if someone asked him.

Overall this video is much better but I'd like to see names so that more than political insiders can see the many politicians endorsing Bob Huber.

Steve Sojka supporter Don Norris has created a new video to support Sojka's campaign for mayor. Don, who asked me to refer to him as Don "Fluffy" Norris coming in at 6'3" 270lbs is an energetic supporter who would like your feedback for future videos. Don is a proud progressive and future campaigns would be well served by recruiting him to volunteer. I will allow Don to explain in the comments sections the many reasons he is supporting Steve Sojka.

Steve Sojka is having a Casino Night themed fundraiser. Here is part of the flyer for the event:

Click on continue reading for the rest of the flyer. I am sure Don will make a great video of the night. Any suggestions for the soundtrack? I'd like to stop Don from using country music in the video. There is a Beatles Tribute Band playing if that helps you think of a song for Don's Casino Night Video.

Steve, if you comp me a ticket I will come to document the event for my blog including video interviews with some of your supporters. If there is any gambling I'll pay for my own chips.

The Ventura County Office of Education is a mysterious entity to many voters. The County Office doesn't focus on supervising local school districts but instead helps to run programs that multiple districts use. There is an elected board but unlike other local school districts there is a directly elected Superintendent. Their program areas include some teacher training, running Gateway schools, working on charter school issues, managing internet connections, some special education programs and a few other programs. To many observers a position on a local school board is much more influential.

I teach in Ventura County and in that role I have very little direct experience with the county office.

Examine their website to learn more about what they do. In the past Governor Schwarzenegger proposed eliminating County offices of education to streamline the education bureaucracy.

Rachel Ulrich is running to replace Mary Louise Peterson ( Who often goes by ML ), who isn't running for re-election to the Board. Judging by her biography, campaign team, and list of people endorsing her I expect she won't draw a tough challenger.

I have requested to interview her on an upcoming Thursday night. I will ask her questions on charter schools, the proposals to eliminate the position she is running for, her qualifications and more.

The Ventura County Democrats have opened an office to help organize for the 2010 General Election. They are requesting cash donations so they can pay for the following:

1. Phones and phone service for the call bank. 2. Computer parts (hard drives and memory) to fix up the donated computers. 3. Copy machine and printer supplies - copy paper, toner cartridges, repair contract. 4. Internet wireless router - so anyone working in the office can have Internet access. 5. Security system and cameras. 6. Locking file and storage cabinets. 7. Refrigerator, coffee, water, and snacks for our volunteers. 8. Huge sign that can be easily read from the 101 freeway. 9. Keep the office after November 2010.

They are also open to donations of any of the above materials.

Click on continue reading for their email and click here for their website.

There is a protest outside Rep. Elton Gallegly's office today. Send me any photographs you want posted.

Bob Huber is running for Simi Valley Mayor and is looking for ways to show differences between the candidates based on policy. In his latest press release he supports using E-Verify to ensure the city government, companies that do business with the city, and companies with a Simi Valley business license only use workers that have legal authorization to work.

I like to include the full press releases from candidates so that my readers can see their statements in full context. Click on continue reading to see his press release.

In other Bob Huber news protesters are outside his law office again. Bob Huber has addressed this issue before when he explained it is from a labor union that has a disagreement with him related to business dealing with the Ventura County Community College District.

Steven Hintz sent me this picture from the Santa Paula Independence Day Parade. He has been bringing that dog with him all over the campaign trail. I'd like to see a picture of his dog with other politicians. Steven, I will post every picture that you send me with your dog and other candidates. Maybe when someone endorses you they take a picture with your official campaign critter?

His campaign has continued to gather support with his latest endorsement being the union that represents Ventura County Sheriffs. Besides being able to claim support from law enforcement support from the Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs' Association often comes with a large campaign contribution, sometimes as a donation and sometimes as an Independent Expenditure (IE).

Getting the support of a large labor union does carry risks. With concerns by many that pension costs are unsustainable and that public employee unions are too influential in public debates this gives his opponent a line of attack. But for that to work his opponent would need to be running an aggressive campaign and could antagonize law enforcement supports. I am not sure what is happening with the other campaign but Steven Hintz has been dominant publically since the primary.

Candidate for Simi Valley Mayor Steve Sojka put his signs up first across town and now it has become a campaign issue. Mike Chandler's blog post and the article in The Acorn are comprehensive enough that I don't have much to add.

The article in The Acorn had this observation from candidates Mike Judge and Michelle Foster:

Though Judge said the law favors incumbents, who have strong ties with local developers, business and property owners, Foster said she believes the ordinance still creates a level playing field.

"Everyone has the opportunity to receive permission from someone to put a sign on their property," she said, adding, "Just because you are currently an office holder doesn't mean people say yes to you. It's their way of validating whether you are doing a good job in the community or not."

A property owner that wants to develop their property would be wise to curry favor with the people in charge of making a decision on what they can do with their land. The same goes for commercial property owners who often need to work with the city on a variety of issues. A sitting council member has an advantage when asking a property owner to allow their sign to be posted. Remember that next time you see a property with a campaign sign in front of it.

That said Steve Sojka has been effective at placing his signs beyond simply being an incumbent. As a local business owner he has worked closely with many people either through nonprofit work like the Police Foundation or as customers of his advertising business. He has developed many personal relationships that have been helping him as he campaigns.

Mike Chandler, over at Votesimivalley.com, has created a Facebook page dedicated to the 2010 Simi Valley elections. Click like on it below to see his posts in your Facebook feed.

Mike Chandler also posted Bob Huber's response to the start of the campaign signs going up on his blog. Huber contends that he chose not to post them out of respect for voters. read more about his response here.

I post unscientific polls for a variety of reasons including to gauge the intensity of support for a candidate. In the election for Clerk-Recorder my poll wasn't widely off from the official election results:

Here is my analysis of why Mark Lunn won:

1. Low Voter Turn Out Among Democratic Voters.

Republicans had two statewide primaries of consequence, the gubernatorial primary and the senate primary. Democrats didn't have tough choices to make nor could they go out to defeat major Republican candidates. Barack Obama won Ventura County but those same voters didn't have as many reasons to show up to support Jerry Brown when he was the only candidate running or to vote in races like Clerk / Recorder.

2. He ran a great campaign.

He was able to get early endorsements from people like former Ventura County Democratic Central Committee Chair Hank Lacayo and other impressive figures. He didn't identify Lacayo as a Democrat on all of his materials but his name does appeal to some people. Mark Lunn was able to attract support from a Democratic Chair and from Tea Party activists that think Barack Obama was born in another country. That is impressive for a candidate running for a nonpartisan seat. I wonder if they asked him if he will be checking birth certificates?

3. Name ID.

Mark Lunn had many more signs across Simi Valley than Jim Dantona did. Signs don't win many elections but in a contest with so little interest from average voters they can be very effective. I wouldn't advise candidates to rely upon them at the expense of other more important tools but they do help.

4. He had a better ballot designation.

Running for a position that many voters cannot properly identify the responsibilities forcs a candidate to either spend money and time explaining the position or as Mark Lunn did effectively work on building trust. His ballot designation lets voters know many people trust him.

5. A weak Ventura County Democratic Central Committee.

The VCDCC didn't draft a candidate early nor did they all rally around Jim Dantona as their candidate. For those committee members that did rally around him they didn't have the same financial resources or organization that the Ventura County Republican Party is able to use to help their candidates. The VCRCC might rely upon toxic interest groups like tobacco companies but they have money to support their candidates.

6. The backgrounds of the candidates.

What I like about Jim Dantona is he is willing to work hard when everything isn't given to him. Other candidates only run for safe positions but Jim Dantona ran against an incumbent supervisor and a powerfully connected Chief of Staff to a supervisor. That said he does have weaknesses that make it harder for him to get his message out. Although he has explained factors that contributed to his bankruptcies they obviously cost him more votes than he gains back from his explanations. And those explanations require resources from the campaign.

7. An early start.

Mark Lunn started his campaign earlier. That allowed him to build up a strong list of people endorsing him before Team Dantona could either ask the same people to endorse him or at least stay neutral. That's a tip for a novice candidate. If you can't get someone to endorse you then you can ask them to stay neutral. It flatters people to think they are so important they could tip an election and it is sometimes less risky than endorsing a candidate.

Both candidates ran strong campaigns and I appreciate them putting their name on the line for us to have a choice. I don't like to vote for a candidate when there is only one choice. I almost always skip voting or write-in a different candidate. I am thankful Jim Dantona gave us a choice.

What are your explanations for the outcome of this election? Which of my observations do you agree with?

For months I have been questioning why Mark Lunn didn't include increasing voter registration and participation in his platform but I am glad to see this in a recent article:

Turnout in Tuesday's primary election was about 27 percent, something he wants to see improved. "I will continue to work to do my best to get people to come to the polls," he said.

Click on continue reading for Mark Lunn's thank you to his supporters.

The President of the Simi Valley Democratic Club sent me this message:

Let's help our local CD-24 candidate. Vote for Tim Allison at www.grassrootsallstars.com/allison

There are 100 candidates now: on July 16, the top 10 move to the next round.
Tim Allison - is currently number 30.

Richard Carter

I am glad to see local Democrats have realized more and more that they will need outside help to change Ventura County. Online activists, of both parties, frequently help out candidates across the country. Tim Allison isn't favored to win so far but it isn't because of his lack of effort. Beating an incumbent that isn't tarnished by a major scandal is a tough task.

On Thursday Nights I interview people that are interesting in Ventura County politics. That includes candidates and activists. I don't always support their views of their campaigns but I find it interesting to learn more. Send me an email if you would like to be interviewed.

Tonight I am interviewing the new president of The Ventura County Young Democrats, Andrew Parada.

The interview is just between us but when it is over post your own questions and Andrew can respond to them.

Click here to check out their Facebook group page.

Andrew, click on continue reading for your first question.

UPDATE: Team Huber must have been up late working on it but they were able to pass the 1,000 supporter line first. Congratulations. Click on continue reading to see a Huber's statement on campaign signs. Any observer driving around Simi Valley will notice that not only is Sojka the only mayoral candidate with signs posted but that Team Sojka has done an impressive job with large and reinforced signs across the town. They are also starting to walk neighborhoods. Click on continue reading to see their invitation. I have been adjusting the dates of the entries to keep a Sojka entry on top as I said i would when his supporter won a contest on my blog.

Tools to connect with voters are getting easier and more accessible to campaigns. Creating a Facebook page and then sending out HTML for Like Boxes that bloggers can post on their blogs is an easy and affordable way of connecting with voters. I like the idea that at the end of any blog post if you support the candidates mentioned you can with one click get connected to their campaign. Send me a request if you want the HTML for any Like Box you see posted on my blog.

Steve Sojka's campaign dd get their campaign signs out first but let's see which campaign can get to 1,000 fans first. Both of the campaigns are getting close with Bob Huber had a slight advantage when I created this post. Steve Sojka's Facebook page has been creative with chances for supporters to win a tshirt or see old photographs of Steve Sojka. Here is his Like Box:

After a little trouble shooting blogger Mike Chandler was able to help Team Huber figure out how to create a Like Box for their campaign. I suggested they ask Mike Chandler because a Huber campaign supporter keep complaining in the comments section that I wasn't posting it when the real problem was they hadn't figured out how to create the code and send it to me.

Mike Chandler hasn't announced which candidate he will be voting for but like me he blogs about local politics and is trying to find new ways to connect voters to the campaigns. I strongly suggest reading his blog. He has a provocative new entry up discussing Steve Sojka's campaign getting their signs up first.

Click on continue reading to see a video from each campaign and to vote for your favorite.

Since the primary has ended one of the most energetic campaigners has continued to be Steven Hintz. He sent in some pictures from a recent parade over the 4th of July weekend and today he officially announced he has earned the endorsements of two of the candidates he defeated in the June primary. Because no candidate earned more than 50% there will be a run-off in November between Steven Hintz, and his closest opponent Don Facciano.

I haven't seen many updates to Don Facciano's campaign website or recent news from his team but being that the election is in November it would appear he has time to start campaigning more. I am not sure how much attention voters are paying to an election like this but Facciano is taking a chance that Ventura County political powerbrokers will assume that Hintz is the frontrunner if he waits much longer. I am not sure who is the frontrunner because the power of ballot designations in a low information race can be immense. Retired Judge sounds good but what about something like Taxpayer Advocate?

Steven Hintz's press release came to me from a new public relations firm. He might have been using them before but I didn't notice. Click on continue reading to see the press release and the bio of his consultant.

Democratic Party nominee Tim Allison took has been working hard in his campaign to bring a serious challenge to Rep. Elton Gallegly. As of now Rep. Gallegly does have the advantage but that isn't because Tim Allison isn't working hard. Here are some photographs from his 4th of July weekend.

He started campaigning at the Ojai Valley Parade with family and other supporters:

He then attended a fundraiser put on by the Working Blue Democratic Club that he helped organize:

In this photograph are Heather and Hank Lacayo, Jason Hodge, Ferial Masry, Rep. Lois Capps, Leah Lacayo, Bill Fulton and Tim Allison.

The Working Blue Democratic Club is raising money to open offices in East County, including Simi Valley, for the November elections. Anyone interested in helping can run the offices can contact them or their local Democratic Club. The offices will be helping elect Democrats to office including local offices.

Das Williams won the nomination of his party and will now be running against Mike Stoker in November. The district is considered a safe because of the overwhelming Democratic Party registration advantage. Mike Stoker has been insisting though he is a moderate that can reach out to Democrats. Because he previously worked for an oil company and has worked for Tony Strickland I think that will be a challenge for him.

Das Williams has been rallying the support of the Democratic Party, including elected officials that didn't get involved in the primary. I expect that he will also be finding new ways to communicate his shared values more with independents and Republicans soon too. I think the primary was helpful for Das Williams and I don't expect lasting divisions because of the tough primary to impact him in the fall. Are any of my readers Susan Jordan supporters that will now vote for Mike Stoker? I doubt there are enough to make an impact.

I don't see enough evidence that this will be a competitive election but Mike Stoker has time to provide it.

My reader poll from the primary was obviously wildly inaccurate:

I never claimed the polls are scientifically accurate but this poll is next to worthless. If there is much to learn from it I would say it shows that Daniel Goldberg's and Mike Stoker's campaigns exist more on the internet then they did in precinct walks, phone calls, street corner rallies, or fundraising.

Here is the new general election poll:

Click on continue reading to see Das Williams' latest press release.

Click on continue reading to see Mike Stoker's latest press release.

Update: I deleted some comments because they were growing more and more personal. Please don't post personal charges that can't be verified by readers.

Update: The interview is over but David Atkins is answering questions in the comments section. I bumped this entry up for those that want to keep following the comments easier.

David Atkins is running to be the head of the Ventura County Democratic Party. I am interviewing him tonight on his vision for the committee, his background, and his plan for Democrats to win more seats locally.

David Atkins is a prominent blogger on Daily Kos, a very influential progressive blog. You can read through some of his posts by clicking here. He also debated Mike Gibson before on my blog on the topic if America is a conservative or liberal nation. Click here for that debate.

The interview starts at 7PM. Email me any questions you think should be asked.

Steve Sojka was at the fireworks show at Rancho Santa Susana Park last Sunday and his supporter Don Norris sent me in some photographs he took. My family lives close enough that we can see the fireworks so I don't go to the park to watch but I heard Bob Huber was there too, but in his role as a Rotary Member.

Click on continue reading to see more of the photographs.

Send in photographs of any Ventura County candidates during the holiday weekend and I will post them as I did for Steve Sojka and Steven Hintz.

Steven Hintz was campaigning for Treasurer / Tax Collector on Saturday in Ojai and sent in a few pictures. If you see any candidates out campaigning this weekend send me the pictures and I will post them.

Here is Steven Hintz with the return of his campaign dog plus a new friend:

Click on continue reading for his other photos from the Ojai parade.

I haven't claimed that my online poll of readers is a scientific measure of voter preferences but they do reveal some information including which elections have energetic candidates and/or supporters. My readers correctly picked Steven Hintz to be the top vote getter in the June Primary, although they were off by a large margin. After that the results were wildly off with the exception of Ed Summers, who did almost exactly as well at the polls as he did in my reader survey.

Here are the results of my poll:

Here are the official results from the June Primary:

Because no candidate won more than 50% of the votes the top two candidates will face each other in the November general election. I will be posting almost every press release and photo the two campaigns send in over this long summer. Here is a new poll that only includes those two candidates:

You can hit the share button to post this poll to Facebook and other social networks.

After each election I post an entry asking readers to send me pictures of campaign signs that campaigns haven't removed yet. This sign is at the corner of Alamo and Texas in Simi Valley. The June 8th election was almost a month ago but Peter Foy's sign remains.

So far Peter Foy has the record for a sign up from the primary. Send me any pictures of other signs and included the location information. I won't post your name unless you ask me to include it. With only a few weeks before we start seeing signs for general election candidates let's get the old signs removed. Let's see which party's candidates leave their signs up the longest. So far Peter Foy for the Republicans is holding the record.

On Thursday nights I interview candidates, activists, and other interesting political figures.

This Thursday Night I am interviewing State Assembly candidate Diana Shaw. To read about her background go to her website.

Click on continue reading to see the interview.

There are new blog entries below. This is at the top because Steve Sojka's campaign won a contest.

A few months back I challenged Steve Sojka's Music Team ( really just a campaign supporter) to come up with a music video that glorifies Simi Valley. I stated that their reward would be an entry on their campaign at the top of my blog for the entire month of July. His supporter, Kyle Quiroz, did it and now he their video is the top viral campaign video for a local candidate in Ventura County history. The video is getting close to 2,500 views so far. Click here for the earlier post on the subject.

I will be posting other entries during July but during the entire month there will be an entry about Sojka at the top of my blog. There will new entries but they will appear below.

Steve Sojka's challenger is Community College Board Member Bob Huber. Although I mix commentary with news and quirky posts I try to be fair to different candidates. That's where I need your help. What suggestions do you have for a challenge to Bob Huber's team? Please post comments with your suggestions. You don't have to register to comment but as always keep it classy.

Click on continue reading for Sojka's recent press release on economic recovery and the lyrics to the song.

UPDATE:

Here is a picture of Steve Sojka putting up one of the first signs of the November election season: