Do you remember last year when Simi Valley Police Officers picketed outside Council Member Glen Becerra's house and at a city event over their contract? The video of the protest outside of Becerra's house has been marked as private but this video is up:
When I saw the POA was becoming more politically organized I wondered how they were going to get involved in city elections. This election cycle they have joined with the firefighters union to endorse Bob Huber for Mayor. They have also endorsed Keith Mashburn for city council.
I am not sure how extensive their involvement is going to be but if they do things including walking precincts, making phone calls, rally on street corners, posting signs, and put together a significant IE they should be a very important part of this election. How fired up will they be against Steve Sojka and the council incumbents?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9 August 2010Contact: Simi Valley POA
svpoa.net
Simi Valley Police Officers Association Endorses Huber and MashburnSimi Valley, CA - The Simi Valley Police Officers Association has extended its support to Keith Mashburn for City Council and Bob Huber for Mayor in the November election. Both are well-known pillars of the community with long records of public service.
Keith Mashburn, retired Simi Valley Fire Battalion Chief, served the city for 31 years. As a 55-year resident, Mashburn has watched the city take shape, raised his family here and has owned several local businesses. Currently, Mashburn serves as chair of the Simi Valley Planning Commission following his appointment in 2008.
"Keith Mashburn has exactly the right background needed to shepherd the city out of this recession," asserts Bill Daniels, president of the Simi Valley Police Officers Association. "He has an appreciation for our history, an understanding of what it takes to keep residents safe and the ability to encourage business and promote jobs that will make Simi Valley a better place to live, work, and raise our children."
The second candidate to be endorsed by SVPOA is former City Councilman Bob Huber. Now chairman of the Ventura County Community Colleges Board of Trustees, Huber combines his council experience with 37 years of business ownership in the city. As mayor, he plans to actively promote the Simi Valley economy to save existing small businesses and to attract new industries for the jobs, services and revenues they provide. Huber served twice as the president of the SV Chamber of Commerce and was a charter commissioner of the Industrial Commercial Development Commission. In addition to his police endorsement, Huber has also secured the support of the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Association (VCPFA).
"Bob Huber is the kind of leader who will roll up his sleeves and get the job done -- making our government run more efficiently," explains Daniels. "He will take care of the important issues: maintaining Simi Valley's current ranking as one of the nation's safest communities while ensuring that there is sound investment in the city's future."
The Simi Valley Police Officers Association represents 103 sworn officers below the rank of lieutenant. Its goal is to maintain the high ideal of professionalism through this representation and to solidify close ties to citizens through involvement in community groups and local charities.
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It will be interesting to see how this affects the race. I'm surprised they did not back Judge, I wonder why?
The endorsement may get the candidates a few more rank & file votes, a couple of extra mailers and some help on the phones but I think the real value is it helps to bring in more big endorsements.
Ask not for whom the "Bell" tolls... until you're done paying your last $600K law enforcement pension Simi Valley.
Bob Huber doesn't need a agenda just like Elton Gallegly hasn't had one for over twenty years. It's the olde simi valley boyz network's agenda you need to worry about and they are only worried about themselves.
I received a a robocall from Bob Huber TONIGHT - August 17th! More disconcerting than political signage for 4 months is the thought of political phone calls until November.
Still, I'll tip my cap to Huber for running for the office like someone who truly wants to win the seat.
I wonder if now he will be tarred and feathered as a liberal water-boy for unions by a certain attack contingency on this blog.
I think they will tread lightly in attacking the rank and file cops of Simi Valley. Huber is running a real campaign but someone should tell him and all the others that no one likes those f'ing robocalls!!!!!
Getting the backing of this POA is a good thing. Maybe with Huber as Mayor and an Esquire he can get the City to stop hidding all the crime figures from the FBI, and stop some of the officers from doing the dispatchers job on overtime.
I might be thinking outside the box again but why can't citizens robo-call politicians. They do it to us and maybe on the 1000th try you might get Elton on the phone.
I think the most telling part of this endorsement is that the POA just signed a 3 year contract BEFORE they endorsed. This is a clear shot at taking out Sojka, Becerra or Foster from this race. It's also a poke in Mike Sedell's eye. He reopened their contract barely 100 days before the election so that he could smooth the waters for the council to get re-elected. That didn't go quite the way he thought it would. Watching all the council circle the wagons and Sedell trying to run cover for them is really showing how paranoid they are about losing their little group think power team.
And don't forget Mayor Miller's parting words to the POA in the paper last year. "I hope they learned their lesson" he said after a contentious temporary contract was agreed to.
Well who's learning what lesson now?
Ah, yes, the POA mystique.
How soon will their rhetoric be something like "vote for my guy or we will let the gangsters kill you!"
Follow the money.
"Vote for my guy or we will let the gangsters kill you!" Looks like the folks who did not get the POA endorsement are already going crazy. Follow the money? How will money from the POA be different from money from developers? Or money from the Ventura County Republican Central Committee that has its origins in tobacco and oil money? Blakeslee won last night with big backing from oil companies, does that mean they own him and control him? Another question, is Tony Strickland against Prop. 23 since he is a "Green Executive"?
Excellent robocall idea Nobody... time to organize!
Yes follow the "developer" money into the camapign chests of sitting mayor and council members. Though I could be wrong, I would not place Michelle Foster in that same group
Just saw a post on www.votesimevalley.com about Glen Becerra receivig $9,000 from developer Mid Valley Property this last reporting cycle. Now that is some money worth following!
Can someone email Brian about making a post so we can come up with some ideas for what to do with the Farmer's Insurance building?
I say let's turn it into a solar panel manufacturing plant or something on the leading edge of alternative energy technology.
I keep hearing how Republicans don't like waiting for the government to do things for them. Well let's do something.
Forget about waiting for them to do something for us; we don't want them to do anything for us at all. We're adults, after all.
Nobody,
Brian is more pumped up on getting Sojka to turn the Arroyo into the Pirates of the Caribbean without using taxpayer dollars that he is going to get from State Grants. I don't think the Farmer's building is as fun a topic. ;)
Thanks for the tip, SF. There were a lot of posts there, but while scrolling I also saw this:
"Robo-calls are an Audra Strickland campaign tactic. Huber also already has paid Audra Strickland’s head hitman, Darin Henry, $1800 for something (See campaign finance documents at http://www.simivalley.org), so let’s get ready for some Thousand Oaks-like slime campaigning in Simi."
Yeah Eric. Let's be adults.
If you're are Congressman and you have a fear of town hall meetings and debates you should be an adult and see a therapist or resign.
Be a man Eric. Hold a debate without snacks and fun activities. I'd hate to read history 50 years from now about how America disappeared because we couldn't get snacks and fun activities for our debates so we didn't hold any.
Let's be adults...
Eric - someone puts forth a good idea and you take it off topic and belittle it. Once again, it more important for you to showcase your smug curmudgeon credentials than engage in dialogue. This is why I left your private little uptight political party and why your blog is a graveyard. Stop the damn rhetoric and talking points for 60 damn seconds and acknowledge an intelligent discussion.
LA,
I can see it now.
A rogue Bob Huber door hanger blowing softly down a quite Simi Valley street. Flipping and flopping which ever way the breeze takes it. Blowing by Wm, the empty Farmers building, and rocketdyne than thwap! The Bob Huber door hanger get's stuck on a chain link fence that surrounds a closed down mall.
Who knows 100 years from now all that might be in Simi Valley is WM, Rocketdyne, and a dounut shop.
Maybe Farmers will be a "fun topic," after all ...
http://www.simivalleyacorn.com/news/2010-08-20/Letters/Not_sad_to_see_Farmers_go.html
Why not just let the POA have the Farmers Building and use it to train their SWAT team, or just let it set for about 4 years so the current planning department can have it razed with the new zone laws.
Not a bad idea. The POA is trying to purchase everything else anyway, like Council seats. Maybe they can also use it for the country club shooting range they've always wanted. They never liked sharing the privately owned indoor range over there on the west end of town when it was open.
The nerve of working men & women trying to spend money to get like-minded candidates on city councils! What will WMI, Boeing, Tribal Casinos, Chambers or Commerce and all the other incumbent patrons think of having these POA upstarts join the game?
We just discussed this last night in group. Everytime someone relapses, which is all to frequently, we have to go over what happened and devise tactics to defeat it next time. Sometimes that means re-visiting the basics and sometimes it gets a lot more complicated. Anyway, thanks for sharing.