Last Saturday night I attended Steve Sojka's fundraiser as a guest to take videos and pictures. I am going to be posting photographs that Don Norris and I took plus videos in the coming days. Team Sojka put together a great event.
Casino night was a much more entertaining than most political fundraisers I have attended. Players win chips and at the end raffle tickets were given out according to how many chips a player earned. I was lucky in a few hands and I ended up winning a Steve Sojka for Mayor tshirt and a gift certificate for a Sushi restaurant. Steve Sojka might have just earned my wife's vote.
A campaign issue that I care for is the proposal to turn the Arroyo ( what many of you derisively call the wash) into an amazing trail and park that goes across Simi Valley. You can read more about the proposal here and here. At the end of a long night for Steve Sojka he agreed to make a short video discussing this project. Watch the video and let me know what you think. You don't need to register to comment but keep it classy.
The proposal will have many challenges to get it done but I am more interested in how a candidate plans to get it built instead of what details they don't like about the idea. The Arroyo can become a great resource from our community and it is among my top issues in this campaign.
To see more of the photographs from the event or to upload your own go to:
http://www.facebook.com/BrianDennertHere
Revitalizing the arroyo and turning it into a multi-use destination is a great idea. One way to help finance it would be to give local and regional businesses the opportunity to "pre-lease" vendor spaces at key sites along the arroyo's bike/pedestrian path. The money for those leases could be used to improve these vendor sites by offering utilities and restroom facilities.
Go for it, Sojka!
GS,
I really like that idea. It would be awesome for families to be able to ride across town and stop for a drink or food along the way. Vendors would also help keep a watch on the new park to make sure it stays as it is intended.
Thanks for reading and commenting on my blog.
I was just eating a buttered corn on the cob wrapped in a freash tortilla and thinking... aren't you guys talking about food carts?
The Arroyo is a storm drain, not a river. That means the water flowing in it will always be polluted by everything coming off the streets and yards. It would be nice to have a real river or stream, but the Arroyo will never fit that bill. When I walk through it I see a lot of graffiti and garbage dumped in the water. It would be nice to see it clean, but let's not pretend it will ever be the Colorado River.
The plan doesn't involved rafting.
Arroyo JOe,
no one is claiming it is the Colorado River. But you should take time to actaully view the plans that are in place for the Arroyo. It's actaully quite beautiful. There is nothing wrong for thinking out of the box, and this is truly outside the box and will be a wonderful addition to our valley.
I'm just pointing out that the actual water will always be polluted and unless there is better enforcement we will always see garbage in it. Will we have patrols day and night?
The lake in Westlake Village is always polluted and it doesn't seem to lower the prices of the houses.
When I was young teachers used the creeks made from storm drain water to teach about science and the enviornment. If there was trash it just presented another opportunity to learn and think of ways to clean it up.
The Republicans in Simi Valley have Rocketdyne for the next few million years to teach kids about sweeping pollution under the carpet.
What has been presented so far to neighborhood councils and others, is a beautiful idea with bike paths, landscaping (drought tolerant) and walk ways along, beside and cutting across the Arroyo. From what I remember, its a beautiful project that once again, shows everything good about our community. Thanks Steve!