Which three candidates are you supporting for Simi Valley School Board?

I am supporting Dan White. He understands technology issues and he has proven his commitment by his involvement with the Simi Valley Education Foundation. Who has earned your support?

You can post a comment explaining who you support. You do not need to register to comment but keep it classy.

Barack Obama will be coming to Los Angeles for a concert and rally. Click on continue reading for details. Are you in?

Political consultant Jim Dantona has a new web show on Politicaldugout.com where he goes to fancy restaurants and debates politics.

What do you think?

State Assembly candidate Edward Headington has earned the support of State Controller John Chiang. Click on continue reading for the press release.

I have been impressed that Edward Headington has been earning support from Republicans. Have you been following this campaign?

This reader poll is not scientific. It measures intensity of my readers.

You do not need to register to comment but keep it classy.

I do not study Thousand Oaks politics closely enough to provide much commentary. I do enjoy the emails that Iqbal Quidwai sends to me. Click on continue reading to see the latest.

Conejo Valley School Board candidate Tony Dolz has a real problem with the book The Kite Runner. His platform on his website lists only two issues. One of them is to ban high school teachers from using The Kite Runner.

What surprises me is that the Republican Party supports such a candidate. He has support from Tony Strickland and the local Tea Party. Do they really think The Kite Runner should be banned? Is that really their priority? With all of the problems in schools their priority is banning this book?

Fun fact: The author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, had close connections to Ventura County.

Maybe we can suggest those in favor of censorship to read his book.

State Assembly Member Das Williams was on Anderson Cooper for not voting on a bill that would make it easier to fire teachers accused of serious crimes against children. Das Williams claims the bill is overreaching and will support a better version.

Have you seen any action from him on an improved version? Please let me know and I'll update this post.

Are there any debates scheduled between Julia Brownley and Tony Strickland? Please post a link with details if you know of any scheduled debates.

Any candidate that is not willing to debate should lose support.

( The Simi Valley Education Foundation created this wanted poster for me. )

Thank you Bill Hole for helping to fund local schools. When I asked my readers for help Bill Hole quickly replied with a generous donation. I know Bill Hole because he has been volunteering to bring technology to Vista Elementary School with many others. I just joined the committee and I am impressed with how much they have accomplished.

The Vista Tech Committee has a Facebook page that you can like to follow the progress being made. They also have a STEM night open to the community this Thursday night that kids can enjoy.

I have been asked by the Simi Valley Education Foundation to raise money for local schools. They call this their Jail and Bail fundraiser. I have asked my readers for small donations to help local schools.

As a teacher at Royal High School I know that the grants from the Simi Valley Education Foundation are appreciated.

To show my appreciation to my readers I will post a link to a candidate they choose for each donation.

Go to the Simi Valley Education Foundation website to donate. I will not mention how much you donated.

( The Simi Valley Education Foundation created this wanted poster for me. )

Thank you Debbie Dennert for helping to fund local schools. When I asked my readers for help my own sister quickly replied with a generous donation. My sister writes a blog that has many giveaways and discounts for her readers. Please read her website to show appreciation for her help.

http://momarewethereyet.net/

I have been asked by the Simi Valley Education Foundation to raise money for local schools. They call this their Jail and Bail fundraiser. I have asked my readers for small donations to help local schools.

As a teacher at Royal High School I know that the grants from the Simi Valley Education Foundation are appreciated.

To show my appreciation to my readers I will post a link to a candidate they choose for each donation.

Go to the Simi Valley Education Foundation website to donate. I will not mention how much you donated.

I am posting pictures from the Simi Valley Fair and Music Festival. Post pictures at facebook.com/briandennerthere that you want me to post.

The Simi Valley Fair and Music Festival is this weekend. The fair this year is bigger than in the past. This is a great opportunity for candidates to meet people. The parade was this morning and had many politicians in it.

You can post pictures on the Facebook page for my blog. The best pictures I will post on this page. The debates there are usually better because it is not anonymous.

The Simi Valley teachers union was there to support their endorsed candidates. They also support Proposition 30 and are against Proposition 32. What do you think of the propositions?

This picture was posted by Simi Valley School Board candidate Josie Hirsch on her Facebook page.

This picture was posted by a Keith Mashburn supporter on their own page.

Please send in pictures I should post.

With so many local campaigns trying to get our attention candidates are getting more creative. Julia Brownley (D) is running against Tony Strickland (R) and will be holding events for volunteers this weekend.

Click on continue reading for details.

Important: The 50 Shades reference was from a Democratic activist, not the campaign.

Why do incumbents play obvious and boring games with debating their opponents? I do not care what party the politician is this tactic is disrespectful to democracy. Senator Diane Feinstein is currently avoiding debating her opponent. Rep. Buck McKeon is also playing these games with his opponent.

We should make sure politicians , regardless of party, get the bad press they deserve if they avoid debating.

State Senator Fran Pavley is opening a campaign office. Click on continue reading for details.

She was a major leader of California's global warming legislation.

This Thursday candidate for Congress Dr. Lee Rogers (D) and candidate for State Assembly Edward Headington (D) will be having an event at Simi Sam's from 6-7 PM. After that there is an event for school board candidates Dan White. Rob Collins, and Debbie Sandland.

Simi Valley School Board Member Arleigh Kidd is helping to organize the event. I plan on going. What questions do you think I should ask the candidates?

Click here for more information.

This Thursday three candidates for Simi Valley Unified School District will be having an event at Simi Sam's from 7-8 PM. Dan White, Rob Collins, and Debbie Sandland have all been endorsed by the teachers union.

Simi Valley School Board Member Arleigh Kidd is helping to organize the event. I plan on going. What questions do you think I should ask the school board candidates?

Click here for more information.

Simi Valley City Council candidate Tim Shannon has started placing his signs. What do you think of the inclusion of a clover on his signs? Should an Irish politician include a 3 leaf or 4 leaf clover?

Click here for past coverage of clovers on campaign signs.

UPDATE: I drove by on Friday September 9th and this sign remains illegally attached to a traffic sign.

This is my post from August:

UPDATE:Scott Wilk emailed me and wrote he would take care of it personally.

After elections I often post pictures of signs to remind candidates to remove them. In this picture we have a sign from State Assembly candidate Paul Strickland (R) and a sign from State Assembly candidate Scott Wilk (R). This picture was taken Tuesday night at the end of the Topanga Canyon exit on the 118. I posted it on August 7th on the Facebook page for my blog to remind the candidates to remove their old signs.

Campaigns are not allowed to attach signs to traffic signs. I am surprised that Caltrans has not either removed the sign or asked Scott Wilk to remove the sign posted on a traffic sign. Caltrans actually can remove signs posted in violation of State law and send a bill to the campaign.

This is among the worst offenders of an old sign posted that I have seen. It is posted in violation of Caltrans rules and it has been up for a long time. It is also in an area of very high traffic. How is it posible the campaign has not seen it? Do they not campaign in that area at all? It should not have taken this long. Actually, it should not have been there in the first place!

Sometimes supporters without permission post signs. But in this case they have had a very long time to remove this sign.

Scott Wilk, take down that old sign!

Moorpark City Council Member Mark Van Dam would like to win this contest. I think this looks ridiculous. He said if he wins he will ride it to a city council meeting. Please go to this link to vote. http://bit.ly/Tg92Tr

This Thursday night I am interviewing Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District candidate Omkar Ranade. You can connect with him on Twitter. You can post questions for him. You do not need to register to comment but keep it classy.

To be interviewed send me a message.

Here is the new update from Rick Gunther reporting from the Democratic National Convention.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 - Security has been tight; police from cities as far away as Atlanta and Milwaukee. Some people tried to walk to convention hall but everything is blocked off. You need to take buses which are good. Kamala Harris spoke at the California Delegation breakfast meeting this morning. She said welcome to the Hotel California and then started to crack up (likely due to her and others unfortunate experiences with the hotel - see my Monday blog). Lots of rain - there are fears it could rain Thursday since Obama is speaking outdoors at the Bank of America football stadium which has no roof. Mostly good speeches given at the convention tonight. Particularly touching was Doug Stern, a Cincinnati fireman who talked about funding cuts to fire, safety, and police officers. He used to be a Republican. Many of the speakers talked about the quality of work Obama has done and how out of touch with the middle class Republicans are. Deval Patrick, Massachusetts Governor, reminded delegates that Obama created more jobs in four years than W. in eight, despite the recession. Martin O'Malley, Governor of Maryland noted that Obama is moving America forward not back; there is no going back. Julián Castro, Mayor of San Antonio, gave the keynote. He said that being a member of the middle class is important to all Americans including immigrants. "The dream is universal but America makes it possible". Michele Obama then took her turn and hit it out of the park. She said "Barack knows the American dream because he's lived it." More tomorrow.

Rick Gunther, President, Democratic Club of the Conejo Valley

Thanks Rick! Keep sending us updates. I would like a picture of our local delegates. Have fun!

If you would like to write a guest blog entry send me a message.

Here is report #1 from the DNC Convention:

Hi Brian,

I am president of the Democratic Club of the Conejo Valley and a 26th CD delegate to the Dem Convention. Here are my notes on today. Please post what you think is interesting. Thanks. Rick Gunther

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2012 - Arrived in Charlotte Sunday at about 10 PM.
Flew over remnants of Hurricane Isaac, turbulence and lightening all
over Oklahoma and Missouri. Checked into the Blake Hotel and assigned to
Room 666, which sounded scary. Scary it was when I opened the door and
heard an eerily wining air conditioner, which I immediately turned off.
The air was very cold and water from the coils of the over-worked air
conditioner had flooder the frigid room. Had to move to another room
which, as I discovered the next morning, had no plumbing in the shower.
Moved again. Finally Ok. Many others in the hotel had the same problem.
Fellow delegate Kamala Harris checked into her room and immediately
checked out. Apparently construction on the new wing I was in had ended
the week before the convention and wasn't really finished. However, my
room turned out fine and the hotel staff was great. On Monday the
delegate's breakfast featured Nancy Pelosi who was inspiring as usual.
Later in the afternoon I went to the street fair and heard, and
recorded, James Taylor singing You've Got a Friend. Wow, it was great,
as an aging baby boomer, to hear him again. He had to stop when it begin
to rain heavily. He wanted to sing in the rain but had to stop when the
deluge got too bad and he was advised of the danger of combining
electricity with large amount of water. Went back to the hotel very wet
but happy. No real convention business today; the fun begins tomorrow.
Will write more then.

Rick Gunther, President, Democratic Club of the Conejo Valley

I am posting pictures from the event on Twitter and on my Facebook page for this blog. Connect with me there and see how many of politicians you recognize.

State Senate candidate Todd Zink (R) responded to my question with this email:

"If Todd Zink's campaign emails me a single position that they claim shows that he is a moderate Republican I will post it on the front page."

Brian,

In response to your statement above, I hope you will honor your commitment after showing a photo of myself without explanation and using that photo to draw conclusions as to my political positions. I would imagine that, before you posted the photo on your blog, you did your due diligence on the positions found on my website before posting your conclusions. To be fair, I would imagine you have researched both candidates thoroughly before siding with one side or the other.

I have no affiliation with Allen West. In fact, while attending Congressman McKeon's fundraiser I did not know who he was. I did speak to him about his military career.

Your definition of moderate and mine might be very different. Labels are not something that I look to have attributed to me.

Below however, are a few things that make me very different from the other Senators that I will be serving with later this year:

1) I will likely be the only Republican State Senator in California that has not signed the No Tax pledge that has been promoted by Americans for Tax Reform. It isn't that I have any desire to raise taxes - I just don't believe in political pledges.

2) My campaign and my actions as a State Senator will be focused on three policy issues. They are job growth and economic recovery, maintaining public safety, and improving our public school system. Most of the others want to focus on social issues and legislation regarding the unionization of baby sitters, or resolutions about non-substantive issues. Social issues and distractions are not what motivated me to run for office.

3) I am not someone that has been part of the political process for a long time. Every member of the Senate Republican Caucus has held some sort of elective office prior to serving in the Senate. Those years as an elected official shaped their views. I am coming into office completely free to chart the best course for this region of the state.

4) My experience in the military has included executive experience. Few legislators in Sacramento have this sort of experience. It is easy for someone to throw rhetorical bombs and take extreme positions when part of a larger body of reasonable people. That can't happen when you are responsible to make the trains run on time. That is where you have to make things work and balance the competing interests. Some might say that these sorts of decision-making experiences create moderation of views. I think it creates experienced leaders that are desperately needed in our state.

Thank you for considering my points above.

Todd Zink

Thanks for replying Todd Zink. As I wrote I would post this on the front page. Keep me up to date on your campaign.

The labor Day picnic is a great event for candidates and activists to connect. I plan to go tomorrow and talk to many of the candidates. Click here for more details.

Are you going?