( Steve Bennett, David Pollock, and David Cruz Thayne.)

The field isn't officially set for the Ventura County based CA-26 Congressional District but the campaigns have been busy.

On Saturday I was honored to be the host of a program put on by Conejo Valley Democrats called Eye on the issues. They asked me to introduce these three candidates and ask them questions from club members. Democrat Jess Herrera was invited but did not attend. I am not sure why.

The program will play on local cable access and then it will be posted on YouTube.

When the video is posted I will post that and include more of my thoughts.

Some quick thoughts:

1. Reading from a Teleprompter for the first time was interesting. Made much more interesting because I took some strong cold medicine before the show.

2. I am honestly not sure why I would vote for yet. The top two primary system makes strategic voting complicated.

3. I'll ask each for an interview in the future so I can ask them more specifics. If you are running for office and would like to be interviewed online let me know. I like asking specific questions that give candidates the time to think.

I am interviewing Brandon Millian tonight at 7PM. Click on continue reading to see my questions and his answers.

As I was researching candidates for school board races I found Mike Dunn's website. MIke Dunn's tenure on the CVUSD Board has seen many controversies with him being at the center of some of the most contentious debates. From being accused of violating labor law to debates over the alleged gay agenda in health textbooks Mike Dunn has been a hero to some and a villain to others. He has been a polarizing figure and a favorite for media coverage because of it.

He took questions from my readers before and he admitted he was wrong to call an applicant for a job. His willingness to speak openly about his values and agenda have made him among the most vocal school board members in Ventura County.

I thought he would continue being a polarizing figure but with this screenshot from his website I am having my doubts:

If Mike Dunn earned the endorsement of Linda Parks I am thinking I should reexamine the conventional wisdom about him.

I am writing about SVUSD Board politics later this week. But what's happening with the election for your local school board?

Like many of you I thought the contest between Audra Strickland and Linda Parks would be close. I don't have much to add to what Timm Herdt and Eric Ingemunson have already written. If the race was close then it would be easy to dismiss arguments like the voters have rejected negative campaigning. But with a stunning defeat many factors are likely true.

Mike Osbourn tried to blame the money unions spent on the race but that can't be the prime cause when the VCRCC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Audra Strickland. They can't blame turnout when Republican turnout was much higher than DTS and Democratic voters. Besides, blaming turnout admits that Audra Strickland didn't have cross party appeal.

Blaming incumbency doesn't work either because both of the candidates currently represent most of the same people. Incumbency is usually very powerful because of name ID and the ability to raise money. Audra Strickland's supporters can't claim those worked against her because she is a well-known elected official and she was very-well funded.

I was amused that Audra Strickland's team played so many games including demanding that a fundrasier of hers or a past candidate against Linda Parks moderate a debate. She might have technically been correct that Linda Parks didn't demand a neutral moderator but did her team really think the news stories on the issue would look good to voters?

I don't know exactly what motivated voters to reject Audra Strickland's arguments or I would put it in a binder and sell it to other politicians. What do you think influenced voters the most?

It is approximately the % by which Linda Parks defeated Audra Strickland and it is also the approximate number of negative mailers Audra Strickland sent out during the campaign.

Over the next few weeks I will review some of the other campaigns. Next up: The Clerk / Recorder race.

Ventura County, and more specifically, Thousand Oaks made the infamous list in the 2009 end of the year Jib Jab video. The video has vulgar content.

Leave a comment if you catch where in the video an event that happened in Thousand Oaks is mentioned. I will post a congratulations to the winner on the front page.

What are your top local predictions for 2010 in Ventura County politics? Next year at this time I will post the winners. I am going to make this an annual tradition.

Click on continue reading for some of my predictions.

The Conjeo Valley Democratic Club is holding a luncheon with a guest speaker in honor of Cesar Chavez Day. The topic will be Cesar Chavez's work in Ventura County.

Click here for a Wikipedia page Biography of Cesar Chavez. Taking a day off from work isn't an option for most people, but reading and reflecting on the life of Cesar Chavez can help to inspire many of us. I have studied him before but the basic article on Wikipedia was thought provoking and inspiring again.

Many labor activists are calling upon the memory of Cesar Chavez to advocate for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Click here to read a basic explanation of the law.

Click here to read arguments for it.

Click here to read arguments against it.

Click on continue reading for details for the Cesar Chavez Day lunch and lecture.

The battle over the budget might soon be over if the big 5 ( The Governor, and the leaders of both parties in the State Assembly and State Senate) announce their compromise budget as expected within the next few days. But the interest groups, activists, unions, talk radio host and others are putting pressure on legislators to pass a budget of their liking. The plan as of now is to release the compromise budget and then vote on it before too much pressure could be brought against our legislators to abandon the compromise and to stick by their respective constituencies.

Locally, a group of educators, Democratic activists, and PTA leaders rallied outside of State Senator Tony Strickland's office asking him to compromise and help pass a budget. To see pictures sent in to me from that event click on continue reading. Opponents of State Senator Tony Strickland's have begun to circulate "Phony Tony Bucks" in an effort to blame him for the lack of progress on the state budget. State Senator Tony Strickland has not given any sign that he would compromise his no new taxes pledge, even with all of the pressure from different groups and his own governor.

But if State Senator Tony Strickland was thinking of going along with any compromise that raised taxes he would have to deal with conservatives on his side and the outrage breaking his pledge not to raise taxes would cause. So far if the contest between the two sides is over who has the most over the top graphics The John and Ken show has a pretty wild page showing Republican legislators heads on sticks and other objects for considering raising taxes.

If there is a compromise I don't expect State Senator Tony Strickland will be voting for it. But I am curious to see which Republicans vote for the compromise.

Click here for the website of John and Ken of KFI AM 640 Talk Radio.

Click here for my earlier coverage of the rally.

Click here for a report from Marie Lakin who attended the rally.

( Jay, I don't have pictures for all of the leadership of your club but here is your Barack Obama style image. Mike Chandler was correct, this really is addicting.)

The Conejo Valley Democrats sent out their February newsletter. Click on continue reading to see it.

Click here for their website.

I have been very impressed that many of the Democratic clubs haven't taken time off after the campaign but instead are holding events with guest speakers, helping local charities and making future plans. With the change in registration numbers and the better organizations locally Democrats should continue to make gains in Ventura County.

( Not interested in a club meeting? Than check out this new video with the former governor of Illinois. It is really funny. )

The Conejo Valley Democrats are hosting local writer and CLU professor Beverly Clearly who will be discussing "What would happen if Washington and Lincoln ran for president today?"

Click on continue reading for details.

The local Democratic Clubs have really been visible and active after this election. I know many Republican Women Federated Clubs have been holding their regular meetings but I don't know how effective they have been at reaching out to new members.

Send in your club meetings if you want me to post them.

Click here for Beverly Kelley's blog.

The Conejo Recreation and Park District is accepting applications to finish the term of a member that is resigning. I am not a fan of appointing someone that will then run as an incumbent for almost any position. The advantages of incumbency are too strong. But regardless if the person runs or not there will be an appointment to the Conejo Park District Board.

Click here for the story.

Click here to see the current members.

Have you ever noticed how long some of the employees have worked at Von's when you look at the year on their name tags? This board's most recent addition was from the 1998 elections and their longest serving member was elected when Lyndon Johnson was in the White House!

If you want to get involved there aren't open seats often and there are many people on the board with experience if that is what is holding you back. If you are interested in helping out the many fine programs and parks that Conejo offers this is your chance.

Any nominations?

I think it would be great to add a young voice to the board of someone that has an interest in the different parks and programs and hopefully has participated in a few of them. Local park districts run some great programs. Besides the soon to be opened Dog Park in Simi Valley the park district here offers classes from Judo to cooking for people of all ages.

Good luck to the district in finding a decent community member to serve.

Scott Lamp is amongst the many running for Conejo Valley Unified School Board. Like Besty Connolly, he contacted me to request taking questions from readers.

Click on continue reading to see his answers to questions from the union representing school board employees and from School Board Member Mike Dunn.

Click here to check out his website.

Here are my questions:

1. Will you seek or accept the support of a political party for your campaign?

2. What do you think about the process to fire a poor performing teacher? Do you think it is too easy, reasonable, or too hard to fire a teacher?

3. Have you attended many school board meetings?

4. What is up with that strange question about students leaving campus for nonemergency medical procedures that Mike Dunn asked in his questionnaire? Is that a problem in Conejo Valley schools? ( Click on continue reading to see the question and the response.)

5. What local politician do you respect for the work they have done for our community?

6. Did you see the recent ruling between Mike Dunn and the teachers' unions? What are you thoughts on it? To read the full press release look at the most recent entry about him.

Thanks Scott!

What questions do you have, readers?

The ordeal between Mike Dunn and the union that represents teachers is over with mike Dunn admitting his mistakes and the teachers' union dropping their complaint in return.

Click on continue reading for the press release.

Click here for a past entry where Mike Dunn took questions from readers. What is your favorite response that he posted?

With this maybe all the sides in CVUSD will get back to work.