A new Facebook group dedicated to Simi Valley politics has been rapidly growing. Go to Facebook and search Simi Valley Letters to the Editor to find it. If you want to join the discussion on city planning and benefits for city council members this is the Facebook group for you. Here is a great use of a meme that appeared on that page:

I agree with Ventura County Star Reporter Timm Herdt that Simi Valley politics will be much more interesting because of redistricting.

There is a State Assembly race that involves two influential Republicans from Santa Clarita. Scott Wilk and Patricia McKeon both have support from Republican Party activists. The district leans Republican but I expect moderate Democrat Edward Headington to make the top two.

Republicans don't have a declared candidate for the State Senate seat yet but many people think Cameron Smyth will declare soon. Democrats have incumbent State Senator Fran Pavley running and she will be campaigning in Simi Valley soon.

A small part of Simi Valley is in the Ventura based Congressional district that has many strong candidates running for it including Steve Bennett, Tony Strickland, David cruz Thayne, David Pollock, and Linda Parks.

The House seat that includes Simi Valley and Santa Clarita so far has incumbent Republican Howard "Buck" McKeon running for it and a new challenger Dr. Lee Rogers. A major issue in that campaign has been the Countrywide VIP loan program that Rep. Buck McKeon allegedly benefited from. Buck McKeon has denied all wrongdoing.

All of this brings me to Simi Valley City Council Member Glen Becerra. When Rep. Elton Gallegly announced his retirement he was quoted as saying:

Simi Valley City Councilman Glen Becerra said he also will take a serious look at entering the race. "This seat looks like it was designed for a Hispanic Republican," he said. Becerra, like Gallegly, lives in Simi Valley, outside of the district lines, but said that makes little difference. "I was born and raised in Ventura County, and this is a Ventura County district," he said.

I wonder if Glen Becerra might consider running for any one of these positions.

House 26th:
I doubt he would run against Tony Strickland. Tony Strickland has quickly united the Republican Party behind him.

House 25th:
Buck McKeon will be weakened from attacks on paying his wife to run work on his campaigns and benefiting from the Countrywide VIP Home Loan program. The attacks on Patricia McKeon from her opponents will hurt Buck McKeon. Could Glen Becerra be tempted to run for what is considered a safe Republican seat because of the growing charges against Buck McKeon and Patricia McKeon from their opponents?

State Senate 27th District:
If Cameron Smyth runs I don't think Glen Becerra would challenge him. Smyth hasn't declared his intentions. I assumed he was going to run but I am not so sure. Cameron Smyth is holding a fundraiser for State Assembly candidate Scott Wilk. That might be a sign that he isn't worried about upsetting special interest groups that are supporting Patricia McKeon. Now that it looks like State Senator Fran Pavley will be the only Democrat running Republicans will consider that challenging her is going to tougher. Fran Pavely is popular with Democratic activists and she has the ability to raise money. She has represented much of the area and was a popular teacher in Moorpark.

Assembly District 38:
If Glen Becerra ran for the State Assembly seat he could have had a decent chance. With the two Santa Clarita based Republicans dividing support from that area he could have joined the Democrat in the top two based on his base of support in Simi Valley. He has already endorsed Scott Wilk though so that would be pretty surprising. Claiming the endorsement of your opponent would make a great mailer. He isn't going to run against Scott Wilk.

Glen Becerra has won four elections to the Simi Valley City Council, including his first when he beat a more conservative incumbent.

The deadline to file is in March. He might not see opportunities like this again for a long time.

Do you remember this location?

Photo by Al Shack. Used with Permission.

Look at these classic styles at Rancho Duck Pond:

Photo by Al Shack. Used with Permission.

If you enjoy Simi Valley History check out the Facebook Page titled Simi Valley Relics. I found their pictures very interesting and wanted to share them. You can upload your own to their page.

They also have more recent pictures including pictures from the filming of Sons of Anarchy at locations in Simi Valley. Simi Valley has been the location of many productions.

The Simi Valley / Moorpark Democrats have their annual holiday potluck dinner tonight.

Annual Pot Luck on Wed. December 21 @ 7pm

Please join us at the Simi Valley Public Library for our Annual Pot Luck, Officer Elections and Member Recognition.

Click on continue reading for details.

UPDATE: In the comments section City Council Member Barbra Williamson says it is not going to be a debate. The email sent to me from the Landfill Taskforce, a group of citizens not affiliated with the city, stated it was going to be a debate. But your input is valuable as a current member of the negotiating team and the city council. Thanks!

The Simi Valley Landfill Landfill Expansion Taskforce, a group unaffiliated with the city government of Simi Valley, is calling on people to help them to limit the plans for growth of the landfill in the area outside of Simi Valley.

The City Council is united in trying to mitigate the negative potential impacts to the surrounding communities but as The Acorn reported the council is divided on how and what to negotiate for.

The landfill will have negative and beneficial impacts on our communities. Simi Valley does not have a direct vote but if our city council was united or opposed to a deal that would be a powerful recommendation to the County Board of Supervisors. Don't believe a local politician that says they are powerless.

So, what could make you support expanding the local landfill?

Here is a recent release from the landfill expansion taskforce. I am intrigued by the announcement of a debate. If this was previously posted I must have been too busy lately to notice.

SAY "NO" TO LOS ANGELES GARBAGE IN SIMI VALLEY

Your help is urgently needed to help Simi Valley stop the Landfill from becoming one of the largest landfills in the Nation in its quest to be the repository for Los Angeles garbage.

With your help, we can win this battle.

Two meetings will be held later this month and your attendance at each of them will make a difference.

Meeting 1: a televised debate between Waste Management and the Simi Valley Landfill Expansion Task Force to be held on March 23, Wed., at 6:30 PM at City Hall. Please attend so you can send a message to Waste Management that we are united in our battle to keep Los Angeles garbage out of Simi Valley.

Meeting 2: The Ventura County Planning Commission will hold its Public Hearing in Simi Valley for the first time. The meeting will be at 1:00 PM on March 24, Thursday, at City Hall. Please attend and be prepared to speak. Your testimony can be very short.
"I urge you to recommend the "No Project Option" since expansion of the landfill is not needed to meet the needs of Ventura County."

Lastly, we need letters-to-the-editor NOW. Send them to the Ventura County Star and the Simi Valley Acorn. They can be either short or long, but keep the message simple. Our County Supervisor's need to deny the expansion of the landfill because it is not necessary for the needs of Ventura County and it will harm the air quality in Simi Valley and Moorpark to a level that can not be mitigated.

Side Note: I miss Mike Chandler's blog posts and the comments on his entries. Mike, don't give up. We don't always agree but I appreciate your perspective.

Here is the text of the resolution:

Disclosure: I am a Simi Valley public school teacher. That stated I don't always agree or disagree with the opinions of the school board.

The Simi Valley Unified School District Board passed a resolution in favor of putting the tax extension proposals on the June ballot. It is a strange time for school budgeting because that means the school board must prepare two seperate budgets and prepare for the worst.

That means the school board must give out reduction in force notices (RIF Notices) in March and fire teachers for the next school year in April but potentially rehire those teachers after the election.

Simi Valley School teachers have voted to accept furlough days and added costs to healthcare plans. The school district has cut total staffing and positions. I am not sure what would be cut next. The Simi Valley Educators Association is going to be asking their members if they want to lose positions, cut pay, or take more furlough days. This school year Simi Valley had many less furlough days than other area districts.

I support the tax extensions. I don't see alternative plans to adequately fund education next year without them being passed. I also support furlough days instead of cutting positions. I would reduce my pay to protect the careers of some of the newest hires to the district. Beyond the immediate problems I also support merging the different required tests students take to reduce costs.

In related news former Simi Valley School Board candidate Josie Hirsch posted on Facebook that she plans to run again in 2012. She believes the district does not need the added money from the proposed tax extensions and could reduce costs without major impacts in the classrooms. Find her on Facebook to read her explanations for yourself.

The Simi Valley Police Officers Association got involved in the recent city elections in a way they haven't done before. They have argued that the city hasn't dealt fairly with them in recent contract negotiations and that the contention was over more than just benefits. They announced their intentions to get much more involved in local elections long before the final field was settled.

They endorsed Bob Huber for Mayor over City Council Member Steve Sojka and Keith Mashburn for City Council.

The race for Mayor was an open seat election but the city council election had two incumbents running and several challengers for two seats. The POA wanted to defeat incumbents with Steve Sojka, Glen Becerra, and Michelle Foster on the ballot they had their targets.

Huber was also able to earn the support of Rep. Elton Gallegly, State Senator Tony Strickland, the Ventura County Republican Central Committee, and two former chairs of the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee.

Their endorsement of Huber over Sojka wasn't much of a surprise as Bob Huber was the only other candidate for mayor on the ballot and their goal was to defeat an incumbent. Steve Sojka counted as an incumbent because he was already on the city council.

What was much more interesting is their endorsement in the city council race. They had two strong challengers to choose from: retired firefighter Keith Mashburn and LAPD officer Mike Judge. They chose to endorse just Keith Mashburn, although they had many complimentary things to say about Mike Judge. They could have endorsed both of them and tried to get them to run as a slate. I haven't studied slate elections in nonpartisan elections enough to give a well informed opinion, but I am very interested in your opinions on this strategy. You don't need to register to post a comment but keep it classy.

That's academic for now as they chose to endorse just one challenger. I imagine one of the reasons they endorsed Keith Mashburn over Mike Judge was that they thought Mashburn was more electable. That of course turned out to be funny because Mike Judge won without their support.

I am very impressed with Mike Judge's campaign. He had very little money and almost no endorsements. His fundraisers were mostly attended by actual friends of his. That's unlike when other politicians call big campaign contributors that have business in front of them "friends".

The POA most wanted to defeat Glen Beccera on the city council but they ended up contributing to the defeat of Michelle Foster instead. The official score records their endorsed candidates going 1 for 2 in this election but they came out as clear victors. They were able to defeat two incumbents and a police officer was elected to the council.

Click on continue reading for their press release.

It will be interesting to see how involved they will be in two years when Bob Huber will be up for re-election and the two seats currently occupied by Steve Sojka and Barbra Williamson will be up for election.

Both of those incumbents have significant strengths that might deter many challengers from running against them if they both run again. Steve Sojka obviously has a large base of support he built upon in the last election and Barbra Williamson has been very open in her opposition to the landfill/dump expansion plans.

There are many arguments over the validity of expanding the landfill but it is a fact that enlarging the landfill to take more trash from outside areas is very unpopular. A smart politician might come out and convince people that it is in the best interest of the city to support the expansion. But so far that hasn't happened. That means Barbra Williamson goes into the next cycle with a a strong advantage.

I read this post and the comments on it on the Simi Valley Facebook Page. You can go read it by going to that page and scrolling down the page.

I know that parties and activists want to promote people they agree with because candidates for one office might run for another office later. But I don't find this issue compelling in the race for mayor of Simi Valley. Do you?

I do find it interesting to learn how people make their decisions on local candidates.

Simi Valley City Council candidate Mike Judge might share a name with the creator of King of the Hill but I don't see much else in common.

Mike is an old fashion conservative, a police officer, and a critic of the incumbents. Go to his website to find out more.

I went to a campaign event of his and his supporters are very passionate. I'm not sure if that will be enough to compensate for the large amounts of money his opponents are spending.

Bob Huber is having another campaign event at a local park. Here are the details:

Yesterday I went to an event organized by education activist Donna Prenta, School Board Member Rob Collins and Former School Board Member Diane Collins. The meet and greet was put together to support candidates for SVUSD School Board Arleigh Kidd and Jeanne Davis plus candidate for Mayor of Simi Valley Bob Huber. I talked with Bob Huber and his campaign manager Scott Santino about the negativity in the campaign and other issues. Bob Huber agreed to be interviewed on camera without me telling him all of the questions first. I did tell him that I would ask about the plan to fix the Arroyo bike path, which is an important issue for me.

Overall the event was well-attended and have people a chance to talk to many community leaders. I finally had a chance to talk with June Ewart who has been helping me with the Shop Simi Valley First Facebook page. If you ever want to discuss intervention strategies for at-risk youth in Simi Valley you should contact her.

To see the other videos and pictures from the event go to my Facebook page for my blog. I don't have a budget for fundraisers but if you would like to invite me to take videos and pictures send me a message. I don't need to agree with your candidate to attend.

School Board Member Rob Collins, Past School Board Member and his wife Diane Collins, and education activist Donna Prenta are putting together a meet and greet event this weekend for three of their favorite local candidates. Here is the flyer for the event:

Although the candidates are appearing together that doesn't mean they have all endorsed each other. Arleigh Kidd posted this comment on Facebook:

I plan to be at this event to take pictures and to interview the candidates briefly. I have interviewed Jeanne Davis a few weeks ago and I will be interviewing Arleigh Kidd soon. I am personal friends with Arleigh Kidd and I am supporting him. He has been a teacher in Simi Valley and has a passion for public education.