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.

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?

Before you read this entry watch the Steve Sojka for Mayor Music Video.

Even though the election isn't until November the campaign to be the next Mayor of Simi Valley is inspiring people to get involved. I don't recall any other Simi Valley politician getting their own music video.

Here's some of the lyrics:

Graffiti is lame, Mr. Simi Valley is his name.

...cooler than monopoly.

Check out around 2:30 where he starts reading the names from this poll:

Steve,

I am issuing this challenge to your campaign music team: Film a great song that extols the virtues of Simi Valley. Sing it to the tune of a recent hip hop song dedicated to a more famous city. Feel free to mention Happy Face Hill, The Duck Pond, and other area landmarks. Keep it nonpartisan and we can use it for years. Go inspire them!

If you do I will keep a blog entry from you at the top of my page for a month.

You have 72 hours to accept the offer but as long as you want to get them to write the lyrics and film it.

From The Star:

Simi Valley police have posted a video on YouTube of a carjacking Sunday in the 1800 block of Cochran Street and are asking for the public's help in finding a suspect.

A woman left her 10-month-old baby in the car while she went into a convenience store, police said. The video, which can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiBHazowttk, shows a man getting into the car and then backing up. Police described him as 40 to 50 years, with salt and pepper short hair, about 6 feet and 220 pounds.

The video shows the woman running to the car and grabbing the driver's door. She opened it, forcing the man out, and then got into the driver's seat. Police said the man ran north toward a Vons grocery store.

Simi Policed asked anyone with information on the man's whereabouts or the carjacking to contact them at 583-6993.

I am impressed that the SVPD is using this technology to ask for help from the public. Please post this on your social networks.

Simi Valley blogger Mike Chandler created the first Barack Obama themed image for me and now I am addicted. Let's make this the official photo of Mayor Paul Miller. Do me a favor and post it on your blog or post links on other blogs linking back to this entry.

Now, back to serious news. Mayor Paul Miller will be giving his annual State of the City address to the Chamber of Commerce. Tickets are $55 for the public. If you don't want to pay or don't have the time I will try to find the text of the speech and post it.

Mike, are you going to go? Any chance you can video it for everyone that wants to see it?

Click here for the newstory with the details.

The actual headline from The Star included the phrase:

I looked for an author of the story that came up with that pun but there was no byline. Anyways...

Simi Valley has earned a reputation as a fiscally well run city, but in these budget cutting times the city council also has started their program reductions and staff cut backs.

The cut backs include the popular DARE program, increased holiday DUI enforcement ( there will be increased enforcement, but not as much as previously planned), some SWAT training, and a few staff positions.

Click here for the story from The Star.

Click here for the story from The Acorn.

A proposal the city council suggested was to have a retired officer volunteer to run the DARE program. I agree that would be ideal but if they are doing a weekly program in almost all of the elementary schools in Simi Valley then that is a significant contribution they will be asking for from retired law enforcement. It can be done, but I expect for the program to be run at the same level it will require more than a few volunteers. Luckily Mayor Paul Miller is a retired police officer and might have the connections needed to know who to ask for their time.

If the Mayor and other council members are successful in recruiting volunteers for the program I expect an attempt to connect the cut backs to the recent 7% raise won't be very meritorious and/or salient.

How or what is your city going to cut back? Do you think it will make much of a difference to the quality of life in your town?

The email below came in from Brad Jashinsky, former School Board candidate, regarding a problem he is facing in his neighborhood. He lives a few blocks away from a nightclub in Simi Valley along the route of an exit from the place. He is going to speak to the Simi Valley City Council this Tuesday night. I have not investigated the accuracy of the claims, nor do I know the full story. But I am look forward to hearing from all sides in this case.

Here is the email from Brad Jashinsky:

At 2am on Saturday November 29th I heard a loud explosive noise, and ran outside to see what had happened. I came out to see my sister's car in the condition above with the obvious drunk driver getting away up the street. Since the accident my anger has turned to outrage as I learned of more neighbors who had their driveways blocked, a brick wall hit by a driver, and a driver go across their lawn. Despite all of these accidents the CandleLight Night Club, where we assume these drunk drivers are coming from, has refused to help with the investigation. We found parts from the other car and tracked them down by serial number to belonging to a Mercedes c230, but CandleLight refuses to hand over surveillance tapes or drivers license records they have from that night. This information would almost certainly lead to an arrest, criminal prosecution, and civil prosecution. Without their help a presumed drunk driver continues to drive the Simi Valley streets believing that they won't be caught, and we have to foot the bill for a few thousand dollars of repairs. Going beyond this one incident our city and citizens are in danger from being more serious cases. This Tuesday, December 8th, I will be speaking to the city council, and I hope if you have a similar concern to share you will be there to show the city council that Simi Valley Citizens will not stand for this behavior by a business in our community

Brad, I know you obviously spoke to the police at the scene, but who else have you spoken to at the city, the police station, or the nightclub? What response have you been given?

( What's your favorite cop movie of all time? Meow My favorite is Super Troopers.)

The Star is reporting that Simi Valley Police will be getting a 7% retroactive raise. Click here for the article. In a time of budget cuts this is sure going to surprise many people. The city says it was a part of an already negotiated union contract.

The news article mentions that the union contract for the police officers had a stipulation that the city would survey other agencies to determine their salary. Does anyone know a quick way to look up the pay scale for teachers, firefighters, and police officers? What about other local government employees?

I looked at a few websites and it is not easy to determine the comparative pay for teachers, firefighters, police officers, council members, or other local government employees. Full transparency should mean we don't have to search many different websites, make phone calls, and send emails to get basic information.

Leave a comment with links if you see this information.

Your help is what makes this blog work. I appreciate your input. This isn't just about linking to an article that a reporter wrote, but going on beyond the limit of column inches and getting more input and insight into issues.

A local SRO, who has been a family friend for many years deserves credit for doing a great job. You handled that recent situation with skill. If you have had a recent run in with a police officer leave them a comment to say thanks. Do not use their names.

( The video is back from the archives but I figured with the election announcements it is timely again.)

There are two seats up for election this November on the Simi Valley City Council. The incumbents include Barbra Williamson and Steve Sojka.

Barbra Williamson just emailed me her press release announcing she is going to run again. To read through the entire statement click on continue reading.

That is a great thing about blogs. I am not limited by space. When you see the news in the paper in a few days it will take a couple of quotes and that is about it.

In the past Barbra Williamson has come on here and taken questions from readers. Thank you for doing that Barbra.

No word yet on if Steve Sojka will run again. I will keep you posted. Have you heard anything?

So, what do you think the top issues in this campaign will be if there is a real contest.

The top issue I think will be the proposed expansion of the landfill.

Barbra I saw your comment where you said you were open to answering many questions from the public. I figured with such a great offer you deserve the front page. If you want me to use another photo ever e-mail one to me.

Without further ado...

Welcome to the first of hopefully many installments of Ask Barbra.

Barbra Williamson is a local Simi Valley city council member and an advocate of digital democracy.

So, fire away.

With crime rising/falling in Simi Valley I have a political question.

Who ends up getting the blame/credit ? Will there be any impact on upcoming elections?