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.

The Simi Valley / Moorpark Democratic Club often holds community discussions at their meetings. This month they will be continuing with their ongoing landfill expansion discussions.

Here is the information:

The Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic club has scheduled a discussion about the expansion of the landfill, 7pm, Wednesday, February l6 at the Simi Valley Library community room, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road.

Louis Pandolfi, member of the Simi Valley Landfill Expansion Task Force, will be the guest speaker.

The meeting is open to the public and includes light refreshments.

What would you like them to discuss at a future meeting? Vote for as many ideas as you want in this poll or post a comment to suggest your own idea. You don't need to register to post a comment but keep it classy.

Coffee?

Here is the subject for announcement for the next meeting of the Simi Valley / Moorpark Democrats:

The Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic club will discuss privatization of the libraries in Ventura County 7pm, Wed., Jan. l9 at the Simi Valley Library community room, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road.

The meeting is open to the public and includes refreshments. A book exchange will take place at the meeting.

Can a local Democrat post more on the book exchange? That sounds interesting. A liberal friend of mine was given a Glenn Beck book for Christmas...

Fiona Ma is popular with the grassroots of the Democratic Party. Her Facebook updates are often very amusing.

Click on continue reading for the details.

UPDATE: Ventura County Democratic Party Chair Richard Carter expects both Sojka and Huber to attend.

Add this to the list of candidate events happening long after voters receive and can send back their absentee ballots:

The Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic club is sponsoring a political forum of local, state and national candidates 7pm, Wednesday, October 20 at the Simi Valley Library community room, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road.

The meeting is open to the public and includes refreshment. Members and guests are encouraged to bring warm winter clothing to be donated to the Samaritan center.

For more information, please call 805-210-6061.

No word yet on what candidates will be there. Republican Bob Huber has campaigned at a Simi Valley Democrats Club Meeting but I don't think Republican Steve Sojka has yet in his race for mayor. With no Democrat in the race it will be interesting to see who makes the stronger appeal to local Democrats.

The Simi Valley / Moorpark Democratic Club is opening an office next week

The Democratic headquarters will open Tuesday, September 28 at noon, at 2904 Cochran Street.

For more information, please call 805-210-6061 or 805-583-1770. Refreshments will be available.

They haven't updated their website in a long time but here is a link:

http://www.simimoorparkdemocrats.com/

Democrats need help setting up the office over the next few days. They said to contact them if you can help this weekend. They have invited the press and the Chamber of Commerce to attend their grand opening.

Some local progressives are also planning rallies to protest against George W. Bush when he comes to Simi Valley to speak at the Reagan Library. Think local Tea Party people will rally to support Bush?

The Simi Valley Landfill has plans to expand how much trash they take and the size of their landfill. The Simi Valley Democratic Club is going to be discussing the landfill expansion again. If you want to know more about the expansion I'd suggest going to the meeting AND going to the company's website.

I'd also suggest trying to get any candidate that is running to be specific about what their views are on the expansion. The landfill has extensively worked with many local charities. They have earned goodwill with numerous politicians that don't want to alienate voters or WM. The City Council doesn't have a direct vote on the subject but they do have influence in letting WM and the county under what conditions they support expanding the landfill.

I asked candidate for city council Mike Judge the following question:

The landfill wants to expand their business. Would you be more likely to support expanding the landfill if they added a shooting range open to police officers?

He responded:

I do not think the Range if there is to be one should be given with any pre-conditions. I do think the Landfill is the 2ton gorilla in the room this election everyone is trying to ignore especially the incumbents. Good, Bad or indifferent my Opinion would be just that an opinion because right now the City will not have a say in what happens. But I believe our City should have a say and the expansion should be predicated on certain favorable conditions to the City of Simi Valley. This all goes back to one of the main premises of my Candidacy the lack of credible leadership among the incumbents and our need now more than ever for that leadership.

Here are the details of the club meeting to discuss the expansion:

The Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic club has scheduled a meeting 7pm, Wednesday, August l8 to discuss the proposed expansion of the landfill at the Simi Valley Library community room, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road.

Guest speaker is Lou Pandolfi, member of the Simi Valley Landfill Expansion Task Force.

For more information, please go to simimoorparkdemocrats.com The meeting is open to the public with refreshments.

I have been thinking if I should ask candidates if they have smoked marijuana before in my Thursday Night Interviews. Should I be asking candidates for judge or other positions if they have smoked marijuana? It seems like too much of a personal issue instead of focusing on what policies they might support.

The Democratic Club of Simi Valley is holding a discussion on marijuana. Here are the details:

The Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic club has scheduled a discussion on whether marijuana should be legalized to balance the budget. The discussion will take place 7pm, Wednesday, May l9 at the Simi Valley Library community room, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road.

The public is invited to attend. Refreshments will be available.

For more information, please call 805-210-6061.

I am not interested in listening to another debate over marijuana. Are you?

For snacks they should serve nachos.

The Simi Valley Democrats are going to have a great club meeting in a few weeks. I am posting it now so that activists and reporters can make their plans.

The Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic club had scheduled a candidates forum, 7pm, Wed,
April 21, at the Simi Valley Library, 2969 Tapo Canyon Rd.

Candidates include challengers in the 24th Congressional District, Ventura County Sheriff's office, county clerk and recorder, and others,

For more information, please call 805-210-6061. Refreshments are available.

I am impressed the Simi Valley / Moorpark Democrats have been holding debates on important topics. Rep. Elton Gallegly did not have a town hall meeting on healthcare insurance reform but local Democrats did. Putting together events where people can come and ask questions strengthens are democracy. Here is the details of their latest event:

The Simi Valley/Moorpark Democratic club has scheduled a debate on the war in Afghanistan 7pm. Wed., February l7 at the Simi Valley Library community room, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road.

Advocates on both sides of the issue will be represented, moderated by Daily News editor,
Carolina Garcia.

For more information, please call 805-210-6061

Barack Obama campaigned on winning the war in Afghanistan and said he would send more troops if necessary. It will be interesting to see what local Democrats believe.

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Long time Democratic Party activist Lynn Maxson has passed away. I first met him at Simi Valley Democratic Club meetings.

I didn't know Lynn Maxson for many years but anyone that discussed politics with him would quickly feel his passion for the causes he supported. Lynn was committed to supporting progressive issues and he always seemed to bring a sense of urgency to a topic. Being a Democratic activist in a Republican town can be frustrating but Lynn believed the issues he worked for were so important that had to be brought to the attention of more people.

If you knew Lynn you would have known he wasn't into politics for the power or the prestige. He character and commitment were refreshing in a field where so many are acting for their own self-interest.

He will be missed by his many friends in local politics.

In his memory his family is asking for donations to help the people of Haiti.

Click on continue reading for a email from the Ventura County Democratic Party with more details on donating money to help Haiti in Lynn's name.

The Simi Valley / Moorpark Democratic Club is looking for new leaders for the next year. Click on continue reading for details.

There are also looking for ideas to get more involved in service to our community. Click on continue reading and then post a comment to provide them with some input. Donna Prenta, are you reading this entry?