Everybody running looks great. Simi Valley is lucky to have people like that ready to step up.
Speaking great I think we should hire Kate. She is an engineer and someone that cares about the enviorment... She's hired! I can't think of a better person to overlook what God's engineered.

First one to Big Bri's Blog wins... You have to be fased in this brave new world.

DOJ - quite a lot of praise. Personally, the only two things I know of Kate O'Brien is that she is a Libertarian and the note she had about having the church folks take the homeless in to live with them. Is that the brilliance you speak of? Not a good start in my book.

But to Kate, how does your Libertarian affiliation fit with you on the Park Board? Aren't Libertarians for less/smaller government? Aren't Libertarians opposed to more taxes? The Park District is funded only by a supplemental tax on property - have you been working to fight that tax? And in the end, disband the Park District?

What does your Republican candidate for Park District want to do with homeless people? Do the want to use open space to dig trenches and take care of the homeless people once and for all?
I am not even sure what a Libertarian is but I bet there are a lot less of them in prison than Republicans.

Just because she is like Jesus and brings lost sheep into the church does not mean she will send them to the park.

Oh come on people...Give these elected officials a break. No wonder they won't blog with you...you're RUDE!!!
Play nice!

He started it!!!

DOJ - who are you kidding? You know about or are a Libertarian, because you immediately started in to the Libertarian stump speech - jails. The Libertarian stump speech goes something like: "Our jails are full of non-violent criminals, drug users and dealers, prostitutes and johns, etc. We should legalize drugs and prostitution and let all those people go."

Since DOJ brought it up Kate: Do you support the legalization of drugs? If so, which drugs if not all? Would you legalize prostitution?

P.S. DOJ - I never said I was a Republican, what made you think that? The only thing I am clearly not is a Libertarian.

Barbra- Who was being rude to the elected official? I simply didn't think her letter to the editor was a great policy. Then I questioned her about the clear dichotomy of her position and her party affiliation.

Kate, you're a smart gal who has been great for the Park District. It continues to be one of the best park districts in the State. Your Libertarian values have been a great balance to the right wing nuts and liberal gift givers. What changes would you like to see in the future to better the park district and the community?

Guys, can you try to stay on topic and stop going off on tangents?

I unpublished the comments left until Kate O'Brien gets a chance to answer comments related to her job.

There were some good questions and random streams of thought mixed in. I don't have time tonight to go through them.

This is my blog, and I am trying to provide a public service. When I have elected officials on to answer questions, ask them more direct, clear questions that are related to them.

If I keep wasting my time deleting comments I will simply block you from posting.

I am not saying only to ask about questions for park board, but can we at least ask those questions first, and then move on.

Since, I don't have time to go through each comment I will restore them in a few days. They have not been deleted.

Brian, pretty disappointed. There was nothing in there that hasn't posted against Barbra or Foy or Dantona and you don't edit those. There were legitimate questions posted about an elected official who has never had to answer any questions because she ran for Park Board.

There's a fine line between editing speech and editing to maintain a reasonable debate. You crossed that line here. I like you personally and think you are a good person trying to do good things. I am a frequent poster - which I'm sure you can tell - and it's truly sad that you felt you needed to edit all of those comments tonight. I'm Sorry Brian that you chose to remove those comments and let many more inflammatory and disgusting things get said.

You lost a reader tonight. Even if you delete this one I know you read it.

Read my edited comment above. I didn't delete the questions you and others posed. i am just holding them until Kate O'Brien can start to answer questions about her job.

You, me, and everyone else will be able to ask her other questions soon.

If you ever read a comment that should be removed because it is a personal attack send me an e-mail. I delete those comments upon request.

if you have more questions feel free to send me an e-mail so I can explain.

What is the status of the proposed water park at the current Sinaloa golf course?

This is my first time responding to questions so I hope I am doing this correctly:

Re the Dog Park - we should have that ready this summer. If you want a firm date let me know and I will try to get one for you.

Re the proposed water park at Sinaloa Golf Course - this is in early planning stages, so I don't have a lot of information for you. We will be interacting with the locals and all HOAs in the area as well in the coming months. I will be able to provide more information as the project moves forward.

Re smoking in the parks (nobody asked yet but I am told someone will :D) - I am in favor of banning smoking in the parks for now, mainly because of fire safety. We are facing a bad fire season. One of our duties as public officials is to keep the public safe, and I would never forgive myself if we decided to allow smoking and wound up with a major fire. Or even a minor one.

I think an engineer is an excellent fit for this position. I used to work with the ranger in Wildwood and you have to know how to design projects and build them. I have met many people in this profession and Kate is what you look for.

Katie,
Let’s get serious, smoking a fire hazard in parks that are landscaped and irrigated?
Maybe, if the drought gets so bad that we stop watering the lawns, but until then I don’t think we need to worry about fires.

That’s not even close to the proposal that the board will be considering May 17.
In case you didn’t get the memo it can be found here http://www.rsrpd.org/bodmeetings/021507/0215074107b.pdf

Your staff is recommending that smoking be banned at the four largest and several of the smaller parks because of a few complaints about smoking in some very specific areas.
The four community parks have acres of open space away from the ball fields and playgrounds where adults could smoke and not bother anyone else. And the smaller parks have enough room to designate smoking areas for the people who visit them.

Keep in mind that people who smoke have paid their taxes to support the construction and maintenance of these parks, they have as much right to enjoy these facilities as anyone. Second hand smoke is not the ultimate health hazard as some would have you believe. Those of us who grew-up in the 50s and 60s were exposed to it everywhere we went. In our homes, parents cars, restaurants, department stores, grocery stores, etc. Somehow we all managed to live quite well and there is no epidemic of second hand smoke related cancer today. In fact we are quickly becoming the longest living, healthiest generation of people to have ever inhabited the earth. There is just no bases to suggest that the amount of second hand smoke that someone might encounter in an open park poses any hazard at all.

How can a Libertarian square her beliefs with a restriction on smoking while fishing? What is the lake gonna catch on fire?

Captian of the Canyons Kate or Canyon Kate; chased the Marlboro man off into the sunset. Hahah. I like her. Can we keep her?
BRIAN: parks are meeting places. She should have to give a state of the park address atleast once a month.

Re: Smoking in the parks:

I was under the impression you wanted my personal views. For staff recommendations, you can read our staff report at http://www.rsrpd.org/bodmeetings/021507/0215074107b.pdf

You do bring up some excellent points. Please come to the meeting on the 17th (6:30 pm at the Sycamore Drive Community Center) to voice your opinions (I hope to be there; if I am not it will be because I am in the hospital.)

We do need a monthly "State of the Parks" address. In other communities parks are places where many crimes take place. The Community needs to take ownership of the park so the gangs don't.
By having a "State of the Park" address it provides the community with a sense of ownership. It also provides the public and police an opportunity to communicate with each other in a timely fashion.
We need a liason between the police and park service to put together an address to be approved by Canyon Kate.
oops a threaded random thoughts again.....

To answer your questions one at a time and briefly:
1. All elected positions up through County Supervisor are non-partisan, so party affiliation is not generally an issue. If I have a bias, it tends towards lower taxes and less regulation. To paraphrase one of the Republicans in the debate last evening: of COURSE your beliefs will influence your decision making. That?s what beliefs are for.
2. Yes, Libertarians are for much smaller government, much closer to what the Founding Fathers proposed in the Constitution.
3. Yes, Libertarians would like to see taxes greatly reduced.
4. The Park District is funded through a number of funding mechanisms, including revenues from classes and facilities rentals, property taxes, grants. The assessment tax was put into place in 2000 (I think? Before my time) as a result of Sacramento taking the ERAF money and leaving Special Districts without much of their funding. I generally vote no because I worry that Sacramento will end up getting that money eventually as they are always coming up with new and creative ways to take our funding, when what they should be doing is cutting up their credit cards.
5. Disbanding the Park District is an idea that is 2 exits past Stupid on the Highway of Life (sorry. been wanting to use that). We provide a lot of community services and do so very well. If we were one of the 24 hospital districts in the state which contained no hospitals, that might be a different story. But the local LAFCOS have been doing a good job reviewing Special Districts and eliminating ones that no longer serve a purpose.

>>We do need a monthly "State of the Parks" address. In other communities parks are places where many crimes take place. The Community needs to take ownership of the park so the gangs don't.
By having a "State of the Park" address it provides the community with a sense of ownership. It also provides the public and police an opportunity to communicate with each other in a timely fashion.<<

This is a good idea. Having the Chair present a monthly SOTP address. I will bring it up at our next meeting

Since DOJ brought it up Kate: Do you support the legalization of drugs? If so, which drugs if not all? Would you legalize prostitution?
1. Let sick people have their medicine. I think that a refusal to legalize compassionate use shows an appalling lack of compassion for people who are ill and in pain. We passed a compassionate use initiative in California but the Feds are ignoring it.
? If you can show me how the Drug Wars have been a resounding success, I would love to hear about it! Keeping drugs illegal is a great way to subsidize the drug dealers (similar to Prohibition, which I understand is how organized crime got a foothold in the USA). Furthermore, one of the ways terrorists fund their projects is through illegal drugs.
2. Prostitution consists of 2 basic elements: sex and free enterprise. I am in favor of both of those.
3. I don?t want prostitutes in the parks any more than I want to see drug dealers in the parks. Taxpayers and their families use those parks, and anything that interferes with them doing so is a bad idea, IMHO. Taxpayers first, everyone else second.

I worked for some of the most successful companies in the world looking for engineers with communication skills. It is the biggest challenge in the executive placement industry. Somehow Simi Valley did it when they found Kate.
I suggest all of you pray very hard for her as I hope she knows I will. God has blessed us with Canyon Kate let's show some appreciation to Him.

Who was being rude to the elected official? I simply didn't think her letter to the editor was a great policy. Then I questioned her about the clear dichotomy of her position and her party affiliation.
1. I have a strong Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is and If You're Not Part of the Solution You're Part of the Problem take on life. Hence my letter to the editor about the homeless. And don't feel like the Lone Ranger; I have annoyed other Libertarians with that attitude over the years too!
2. FYI a Libertarian is not the same as an anarchist. An anarchist believes in no government whatsoever. Libertarians believe in government that is somewhere between smaller - a LOT smaller - to non-existent, PLUS - and this is a big one - being responsible for your own actions. Obviously I am not an anarchist or I wouldn't be in office.
3. This is fun! I greatly look forward to reading the rest of Brian's blog, and other local politicians' takes on their parties' platforms!

I agree with Kate. The District does a fantastic job for the residents of Simi Valley & Oak park. Disbaning it would be a disaster....and a shame.

I want Canyon Kate overlooking the parkes because she doesn't allow gangs or other illegal activity to occur in the parks. She has the guts to stand up to crimminals. She is a steward for what God created not what politicians and crimminals want to come up with!

What changes would you like to see in the future to better the park district and the community?
Well, one thing the Grand Jury wants us to do is to review our ranger program. That is something we will be addressing in the near future. We do have good relationships with the police and Sherriff’s departments, so I don’t see any serious problems with compliance.
One of the posters suggested a monthly State of the Parks address, presented by the Chair. That would dovetail nicely with the changes the grand Jury is recommending.

Sometimes the old boys network in Simi Valley likes people to hire police or fired police or retired police for jobs. I don't have a problem with it as long as it is not one of the mentally imbalanced ones. They should also have a passion for the job like "Canyon Kate". If the "old boys" make a mistake we need to take something away from them.
Don't worry I will handle that part.

>>I suggest all of you pray very hard for her as I hope she knows I will. God has blessed us with Canyon Kate let's show some appreciation to Him.<<

Thank you! All prayers are deeply appreciated. I have some health issues to deal with so perhaps you could all tell Him I am not done yet!

He says your still as freash as when he made you. You have no expiration date.

You working too hard take a mega mega mega dose of vitamin B.

Folks, there is a monthly State of the Parks address, it's called the Park Board meeting. The attendance is awful! Nobody in this community goes to it - it's a shame. I have attended many and at times, besides staff, am the only constituent who was in the audience.

The Park Board can take that as a compliment I guess, because if things were bad people might show up. Has the Park District looked into doing a webcast for people who can't make the meeting? Kate, you may want to announce the schedule of meeting for those who don't know. People should definitely get involved in this, because maybe then we wouldn't elect a developer's rep to the Board (not Kate).

After reading your points Kate, would you consider yourself a conservative Libertarian (as some people may be considered left-leaning Republicans or right-leaning Democrats)? Your opinions seem to lean closer to those for regulation and taxes of many things that Libertarians might not normally support.

The city of Simi Valley has offered the Park District the Council Chambers so Adelphia/Time Warner can televisize their meetings...They rejected the idea. What is up with that?

Good Morning Kate:

I have a question on the dog park. What funding stream is the Park District identifying to pay for maintenance/upkeep of this park? Is the district planning to charge dog owners to use it or will all taxpayers have to foot the bill?

Second, Is it possible to look at getting an adult flag football league?

Have a great day.

Can we have high speed ballroom dancing?

Local American Idol contests.... For fund raisers....

Scott, why do you ask for the funding stream? If the park is well used isn't that the intention? I don't see you asking about if othewr parks will charge people to enter them. Lemon Park has a water park for little kids. Not all people can use it. Should we shake the kids down for some money? Maybe have slots the put quarters in to shoot water? Why can't dog people be treated like other park users.

Now, they are unequal. There are parks I cannot bring my dog to but I pay for them. According to your mindset is there a place where a dog can chase a frisbee?

I like parks. Almost all of them are underused. If you visit any local dog park you will see many families use them.

Butch:

This question was for Kate O'Brien. I have a lot of respect for her for coming on and answering questions. She's part of the reason we have such great parks in this town. Why don't you allow her to answer questions as it's her thread?

Uh, hello? Kate? You there? No more responses?

You didn't see a gopher?

>>Sometimes the old boys network in Simi Valley likes people to hire police or fired police or retired police for jobs. I don't have a problem with it as long as it is not one of the mentally imbalanced ones.<<

When we hire retired police officer, it's usually the ones with decades of experience. If a cop is mentally imbalanced, that would no doubt become apparent while he was still a cop and we would avoid hiring him.

I'm not saying it would be impossible for us to make a mistake, just that the chances of doing so are somewhere between very unlikely and extremely unlikely.

Remember! The only guarantees in life are death and taxes.

>> Has the Park District looked into doing a webcast for people who can't make the meeting? Kate, you may want to announce the schedule of meeting for those who don't know. People should definitely get involved in this, because maybe then we wouldn't elect a developer's rep to the Board (not Kate).>The city of Simi Valley has offered the Park District the Council Chambers so Adelphia/Time Warner can televise their meetings...They rejected the idea. What is up with that?<<
This came up shortly after I came onto the Board. I will ask for an update at our next meeting (which I WILL be attending as it happens)

>>After reading your points Kate, would you consider yourself a conservative Libertarian (as some people may be considered left-leaning Republicans or right-leaning Democrats)? Your opinions seem to lean closer to those for regulation and taxes of many things that Libertarians might not normally support.<<
I am probably closer to a Libertarian Republican than a Libertarian Anarchist. I want Big Government to get a lot smaller and I think it should keep its nose out of most of the things it has its nose in.
Now, having said that, I also realize that any group of people living in close proximity needs a set of rules and regulations to keep my fist from hitting your nose, as it were. Such a group also needs a way of paying for infrastructure, which benefits everyone.
When you have rules and funding, batta bing batta boom! You have government.

>>I have a question on the dog park. What funding stream is the Park District identifying to pay for maintenance/upkeep of this park? Is the district planning to charge dog owners to use it or will all taxpayers have to foot the bill?<<
Most of the park maintenance monies come out of the General Fund, which is funded by taxes, grants, rental fees, etc., except for specific items which may come out of other funds. As far as I know that is how we will be paying for the dog park maintenance. I did send an email to Staff, asking for clarification. Staff are the people who do the work and know a LOT.

all of these are good ideas! I can pass them on.

We do have lots of dance classes already. Anything dangersou you would have to ask the instructor about :D

Check out the Reporter http://www.rsrpd.org/recs/brochures/svbrochure.pdf

Sometimes it's a good thing when the government ignores you. As a matter of fact; that's the only way I have seen anything work.

Your a park service rocks star keep up the good work...

Right Barbra.

The ex-officers we have now working for the park service are great. That was just a lucky guess. Just want to keep the hills safe. I have noticed they can be aggressive in their job searches in Simi Valley.

I want to thank DOJ for sending Kate O'Brien some flowers to cheer her up in light of her recent health issues. Kate, you are one of the most interesting local politicians and for that reason I hope you continue to serve for many years.

You said the dog park will be opening this summer? Is there going to be a grand opening? I would like to help. We should line up community groups and vets to let people know about fixing their pets, dog adoption days, vaccines, training classes, and the like.

I think it would be awesome if local groups used it as a place to show dogs that needed adoption. We could also have vets do vaccine days to make sure our local dogs our in top health. We could have funders of things at the park like a bulletin board to help out.

I am interested in forming a committee to help out by raising funds, contacting service providers, writing press releases, reaching out to community groups and the like.

Let me know.

Hope Kate is feeling better

It is an excellent idea to provide cannine services at local dog parks. That is an idea that could spread throughout the entire Country. It also provides animial care product and care providers with a tool to market their other services for other pets.
We probably owe it to them anyway after the Chinese wheat gluten.

Thank you for the lovely flowers! I had called the florist to ask who they were from but she said the individual had asked to remain anonymous. But thank you. They are really gorgeous.

I am feeling good. I will be having surgery on June 5th. And it IS serious but very curable.

I like all the ideas for the dog park, and will bring them up at the next meeting. Unless one of you would like to come and do so, which I think would be a great idea. I would like to see more people at our meetings.

What is the date, schedule ( open comments time), and time of the next meeting?

Remember to ask to host the meetings at city hall just like the city council and school board does. That way they can be on streaming video and tv.

The meetings are usually the first and third Thursdays of every month, and are generally at the Sycamore Drive HQ (except for the 2 times per year we do them in Oak Park). They start at 6:30, and the public comment section is usually right after flag salute, and roll call.

Do come! we like it when people show up.

I would like to attend the next meeting that has a discussion about the new dog park. Can you tell me when that will be on the agenda?