I don’t pretend to be an objective journalist on this site.  I express my opinions openly.  I’m a huge fan of Glen Becerra. My loyalty towards Simi Valley City Councilmember Becerra was solidified when he took out a full page ad in the Los Angeles Daily News encouraging shoppers to come to Simi Valley after the sales tax increase in LA County.  Regardless of whether or not you believe it was effective, it was funded by Mr. Becerra himself and impossible not to see it as a brilliant political move.

Glen is getting a head start on his campaign by revamping his website and he’s got the most impressive showing I’ve seen yet of any Councilmember.  I firmly believe this solid understanding and acceptance of current technology will give him an advantage over other candidates.  Take a look at these points:

• Modern Design: Glen’s websites design is modern.  The design is simple and clean, makes use of soft gradients like the current “Web 2.0″ standard and is search engine friendly.
• Content Management: The website appears to make use of an open source content management platform called Drupal. This means that Glen, his staff and volunteers can make changes to the site without having to call in a professional web developer. It’s likely the site will be updated regularly.
• User registration: The system supports the creation of user accounts for supports. For those who want to be kept in the loop on campaign news, this is a good thing (and smart)!
• Facebook link: The Facebook audience is huge and demonstrates a measurable understanding of online community.  Glenwisely plans to tap into that social media realm by linking to his public Facebook page.

My hope is that we’re seeing the start of a groundbreaking effort by Glen Becerra to use the internet to reach out in an interactive way with Simi Valley.  I’m excited to see what’s to come over the course of the next year!