http://www.votesimivalley.com Rock the Vote in Simi Valley Election 2008 Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:38:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Weeks ago, I sat in the City Council meeting anxious to hear news about the city budget, knowing the city was pressured to cut just more than 3 million dollars from the budget without eliminating jobs.  City employees sat near me, even more anxious, seemingly unsure where things stood. City Manager ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2009/01/city-officials-manage-budget-effectively/ I've been working for several months now on a web project for the community. It's a social network of sorts, but the staple content revolves around blogs that focus on Simi Valley. I'm looking for interested writers for the following Simi Valley related blogs: * Restaurant/Entertainment Blog - Rate, ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/writers-wanted-new-community-website/ Last week, I read an article describing Debbie Sandland as being "visibly perturbed" about being passed up for the nomination of school board president.  Evidently, there's an unwritten rule among trustees that the previous year's clerk be nominated as the current year's board president.  Last year's clerk was Sandland. But protocol ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/greg-stratton-speaks/ David Saperstein donated some dollars to the Miller and Sojka campaigns this election cycle. Of course, these were considered "bundled" donations, meaning they exceeded campaign donation limits but were donated under the names of multiple family members, each at the maximum donation rate. Dean Kunicki, consultant for Saperstein, ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/saperstein-donates-wants-commercial-rezoning/ Daniel Jenkins, former Simi Valley City Councilmember candidate, has plenty to say about Barbra Williamson's desire to speak out as a citizen on future planning issues. He writes the following to the Simi Valley Acorn. We have in this great country an amendment which gives us freedom of speech with ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/daniel-jenkins-strikes-back/ Although I definitely had a hard time recovering what ultimately became VERY corrupted video files, I did manage to capture what I found to be a fascinating proposal by Barbra Williamson on campaign finance reform. Barbra has an idea and I think it's a good one. This is a democracy, ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/williamsons-finance-proposal/ Just to be clear, here are my thoughts on the Simi Valley City Council Campaign Finance questions that have come to light recently.  When asked, I'll usually quickly answer that the best way to bring any questions to a close regarding contributions is to return the money and be done ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/campaign-finance-excitement/ A video summary of the Candlelight Nightclub discussion at City Hall. Similar content available at TheSimiShow.com http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/candlelight-nightclub-incident/ I was surprised this morning to read in the Simi Valley Acorn about the Barbra Williamson Campaign Finance issue.  I assumed the Ventura County Star had a bone to pick which is why the Acorn was leaving the story alone. "I don't have any problems with them looking at it; I ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/barbra-williamsons-campaign-financing/ An email from Brad Jashinsky, former candidate for Simi Valley School Board, to Brian Dennert sparked my interest in this story. According to Brad, Candlelight Nightclub in Simi Valley is the source of drunk drivers that have a bad habit of destroying property in nearby neighborhoods. This is ... http://www.votesimivalley.com/2008/12/candlelight-nightclub-and-campaign-reform/