I’ve been reading some of the letters to the editor about our upcoming mayor’s race in November. Yes, one of the candidates has been on the council for 12 years, but I’ve never been one to think that someone should be promoted just because they’ve been there for a long time. I believe in really looking at qualifications and accomplishments. I’ve compared the two candidates.

I was 18 years old when I sat across from a friend of mine in the Simi Valley Denny’s listening to my 18 year old friend contemplate running for Mayor of Simi Valley. “I should do it,” he told me. “The Simi Valley Mayor is almost never contested. If I run a good campaign, I might win.” He didn’t run, though. He had too much respect for city government to run for Mayor just because he could.

This past Saturday, I spotted both Bob Huber and Steve Sojka at the Simi Valley Street Fair. Both candidates had booths and were greeting Street Fair guests and chatting with people interested in learning more about their campaigns. And both very thoughtfully shared a few minutes of their time to say hello to me and tell me more about their efforts at the Street Fair. I hope to have that video available to share this week.

The Simi Valley Street Fair was a great success for Bob’s Brigade. The Huber for Mayor booth was buzzing with activity all day long as Bob chatted with his current supporters, and met many new people looking for a reason to vote for Bob Huber for Mayor of Simi Valley.

Many of you have inquired as to why there were picketers outside of my office.

For those of you who don’t already know, I am Chair of the Board for the Ventura County Community College District. The Ventura County Community College District (VCCCD) operates the firefighter training program in Camarillo through the auspices of Oxnard College. The VCCCD is building a new, state-of-the-art, Fire, Sheriff and Police Academy (from Bond money approved by the voters in 2002) in the same vicinity where we currently train our Firefighters. In our college buildings, we train people and provide them with job skills so they can obtain employment, which in turn bolsters our local economy.