Simi Valley News

Simi Valley Free Tree Replacement and Wood Chip Programs

April 12, 2012 By Ted Mackel Leave a Comment

If you live in the City of Simi Valley and need wood chips for your yards, the City of Simi Valley’s Free Wood Chip Program is just a phone call away. By calling (805) 583-6400 or sending an email to PW-WorkOrder@simivalley.org, you can request either an approximate 8 cubic yard load or 16 cubic yard load. The City will dump the load on your property, usually on your driveway at no charge. The Wood Chip-mulch mix consists of leaves, twigs and wood chips.

If you have trees in the parkway in front of your home, damaged, diseased or missing trees can be replaced under the Self-Help Street Tree Replacement Program. The parkway in front of your home needs to be at least 5 feet wide to qualify. You, the home owner will need to participate in the program under the following terms:

Be willing to plant a 15-gallon tree(s) (materials as needed will also be provided).
Keep the tree(s) watered on a regular basis (approximately 10-20 gallons of water per week).
Keep grass and weeds away from the base of the tree(s) and water basin area. Be careful not to use tools that would harm the tree bark.
Fertilize tree(s) on a regular basis.
Protect tree(s) from vandalism.
Agree to plant the tree(s) within the parkway planting area in front of your home and agree to care for the tree(s) in perpetuity as outlined above

To apply for a tree, you can call call (805) 583-6400 or E-mail the City of Simi Valley Public Works department at PW-WorkOrder@simivalley.org.

Filed Under: Home Improvement, Sellers, Simi Valley News Tagged With: public works, Simi Valley, tree replacement, wood chip

One of Two Rumored New Simi Valley Walmart Locations Finally Disclosed

April 10, 2012 By Ted Mackel Leave a Comment

simi valley mervyns and walmart In a surprising disclosure, Simi Valley Councilman Glen Becerra announced that Walmart is indeed the Tenant that will occupy the vacant Mervyn’s building at the corner of Sycamore and Cochran. In February I wrote about the two new locations; both the Mervyn’s and the vacant Von’s on Tapo Street. (see: 3 Walmarts in Simi Valley?)

The announcement at the very tail end of Monday’s Simi Valley City Council Meeting by Councilman Glen Becerra, leaves more questions and concerns, than it helps clear the air. In my February article I was very clear, that I was not against Walmart occupying this location. The old Mervyn’s building is properly zoned for this use. Public outcry could not stop Walmart, as Walmart does not need approvals to occupy this building. Some of my concerns are the following:

Why all the secrecy? Assistant city manager Gabler claims he was sworn to secrecy in interview with the Ventura County Star. Who swore him to secrecy and why was that necessary?

Why are the exterior changes to Mervyns not being sent to the planning commission? A great example is that cell phone antenna locations that are put on top of existing office buildings are required to go through lengthy approval process with the city and must go in front of the planning commission. Yes I know that the CUP triggers a planing commission review, but the wailing and moaning that goes on over the changes to the roof line of the buildings seems to be the bigger deal out of those projects. The modifications to the tops of these office buildings are infinitesimal compared to the exterior changes we will see on the Mervyn’s building. It would have been nice for the public to have had some input on the updating of that shopping center as Sycamore and Cochran hosts “The Simi Valley Business District”. The Sales Tax Revenue and the Jobs at Sycamore and Cochran that the City has benefited from demands the city include the public in these kinds of projects. Even if the developer for the Mervyn’s building refused to name the new tenant (Walmart), the exterior modifications to the building and the shopping center that will be coming as a result of the new tenant, deserved public discussion and input.

How convenient that the disclosure was made after the appeal period expired to bring this issue in front of the planning commission. Kudos goes to Simi Valley Planning Commissioner Bibb for being the lone voice on this issue. From the outside this looks very calculated between the City Council and City Staff. The fact that the other four Simi Valley planning commissioners remained silent and did not help with the appeal may indicate that the city does not understand the importance of keeping the public informed and opening the discussion for public comment. The Simi Valley City Council has a great track record of playing Father Knows Best and the voters got tired of it and voted in two new council members to shake up the council. Lets hope they look back on the poor handling of this Mervyn’s building and get it through their heads that open public discussion will be rewarded.

I don’t agree with Simi Valley Councilman Becerra’s postion that having staff explain how the process is working would be a sufficient explanation why the public was left out of the discussion on the changes to the Mervyn’s building and shopping center. Again going back to my example, last week Verzion was in front of the planning commission because they are going to change out their antenna on a building and raise roof screening 1 foot – in comparison, it makes no sense why the planning staff would handle this Walmart internally and exclude the planning commission, thus shutting down any public input.

Councilman Becerra lamented that Planning Commissioner Bibb could not get support from another Planning commissioner for an appeal, yet Councilman Becerra neglects to explain if he was so concerned, why didn’t he appeal it from the Council and get the project in front of the Planning Commission.

One would think that after watching the train wreck of how the last City Council under Mayor Miller tried to keep the landfill expansion out of the public discussion, that it’s a no brainer that a major retail location in the center of Simi Valley should be up for public input and comment on the exterior changes to the building and shopping Center.

One of the more amusing comments by Councilman Becerra was that he did not think Simi Valley was a two Walmart Town. Is that because Simi Valley is going to be a 3 Walmart town? Councilman Becerra has his share of the blame for Simi Valley becoming a Two Target and Three Walmart Town; past decisions of prior councils set the ball in motion for this to happen, the question remains if Simi Valley can learn from it’s mistakes on the dais. History always provides a lesson as we had a City Council member back in the 1980s that stated we needed “Low Traffic Generators” for businesses in Simi Valley. I am not sure if that disastrous philosophical view has ever left our city. We have built our retail hopes on attracting shoppers from outside Simi Valley and have rejected the needed internal growth that would have sustained our retailers and attracted new employers. Low traffic generators don’t bring quality jobs and only provide anemic sales tax revenues. So far Simi Valley batting 1000 in both those categories.

Filed Under: Simi Valley News Tagged With: City Council, councilman becerra, Mervyn's, planning commisioner, Planning Commisioner Bibb, planning department, Simi Valley, staff, Walmart

3 Walmarts in Simi Valley?

February 28, 2012 By Ted Mackel 1 Comment

Could the future hold 3 Walmart stores in Simi Valley? Before I dive into the two new rumored Walmart locations for Simi Valley, I want to be perfectly clear about my position on Walmart. Consumer retail habits change; for example, Soda Fountains don’t exist in Drug Stores anymore not because consumers are unpatriotic jerks, but rather because consumer habits changed over time. Several business models have come an gone in my short adult life time, including video rental stores and record stores. Walmart and Target did not influence the extinction of that business model, rather those businesses succumbed to changing technology and changing consumer habits.

The internet over the last 5-10 years have given consumers a wealth of information and made products available to people all over the country that prior to internet access, would have to rely on going to a city or town that had the goods they sought in a brick and mortar shop. This world of virtual online price comparison has made consumers more demanding and price sensitive, which has created pressure on the “Mom & Pop” retailers to either adapt to the change in consumer habits or go out of business. Is this the fault of the Walmarts, Targets and Costcos? No, it’s a shift in how consumers see retailers, much like they did when the soda fountain at the drug store became obsolete.

So what does this all have to do with 3 Walmart stores in Simi Valley? Currently there is a tenant that is working on locating in the vacant Mervyn’s Shopping center, additionally there is another rumor around the city that the long vacant Von’s on Tapo Street will host the same tenant.

Recently Walmart has been working on a smaller store concept and going back into markets with already established Walmart Stores and adding the smaller Walmart Express model. Approximately one tenth the size of a typical Walmart store, it looks to mostly likely focus more on the grocery business. This would make sense in that the Simi Valley Walmart Store was restricted in use, in that the City of Simi Valley would not allow a full blown grocery component in the original approvals. Walmart has faced many battles with the Super Store model that includes a full scale grocery operation. Most notably was in Inglewood California where a Walmart Super Store was rejected in a city wide ballot initiative. It is believed that unions mobilized the vote to fight the store and that if Walmart would have pursued their original plan without the grocery component, Walmart would have built in Inglewood without the need to go to the ballot.

A Walmart Express location can find smaller vacant buildings that are already approved for retail use under current zoning and submit plans without having to gain approvals for operations as they would if they sought to develop vacant land. Locations in Simi Valley like the long vacant Mervyn’s and Von’s make perfect locations that would attract Walmart’s attention for Walmart Express expansion.

If these locations or even just the Mervyn’s location turn out to be Walmart Express, it would probably happen in Simi Valley under most economic conditions, as Simi Valley demographics are ripe for Walmart operations. What is unfortunate, is that the poor decisions by city councils under Mayor Davis, and Mayor Miller created these prolonged vacancies and these vacant retail locations have not been able to attract any other competing major retailers.

Demographics is the name of the game. I briefly wrote about this back in January 2009 in an article on this blog “Eating It’s Young…City of Simi Valley Is Not Helping Local Businesses“. Assistant City Manager Brian Gabler, in his talk to the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce at the end of 2011, was very informative as to how Simi Valley’s troubling demographics, the fact that the city being built out leaves little option for significant growth and the importance of roof tops impacts the decision of retailers to locate in Simi Valley.

Last June (2011) Mayor Holden of Oxnard was one of the three deciding votes that approved Oxnard’s massive housing development (South Shore); in the article from the Ventura County Star, Mayor Holden was cited in saying “And the only way to attract the types of stores south Oxnard residents have long desired, such as a major retailer, is with the addition of more rooftops” (Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/jun/15/massive-housing-development-approved-for-south/#ixzz1nkZBUSog – vcstar.com)

The fantasy-land created by our public officials that if we build it they (consumers) will come and that rooftops are not needed to support local retail, has painfully shown up as a big fat FAIL on the part of our city leaders. A vast variety of major retailers aren’t looking to fill our vacant buildings and the exodus is continuing. Maybe our city council and especially those that served under Mayor Davis and Miller that are still on the council ought to sit down with the Mayor of Oxnard and get an education; because they now hold the distinction of making Simi Valley a 2 Target and what looks like in our future, a 3 Walmart City.

Filed Under: Simi Valley News Tagged With: costco, simi valley walmart express, Target, Walmart

Simi Valley Library City Control or County Control Shakes Up The Community

November 22, 2011 By Ted Mackel Leave a Comment

As local governments face the difficulty of budgeting with reduced revenues, County and State agencies are threatening to take money from city coffers; it’s no surprise that local government is scrutinizing all services offered to their communities. I have really stayed away from the issue surrounding the future control of the Simi Valley Library as it is not a hot button topic for me. However, I was sitting at the city council meeting tonight waiting to speak on the agenda item for City Council Compensation and had to endure a couple hours of comments from the public on the Library issue.

As a person without a a big attachment to the issue, several things became very apparent. Most the people there were spewing misinformation left, right and center. Continually those that supported the County control of the Library kept accusing the city of trying to “Privatize” the Library. The City plan was to take the control of the Library away from the County and contract out to run the Library under the control of the city. The city plan could include contracting with the County to provide the employees, an outside company to provide employees or the city to hire the employees directly. Comments alluded to the City of Simi Valley saving close to 1.2 million dollars annually that could be redirected back into the Library to buy new books and add additional programs.

Proponents of County control argued that a country run program is better in that books can be shared between the various county controlled libraries and that the library system is strong unified under County control. They were also concerned that the a City control library would not be able to properly serve the community, that book selection would be limited, programs would be limited or cut.

One thing that was very clear is all present love the Simi Valley Public Library; the difference was in how it should be managed. I am a local control guy. I think it is obvious with the actions of the Governor last June, that his taking away redevelopment funds away from all California cities for the sate budget is an indicator local control is is not longer and option but a necessity. Imagine if the county ran into funding problems for the county wide library system in the future, who is going to step up to the plate to solve that problem. I believe the City of Simi Valley has been forced into a defensive position to protect and preserve the Public Library and after watching the discussion I have to side with Mayor Huber and the City Council for taking on this issue.

Filed Under: Simi Valley News Tagged With: Library, Simi Valley

#1 – Simi Valley Cajun Music Festival – 365 Things To Do

May 26, 2011 By Ted Mackel 9 Comments

(Video Below) What a better way to start off 365 Things to do in Simi Valley with the largest event our city has. The Simi Valley Cajun Music Festival takes place every Memorial Day weekend on Saturday and Sunday. The two-day event hosts numerous top Cajun musical acts from across the country including Grammy award nominees. Over 15,000 people attend the two-day event and is the largest Cajun Festival west of the Mississippi River. The festival is now in its 21st year has added a Blues stage which was given a sneak preview in last year’s festival and looks to be a very popular new attraction. Attendees predominately come from all over Southern California as well as Cajun music fans from all over the country.

This festival is operated by the Simi Sunrise Rotary Club and is the largest fund raiser in Ventura County. The proceeds from the Simi Valley Cajun Music Festival support many local charitable organizations. There are activities for the entire family including children, food and dancing. Make sure to visit www.SimiCajun.org for information on the event. You can also follow on twitter and the Simi Valley Cajun Music Festival’s Facebook page.

Here is a YouTube clip of all the sights and sounds and too bad I can’t provide the smell the great food, I hope you enjoy.

Filed Under: 365 Things to do in Simi Valley, Local Events & Activities, Simi Valley News Tagged With: 365 things to do, cajun music festival, Simi Valley

Simi Valley City Council 3-2 Vote Approves The Simi Valley Landfill Expansion MOU

May 11, 2011 By Ted Mackel Leave a Comment

On Monday evening May 9th, the Simi Valley City Council approved to accept a MOU (Memorandum of Understand) where the City of Simi Valley will support the expansion plans of the Simi Valley Landfill and in return, Waste Management (the operator of the Simi Valley Landfill) will offset negative impacts to Simi Valley with money and other activities that have been reported to total near 90 million dollars over 52 years.

I want to make clear in this article that I am not against the expansion plans of the Simi Valley Landfill nor am I unhappy with Waste Management. I do not see Waste Management as bad guys. I wrote about the Simi Valley landfill expansion on this blog back in September 2009. If you read the comments below the Simi Valley Landfill Expansion article you can see my position on the Simi Valley Landfill which remains the same today with only one addition.

First and foremost we all need to recognize that Waste Management owns the property and is in the landfill business. Waste Management makes a living processing waste. Waste Management has done a very good job with the Simi Valley Landfill. It is only natural that they would seek expansion and increase their daily intake. As I mentioned in the comments on my September 2009 article, I was clear that the City of Simi Valley had a prime opportunity to restrict the expansion of the landfill years ago.

My main objection to the expansion of the landfill is not related to the operator or how it functions currently. That objection is, with the expansion comes an increase intake in garbage coming from Los Angeles County. This was something I did not fully understand until 10 months ago and was not aware of when I wrote the September 2009 article. But didn’t I say that I was not opposed to the expansion? Certainly. I am opposed to the intake of garbage from Los Angeles County.

Consider, as Ventura County residents, we need to be very concerned with any expansion approved by the County Board of Supervisors that includes the handling of garbage from Los Angeles County. Los Angeles County has planned for over 20 years that as they reached their capacity for handling their own landfill waste, eventually they would have to put the waste on trains and ship it to landfills in other counties. Ironically Los Angeles County is almost double in size by square miles to Ventura County. Their landfills are closing, residents have been successful in keeping Los Angeles County landfills from expanding or opening in new locations and as I understand Los Angeles County landfill operations do not accept garbage from outside Los Angeles County.

Why our Ventura County Supervisors believe we should take on Los Angeles County garbage has been a question that remains unanswered. We know as Ventura County residents that our two landfills have limited space available. I am not aware of Ventura County having any contingency plans for dealing with our landfill waste, once our two landfills reach maximum capacity. If the two landfills located in Ventura County are our only resource for landfill waste, then I ask why squander those resources by filling them up with Los Angeles County garbage.

The Los Angeles County waste by rail program will ship Los Angeles County rubbish to Imperial County and possibly Riverside County. Los Angeles has decided that the neighboring counties around them should be the recipients of all their garbage. Simi Valley becomes a very cost effective and close offset facility for Los Angeles County’s landfill problems.

Again, none of this is the fault of Waste Management as I see it; this is a Ventura County and City of Simi Valley policy decision. Our City Council last year and years before dropped the ball (with the exception of Councilwoman Williamson) on bringing this discussion to the people. Opportunities to develop the land around the Landfill years ago were squandered by previous councils and Mayors. In the last election we were able to bring two new voices to our city council, we still have three members on our city council that have been in place for more than 12 years each. Next Monday night at the May 16th city council meeting we get to deal with a city sewer system that needs a cash infusion as poor planning on the part of city staff and our elected officials did not budget for replacements and upgrades over the years. The staff is trying to pass an increase sewer fees to help generate the funds for needed repair. Do we need to keep repeating ourselves on every issue in this city whether it be the Sewers or the Landfill?

These issues need open transparent discussion. We need city leaders who are willing to start that discussion with people outside their political donor list. When we have open transparent discussion, we will not be doing things at the last minute. If this city is to grow and prosper the old attitude of or our elected officials acting like the parent will need to change and have our leaders become trusted partners with the citizens of Simi Valley.

Filed Under: Simi Valley News Tagged With: expansion, landfill, Los Angeles County, MOU, Simi Valley, Ventura County Supervisors, Waste by rail

New Simi Valley Restaurant…Junkyard Cafe

March 1, 2011 By Ted Mackel 1 Comment

(Originally published November 23, 2008) The Junkyard Cafe may be several months new, but it is definitely a great addition to our city and a fun place to go. The theme is a Junkyard and the menu items are named after Junkyard items. Simi Valley citizens have always rewarded restaurants with similar menus and pricing and I would not be surprised if this new restaurant becomes as popular as the old standbys like Egg’s N Things. You know you are in for a treat when you start with the “Dip Stick Appetizer”. Owner Tony Falato’s creation is sure to be a hit for Simi Valley.

The Junkyard Cafe HAS MOVED 1750 E Los Angeles Ave Simi Valley, CA 93065 (805) 520-5865. This is just east of Erringer on the south side of Los Angeles Ave. In the same center as Berri’s Music and J & T Tackle.

Now Located at 2585 Cochran Street Simi Valley, CA 93065, just east of Sycamore and Cochran above Keller Williams Realty and Cupids Hot Dogs. Paul’s Italian Villa previously occupied the same location.

Filed Under: Simi Valley News Tagged With: junkyard cafe, restaurant, Simi Valley

Simi Valley’s Largest Employer Farmer’s Insurance Is Leaving Town

August 12, 2010 By Ted Mackel 1 Comment

The announcement from Farmers Insurance yesterday that they were packing up their employees and leaving town came as a surprise to many. Farmers Insurance occupies Simi Valley’s key landmark building in the center of town and was the largest employer. The loss of this company is a sad occasion and one especially for my family.

My father was in his early 40s when he went out and secured Farmers Insurance commitment to build their Western Regional Headquarters in Simi Valley in what would be probably the biggest moment in any real estate broker’s career. My family has had great pride in the developments they brought to Simi Valley, most notably at the Sycamore and Cochran business district, but the course of city government over the last decade has put this business district in severe jeopardy of becoming a blighted area of town.

The Mervyn’s store is not the fault of Simi Valley as the company failed, which caused it to close that location. Farmers Insurance decision to bail out on Simi Valley has a lot of interesting components which if turn out to be true, will mean that the city of Simi Valley could have taken some fairly simple steps to keep it’s largest employer from moving out of town.

Looming in the future is the opening of the brand-new Target Superstore at the corner of Los Angeles Ave. and Madera. While some believe Target will continually operate two stores in Simi Valley; the possibility of the older store on Cochran closing it’s doors in the future cannot be ignored.

Our city has a very big task in front of itself to deal with their current local business conditions. The health of our local businesses and the attitude of our local employers will impact the desirability for people who want to move to and live in Simi Valley.

I try not to talk on this blog about politics, but this is an election season where we have two City Council seats up for vote and the Mayor’s seat up for vote. This issue facing our city is the most important. If we cannot stabilize the business climate and the economic vitality of Simi Valley, than all the other projects and programs will mean nothing.

It’s time now for the citizens to become involved, voice their opinion and not just assume our elected officials are looking after our best interest. The changes we are seeing in the business community and Simi Valley are not all economically related. With the advent of the Internet impacting shopping habits, the changing dynamics of small business operations, the unfriendly business climate across the state of California towards large employers, Simi Valley cannot afford any more miscues with our local businesses.

I still believe in Simi Valley, I love living in Simi Valley and Simi Valley has been a great place to raise my family. This may be the most difficult time this city will go through in it’s history, but I know many of the talented and great people who live here who can help us rebuild Simi Valley into a greater place. I urge all my friends and fellow Simi Valley citizens to get out and vote this November and carefully consider the candidates for City Council and Mayor as it will take extraordinary ideas and extraordinary people to help move us forward.

I want to ask a big favor of all my friends and fellow citizens of Simi Valley; the loss of the employment base at the corner of Sycamore and Cochran will have a significant effect at the local businesses there. Today I had lunch at Sharky’s and by 12:15 the restaurant was packed with Farmers employees. When the move out is complete, the businesses in the area will see significant declines in revenues and any support you can give by visiting those retailers is a way we can band together and help keep the remaining businesses strong.

Thank you for your consideration and readership

Filed Under: Simi Valley News Tagged With: farmers insurance, Simi Valley

Where To See Fireworks In Simi Valley This 4th of July

July 2, 2010 By Ted Mackel 2 Comments

(Video Below) UPDATED FOR 2011 – Are you looking for information on Where To See Fireworks In Simi Valley this 4th of July? Look no further. The Simi Valley Rotary Club and the City of Simi Valley puts on a great display every year. The barrage of Fireworks are launched from the Soccer Foundation Fields behind Ablertson’s at the Corner of Stearns and Los Angeles Avenue. The Spectators all sit out on the grass at Rancho Santa Susana Park for the spectacular Fireworks Show. Simi Valley Residents line the hillsides on the north and south sides of Simi Valley to get a view of the Fireworks as well. Come down and join the community for all the fun. Parking is a little tough, but it is well worth the walk if you park farther away. 365 Things to do in Simi Valley will be covering this event with a video for those who miss the event. Last year I had a chance to see this up close at the park and was very impressed with what a great community event this Fireworks celebration is for the City of Simi Valley and a big thumbs up to the Rotary Club for organizing this event.

41th Annual
Simi Valley Rotary Club 4th of July
Festival & Fireworks Extravaganza

July 4th, 2010

2:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Rancho Santa Susana Community Park

5005 E. Los Angeles Ave

Simi Valley, CA 93063

2011 Featuring

A presentation of our Nations Colors by the:

Ventura County
Marine Corp League
Color Guard

A C-17 Military Flyover

Music by
Tasty Thieves

Master of Ceremonies

JMYO Entertainment
&
Wally D™

Family Games will take place throughout the day including:

Pie Eating Contest

Hula Hoop Contest

Simon Say and Others

Filed Under: 365 Things to do in Simi Valley, Events, Simi Valley News Tagged With: 4th of July, Fireworks, Rancho Santa Susana Park, Rotary Club, Simi Valley

365 Things To Do In Simi Valley- New Section on my Blog

May 25, 2010 By Ted Mackel 4 Comments

Yes, that’s right, I’m opening a new section on my blog entitled 365 things to do in Simi Valley. I know this is an ambitious project and will probably create an extra workload, but as a resident of Simi Valley since 1986 and a local real estate agent, my friends, family and clients are always interested in things to do in the area.

I’m not even sure if there’s 365 show-stopping things to do in our town Simi Valley so I may venture outside the city boundaries for things that are close and fun. I know of many things that are not particularly related to individual small businesses, but I will focus on many of the small businesses in our Town Simi Valley as well. One more bar to set as a goal for this section is I hope to provide a video post for almost all the places I visit. I use the Internet myself as a tool to learn about things and places I go to, investigate businesses I plan to patronize and many times the information provided on the Internet is pretty vanilla.

If you own a business in Simi Valley and want to be part of place I visit please e-mail, call, contact me on twitter or Facebook will be happy to set up a time for visit. Please remember I’m not interested in creating a commercial, the people in Simi Valley, those people moving the Simi Valley were visiting Simi Valley want to get to know you, your organization or your business.

For my readers please feel free to use comment section on any of the posts and please remember to be cordial as this is supposed be fun and a place for all of us to share about the great places in and around Simi Valley.