SIMI VALLEY : Resident Named by Wilson to Panel

Gov. Pete Wilson has appointed Simi Valley resident Bob Larkin to serve on the state’s Emergency Roadside Assistance Advisory Committee.

Larkin, 57, a State Farm Insurance agent in the city, said Monday he was looking forward to serving on the committee, which will hold its first meeting next month.

“I’m pleased the governor has confidence in me, or his staff has confidence in me,” said Larkin, who received a letter and certificate confirming his appointment about a week ago.

He said the roadside committee will investigate how to standardize assistance provided by tow trucks and other service vehicles throughout the state.

“Sometimes five, six or seven trucks show up at one accident,” Larkin, a 25-year Simi Valley resident, said. “They’re trying to come up with some kind of licensing or standardization in an industry that, right now, is just about as wild as a rodeo.”

Larkin, chairman of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee since January, also got word recently that he had been appointed to serve on the executive committee of the California Republican Party.