SIMI VALLEY : Meredith Drops Out of Supervisorial Race

Simi Valley park district board member James Meredith has bowed out of the race for the County Board of Supervisors spot vacated by Vicky Howard, saying a victory would jeopardize his Veterans Administration pension.

The race for the 4th District seat is narrowed to three, with Simi Valley City Council members Judy Mikels, Barbara Williamson and Moorpark Councilman Scott Montgomery still in the running.

Meredith, who is retired, said he had assumed that his pension would remain untouched during a four-year term as supervisor but discovered late last week that the annual income he receives would be cut.

Although a member of the Simi Valley park district board, Meredith receives only a stipend for that position. He said he needs the full VA pension to live on.

Criticizing the VA’s policy as unfair, he said he will ask to remain on the ballot in the unlikely event he can work out a compromise.

“Something is wrong here,” Meredith said. “Veterans in this country have been run over for so long.”

He receives a disability pension for an injury he sustained while serving in the Air Force during the Korean War.

Meredith said he regretted having to quit the race.

“I wasn’t doing it for the income,” he said. “I was doing it because all the people who were running weren’t who I wanted to represent me. But my wife and our future has to come first.”