SIMI VALLEY : Schultze Drops Out of City Council Race

Simi Valley park district director Debi Schultze has dropped out of the race for City Council, four months after she became the first candidate to announce her bid for the November election.

Schultze said she decided to abandon her plans to run in order to spend more time with her three sons, ages 9, 13 and 20.

“Your kids are only there for so long and I need to be able to give them the attention they need,” Schultze said. “It just so happens they all need it at the same time right now.”

Schultze, 37, works as a loan processor at Aspen Mortgage and serves on the board of the Rancho Simi Park and Recreation District.

“It’s just one of those things where I thought the timing was right but then it turned out to be wrong,” Schultze said. “Politics will just have to wait.”

The City Council seats held by Sandi Webb and Judy Mikels are up for election in November. Webb said she plans to formally announce her reelection bid today.

Four other Simi Valley residents have announced plans to run for City Council in November.

They are Dean F. Kunicki, 49, an insurance consultant and Simi Valley planning commissioner; Michael S. Mc Caffrey, an insurance underwriter and former president of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce; Lindsey Paul Miller, 55, former Simi Valley police chief, and Joseph R. Vesalga, 39, a computer operator and Neighborhood Council director.