Union Rejects Ex-Chief : Simi Valley: Prerecorded telephone message directed at voters instead gives police association endorsement to two other candidates.

A telephone tape message being systematically played to Simi Valley voters is telling them that the Simi Valley police union will not back former Police Chief Lindsey Paul Miller for City Council and urges voters to instead support two other candidates.

A computerized phone system, rigged by the Simi Valley Police Officers Assn. to call city voters at home, plays the prerecorded message declaring union support for incumbent Sandi Webb and former Chamber of Commerce President Michael S. McCaffrey.

The recorded voice, identified by Miller as that of association President Gary Collins, then goes on to urge residents not to vote for Miller, claiming that during Miller’s 13 years as chief the department suffered from management problems and general turmoil.

Miller, 55, defended his record as chief, pointing out that Simi is now recognized as one of the safest of its size in the country.

“When I first took over the department it had major problems,” Miller said. “Now we have one of the finest departments in the nation.”

Miller said he believed the recording was made by just a few association members, without support from most of the union’s members.

“You have to remember that this is a labor union and as chief I may have clashed with a few of the members over the years,” he said.

Collins and union Vice President Ron Lompart could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Collins did not return repeated calls to his home, and neither officer responded to efforts from other association members to reach them.

Officer John McGinty, a former board member of the association, said the recording does not represent the views of most officers in the department.

“That message was put together by a select few,” said McGinty, who has worked for the department for five years. “It was not approved by the general membership, and I don’t think those views are shared by the general membership.”

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McGinty acknowledged that morale was low in the department during Miller’s tenure, but he questioned whether the former chief was to blame.

“In this type of field, morale is going to go up and it’s going to go down,” McGinty said. “There is a tendency to point to the chief as the culprit, but there are many other factors to consider.”

Officer Wayne James, treasurer of the association, said he was not aware of the recording. When told of its content, he agreed with the sentiment it expressed.

He criticized Miller’s management style as “laissez-faire,” and said for the past several years of Miller’s tenure the department was rife with internal turmoil.

“The perception was that the City Council through the city manager ran the department,” James said. “Miller was unable to come forth with leadership of his own.”

Miller retired from the department in February and announced his council candidacy soon after. There are seven candidates in the race for two council seats. Early in his campaign he announced that he would not seek the endorsement of the police union or any other employee group, saying he wanted to avoid a conflict of interest.