Local Elections : SIMI VALLEY : Voters Pick Status Quo in Filling Council Seats

In a ringing endorsement of the status quo, Simi Valley voters filled two City Council seats with familiar candidates who have pledged to clamp down on crime and beef up the city’s business climate.

Former Police Chief Lindsey Paul Miller topped the seven-candidate roster, with nearly 30% of the vote. Incumbent Sandi Webb pulled a close second with 25%. Miller will replace Councilwoman Judy Mikels, who was elected to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

The results of Tuesday’s election, which include the reelection of Mayor Greg Stratton, bring no real change to a council known for its unity and consensus-building.

“I look at it as a ratification of what the city has been doing,” said Stratton, whose only opponent for a fifth term was a teen-age write-in candidate. “Sandi and I got reelected, Judy got promoted to supervisor, and Paul is certainly no outsider.”

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Still savoring the glow of victory Wednesday, Miller said his most immediate concerns are boning up on city planning issues and improving the Police Department’s computer system.

“I think the voters have sent a clear message that they want this city to remain a safe, vibrant place to live,” said Miller, who served as the city’s police chief for 12 years.

Once in office, Miller said, he hopes to persuade the council to hire an outside consultant to analyze the Police Department’s unwieldy computer system, which he said has been plagued with problems since its installation last spring.

“The system is just not working properly,” Miller said. “We need to get someone in there who really knows about computers, so we can use this tool the way it’s supposed to be used.”

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Miller’s campaign themes of crime reduction and an improved business climate were echoed by the rest of the council candidates. But in a city recognized as the safest of its size in the country, and where the lackluster economy has already begun to pick up speed, these issues did little to light a fire under the constituency.

“It was really a low-key race,” Webb said. “We didn’t have any controversies or screaming and yelling.”

Compared with hotly contested council races in Thousand Oaks and Oxnard, Simi Valley candidates spent moderately on their campaigns. Webb amassed the largest campaign chest--about $22,000. Miller raised about $16,000 by the end of the last reporting period, and Stratton spent just $912.

Of the other five council candidates, former Chamber of Commerce President Michael S. McCaffrey got 17.2% of the vote and Ernest W. Federer, an administrator at a psychiatric hospital, received 11.5%.

Dropping into the single digits, Planning Commissioner Dean Kunicki got 9.4%, computer systems manager Joseph R. Vesalga received 3.8%, and salesman Douglas Dubin garnered 3.5%.

Dubin, who spent less than $100 on his campaign and staged a series of community forums, said he was heartened by the outcome of the race.

“Even though I came in last, we got the vote of 1,600 residents,” Dubin said. “I think that shows that in some small way, we did have an impact.”