Meet the Candidates : Simi Valley City Council

Six candidates are running for Simi Valley’s two open City Council seats, inlcuding both incumbents. While the incumbents this year are leaning on their records and emphasizing their roles in bringing new housing and revitalized business districts to the city, the challengers say the council should be working harder to bring new jobs and an even-stronger police force to the nation’s second-safest city.

Bill Davis

Age: 69

Occupation: Full-time City Council member, retired from Lincoln-Mercury

Education: High school diploma

Background: Davis is seeking reelection to a third term after sitting on the City Council for 12 years. He serves on 20 governmental boards.

Issues: Davis says there are no real issues in the 1996 council race. But he wants to remain in office to continue work on such programs as the extension of Cochran Street and expansion of the business corridor along it; the rebuilding of Tapo Street’s quake-damaged stores; the construction of the new police headquarters, and development of a senior citizens complex in Wood Ranch.

Michael McCaffrey

Age: 37

Occupation: Financial planner

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science, Cal State Northridge

Background: McCaffrey ran for council in 1994, finishing in third place with 17% of the vote after winners Paul Miller and Sandi Webb. He served as president of the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce and member of the city’s Neighborhood Council No. 1.

Issues: McCaffrey advocates pushing harder to bring large employers and more jobs to the city. He also says the City Council should work harmoniously with the Simi Valley Unified School District board, which has had rancorous relations with the city in the past year. And he wants the city to set up more recreation centers for children.

Dennis Serbick

Age: 57

Occupation: Auto service center owner

Education: High school diploma, college courses in business administration and police sciences

Background: Serbick was a police officer in Phoenix, Ariz., for eight years before migrating to California. He has worked in Simi Valley for nearly 20 years and lived here since 1985.

Issues: Serbick wants Simi Valley’s patrol officers to make more face-to-face contacts and establish better relations with people. He also criticizes the City Council for not working harder to repair or remove earthquake-damaged buildings, and for referring citizen complaints to city staff too often instead of handling problems personally.

Greg Stratton

Age: 50

Occupation: Division manager, military software development

Education: Bachelor’s degree in physics from UCLA, master’s in business administration from Cal Lutheran University.

Background: Stratton is running unopposed for his sixth term as Simi Valley’s mayor, and ninth term as a member of the City Council. The last difficult election challenge he faced was in 1992, when three other mayoral candidates combined failed to earn more than 37% of the vote.

Issues: Stratton is a 28-year resident of the city, and is satisfied with the way he and fellow council members are running it--so satisfied that he defies other council candidates to come up with real issues.

David Jeffrey Weiner

Age: 34

Occupation: Unemployed, for mer Simi Valley police officer

Education: High school graduate, has studied administration of justice at Moorpark College.

Background: Weiner served three years as a San Gabriel policeman and 9 1/2 years on Simi Valley’s force before he was fired last September amid allegations of improper behavior and re leasing confidential information. City and police officials won’t discuss his departure, but Weiner has since filed legal claims alleging he was wrongfully ousted.

Issues: Weiner is focusing his campaign on goals for improving the police force, from reforming the department’s upper management to buying more powerful guns and establishing a satellite police station in Wood Ranch.

Barbara Williamson

Age: 52

Occupation: Bank vice president

Education: Two years of community college; marketing certificate from USC.

Background: A sitting councilwoman, Williamson serves on more than a dozen governmental committees and civic groups. She was first elected four years ago, partly on the strength of a pro-law enforcement campaign and heavy support from police groups.

Issues: A member of the Community Gang Task Force, she wants the city to do more to stop gang violence and divert at-risk youth to other pursuits--perhaps by setting up a boxing club. Williamson also is working with Tapo Street merchants to revitalize the quake-damaged business district. She supported using block grant funds to pay baseball stars to lecture kids about drugs.

Glenn Woodbury

Age: 42

Occupation: Owner of a weatherstripping business

Education: Associate’s degree with honors in industrial management from Golden West College.

Background: Woodbury filed a 1990 whistle-blower lawsuit alleging that his employer, Simi Valley defense contractor Natel Engineering Co. Inc., falsified tests on fighter jet parts. Natel’s owner pleaded guilty in 1993 to fraud charges. In 1994, Woodbury took fourth place in a close race for the Simi Valley school board.

Issues: He wants to help the city streamline the permitting process for new businesses and offer small businesses the same tax breaks and fee discounts offered to big businesses.