Longtime Simi Mayor Stratton Won’t Seek Reelection

After helping lead the city through the birth of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the aftermaths of a devastating earthquake and the riot-inducing Rodney King verdict, Greg Stratton--the longest-running mayor in the city’s history--announced Monday he would not seek reelection.

Stratton, 51, who spent 12 of his 19 years on the City Council as Simi Valley’s mayor, was hailed as an effective leader by colleagues who said he would be missed.

“A legend has stepped aside,” said U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who before running for Congress preceded Stratton as mayor.

It’s unclear whether Stratton’s departure--which comes a month after a failed bid for county assessor, the first defeat in his political career--will attract a host of mayoral candidates in the November election or if the job will go uncontested to longtime councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Bill Davis.

Davis was not available Monday for comment, but his colleagues said he has expressed interest in the job and would be a good replacement for Stratton.

“Bill would be the strongest and most logical choice,” Councilman Paul Miller said. “I don’t know anyone else in town with as much experience. You just can’t come off the street and be mayor.”

During Stratton’s tenure, Simi Valley forged an identity as a wealthy, growth-controlled, residential haven away from the urban sprawl of nearby Los Angeles. The city was often cited as the safest in the nation, with the lowest crime rates.

But in becoming known for the nearby Reagan library, or as the place where Los Angeles police officers were acquitted in the Rodney King beating, the outside world has--for better or worse, and often to Stratton’s chagrin--further defined Simi Valley’s image.

“We had some exciting events occur, some not by our own choice,” Stratton said. “I would have preferred the Rodney King trial was somewhere else.”

A low point was defending against charges that Simi Valley was racist in the wake of the King verdict, Stratton said.

“Somehow this nice, upper-class community was at fault,” he said. “It was unfair because it was not a Simi Valley trial or jury. But it was something we had to overcome.”

For a small-town mayor, Stratton had his fair share of CNN appearances, defending the character of his city.

“I always said people here care more about how often you mow your lawn than the color of your skin,” Stratton said. “We are diverse. . . . It proves this community is tolerant and not narrow-minded.”

The opening of the Reagan library, though reinforcing the city’s conservative reputation, gave Simi Valley an international forum.

“It put us on the map in a positive way,” said Stratton, who reveled in the fact he could share a stage with the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev and Gen. Colin Powell while presenting the former president with keys to the city.

Stratton said the biggest test of his leadership ability was in the days after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Simi Valley’s east end sustained significant damage and the city’s water system was knocked out for days.

“That was a week of pure hell,” Stratton said. “It was probably my busiest time as mayor.”

Stratton leaves at a time when the city has a balanced budget and is economically strong, which is no coincidence. For a few years, Stratton said he has been thinking of when to make his exit but was held back by a recession-fueled crisis he felt he needed to work through.

“Things are going great now: Income’s up, crime is down,” he said. “So this is a good time to move on to other things. Hopefully, the city won’t get itself in too much trouble without me.

“People don’t realize how much time it takes to be mayor,” he said. “It’s like I have two full-time jobs. Now I can can have nights and weekends free to play grandpa.”

He said he looks forward to spending time with his grandchildren and will continue working at his computer software job at a Northridge aerospace company.

As mayor, Stratton helped enact growth control, hillside protection and traffic mitigation plans that he says make Simi Valley a desirable place to live.

“Concerns of rampant development are what got me involved in politics to begin with,” he said.

But Stratton said he is most proud of how he was able to balance the budgets. Colleagues used words like “penny-pincher” to describe his fiscal policies.

“Yes, I had a reputation of being a cheapskate. But I call it being fiscally responsible,” Stratton said. “Efficiency is the legacy I’m proud of.”

Taking his fiscal message to voters outside Simi Valley, Stratton ran for county assessor this year and lost.

“It wasn’t a low or high point, just a point,” Stratton said. “A lot of people said they were glad I lost so I could still be mayor. But there has to be a time to let someone else do it.”

One project Stratton did not get to see fulfilled as mayor was his dream of building a Simi Valley mall.

“I still think the mall is coming, and I’ll probably be a guest speaker at the groundbreaking in a few years,” he said. “I like being an optimist. You may get disappointed more often, but you have a great time doing it.”