Mayor Sets Goals in State of City Address

Continuing economic growth, reducing crime and encouraging even more people to volunteer in the community are among the goals Mayor Bill Davis outlined Thursday in his first State of the City address.

“We need to be able to go out there and attract clean business to come to town,” said Davis, who explained that the city has created three full-time economic development positions to recruit businesses--and the corresponding jobs--to Simi Valley.

“They just don’t come to you, folks. You’ve got to go knocking on their door,” he said.

For example, Davis said the city pushed to get the Men’s Wearhouse to open a store in town, which will join a movie theater, a number of restaurants--including TGI Fridays and Baja Burrito--at the Civic Center Plaza, now under construction on Tapo Canyon Road. He also cited how Wal-Mart and Home Depot stores are set to open next month.

The Police Department, which recently moved into a new 55,000-square-foot station, was lauded for plummeting crime rates in the past year: Felony crime is down 11.3%, auto accidents dropped by 12.4%, and other crimes are down nearly 17%.

Police have begun training volunteers through an emergency response program, anticipating their help would be needed if the city should face another major disaster on the scale of the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

“There was a lot of chaos in the first few hours [after the quake],” said Davis, addressing an audience of about 200 city officials and business people at the Clarion Hotel.

The mayor praised the community’s senior citizens and other volunteers who devote their time to help others in programs such as Meals on Wheels and Dial-a-Ride.