BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers 'OUR CITY HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE'- Mayor Paul Miller speaks to a packed house last Friday during his State of the City address held at the Grand Vista Hotel. Miller praised the city's achievements while at the same time alerting community members to its serious concerns. More than 250 people crowded into the main ballroom of the Grand Vista Hotel in Simi Valley at noon last Friday for Mayor Paul Miller's annual State of the City address.

What guests heard was a balanced speech that shed light on both the city's achievements and its concerns. Miller also outlined the city's major upcoming goals.

Speaking in front of many of the city's leading business people- the event was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce- the mayor began his talk be delivering some good financial news.

"It should come as no surprise when I tell you our city, overall, is in excellent fiscal condition and remains a safe place in which to raise a family and operate a business" Miller said.

But he also discussed the threat to the city posed by cuts in state and federal government funding. Miller likened the citystate relationship to a pair of armies poised for battle.

"The state has not hesitated in the past to raid funding from local government whenever possible. . . . While the state's financial situation has improved from years past, the message is that we still need to watch the state very carefully and be prepared to take defensive action if necessary," Miller said.

Regarding the status of the Simi Valley Police Department, Miller, who is a former police chief, said the city is working on a project to construct a new weapons training facility in town for local police to get their shooting qualification.

"This will be a convenience to officers and a benefit to the community," Miller said.

The mayor touched on the issue of local gangs, a topic in the news last week with the arrest of a suspected Simi Valley gang member in the shooting death of 18-year-old Luis Torres.

"We cannot relax our vigilance. We will continue to be innovative and explore new programs for enhancing safety for our community," Miller said. "(The police) will continue to execute the City Council's policy of 'no tolerance' for gang activity."

On a positive note, the mayor brought up two pieces of good news related to a subject on everyone's mind: traffic. He mentioned the city's ongoing traffic signal synchronization program and the recent start of the 118 Freeway widening.

Miller also noted the success of the Simi Valley Town Center and said the city would continue to work closely with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The mayor warned listeners about the rising cost of oil and its impact on the city.

"The price of oil also affects the price of paving material, so that as time goes on it becomes more and more expensive for the city to maintain our streets and roads and to provide other essential services to our residents," Miller stated.

He went on to address the city's ongoing look into Runkle Canyon.

"The concern regarding potential runoff from Rocketdyne that may affect areas such as Runkle Canyon will continue to be an issue until the city receives answers to the questions it has forwarded to the state of California," the mayor said. "The City Council will make certain that no development occurs on any land on which hazardous pollution threatens current or future residents."

Miller rounded out his list of concerns by discussing the ongoing efforts to solve the county's problem with the homeless and by alerting the audience of a future construction project required by the city that has potentially staggering costs.

"The city has about 300 miles of sewer lines which are aging and will need replacement over several years at a cost of $1 million per mile. You do the math," Miller said.

Miller's speech was followed by a 15minute media presentation outlining the city's achievements in the past year.