Anti-peddling ordinance about 'proper people,' not planning

In the words of Ronald Reagan, "There you go again!"

The Simi City Council's latest move to restrict the panhandling performed by the most downtrodden is nothing more than another action to further the council's goal of "proper planning." The more I hear this catch phrase coined by Councilman Sojka, the more it sounds like a euphemism. What the City Council really means to say is that their socalled "quality of life" initiatives are all about "proper people."

Someday soon with all this "proper planning," the mayor and his cohorts will announce the eradication of poverty in Simi Valley. I can see it now, a big parade down Los Angeles Avenue to commemorate that great day.

Only problem, there will be no one selling balloons, ice cream, hot dogs, noisemakers and beverages to help all us "proper people" celebrate their "good deeds." Unfortunately, they "eradicated" that, too.

The City Council with its "quality of life" ordinances is stumbling down a thorny path and better quickly adhere to their new town motto, which may soon be: "Watch your back."

In the preceding years, as the council was cozying up to any big developer who would have them, they laid the groundwork for a future economic catastrophe in all those "proper houses" perched high on Simi's "proper hills" for those "proper people" they so willfully serve. With their high cost and creative financing through subprime mortgages, these mansions and their populace are literally living on shaky ground.

I dearly hope there doesn't come a day when an economic recession would cause lots of foreclosures in Simi Valley. I sure wouldn't want to see that all that "proper planning" become a "pitchfork populace."

Next time you hear Mayor Miller, Mr. Sojka and their cohorts on the City Council utter the words "proper planning," just think about what you're getting for their "proper planning" price tag, because it may be a price we just can't afford. Andrew Bulles Simi Valley