Bruce Witkin With four silver hoops hanging from each earlobe, Bruce Witkin knows he doesn't resemble the average Simi Valley candidate for mayor.

But the chance to offer voters something different is why the 46-year-old threw his hat into the ring in the first place.

"We need some fresh ideas to find out what we can do to continue our positive growth," said Witkin, who has lived in Simi for 10 years with his wife, Bonnie, and their two teenage children, Justin and Emma.

Witkin said his background as a small business owner and his passion for youth are the foundations of his campaign platform.

The owner of a Simi retail store called Infusion, which sells youthoriented merchandise, who plans to open a Mongolian barbecue restaurant on the west end of the city in the fall, Witkin said he knows firsthand the difficulties of sustaining a small business in Simi.

"Small business keeps this city running; it's what this city was built on, and to see so many of them—friends of mine—closing their business because the rents get too high, competition, oversaturation . . . it's not good," he said.

The mayoral candidate said that trying to open his new restaurant has been a "nightmare" because of holdups caused by the planning department and that his retail business has suffered since the opening of the Town Center.

He said the hilltop mall would have been better if it featured stores unique to Simi to attract shoppers from outside the area, instead of chain stores that directly compete with small business on the valley floor.

"You're making sales tax dollars up there but you're losing them down here," he said. "There just needs to be a little bit more thought put into the type of business that we want here to help protect small business and make Simi Valley unique in its retail value."

Witkin said he's also interested in the welfare of the city's youth and making Simi a place where the next generation wants to raise their families.

He said he thinks a stateofthe-art entertainment venue is needed to give teens more options than movies and bowling and to keep residents' entertainment dollars in the city.

And like the Thousand Oaks Civic Center or The Canyon club in Agoura Hills, the facility would attract people from neighboring cities to Simi, Witkin said.

"If people are coming to the city for entertainment, then that means they are also possibly using our hotels, our gas stations, our restaurants—it can only bring revenue," he said.

If he's elected mayor, Witkin said, his goal would be to make Simi a better place for small business owners and families to live, work and play while keeping the hometown feel the city is known for.

While some may be concerned he has too many holes in his head to be mayor, Witkin said his head and his heart are in the right place as he moves forward toward Election Day.

"I love this city," he said. "I think we all want, regardless of our position in the community, the best Simi Valley that we can have, and I believe that I can help in making it that."