Mayor Miller pledges city will navigate rough waters
By Darleen Principe darleen@theacorn.com

WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers TAKING GAUGE- Mayor Paul Miller gives his annual State of the City address on Wednesday at The Vineyards in Simi Valley.

As Simi Valley approaches the end of fiscal year 2007-08, the City Council is promising to keep the city afloat financially, in spite of millions of dollars in future budget gaps primarily caused by the downturn in the nation's economy.

Using historical trends to chart the city's financial future, Simi Valley officials anticipate having to close a budget gap of nearly $3.8 million next fiscal year and up to $6 million for 2009-10, said Mayor Paul Miller during his annual State of the City address on Wednesday.

"These budget gaps assume that the state of California does not take any of the city's revenue, which may be a wrong assumption," Miller said. "While the city will need to make some tough adjustments . . . in order to provide the level of service to our residents and businesses which they have deservedly come to expect, I promise you on behalf of your entire City Council that your city will continue to remain financially sound."

This year's State of the City address, which took place at The Vineyards before an audience of about 150 Chamber of Commerce members and guests, also included presentations from other city department heads, who spoke in detail about a varying list of current concerns and recent achievements.

Jim Purtee, director of administrative services, explained the breakdown of the city's total $147million budget for the current fiscal year.

Despite the recent tough budget year, Simi Valley has once again received numerous awards from governmental agencies for its financial reporting, Purtee said.

These include the Excellence in Operational Budgeting award from the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers for the 18th consecutive year, and the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting award from the Government Finance Officers Association for the 27th consecutive year.

"In essence, these awards tell us that the city's money is being managed in a responsible and professional manner," Purtee said.

Brian Gabler, assistant city manager and director of economic development, spoke positively about Simi's business and employment opportunities.

Two current office building projects- Corporate Pointe off First Street and Enchanted Way, and the Wood Ranch Professional Center on Madera Road near the Sinaloa Golf Course- will add muchneeded general and medical office space to the city, he said.

"Part of helping Simi Valley businesses grow is providing locations for that growth," Gabler said. "With low vacancy rates for industrial space and the lack of office space in the community, the city has worked hard to fill these gaps."

Gabler also spoke about the success of the Simi Valley Town Center and the upcoming construction of a 140,000squarefoot Target in place of the former Kmart store on E. Tierra Rejada Road.

The city is currently keeping an open dialogue with Countrywide- a business that has been in Simi since 1992- to make sure that any changes, like the potential acquisition by Bank of America, do not have adverse effects on Simi residents and businesses, Gabler said.

"The picture about Countrywide is a bit blurry, but in the next 12 months it should start to become a little clearer," he said.

Other milestones for Simi Valley in the last year were discussed by Al Boughey, director of environmental services, and Tim Nanson, director of public works- both of whom were presenting for the last time before they retire later this spring.

Boughey expressed the city's excitement for the approved development of L.A. Madera Village- a 266unit forsale residential project by Casden Properties- progress on the Arroyo Simi Greenway concept and the longawaited General Plan update.

Nanson detailed the current status of the city's traffic signal synchronization program- which has already resulted in a 56 percent reduction in waiting time at red lights for the whole community, he said.

As for citizen involvement, Debbie Solomon, director of community services, commended Simi residents and businesses for taking a proactive interest in city affairs.

"Nowhere is citizen involvement more prevalent than among the 500 city volunteers who contributed 71,540 hours to city services last year," Solomon said. "Without their dedicated assistance, many of the department's programs and services would not be possible."

Chief Mike Lewis of the Simi Valley Police Department capped off the presentation by telling the audience about some of the department's most recent accomplishments- implementation of an electronic reporting system, creation of a youth services unit, launch of citizen and business alert email lists and the welcoming of two new K9s.

With regard to crime statistics, violent crimes were down by 9 percent in 2007 compared to 2006. But Simi residents still need to lock their car doors and keep valuables out of plain sight to prevent property crimes, Lewis said.

In the near future, Lewis said, the police department will look to citizens for a response to a selfimposed audit of the agency.

"We'll be looking to you to provide feedback to us," Lewis said. "We want to know if we're providing the level of service you expect and if there's anything we can do to improve."

The full presentation of the 2008 State of the City address is available on the city's website at www.simivalley.org.