Growth Issue Dominates Simi Ballot : Activists’ Support of Mayoral Front-Runner Stirs Resentment

His campaign for mayor of Simi Valley had scarcely begun when Greg Stratton, a city councilman for seven years, did something one August morning that upset some of his supporters.

He showed up at a press conference to accept a local group’s endorsement in the Nov. 4 election.

While under normal circumstances that might seem like a good thing for a politician to do, these aren’t normal times in Simi Valley. And some folks--especially two of Stratton’s colleagues on the City Council, Vicky Howard and Ann Rock--were upset that Stratton accepted the support of the Citizens for Managed Growth and Hillside Protection.

The group not only had targeted Howard and Rock for defeat, but had put on the November ballot two controversial slow-growth measures that were opposed by the entire City Council, including Stratton.

“Were I in his shoes, I probably would have been very uncomfortable about the endorsement,� Howard said. “At that time, it was not clear where Greg really stood.�

Strong Reaction

Howard said she was so upset that she considered withdrawing her endorsement of Stratton until he spoke to her and convinced her that he had not changed in his opposition to the group’s two growth measures.

As for Rock, she said, “I don’t think it was a good idea, but I have endorsed Greg, and I will continue to endorse him.�

The citizens group said it supported Stratton because it believes he is the sole slow-growth voice on the City Council. “We’ve had one councilman that has continuously represented the needs of the people, and that is Greg Stratton,� said Ed Sloman, a member of the slow-growth group. “Aside from Greg, we have been completely cut off by the development mentality that the council has.�

Explaining his acceptance of the endorsement, Stratton said, “I’m sure I ruffled some feathers, but had I not been there, I still would have ruffled some feathers.�

The endorsement incident has been just about the only spark of controversy in a mayoral election that has taken a back seat to the heated debate over two sets of competing measures on the ballot aimed at limiting the amount of growth in Simi Valley and protecting the surrounding hillsides from development. The two toughest measures were put on the ballot by the citizens group.

Seen as Man to Beat

The low-keyed Stratton, 40, a manager at an engineering firm, is considered the man to beat in the race for the mayor’s seat, which opened up when Elton Gallegly, the popular mayor of the city for six years, ran for Congress. Gallegly is the front-runner in the 21st congressional district spot vacated when Bobbi Feidler made an unsuccessful bid for the U. S. Senate.

Also running for the $550-a-month mayor’s post are Tom Ely, president of the Ventura County Community College District board; Gene Baker, an engineering designer who is opening a cheesecake bakery in town, and Wilburn Owens, a retired plant operations employee at California State University, Northridge.

Stratton’s main opponent, Ely, has given Stratton his due as front-runner with several criticisms.

For example, Ely points to the fact that Stratton is running for mayor even though he wrote a ballot argument against a successful measure in 1981 that changed Simi’s mayor from an appointed to an elected position.

“You’ll hear from Greg whatever you want to,� said Ely, 50, a retired insurance salesman.

Ely, who proudly wears his conservatism and displays a picture of President Reagan in his living room, also echoed the concerns of others who question whether Stratton has time to devote to the job.

“I am here 24 hours a day,� Ely said. “This town can’t have a mayor who is away from it from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.�

Stratton, who is now mayor pro tem, contends that his seven-year record as a councilman is defense enough against his critics.

He said his job in Chatsworth is 15 minutes away from Simi Valley and he has already been called on numerous times to fill in at official functions for Gallegly. “The vast majority of the citizens here work outside of Simi Valley, so they know. I have been able to work my schedule around and attend meetings,� he said.

Baker and Owens said they are running for mayor because they want to get involved in city government. Baker ran against Gallegly two years ago on a $60.32 campaign fund; he received 4,302 votes to Gallegly’s 25,484. Owens is a political novice who is running for mayor because, he said, he thinks it is time for a change, and he has “the time to do the job.�