MAYOR OUTLINES GOALS MILLER SAYS IN ADDRESS THAT CITY'S IN GOOD SHAPE.

Byline: ERIC LEACH

Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- Simi Valley remains in good fiscal shape with a low crime rate, but faces challenges from rising housing costs, increasing traffic, aging sewer pipes and a shortage of office space, Mayor Paul Miller said.

During his annual State of the City address Friday, Miller listed a number of goals for the city of 125,000 people, including expanding City Hall, widening the 118 Freeway, building a new cemetery and developing a new center for social services.

"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 during the event at the Grand Vista Hotel, sponsored by the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce.

City Councilman Glen Becerra said he thought Miller offered a fair assessment.

"I think the presentation accurately reflected the challenges and the good things happening in the community right now," Becerra said.

With construction this year of a $5.7 million sound wall along the Ronald Reagan Freeway, and groundbreaking scheduled Thursday on a project to widen the freeway from Tapo Canyon Road to the Los Angeles County line, the city is making progress in dealing with troublesome traffic congestion, Miller said.

And within Simi Valley, officials have launched a $1 million project to synchronize traffic lights on major streets.

Miller presented a video showing accomplishments over the past year, including the 12,000-square-foot expansion of the city's senior center. The video detailed new bus routes providing service to the Simi Valley Town Center and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Although the Simi Valley Town Center has created a community gathering place and provided more opportunities to shop and dine in Simi Valley, the city still loses some $6 million in sales tax revenue each year as residents leave Simi Valley to shop, officials said.

Miller, a retired police chief, said Simi Valley remains one of the safest cities of more than 100,000 residents in America with a crime rate in 2006 that was 38 percent lower than in 1986.

Simi Valley Police dispatchers in 2006 fielded over 150,000 calls from the public, with 46,000 of those resulting in a police response. The police department's response time average was 4.1 minutes for emergencies and 14 minutes for routine calls.

As for future development, Miller noted that the city's growth management plan adopted by voters in 2004 reduces residential development to 292 housing starts a year until 2012, and that Simi Valley will be looking to more residential projects on land already surrounded by homes and businesses.

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The groundbreaking for the Ronald Reagan Freeway widening project is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at Rocky Peak and Santa Susana Pass roads.

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