SIMI VALLEY GRABS NATIONAL ATTENTION DURING BUSY WEEK.

Byline: James Bemis Commentary

What an extraordinary week it was in Simi Valley.

You'd be hard pressed to find a city of similar size having more noteworthy events than we did in the last week in May. Even the national press, usually relegating coverage of California's suburbs to the equivalent of Siberia, was forced to sit up and take notice.

Of course, Simi was the site of a Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival, an event that was - at the least - certainly unusual here. While a controversy arose regarding its propriety, you couldn't help being struck by how civilly disagreements were expressed.

Despite concern about keeping order, calm was maintained throughout, according to police. Protesters seemed genuinely more interested in saving souls than condemning individuals.

When the festival was initially announced, a chorus of snide horse laughs went up from some who derided - in their words - Simi's ``white-trash conservatism,'' hoping that the festival would bring the city - kicking and screaming, if necessary - into the 20th century. Well, civility's a virtue more commonly found in previous centuries than in our own, and by that measure, Simi proved to be refreshingly old-fashioned.

Contrary to outsider's expectations, Simi's conservatism isn't rooted in ignorance, but in experience - having seen what works and what doesn't. It arises not from prejudice, but out of appreciation - of the great gift of freedom and understanding the responsibilities it entails. It lies not in following fashions, but footsteps - tracking well-trodden paths formed by our predecessors, who've left us signposts so we don't lose our way.

Last weekend also saw a March for Jesus along Los Angeles Avenue, with 2,000 Simi residents joining an estimated 10 million people worldwide to offer Jesus Christ their ``extravagant praise,'' according to the Rev. Rod Ritchie from New Beginnings Christian Fellowship. While many fear religious belief to be on the decline in this country - despite housing over 60 churches - there's a ``church shortage'' in Simi, with many more worshipers than pews.

That's the kind of problem most pastors pray for.

At the Reagan Library - Simi's preeminent symbol - two controversial quilts - one criticized as too violent, the other seen by some as sporting a swastika - were pulled from a traveling exhibit, a news item attracting national media attention. Imagine that: a quilt too gruesome for viewing. Patching over the dispute, library director Mark Hunt said, ``We don't want anyone to think we are in any way glorifying violence.'' If only Hollywood was that concerned about mending its violent image.

On May 26, Steve Frank saw something he never expected to see: His face on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, America's highest-circulation daily newspaper.

Frank, who's lived in Simi for 10 years, has spent the last 14 months traveling around the United States organizing fellow conservatives into the National Federation of Republican Assemblies. The national group springs from the success of the California Republican Assembly, once headed by Frank.

Frank figures he's flown over 200,000 miles, or about 10 times around the world, to meet his own goal of establishing Republican assemblies in every state. To date, he's launched organizations in 43 states.

Like it or not, last week's events - from gay festivals to religious marches, from crazy quilts to conservative politics - are an indication of the changes now occurring in Simi, as it moves out from under L.A.'s shadow, establishing a political and cultural identity of its own. From humble rural beginnings, it's grown into so much more: home now to over 100,000 residents - a talented, energetic and independent people with their own ideas about how to order their lives.