Simi Valley Ca Finances

A Simi Valley group that teaches horseback riding to handicapped children and adults in Chatsworth says it is facing a financial crisis because of a Simi Valley City Council decision to limit bingo games. At first blush, it might seem that equestrian therapy and the game of bingo don't have much in common. But bingo proceeds fund the ranch's operation.

When Simi Valley issued $15 million in tax-exempt municipal bonds for low- and middle-income mortgages in 1989, nobody could have guessed the mess that would follow. With proceeds of its bond sales, the city bought guaranteed investment contracts, called GICs, thought to be safe investments. The GICs were placed with Executive Life, a Los Angeles insurance company that collapsed in 1991 after overextending itself in the junk bond market.

The developers of new homes and businesses in Simi Valley would have to pay fees or take other steps to offset the additional air pollution they cause, under revised air quality rules being considered by the City Council. The county's other nine cities have agreed to follow guidelines drafted in 1989 by the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.

The developers of new homes and businesses in Simi Valley would have to pay fees or take other steps to offset the additional air pollution they cause, under revised air quality rules being considered by the City Council. The county's other nine cities have agreed to follow guidelines drafted in 1989 by the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.

The swimming and water polo programs at Royal and Simi high schools soon might be without a pool. The Rancho Simi Recreation and Parks District, faced with $1.2 million in budget cuts, has announced it no longer will be able to fund the approximately $100,000 annually to maintain the 50-meter pool at Rancho Simi Park, officials said Thursday.

The city of Simi Valley spent more than $62,000 to put its police on 2,009 hours of overtime duty at the end of the second trial of four Los Angeles police officers accused of beating motorist Rodney G. King, officials said Thursday. Fearing potential violence at the end of the U.S. District Court case, the Simi police doubled patrol car staffing from one officer per car to two during jury deliberations, in a massive mobilization dubbed "Operation Gatekeeper," said Police Chief Lindsey P.

Simi Valley's Meals on Wheels program, which delivers hot lunches to 45 homebound senior citizens and handicapped residents, will probably have to pay 25 cents more for each meal it purchases beginning in September, a city official said Tuesday. Ventura County, which provides the meals to the Simi Valley group, recently announced the probable price increase, said Kathryn O. Andersen, the city's senior services coordinator.

As the Simi Valley City Council gets ready to begin its annual budget-cutting process, the first item on the chopping block is a familiar one--a proposal to cut funding for a visitor's information program run by the Chamber of Commerce at city expense. Every year at budget time, city staff presents the council with a book of proposed cuts. And every year, the visitor information program is at or near the top of the list of suggested trims.

A community center and gymnasium long talked about in Simi Valley will move closer to reality today as recreation officials break ground on the first public recreational complex in the city. The $3-million project, to be built at a popular Simi Valley park, will include meeting and recreation rooms in addition to a gym with three basketball courts. The complex is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 1994.

Facing tough economic times and growing competition from other cities trying to increase their tax bases, Simi Valley officials have offered a $175,000 cash bonus to entice a San Fernando Valley medical supply firm to move to the city. On Tuesday, however, city officials said they were still uncertain whether the bonus, the city's first such offer, will be enough to persuade Guardian Products, a medical supplies manufacturer, to move its corporate offices, plant and 470 jobs to Simi Valley.

As the Simi Valley City Council gets ready to begin its annual budget-cutting process, the first item on the chopping block is a familiar one--a proposal to cut funding for a visitor's information program run by the Chamber of Commerce at city expense. Every year at budget time, city staff presents the council with a book of proposed cuts. And every year, the visitor information program is at or near the top of the list of suggested trims.

Saying the program is probably not worth the cost, the Simi Valley City Council rejected a plan Monday to continue offering $100 rebates to residents who replace their high-volume flush toilets with models that use much less water. "I don't happen to think this is money well-spent," Councilwoman Judy Mikels said. She proposed the funds be used instead for programs that result in greater water conservation.

The city of Simi Valley spent more than $62,000 to put its police on 2,009 hours of overtime duty at the end of the second trial of four Los Angeles police officers accused of beating motorist Rodney G. King, officials said Thursday. Fearing potential violence at the end of the U.S. District Court case, the Simi police doubled patrol car staffing from one officer per car to two during jury deliberations, in a massive mobilization dubbed "Operation Gatekeeper," said Police Chief Lindsey P.

Simi Valley's Meals on Wheels program, which delivers hot lunches to 45 homebound senior citizens and handicapped residents, will probably have to pay 25 cents more for each meal it purchases beginning in September, a city official said Tuesday. Ventura County, which provides the meals to the Simi Valley group, recently announced the probable price increase, said Kathryn O. Andersen, the city's senior services coordinator.

The swimming and water polo programs at Royal and Simi high schools soon might be without a pool. The Rancho Simi Recreation and Parks District, faced with $1.2 million in budget cuts, has announced it no longer will be able to fund the approximately $100,000 annually to maintain the 50-meter pool at Rancho Simi Park, officials said Thursday.

A community center and gymnasium long talked about in Simi Valley will move closer to reality today as recreation officials break ground on the first public recreational complex in the city. The $3-million project, to be built at a popular Simi Valley park, will include meeting and recreation rooms in addition to a gym with three basketball courts. The complex is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 1994.

Saying the program is probably not worth the cost, the Simi Valley City Council rejected a plan Monday to continue offering $100 rebates to residents who replace their high-volume flush toilets with models that use much less water. "I don't happen to think this is money well-spent," Councilwoman Judy Mikels said. She proposed the funds be used instead for programs that result in greater water conservation.

When Simi Valley issued $15 million in tax-exempt municipal bonds for low- and middle-income mortgages in 1989, nobody could have guessed the mess that would follow. With proceeds of its bond sales, the city bought guaranteed investment contracts, called GICs, thought to be safe investments. The GICs were placed with Executive Life, a Los Angeles insurance company that collapsed in 1991 after overextending itself in the junk bond market.

A Simi Valley group that teaches horseback riding to handicapped children and adults in Chatsworth says it is facing a financial crisis because of a Simi Valley City Council decision to limit bingo games. At first blush, it might seem that equestrian therapy and the game of bingo don't have much in common. But bingo proceeds fund the ranch's operation.

Joanne Meister guides 25 squealing third-graders past a slab of the Berlin Wall, a collection of Ronald Reagan's movie posters and a video of John W. Hinckley Jr.'s assassination attempt. Finally, the group arrives at a replica of the Oval Office as it looked under President Reagan. "The Jelly Bellies are right there on that side table," says Meister, a volunteer docent at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, pointing to the former actor's favorite White House snack.