Tony Strickland Pens Love Letter to Simi, But What About Us?

By Mike Devlin

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In an effort to re-establish his connection to the 25th District, Tony Strickland sent a heartfelt letter to voters in Simi Valley. In the letter he drops names and names of places that sound like really important names and places. It reads like it's supposed to make you cry, but even for a sap like me, it didn't quite do the job. If you're not from Simi, the emotional thrust of the letter is probably lost.

As far as I know, this is the only such love letter in the campaign. And I don't know about you, but I'm feeling kinda left out. So I got to wondering: what if Tony Strickland penned letters to the rest of the district?

So here's my best impression of Tony reaching out to us in the arid north, Tony Strickland's SCV Story:

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I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. It's OK, let it out.

As a bonus for reading this far, here's Strickland reaching even further for his Antelope Valley Story:

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(ok, so to be clear: the Simi Letter is real, the other two are fake)

Comments (9)

Scott WilkWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 6:30 am

I have the honor of representing the great community of Simi Valley in the State Assembly. Over the last three years I've built many relationships and I'm so impressed with the sense of community and civic engagement that occurs. Simi voters are smart and won't be fooled by this (just check the election results from my 2012 primary). Simi civic leadership supports Steve Knight. That includes former Congressman Elton Gallegly, Supervisor Peter Foy, and Councilmembers Glen Becerra, Steve Sojka, Mike Judge and Keith Mashburn.

HenryJenningsWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 8:50 am

Hopefully, none of us will be fooled again.

SCVMJBWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 10:08 am

Mike Devlin is the best! He's a true journalist in the very meaning of the word, with a touch of gentleness and a splash of humor or satire and honesty always prevails. SCV should be very grateful to have you. Thanks for ALL of your efforts.

Ex-ClaritanWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 10:16 am

Comedy gold. Usage of "up there" noted and appreciated (but longing for a bit of "way out there"). http://www.santaclarita.com/blog/view.php?

MikeWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 11:04 am

Callbacks!

timothymyers02Wednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 10:41 am

"To the harpsichord Lurch!" (I just can't help myself.)

TalkToMissVWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 11:56 am

BEST POST EVER!!! The letter to the SCV is GENIUS! The Funny thing is... having grown up IN Simi myself, in the same time frame as Strickland, I even went to the same Jr High and High school... I STILL wouldn't vote for him in this election!! I went to Bob's... why is that important? EVERYONE went to Bob's LOL

FavelWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 3:28 pm

I remember when the Stricklands abandoned Moorpark for Thousand Oaks...so Audra could run for Board of Sups. http://www.flashreport.org/blog/2010/05/27 Maybe eventually they will move to Santa Clarita to run for an office in Bakersfield.

timothymyers02Thursday, May 29th, 2014 at 12:00 pm

Favel: That whole campaign was a hoot! Many will not remember, though it is on her Wikipedia page, that Audra had originally planned to run for Secretary of State in 2010, but then decided to run for Ventura County Treasurer where she could have camped out FOREVER (no term limits). The Ventura Supes, however, enacted the California Government code requiring certain financial education for County Treasurers (a law passed in response to the OC bankruptcy) SPECIFICALLY to keep her from running for that office. She then ran against incumbent Linda Parks who SMOKED her in the open primary so that no runoff was necessary. Ventura County is populated by a lot of registered Republicans who probably vote for Democratic candidates most of the time because the flinty Repubs in VC are so venal and despised, except by the true believers. Take the situation where during Lurch's unsuccessful run for State Controller he LOST in his own State Senate District to John Chiang. He would then go on to lose the 26th Congressional seat to a moderate Dem and bailed out on that race this time around. The Stricklands are a microcosm of what is wrong with politics in that one has folks that have never really done anything else but work for politicians or run for public office. Add in term limits, and now these folks have to continually scramble for the next office, trying to achieve the dream of a non term limit office like Congressman where they can camp out forever.

Scott WilkWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 6:30 am
I have the honor of representing the great community of Simi Valley in the State Assembly. Over the last three years I've built many relationships and I'm so impressed with the sense of community and civic engagement that occurs. Simi voters are smart and won't be fooled by this (just check the election results from my 2012 primary). Simi civic leadership supports Steve Knight. That includes former Congressman Elton Gallegly, Supervisor Peter Foy, and Councilmembers Glen Becerra, Steve Sojka, Mike Judge and Keith Mashburn.
HenryJenningsWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 8:50 am
Hopefully, none of us will be fooled again.
SCVMJBWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 10:08 am
Mike Devlin is the best! He's a true journalist in the very meaning of the word, with a touch of gentleness and a splash of humor or satire and honesty always prevails. SCV should be very grateful to have you. Thanks for ALL of your efforts.
Ex-ClaritanWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 10:16 am
Comedy gold. Usage of "up there" noted and appreciated (but longing for a bit of "way out there"). http://www.santaclarita.com/blog/view.php?
MikeWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 11:04 am
Callbacks!
timothymyers02Wednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 10:41 am
"To the harpsichord Lurch!" (I just can't help myself.)
TalkToMissVWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 11:56 am
BEST POST EVER!!! The letter to the SCV is GENIUS! The Funny thing is... having grown up IN Simi myself, in the same time frame as Strickland, I even went to the same Jr High and High school... I STILL wouldn't vote for him in this election!! I went to Bob's... why is that important? EVERYONE went to Bob's LOL
FavelWednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 3:28 pm
I remember when the Stricklands abandoned Moorpark for Thousand Oaks...so Audra could run for Board of Sups. http://www.flashreport.org/blog/2010/05/27 Maybe eventually they will move to Santa Clarita to run for an office in Bakersfield.
timothymyers02Thursday, May 29th, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Favel: That whole campaign was a hoot! Many will not remember, though it is on her Wikipedia page, that Audra had originally planned to run for Secretary of State in 2010, but then decided to run for Ventura County Treasurer where she could have camped out FOREVER (no term limits). The Ventura Supes, however, enacted the California Government code requiring certain financial education for County Treasurers (a law passed in response to the OC bankruptcy) SPECIFICALLY to keep her from running for that office. She then ran against incumbent Linda Parks who SMOKED her in the open primary so that no runoff was necessary. Ventura County is populated by a lot of registered Republicans who probably vote for Democratic candidates most of the time because the flinty Repubs in VC are so venal and despised, except by the true believers. Take the situation where during Lurch's unsuccessful run for State Controller he LOST in his own State Senate District to John Chiang. He would then go on to lose the 26th Congressional seat to a moderate Dem and bailed out on that race this time around. The Stricklands are a microcosm of what is wrong with politics in that one has folks that have never really done anything else but work for politicians or run for public office. Add in term limits, and now these folks have to continually scramble for the next office, trying to achieve the dream of a non term limit office like Congressman where they can camp out forever.