Josie Hirsch is running for one of the open seats on the Simi Valley Board of Education and she’s got some concerns. She posted these remarks on her campaign’s Facebook page, but she shared them with me as well. Public safety is everyone’s concern, and Josie is especially concerned that our kids may be in danger. I’ll let her explain in her own words…
Our Kids Are In Danger
Simi Valley used to be the safest place to live in the US. Now we are ranked in the top 35 places to live. We are no longer safe, and our property crimes continue to rise.
With only 103 street cops on our streets, lets do the math. That rounds Up to 15 officers on the streets of Simi Valley ever 24 hours. If they work 12 hour shifts, we are lucky to have 7 officers on the streets. If they work 8 hour shifts, we have only 5 officers at a time on the streets of our ENTIRE valley. Do you feel safe now?
How about our kids? The DARE program is gone. Gang problems in our schools are increasing, drugs are everywhere, just ask the high school students. These children are telling us they are scared. They are asking parents to drive them to Oak Park so they do not have to go to our schools. What is the district doing about it? One Wood Ranch parent wrote to the Board and Superintendent here in Simi Valley explaining why they were leaving SVUSD and received a letter back wishing her son better luck in Oak Park.
We ,the citizens of Simi Valley must raise our voices to the city and school board and demand more officers. With almost 127,000 residents, we should have 127 officers on the streets, plus the officers who keep the police force optimized from the desks.
Once elected to the Simi Valley School Board, I will fight along side my friends and parents to work with the city council to get to police coverage we need in this community and the police presence we need at the schools, so the gangs, drug users and dealers, and bullies know we mean business. We want our city safe for our children.
Josie Hirsch
Candidate for SVUSD School Board