Local-Politics on Zonk Media

Grading Simi Valley's 2026 Campaign Signs

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Summary

I decided to have some fun with the 2026 local election season by driving around Simi Valley and grading campaign signs like they were students taking a test. I checked out signs for the mayor’s race (Mike Judge, Dee Dee Cavanaugh, and Kareem Jubran), several council candidates, and school board hopefuls. Some signs nailed it with clean, simple designs that actually stick with you. Others? Let’s just say they tried way too hard to cram information onto a piece of plastic, and one school board sign was so confident it was literally upside down.

Simi Valley Political Signs Are Everywhere. Here's Why That Works.

Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Summary

It’s election season in Simi Valley, and if you’ve driven through town lately, you’ve probably noticed political signs everywhere. I decided to walk around the Town Center area to figure out why these signs are so visible and what they actually tell us about how our local elections work. Turns out, there’s a city ordinance that pushes candidates to put their signs on private property—which means business owners get to decide whose campaign gets prime real estate. That’s a pretty interesting dynamic when you think about it.

I Covered Local Politics for Years. What I Found in the Comments I've Never Told Anyone

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Summary

I’ve lived in Simi Valley my whole life, and for a while, I knew everything about it - the things that made it worth staying, the things that made it worth defending. But then something happened that changed all of that, and I’ve never talked about it publicly. Until now. For years, I was deeply involved in local politics, covering the city council meetings and the debates over issues like development and taxes. I thought I had a good handle on the pulse of the community. But when I started reading the comments on my articles, that’s when things took a turn. I saw a side of Simi Valley that I had never known - a darker, more divisive side that I couldn’t reconcile with the place I thought I knew. It was a wake-up call. I realized that the Simi Valley I had grown up with, the one I had poured my heart and soul into, was not the same as the one that existed in the minds of so many of my neighbors. And that realization led me to step away from local politics altogether. This is the story of what I found in those comment sections, and why I’ve never shared it with anyone until now.