It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Simi Valley has been demoted to 2nd place in the race for safest city per capita in the United States. Thousand Oaks, our long time rival and neighboring city, beat us this year. So it is now a time for reflection, a time to consider the reasons for this failure. We can be certain it is not due to lack of police. A couple days ago I saw 3 cop cars within one minute, and two at the same intersection. I will have to wait to see the actual report on what crime rates have risen and what is our main problem, but I would at this point probably attribute some of the crime to the sleezy businesses that are around. Snooky's, well, enough said. But that has been around for some time. There is this little gas station/mini mart down the street from my house. It has gone through a few different owners, first it was Stop and Go, then Circle K. About a year or so ago it was bought again by someone else and now its just called the Plaza Food Mart or something. With the new ownership came the sale of some ehem materials. I had considered in the past taking some actions of sorts (talking to the manager, rallying the neighborhood, boycotting), but now that our first place has been taken away I'm more motivated than ever. I'll keep you updated if I actually do anything. I really just need to get a job (read: life) at this point.