Simi Valley council adopts 2025 legislative platform after multi‑hour debate and targeted edits

Simi Valley — The City Council unanimously adopted its 2025 legislative platform after an extended discussion about specific policy language and several late edits requested by councilmembers.

Councilmember Litster led a multi‑item review of the platform and proposed clarifying changes and additions that the council accepted during the meeting. Key edits noted in the public discussion included tightening language about pension investment objectives, adding local control for sidewalk vending, expressing support for a state disaster relief fund, refining transportation‑funding language so the burden is shared across system users, and revising “EV infrastructure” references to “zero‑emission infrastructure.”

Why it matters: The legislative platform guides city lobbying positions and provides instructions to staff and the city’s lobbyists in Sacramento on which bills and policy changes the city supports or opposes. Several councilmembers emphasized the need for language that gives staff latitude to act quickly during the legislative session while preserving local priorities.

Details of edits and debate: Councilmember Litster proposed simplifying a sentence in the pensions section to state that the city supports objectives that maximize investment returns and to remove a longer clause referencing restrictions tied to social or environmental mandates. The council agreed to remove the phrase that Litster described as “kludgy” and to leave the shorter, clearer statement in the platform.

On commerce and public space issues, councilmembers added sidewalk vending to the list of topics where the city seeks to preserve local control, placing the matter alongside licensing for massage, alcohol, and other local regulatory topics. On emergency funding, Litster asked for an explicit statement supporting a state disaster relief fund to assist jurisdictions in events that do not meet federal thresholds; councilmembers incorporated language supporting state relief and clarifying that state and federal governments should bear responsibility for large‑scale disaster response and recovery.

Transportation language was split into separate items after debate: the platform now separately supports both (1) grant and legislative opportunities to develop alternative fueling infrastructure and (2) transportation funding approaches that allocate responsibility broadly across system users rather than rely solely on a declining gasoline tax. Councilmembers also replaced references to “EV infrastructure” with “zero‑emission infrastructure” to be technology‑neutral and accommodate potential alternatives to battery electric vehicles.

Procedure and vote: After the line‑by‑line discussion and several edits, a motion to adopt the 2025 legislative platform as amended passed unanimously. Councilmembers said the fast‑moving state legislative calendar made it important to finalize the platform at this meeting so staff and lobbyists would have direction.

Next steps: Staff will publish the adopted platform and transmit it to the city’s lobbyists and to partner agencies as appropriate. Councilmembers asked staff to return with any requested textual cleanups if needed, and to brief the council if high‑priority bills arise during the legislative session.