You Don’t Need a Campaign or Endorsements. Just a Willingness to Show Up.

Applications are open for residents who want to help bring neighborhood concerns into city conversations.

(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) – Ever wonder how concerns from your street make their way to City Hall? It might start with traffic on a nearby road, a development proposed down the block, or questions about safety or city services. In Simi Valley, there’s a place where those conversations happen, and the city is accepting applications through March 31 for residents who want a seat at the table.

The city is divided into four Neighborhood Council districts, each with a 13-member volunteer Executive Board that meets once a month at City Hall on Tapo Canyon Road. The councils serve in an advisory role, bringing neighborhood-level concerns and feedback from residents into conversations with the City Council and Planning Commission. Topics can range from development proposals to public safety to the kind of everyday quality-of-life issues that don’t always make it into formal agendas on their own.

Recent Neighborhood Council agendas show how varied those conversations can be. Meetings have included presentations on the National Flood Insurance Program and the city’s flood preparedness and public outreach efforts tied to that program. Councils have also been asked to nominate representatives to city review panels such as the Community Projects Grant committee.

The boards often get to meet developers early in the process. Before a project hits formal review, it might first land in front of a Neighborhood Council, where appointed members and attending residents can ask questions, raise concerns and push back. By the time a project reaches the Planning Commission or City Council for a vote, much of that community conversation has already taken place at the neighborhood level, and who showed up for it can make a difference.

That’s what makes these boards a different kind of civic role. City Council members represent all of Simi Valley. Neighborhood Councils represent the streets closest to yours. Board members aren’t debating citywide policy in the abstract. They’re talking about the intersection that’s gotten worse since the new development opened, the code enforcement issue on the corner, the vacant storefront that’s been sitting empty long enough that neighbors have started asking why. Those conversations, documented and carried forward, give city leaders a clearer picture of how decisions land at the street level.

For many residents who may consider a run for City Council or get appointed to planning commissions, a Neighborhood Council board seat is a great way to learn how government works. The meetings are smaller, the issues are familiar, and you can see firsthand how community input moves through the city’s decision-making process.

Those selected for this round of appointments will serve a two-year term from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028. Applicants must be at least 18 and live within Simi Valley city limits. The application is at simivalley.org/NCApplication. More information, including the district map, is at simivalley.org/NeighborhoodCouncils. Questions can go to Community Services Coordinator Kelly Duffy at (805) 583-6756 or [email protected].

You don’t need a campaign or endorsements, just a willingness to show up. If you’ve been watching decisions get made about your neighborhood and wondering when residents get a say, this is that moment. Applications close March 31.