By Clyde Noel

Town Crier Correspondent

Bill Simon Jr., another Republican candidate seeking to challenge Gray Davis for governor next year, stopped by the Los Altos area Aug. 22 to state his positions.

Appearing at a South Peninsula Area Republican Coalition meeting, Simon talked about Davis’ shortcomings and the crisis California is in today.

Simon, 50, is a Southern California millionaire running for public office the first time. The candidate is the son of the late William E. Simon, Sr., was a onetime treasury secretary and a conservative philanthropist.

“My father was an inspiration to me and said ‘Freedom is never free.’ I stand for freedom. I want to be your next governor and make a difference,” Simon said.

“I see four main issues that effect our quality of life in California: electricity, water, education and highways,” Simon said. “These are the challenges that have to be addressed because we want to give kids the same opportunity that we had.

“The very basic services that give us a decent quality of life have broken down,” Simon said. “California is home to 34 million people and we have an infrastructure suitable for 20 million.”

On California’s electricity woes, Simon said the energy crisis is not over. Simon said the state should not be in the power business - it should be left to private solutions with local control.

On education, Simon said California’s 4th grade reading levels are 49th in the country. “Teachers don’t like efficiency testing, but I’ll campaign on measurement of teachers because that’s what we have to face falling short of the voucher situation,” Simon said.