LAKE COUNTY >> At the first Valley Fire Long-Term Recovery Task Force meeting, Middletown Rancheria Tribal Chairman Moke Simon beamed and cracked jokes as he gave his report, providing a moment of levity for a town that greatly needed it.
“Laughter’s huge — there can never be a situation where you can’t find laughter in it,” Simon said. “I really believe that … especially when you’re hurting.”
Yet, the District 1 Supervisor candidate isn’t a true jester and, with the stature of a former defensive lineman, doesn’t look like one. He even once joked about running for the District 1 seat, only now it has become a reality.
In fact, Simon takes two things seriously: football and serving his community in south Lake County, something he hopes to continue with an election to Board of Supervisors in November.
“What really motivated me was the tragedy we just went through,” he said, adding that he immediately sprang into action to begin recovery efforts shortly after the fire broke out.
From that point on, Simon — just like many other community leaders — has been busy. He became thoroughly involved in Middletown’s recovery. He’s housed survivors, tribal members and others alike in the hotel. Currently, six people remain.
During the experience, he said, he’s received requests from the community to run for the seat, a call he felt compelled to answer.
“I thought about it but I felt just like in football: When it’s your time to step up, you need to do it, sacrifice, and get the job done,” he said. “I believe it’s my time to step up and serve our community. To be a voice and help through this rebuild process and the economic development as we move forward with our area.”
This isn’t first time he has stepped away from his interests to help the community.
Once the Rancheria was getting started, Simon walked away from a professional football career that took him all over the world and led him to an invite to training camp for the Indianapolis Colts. Since 1997, overseeing the expansion of the Twin Pine Casino and representing the interests of the tribe.
However, that didn’t end his participation in the game — he just went from player to coach, managing Pop Warner and giving his time as an assistant coach for Middletown High School. The team, which the town rallied behind this fall, has consistently made the playoffs every year. This year, they even had a chance to beat the eventual state champions, but came up short in the final quarter.
The Issues
Obviously, the rebuild from the fire is the biggest issue Simon is running on, but he also has some other areas of focus if elected.
One of those is the retention of first responders like firefighters, EMTs, and members of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.
“Their budgets need to be addressed so we can get quality people and keep them here in the county,” he said. “The safer the county is the easier it is going to be to mark ourselves and to keep people coming to the county.”
Additionally, Simon said he will focus on economic development and education.
When asked about his plans, he said he wants to develop strategies to get more businesses to come to the community and making sure they are the right ones.
That will involve improving Lake County’s economy as a whole, especially the tourism industry, which he said Middletown the surrounding area relies upon.
“South County depends on the entire county,” Simon said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity out there, it just needs to be vetted out and also needs to be talked with the community… I think competition is good.”
In terms of education, he wants to keep kids in the community and have them not feel compelled to go elsewhere for schooling and to find a job after college.
“Trying to turn that around is going to be a fight, but I think there’s an opportunity for us,” he said.
