McSweeney named Westlake mayor

SWEARING IN—From left, Mark Rutherford, Susan McSweeney and Bob Slavin receive the Westlake City Council oath of office from Judge Lawrence Mira. McSweeney is the new mayor. Susan McSweeney was sworn in as Westlake Village’s newest mayor during the city’s annual council reorganization ceremony last week at city hall.

The inauguration took place before an audience that included city and county officials, a number of former Westlake mayors and nearly a hundred students and parents from White Oak Elementary School, where McSweeney has worked for the past 17 years.

Councilmember Jim Bruno was elected mayor pro tem, the first time he has held the position.

“When I think of Westlake Village, I think of family and I think of community,” said McSweeney. “. . . I think we have the most wonderful community, and I think everyone else thinks that too.”

McSweeney—along with outgoing Mayor Mark Rutherford and fellow Councilmember Robert Slavin—was sworn into office for an additional four-year term.

The three council members were reappointed to their seats by a council vote in late August when no challengers ran against them in the city election. It is Rutherford’s third term in office and the second term for both Slavin and McSweeney.

McSweeney’s ascension is noteworthy because she’s serving her second term even though she’s only been elected once.

What’s more, McSweeney spent no money during her election campaign in 2001 when she first won her council seat.

“I was running right at the time of 9/11 and that was such a hard time to think about raising money for a political campaign for a city like Westlake Village,” McSweeney said. “So I thought I would be elected by word of mouth, and it worked. . . . At the end of the day, Westlake is a small town.”

McSweeney, a former teacher, runs a kindergarten enrichment program at White Oak Elementary School in Westlake.

Her husband of 31 years, Bill McSweeney, was the former captain of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station and is now a chief with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The two raised their three children–Michael, 22, Katie, 25, and Brian, 27, in Westlake, where the family has lived for the past 17 years.

In addition to her husband and children, McSweeney’s mother, Marilyn Mathers, and brothers Jim, Jerry, Patrick and Shaun were present. Her father, Norman Mathers, a longtime educator and school administrator, was unable to attend the ceremony.

Outgoing Mayor Mark Rutherford was recognized by the offices of State Sen. Sheila Kuehl, Assemblywoman Audra Strickland and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

“You put so much time and effort into everything you do, and you do it with such confidence and grace,” McSweeney told Rutherford.

Rutherford advised the council to “slow down” so they can better focus on the list of programs and projects that were started in the past two years.

“I still think we need to settle down and really get (into) a routine on all these new programs that we are running to make sure that we (don’t) add . . . more to our plates than we already have,” Rutherford said.

Bruno, who’s in his first term, has lived in Westlake Village for 28 years. His business, Bruno and Associates, is a financial consulting firm that has been in Westlake for nearly 30 years. He was formerly a chair of the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission.