Candidates file for Westlake

Westlake Village voters will have their choice of at least four candidates for two open City Council seats in the Nov. 6 election.

The candidate filing period closed at 5 p.m. on Wed., Aug. 15. As of press time, those who had submitted paperwork to city clerk Beth Schott with the intent to run included incumbent Philippa Klessig and challengers Theodore Corwin, Ned Davis and Carol Kirschbaum.

The two seats up for election belong to council members Jim Bruno and Philippa Klessig. Bruno announced in May that he would not seek reelection. Klessig, elected in 2003, will run for a second term.

Each term is four years.

Last year, Klessig and Bruno were on opposing sides of Measure Z, the effort to bring a Lowe's home improvement store into the city. Klessig supported the measure; Bruno opposed it. The issue divided the city and was defeated by voters last November.

One month later Bruno was snubbed by the council when it voted to retain Sue McSweeney as mayor rather than follow a longstanding tradition and appoint then Mayor Pro Tem Bruno as mayor.

Councilmember Philippa Klessig replaced Bruno as mayor pro tem. Some residents criticized the council's action while others applauded it.

Corwin is a local plastic surgeon who is married and has four children. Davis is a management executive and sits on the Las Virgenes Education Foundation, the city's Cultural Recreation Advisory Committee and the Westlake Trails homeowners association board.

Kirschbaum is a retired risk manager and serves on the board of Casa Pacifica, which helps abused and neglected children; Kirschbaum also is a member of the Westlake Women's Club. Klessig is active with the Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent and Nursing Hospital, the New West Symphony and the Conejo Valley Adult School Literacy Program.

The Acorn will publish indepth profiles of each candidate in the weeks leading up to the election.