Election politics are here again
The Sept. 27 candidates' forum for the Westlake Village City Council race gave excellent insight as to who the players are in the upcoming election and what voters can expect from them. The four candidates spoke on a variety of topics while participating in a Q and A at the North Ranch Community Center.

The candidates for the two seats are incumbent Philippa Klessig and challengers Carol Kirschbaum, Theodore Corwin and Ned Davis. Former Mayor Pro Tem Jim Bruno would have been up for reelection, but announced his decision not to run after fellow council members passed him over for mayor in a move seen as retribution for his opposition to the Lowe's development.

To this day, no official explanation was given as to why the council broke with the long-standing tradition of naming the mayor pro tem as mayor. Klessig said at the forum that the council members did not take the action because they were vindictive, but because they wanted "good government."

Bruno's opposition to Lowe's was obviously perceived as bad governance. While the City Council could never reach a consensus on Lowe's, the public did. Voters rejected the big box development by a solid 56-44 percent margin. Bruno was on the winning side, yet still got ousted. Klessig, ironically, is in line to become mayor if reelected to the council. Despite her role in the Bruno affair, she has the best interests of the city at heart, has been a hard worker, and probably deserves another term.

Kirschbaum will benefit the most from Bruno's decision not to run since she carries the biggest name recognition of the three challengers. "I feel like we're losing the village in Westlake," she told the forum audience. To be sure, the city has a whopping $22 million in reserves and it's hard to see why more revenue is needed from new development. Although she opposed Lowe's, Kirschbaum is not a blanket anti-development candidate.

Corwin voted in support of Lowe's but worries that the new Sunrise senior living facility currently in the works might be too intense for the site where the Westlake hospital once stood. Davis took the high road and urged the candidates to put the controversial events of the past year behind them.

See Sophia Fischer's full story beginning on the front page. The election is Nov. 6.