Kirschbaum's the one for Westlake

Last week several letters spoke to Westlake Village beautification or lack thereof, depending upon the writer. I happen to be one who is very disappointed in the changes to the look of our city arising out of the actions of our City Council in the past few years.

One letter proclaimed that upon entering Westlake you see beautifully maintained greenbelts and clean streets with few potholes. In reality, it depends which way you turn. Lindero Canyon is the entrance to the city of Westlake Village from the freeway.

If you turn north what you see is the tallest building in our city, a huge hotel resembling a state hospital, followed by a smaller hotel across the street having neither style nor beauty and a restaurant with a loud, Wild West cowboy look. This is not the architectural synergy that one should see in a master planned community. Where is the charm in this?

I will vote for Carol Kirschbaum because she offers constructive suggestions on improving development in our city. Carol believes that the general plan can be maintained and still allow for sensible business and community growth. She wants developers to make their projects fit our plan, rather than dictate to us how we must change our zoning or regulations to suit them. Other communities have done this successfully.

Carol Kirshbaum acknowledges that having the power to do something does not equate with the expertise to do it. She would like a citizen's advisory group put in place to assist the City Council in future projects, advocating that it include experts in design and development, as well as members of the community. I think she is right on. That kind of help might have saved us from what happened on Lindero Canyon.

Carol will work hard to build a better community with a healthy financial base without the need to sacrifice the quality of life that we all love. Rocki Mende Westlake Village