Comments made by Calabasas City Councilmember Fred Gaines at a June 10 meeting— including one that the city is the “poster child” for racism—have thrown residents and other community leaders for a loop with the suggestion that theirs is a racist city.
Gaines said he heard racist comments from staffers at city hall and residents of the community leveled at former city manager Gary Lysik, a white man married to a Black woman, who was forced to resign his post in May.
Gaines brought up the issue of race in Calabasas following two recent marches on city streets for Black Lives Matters. He also wanted to open a dialogue about how the city might address racism in the future.
Many residents took to social media to respond to the Gaines comments, and while some said they believe a degree of racism does exist in the affluent, mostly white community of Calabasas, others said Gaines used the alleged racial attacks against Lysik as a means to distract from the mismanagement missteps that led to the city manager’s forced resignation last month.
Lysik stepped down from his position on May 18 following a 3-2 no-confidence vote by the City Council. Gaines and Councilmember David Shapiro voted to keep Lysik on staff despite accusations the former chief executive mismanaged city finances and demonstrated poor ethics.
Gaines said at the June 10 meeting that in both the hiring of Lysik as city manager two years ago and his termination in May, he had been the target of “horrifying and overt racism.”
The social media posts suggest that because Gaines believed Lysik was a victim of racist attacks, his dismissal was not justified.
Speaking with The Acorn, Gaines denied his comments played a role in the Lysik resignation.
Calabasas Mayor Alicia Weintraub told The Acorn, “I have never seen racism play a part in anything at City Hall. I think our city staff embodies very strong values and those values are representative of our community. I can only speak for myself and say that I haven’t seen anything.”
Weintraub is hosting a digital forum titled “Race & Change: A conversation with the community” at 4 p.m. Mon., June 29, which will feature a panel of community members, business leaders and Capt. Chuck Becerra of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station.
The city declined to issue an official comment about the racism matter.
“On the advice of counsel, because what (Gaines) was talking about was one of the reasons Lysik left, the city can’t officially comment on the matter,” Michael Russo, Calabasas communications director said.
Gaines also said he had heard racially charged comments regarding football players in the Las Virgenes Unified School District.
LVUSD Superintendent Dan Stepenosky said he was surprised by Gaines’ comments, saying it was the first time he had heard such a claim.
“I think highly of Fred, and we take (comments) like that very seriously,” Stepenosky said. “I saw him at the Calabasas High School graduation ceremony we even talked about football because my son is trying out for the team, but Fred didn’t say a word (about racism) to me.”
Stepenosky asked CHS principal CJ Foss to see if she had heard any similar claims and said she hadn’t.
Gaines did say he spoke to Stepenosky about the matter—after Stepenosky called the council member to ask for clarification on his statement.
The following is the full text of Fred Gaines’ June 10 public comments.
“We have a serious problem with racism in Calabasas. I’m sorry I’ve not done more to address it. Black Americans are angry and hurting and their anger is well-founded. I’m angry too about the killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the killings of many, many others.
The choke holds and the police shootings must stop. I want our country to be different, I want equal justice for all after these centuries. I want our city to take action.
I truly believe Calabasas is not a place with a lot of overt racism, but I do believe it exists. I’ve been involved in the sports programs at Calabasas High School and I’ve witnessed racist comments regarding our black student athletes.
During our recent debates about affordable housing I received numerous comments about not wanting ‘those people’ or ‘that element’ living in our community. Some of the most horrifying and overt racism I’ve ever experienced came from the hiring and recent resignation of our former city manager.
We have not been strong enough or loud enough in our response to these racist incidents when they occur in our city and we must do better. Institutional racism is another story. Unfortunately when it comes to institutional racism, Calabasas could be a poster child. All of us who live in Calabasas—and when I say us I of course include myself—have chosen to live in one of California’s most segregated cities. 84% white, 1.6% black.
We’ve chosen to have our kids attend segregated schools, 78% white, 1.8% black. Many of us went to great L.A. public schools, but when we found the quality of those schools to be lacking for our own kids, we didn’t fix those schools, we moved to Calabasas.
Two-thirds of our residents live behind guarded gates. The fundamental principle that seems to have the broadest support throughout our city is nimby-ism. Not in my backyard. Keeping others out. Not exactly a message of racial, social or economic justice.
As I enter my third generation of life, my first grandchild due next month, I’ve now witnessed riots in the streets in each generation. Each time we called for change. Changes were made, over there. But we, us here in Calabasas, we did not change and we have to change.
In the last 10 years I’ve seen the results of four polls in Calabasas, and in each one, their top concerns were exactly the same. development, traffic and crime. Ending racism, social justice, economic inequalities poll at zero percent. They don’t make the list. Until those polls change, until we articulate an equality for all as one of our priorities, we will not have changed.
So what can our city do? We starting right here at the City Council must speak up, and exert civic leadership to oppose racism and support racial equality. We must support organizations that promote these causes. We must host conversations and educational programs from our youth council to our senior center that make clear that social justice is a priority in our community.
Our public safety commission needs to become our human rights commission and speak openly about how our city and our sheriffs must act. We need to be better sharers and open Calabasas to housing and economic and educational opportunities for all. We have to do it here, in Calabasas, not just support that it be done over there, somewhere else.
When there is less injustice and greater opportunity for all, America will be a better place, and Calabasas will be a better place. And I look forward to participating in making that happen.”