‘The changes I’ve seen’

Calabasas mayor gives upbeat report as city celebrates 30 years



FIRST RESPONDERS—During his Oct. 6 address, Calabasas Mayor James Bozajian presents keys to the city to Lost Hills Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Becerra and assistant fire chief Drew Smith. SCOTT STEEPLETON/Acorn Newspapers

FIRST RESPONDERS—During his Oct. 6 address, Calabasas Mayor James Bozajian presents keys to the city to Lost Hills Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Becerra and assistant fire chief Drew Smith. SCOTT STEEPLETON/Acorn Newspapers

He could have opened with an ice-breaker, reminding the audience that “Calabasas” is derived from the Spanish word for “pumpkin,” or that the place was cool even before the Kardashians arrived in town.

Mayor James Bozajian could have even kicked off his “30 Years and Going Strong” State of the City address Oct. 6 by thanking cityhood’s biggest cheerleader, Ruth Benell. Talk about a laugh line. When the founders proposed the City of Calabasas to the entity that holds sway over such matters, the Local Agency Formation Commission, Benell, that entity’s executive director, said it would never work.

“I’ve recommended denial from day one,” she said in a 1988 Los Angeles Times report. “I still do.”

Several years later, in a Times piece on Benell’s retirement after 21 years, Ed Davis, the former L.A. police chief turned state senator, said, “Ruth Benell is the executive officer who is there to carry out the county’s policies. And the policy has been to screw anyone that wants to incorporate.”

BACK THEN—The first Calabasas City Council 30 years ago, from left: Bob Hill, Lesley Devine, Mayor Dennis Washburn, Ed Kreins (interim city manager), Karyn Foley and Marvin Lopata. Courtesy photo

BACK THEN—The first Calabasas City Council 30 years ago, from left: Bob Hill, Lesley Devine, Mayor Dennis Washburn, Ed Kreins (interim city manager), Karyn Foley and Marvin Lopata. Courtesy photo

But Bozajian didn’t go there. Calabasas got its wish to incorporate and became an official city in 1991. There have been no other L.A. County cities to incorporate since then.

From the stage of Calabasas High School’s Performing Arts Education Center, the 56-yearold mayor and longest serving City Council member discussed the state of the city in a tone appropriate for the times. After all, COVID-19 is still around.

And you can’t be too chipper when several part-time employees, a full-time one and all of the people who worked at the now-closed Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center were let go because of the pandemic.

“That was probably the hardest thing I had to do,” Bozajian told The Acorn afterward. “Prior to that, we had never laid off an employee. We had let people go for cause, but we had never laid off an employee until COVID. Some of these people have been with us 20 years.”

Positive signs abound, however. Several Calabasas homes lost to the Woolsey fire have been rebuilt. All city employees are back in the office. Expansion is taking place at the city’s Audi dealership (sales tax revenue). Bookings start soon at Cambria Hotel (bed tax revenue). The Pumpkin Festival returns Oct. 17 after the virus scuttled it in 2020, and Calabasas is making it easier for wireless carriers to roll out improved services.

Attended by about 100 people, the event highlighted successes and celebrated some of the residents who make Calabasas unique, including Joanne and John Suwara, longtime volunteers and watchdogs of the community, who were named Citizens of the Year (see story on Page 8).

The mayor presented keys to the city to representatives of public safety agencies that provide vital services on a contract basis—the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s and Fire departments—and he praised city staff for providing outstanding service to residents.

“Our communications department is among the top local-government multimedia groups in the nation, regardless of population,” said the mayor, adding that during COVID-19 the staff had the “significant challenge” of conducting most civic affairs remotely.

“The communications department has created dozens of videos, animations and graphics to help residents navigate the pandemic and to promote local business,” Bozajian said.

For these efforts, the city has received numerous awards for its media operations.

It’s been 30 years since incorporation, and Bozajian has had a front-and-center seat, serving on the City Council for 25 years.

“You wouldn’t believe the changes I’ve seen,” he said. “It’s been quite a journey. . . . I have to say I’m very proud of the city, the way it’s grown up.”

As for the immediate future, Bozajian said, “I just want this whole pandemic thing to be over, get things back to normal.”

Looking back at the early days of the pandemic, the mayor said, “We were thinking it’ll be a couple weeks, a month or two that we’ll be out and everything will be back to normal.

“So much has changed. The whole world has changed.”

Among those on hand was Dennis Washburn, a founder of the city—fighting against Benell—and its first mayor, a post he’s held “a bunch of times”; a 20-year member of the City Council; and now a member of the planning commission. To The Acorn he summed up Calabasas’ first 30 years in a few simple words: “We’ve done good.”