Two longtime mayors pass the torch




Weber

Weber

. Weber built relationships in Agoura business community

A pro-business, pro-law enforcement voice on the Agoura City Council enters what could be his final year of serving in public office.

Denis Weber, whose seventh term as mayor ended this month with a leadership hand-off to Deborah Klein Lopez, has until July 2022 to decide whether he will seek reelection next November.

The city turns 40 next year, and there’s probably something to be said for winning another election in such a banner year. Weber is the longest-serving

City Council member in Agoura

Hills history, and the representative to whom business leaders turn when important issues are at stake.

His constituents could make it hard for him to leave. Each time throughout his 28 years of service to the city when the elections roll around, supporters encourage

Weber to stay.

“I’ve been a very blessed guy, and you sort of hear a yearning to keep going as a public servant,” he said. “People tell me, ‘don’t leave.’”

DUTY AND SERVICE—Weber displays a piece of American flag art given to him by appreciative local deputies, including the captain of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, Salvador Becerra, far right. Courtesy Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station

DUTY AND SERVICE—Weber displays a piece of American flag art given to him by appreciative local deputies, including the captain of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, Salvador Becerra, far right. Courtesy Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station

Weber’s long and successful run on the City Council sprang from his days as president of a homeowners association.

“Having done that, I got involved in the politics of the city, got on some committees,” he recalled. A lifelong equestrian lover, he would go on rides with folks in

Old Agoura, who encouraged him to expand his public service.

Weber served on several community groups, including Citizens

Against Pole Signs, a 1990s group that fought to take down the rash of large advertising signs that scarred the city’s freeway frontage.

“I never thought I would run for City Council. But the time came and I took out (election) papers. And there you have it.”

Although Old Agoura, his early base of support, hasn’t changed much over the years—except for the addition of the Old Agoura Equestrian Park, which Weber supported following his first election—other parts of the city have seen major growth. When Weber was elected, there was one hotel in town: a Sheraton. Now there are five hotels.

“Didn’t have a bed tax back then,” he said. Today the tax is a beneficial source of funding for city programs and services.

Nor was there “defund the police,” a mindset Weber abhors.

“I love the cops/sheriff deputies and admire and respect them,” said the former mayor, who received a special honor from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station this month when he stepped down. “This award means the world to me,” he said.

Restaurant run-in

Weber’s pro-business leanings are no secret, either. When the owner of Cronies Sports Grill decided to buck the county’s COVID-19 shutdown mandate last year, Weber came down on the side of the restaurant owners.

“I was opposed to the shutdown of restaurants, period,” he said. “I had approached the (Los Angeles County) Board of Supervisors asking them to reconsider. That didn’t happen. I feel very bad for all of the restraints.”

“Anyone who will stand up to big government, I support you,” he said. “You can’t always kowtow to the government.”

Core beliefs like that aren’t shared by all members of the council, but that’s okay with Weber, who says, “You have no business being in politics if you can’t handle it. I’ve never been one to go along to get along. And I don’t intend to.”

His support for business growth in the community dates to his very first run for office.

“They supply funds for roads, parks, and, of course, most importantly the police,” Weber said. “Without a viable business community, we’ll become stagnant and unable to provide the services the residents want and expect.”

At home in Agoura

Weber and wife Laurie moved to the area from Van Nuys in 1987.

“Being in The Valley, we wanted to create new memories in a place neither of us knew,” Weber said. “Back in the ’80s, the freeway looked like a truck stop.” But once off the freeway, and seeing what the city, which was incorporated in 1982, had to offer its residents, they were hooked.

“Thirty-six years and we’re still here,” Weber said.

His family has grown to include three adult daughters and a son, and one 11-year-old granddaughter.

Weber, who grew up in rural Arizona and came from a home founded in patriotism and faith, said it’s the words of conservative Jewish radio host Dennis Prager that he has often turned to when discharging his duties as a member of city government.

During a call to Prager’s radio show in 1993, Weber told the host he would be lighting a menorah in his honor.

Prager replied, “You can honor me more by every time you vote in a city council meeting, to vote as though you were not running for reelection.”

“That was pretty powerful stuff,” Weber said. “I’ve tried to do that the last 28 years.”

Weber’s is one of three seats up for grabs in next year’s election, and whether the horse he rode in on nearly three decades ago leads him to another term in office, or carries him off into the sunset, “I want to be remembered as the guy who smiled, not snarled,” he said.

Longtime friend Moshe Bryski, rabbi of the Chabad of the Conejo, calls Weber “a true public servant, an American patriot who loves his country, a man with a deep faith in God, a most caring friend, and a devoted husband and dad.

“Agoura Hills has been so fortunate and blessed to have him as our mayor for seven terms and a leader of our community for close to three decades,” Bryski said.

John Loesing contributed to this story.

Bozajian an ‘ambassador’ for City of Calabasas

Mary Sue Maurer was sworn in last week as the new mayor of Calabasas—her fourth term as leader of the city—with James Bozajian stepping aside following his sixth term as mayor.

The annual government reorganization for the city of 23,200 took place Dec. 8 at a hybrid City Council meeting followed by a live reception in Founders Hall. All five council members were in the chambers along with members of the public and dignitaries. Many more watched the ceremony via Zoom.

The Calabasasa hand-off of duties began with tributes to Bozajian, the outgoing mayor who has contributed more than two decades of service to the city.

State Sen. Henry Stern summed up Bozajian’s recent term as “about as tough a year as I can recall in public service” considering the pandemic and other crises.

Representatives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department included Capt. Chuck Becerra from the Malibu-Lost Hills Station along with Dep. Brian Knott, who Bozajian said once detained him because of a campaign sign. The deputy thought Bozajian was stealing it; Bozajian had to show ID to prove it was his own sign that he was removing.

Bozajian, a popular member of city government known for his ability to bring opposing factions together, has served on the City Council longer than any person in Calabasas history: 25 years.

Councilmember Alicia Weintraub praised Bozajian for transitioning Calabasas back toward “normal” after a couple of years that were anything but.

“I don’t think I could have made it this far without you,” said first-term Councilmember Peter Kraut.

Before taking over as mayor, Maurer called Bozajian “an ambassador for our city.”

Bozajian said the last two years were tough, not only because Calabasas has gone through four city managers, but also because of the pandemic. He said hopes the New Year brings an end to the pandemic and a return to more normal operations in the city.

Weintraub nominated Maurer for mayor, and the motion carried unanimously.

Maurer’s son Derek administered the oath, calling out “Love you” as his mom returned to the dais.

Maurer said she’s humbled and somewhat daunted by the year ahead, but comforted in the fact that the council works so well together.

She highlighted two goals: greenhouse gas reduction and getting more residents involved in decision-making.

Maurer also called out a dark side of human behavior during the pandemic, saying the way some city staffers have been treated “has been intolerable and won’t be tolerated.”

The district director for the California Conservation Corps, Maurer was elected to the Calabasas City Council in 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2018, and served three previous terms as mayor.

She calls public safety and emergency preparedness priorities and has sponsored “senior, environmental, educational and public safety legislation and programs while maintaining a balanced budget with reserves,” according to her LinkedIn profile.

Her latest swearing-in came the same night the council approved bringing back onetime interim city manager Don Penman to serve as interim community development director effective Jan. 3 while the search moves forward for a person to permanently succeed Maureen Tamuri, who is retiring.

The contract calls for pay of $105 per hour and has a June 30, 2022 end date, although Calabasas Communications Director Michael Russo says a replacement will likely be chosen sooner.