Newcomers, familiar faces elected to Crescenta Valley Town Council
The La Crescenta-Montrose community over the weekend elected both returning members and a couple of fresh faces to fill six open seats on the Crescenta Valley Town Council.
Mariam Barnes, Jo Ann Stupakis and Daniel Kim received enough votes to win regular council seats, with three-year terms each.
A total of 425 votes were counted during the two-day voting period, when residents could choose up to three candidates. That number almost doubles the 279 votes cast during last year’s Town Council election.
The most votes, 89, went to newcomer Kim, who said he wants to first learn the ongoing plans of the Town Council before diving in, but added he would like to see an immediate push to increase the council’s online presence. Kim is a construction project manager.
“I’m excited to join council and expound on the great things that they’ve done,” Kim said. “I’ll work on increased outreach and more involvement between our council and community.”
Barnes, an entrepreneur, was reelected to Town Council with 76 votes. She said she’ll forgo serving as treasurer —a position she’s held in the past — to invest more time in coordinating the Youth Town Council.
“We have new [Youth Town Council] members each year, and I’m very happy to basically mentor them to be active participants in the community,” Barnes said.
Stupakis, who secured a seat with 65 votes, will make the jump from an alternate to regular council member. She said she’ll continue to work on the Glendale Safe Routes to School Program, safety in the community, in general, and serve on the Prayer Breakfast Committee. She is an employee with the Glendale Unified School District.
“It means a lot to get elected to a three-year term,” she said. “I’m excited to continue serving our community.”
Winning alternate seats were Desiree Rabinov, who received 60 votes, Sarah Todd, who garnered 59 votes, and Charles Beatty, who got 49 votes. Each alternate seat carries a one-year term.
Twitter: @JeffLanda
