Outspoken Activist Becomes a Bureaucrat : Government: Topanga Canyon woman who fought housing development says she’s ready for low-key role as an aide to Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

Susan Nissman recalls a few, fleeting moments of doubt when she wondered whether she was doing the right thing by taking a job as a field deputy to Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

After years as an outspoken community activist working to prevent development in Topanga Canyon, would she be able to adapt to life as a behind-the-scenes aide to the newly elected Yaroslavsky?

“I got to this point where I asked myself, ‘Why am I going into politics in 1994, of all times?’ ” said Nissman, 45.

To find the answer, she said, she followed her heart.

“It feels like exactly the right thing to do,” said Nissman. “I can’t think there is any other place I could be right now to make a difference.”

Nissman gained notoriety during a long campaign to block Canyon Oaks Estates, a large-scale housing development that was fiercely opposed by residents of Topanga Canyon, a close-knit, semirural community nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy agreed this spring to buy the property, ending the nearly 16-year controversy, although it remains to be seen whether the fiscally strapped public agency will be able to complete the purchase.

Meanwhile, Nissman, whose salary has not yet been determined, says she and Yaroslavsky are working toward a common goal: preserving the Santa Monica Mountains.

Nissman, who applied for the job, said she was used to dealing one-on-one with county government figures because unincorporated Topanga is largely governed by the Board of Supervisors.

And her experience showed, says her new boss.

“I was impressed by her knowledge, her commitment to the area and her temperament. She’s very judicious,” said Yaroslavsky. “I wanted somebody who could work well with people, and who wasn’t just a bureaucrat.”

Her district includes the Santa Monica Mountains, the west San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, Agoura Hills and Malibu.

Nissman, a native Californian, is the mother of a son, 11, and daughter, 14. She is a writer specializing in advertising and public relations. Her husband, Arthur, owns a marketing and communications business.

Will she continue to fight development in her new job?

“I am no longer a community activist,” she said. “I am now a public servant employed by Supervisor Yaroslavsky.”

Will she work to promote the interests of Topanga?

“This job serves a much bigger area than Topanga,” she said. “Whether you live in Calabasas, or Agoura Hills, or Los Angeles city, or Woodland Hills or Topanga, you’re representing Supervisor Yaroslavsky. The boundaries no longer exist. These are 3rd District issues.”