CALABASAS : Washburn Assumes Mayoral Duties

Dennis Washburn, who helped lead Calabasas’ drive to cityhood, has replaced Karyn Foley as mayor in part of an annual City Council reorganization.

“Dennis has the best interests of the city at heart,” Foley said. “Dennis is a very sincere individual.”

To commemorate the changeover, officials held a special ceremony at City Hall Wednesday night during the council’s regular meeting.

Washburn, who became the city’s first mayor after it incorporated in 1991, was vice president of the Calabasas Cityhood Committee from 1985-91. He is president and director of the Topanga-Las Virgenes Resource Conservation District, and vice president of Speer, Young & Hollander, an advertising, marketing and public relations firm in Los Angeles.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations-political science from the UC Berkeley, and a master’s degree in marketing-finance from San Diego State University, where he taught business management. He also has worked as a publicist for Walt Disney Studios.

Foley listed among her mayoral accomplishments helping to resolve the controversy surrounding the planned Calabasas Park Centre, a large-scale commercial and retail center.

“This city has seen that if we all work together, we can pull our city together,” she said.

While the position of a small-city mayor is said to be largely ceremonial, she said, it is a position that is often underrated. “A mayor can do a lot. A mayor can be an ambassador of goodwill.”