Westlake Village : Bennett Won’t Seek Reelection to Council

Westlake Village City Councilwoman Berniece Bennett, who has held the seat for the past 14 years, has announced she won’t seek reelection in November.

“I have five grandchildren, and I have decided that they need a grandma,” the 63-year-old Bennett said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Councilman Kenneth Rufener reiterated earlier statements that he would not seek reelection in November.

The two, along with council members Kris Carraway and Doug Yarrow, incurred the wrath of many residents after they voted in April to approve a PriceCostco store in the city. At one point there was even talk of a recall, which never materialized.

Both said the controversy had nothing to do with their decisions. Rufener, 75, said his age influenced his decision.

“I made my decision back in February,” said Bennett. “But then, when the challenge of perhaps a recall came up I said to my husband, ‘Well, I guess I’m running again; I’m not going to let anyone run me out, until I leave on my own terms.’ ”

Then, when the recall threat had passed, she said, she decided to stick by her decision not to run for a fourth four-year term.

The departure of Bennett and Rufener creates the possibility that anti-PriceCostco forces could gain a foothold in city government next year. July 17 is the opening period for filing papers for the office, said City Clerk Laura Johnson.

Deadline for filing is Aug. 16. The period was automatically extended for five days, Johnson said, after the two council members indicated they would not run again.

Bennett, who moved to Westlake Village in 1968, became involved in community activism about two weeks later, when she became the secretary of the city’s first-ever homeowners association. She is the only remaining member of the original City Council.

Rufener was first elected to council in 1987. Before that, he had been an officer in a homeowners association for several years.