Calabasas

For the second consecutive year, the Calabasas City Council has refused to elect Councilwoman Lesley Devine as mayor during its annual reorganization, held last week.

It elected instead Bob Hill, an investment banker, who was named to his second term as mayor.

Under a rotation system agreed upon by the council, Devine would have been elected mayor pro tem in 1994, and mayor in 1995. Each time the council ignored the rotation system and elected somebody else.

Devine has downplayed the council’s refusal to elect her, saying it doesn’t matter because the position is largely ceremonial. But when pressed, she said she believes she was passed over because she is an environmentalist on a council dominated by business and real estate interests.

“I believe that I’m still too environmentally orientated for this city,” she said.

Devine is an environmental consultant; council members Karyn Foley and Marvin Lopata are in the real estate business, and former Mayor Dennis Washburn works in marketing and advertising.

Council members say they bypassed her because they do not believe she would make a good mayor. They claim that Devine is often late for meetings or leaves early, walks off the dais during discussions on important issues and abstains from key votes.

Devine’s claim that it boils down to environmentalists versus real estate and business interests is “nonsense,” said Foley.

All five council members, Foley said, were endorsed when they sought office by the Sierra Club and the California League of Conservation Voters.