Candidates Stress Need for Hospital

The candidates for three seats on the Westlake Village City Council in the Nov. 4 election said the most urgent issue the small city faces is establishing an emergency care facility nearby.

With the demise last year of the Westlake Medical Center, formerly owned by Salick Health Care Inc., city residents needing emergency care now must drive to Columbia/HCA Health Care Corp. facilities in Thousand Oaks or West Hills.

Incumbent Kris Carraway-Bowman and first-time candidates Christopher Mann, Mark Rutherford and Iraj Broomand said an emergency care facility or urgent care center should be a priority for the council.

They said the council will have to work either to lure private companies and doctors to the area or convince Columbia, which bought the old Salick medical center facility and closed it, to reopen.

Mann, 21, a business owner and Cal Lutheran psychology and political science student, said the first priority of a government is “the safety and well being of its citizens.”

He chose to run for the council, he said, because he thought it was “not lacking experience, but lacking vigor and energy, new ideas.”

Although this is the first council run for Broomand, 65, the psychologist served one term on the Las Virgenes Unified School District board and has held appointed posts on many committees throughout the region.

In addition to the emergency care situation, he said, the council also would have to work to ensure the safety of its citizens and respond to the needs of its children and the elderly.

Rutherford, 43, a mediator/arbitration attorney, said his primary concern looks beyond the current issues to the city’s future.

He said the council must ensure that the development that will occur in the coming years conforms to the master plan as buildings are replaced or expanded.

Carraway-Bowman, 48, public relations spokeswoman for Columbia Los Robles Hospital in Thousand Oaks, said the city also should solidify plans to build a permanent city hall and library, as well as a community center and space for the Chamber of Commerce offices.

Instead of leasing facilities, she said, a custom building would save money in the long run.

Another hot issue among some city residents is the planned sports complex/park facility on Lindero Canyon Road. Although it was a priority with the current council, the new council would need to approve its final plans, which could be on the agenda as soon as this winter.

Carraway-Bowman, Rutherford and Broomand said they agree with the concept of the park, but said that the details--including lighting and layout--would have to be worked out before they would commit to it.

Mann said he opposes the plan, which he feels has been handled poorly by the current council. He would fight against it, he said, primarily because of dissent among some residents about its location and size.