Washburn Recaptures Calabasas Council Seat

Dennis Washburn won reelection to the Calabasas City Council on Tuesday, while Daniel S. Glaser and Janice Lee were locked in a tight race for the second open seat.

Washburn, 56, was Calabasas’ first mayor and has been a council member since 1991. Recently, he began a campaign to collect signatures to stop the Ahmanson Ranch housing project, which he will forward to Rep. Brad Sherman (D--Sherman Oaks).

Washburn also said he would oppose construction of a private elementary and high school on Topanga Canyon Road if it requires widening two-lane Mulholland Highway or removing oak trees.

Glaser, 30, is an attorney and chairman of the city’s Park and Recreation Commission. During the campaign, he called for expanding the city’s recreational programming and keeping the crime rate low. He is also on a board overseeing construction of the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center, expected to be completed in the summer.

Glaser said he was open to a new car dealership on Calabasas Road, which he said would be a good city revenue source. He also said there is a need for another middle school in the city and the “controversy is where we’re going to put it.”

Lee, 48, has been mainly known as an environmental advocate. But she is also a businesswoman who owns a dove rental service called Birds on High.

During the campaign, Lee said land use would be the hot issue--and her issue. She said she also wants to ensure that individual projects match architecturally “so it doesn’t look like a mishmash of styles.”

She has been a longtime opponent of the Ahmanson Ranch Project, a proposed development of more than 3,000 homes on the city’s northern border that she said would dramatically increase traffic in the area.

She also played a role in reducing the size of the project, which will house a new city hall and library.

During the campaign, Lee said she also supported the Mulholland Highway Beautification Plan and strengthening safety and monitoring guidelines for the city’s landfill.

Also in the race was Helene Regen, who had been active in city affairs since Calabasas incorporated in 1991. Regen, chairwoman of the city’s tree agency, helped write the city’s ordinance protecting oak trees. During the campaign, she said she wanted to extend the protections to sycamore trees.

Regen, 58, also called for expanding the city’s transportation services to better serve the city’s elderly and its young adults.