Much in Common

The tale of two neighboring cities in the west San Fernando Valley won’t change much, if the newly elected leaders have their way.

The mayors of Agoura Hills and Westlake Village, who both took office this month, share similar visions for their respective cities: Keep them prestigious.

Mark Rutherford, the Westlake Village mayor, said his goal is to “keep Westlake Village Westlake Village.”

“Let’s be honest,” said Rutherford, 46, an attorney who has served on the City Council for three years. “This is a very fiscally sound city. It’s beautiful, green, with well-maintained homes and low crime. My goal is to keep [it that way.]”

In Agoura Hills, Ed Corridori, 57, who runs a printing service, has a slightly different goal. He plans to work to beautify the city, known for its rustic nature and open space, and ensure that building is of the highest quality possible, he said.

“I’d like to keep the rural feel, which is a very important part of the character of our city,” he said. “You’ll notice that even the roofs of the existing development are different from your traditional high-tech buildings.”

Agoura Hills is roughly eight square miles and houses nearly 22,000 people. Westlake Village, a little more than five square miles, has 8,500 residents. Each has a median income more than double that of the state’s: $84,188 in Agoura Hills and $110,000 in Westlake Village.

Agoura Hills has an annual operating budget of $8.44 million, compared with $5.27 million in Westlake Village. The cities share a school system, water district, recreation programs and law enforcement.

Both spend about a third of their budget on public safety and, in light of a recent increase of residential burglaries in the area, will likely redistribute funds to increase police presence.

And both are building new city halls, likely to be completed by the end of next year. Agoura Hills’ 34,000-square-foot structure is expected to cost nearly $9 million.

Although considerably smaller at 25,000 square feet, Westlake Village’s civic center, which will include fountains and glass walls, will also cost nearly $9 million.

“This is going to be a defining structure in the city, artistically and structurally,” Rutherford said of the city’s largest single investment. “The intent is that this building will be standing, and just as nice, 50 years from now.

“We’re going to keep tight control of the project to ensure there aren’t any added expenses, though,” he added.

*

The two cities share many more similarities: Westlake incorporated in 1981, Agoura Hills in 1982. Mayors for each are selected from within five-member city councils.

Although the mayors agreed their communities have more in common than not, Agoura Hills’ Corridori insists his city has an unfair share of infrastructure woes.

“They don’t have the issues we have,” Corridori said of Westlake Village. “We’ve got four interchanges that everyone from Ventura County to Santa Clarita uses to get to the beaches and such. Westlake Village was very well-planned and well laid out. Agoura Hills was created largely to stop the very poor planning, or lack of planning, we suffered under L.A. County. We’re trying to fix those problems.”

One such major issue Corridori will address in the upcoming year is the $21-million Ventura Freeway interchange project at Kanan Road, an intersection that operates at a “D to F service level--a virtual traffic jam at 1,600 cars per hour, compared to an A level of 300 to 800 an hour,” Agoura Hills City Engineer Jim Thorsen said.

*

Corridori said he hopes to find a way to subsidize his city’s portion of the construction bill.

“The city’s obliged to pay for half of that $21 million,” he said. “For a city of our size to have to put up that much money--like $500 for every man, woman and child--for what really is a regional issue doesn’t seem reasonable. It’s an unusual burden, and it doesn’t seem fair.”