Altadena Town Council Chair Victoria Knapp steps away from role
Victoria Knapp, Altadena Town Council chair and Eaton fire survivor, who emerged as a key public figure throughout the ongoing recovery process, will no longer serve on the Town Council after elections were held last week.
Knapp did not seek reelection and said she decided this would be her last term two years ago.
“At the end of 2024, I was beginning to look for opportunities to return to the workforce, then the fire hit, and, well, best laid plans,” Knapp said in an email. “I know my absence will be a loss but also know there are others who will pick up the mantle. I have a house to rebuild and am again looking for my next work opportunity.”
Knapp was one of four Town Council members whose homes burned down in the Eaton fire. The Town Council serves as an advisory body to Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and has been a key piece of the recovery process since Altadena is not an incorporated city and therefore does not have a municipal government of its own.
It relies on the county government, a key distinction from many of communities impacted by the Palisades fire which are under the jurisdiction of City of Los Angeles.
Altadena Town Council members are seen seated at the front of the auditorium during the first in-person council meeting since the Eaton Fire. Following the disaster, meetings had been held virtually with written public comment. The return to an in-person format welcomed residents, presenters, and council representatives for open discussion and civic engagement in Altadena on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (Photo by Mark Savage, Contributing Photographer)
The Town Council is made up of 16 members — two for each of the eight census tracts. This year, one of the two seats representing each tract were up for election.
Morgan Whirledge won Knapp’s seat with 99 votes. Whirledge moved to Altadena in 2022 and his family lost their home in the Eaton fire. Whirledge is a block captain and is a member of the Eaton Fire Collaborative, according to his candidate statement.
Incumbent councilmembers Kim Yu, Dorothy Wong, Jon Carmody, Pat Sutherlen, Reginald Wilkins and Sylvia Vega retained their seats.
The other newly elected council member came from census tract 4610 where Anton Anderson was elected with 70 votes. Anderson’s family first came to Altadena in the 1950s and all but four of the 20 households his family called home in Altadena burned down in the Eaton fire.
The Town Council will officially certify election results at its Nov. 18 meeting.
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