A La Cañada Flintridge City Council seat is in play this June 2. And that has three candidates, including the seat’s incumbent, vying to represent in the small foothill city of 20,000 people.
The city, like many, is dealing with how to make housing more affordable, along with land-use and planning. But public safety and emergency preparedness, in a small city that neighbors the disaster footprint of the Eaton fire, have become common themes in the race.
Councilmember Kim Bowman, currently the city’s mayor, touts his commitment to public service and his experience as an elder law attorney as laying the groundwork for his work on the council, and reasons for voters to give him the chance to continue his elected leadership.
In his written responses for the Southern California News Group’s Voter Guide, Bowman said bolstering public safety, infrastructure and services were key parts of his platform and top issues in the city.
Keeping the crime rate low and prioritizing disaster preparedness in the city, which neighbors the Eaton fire footprint, are vital, said Bowman, a major in the United States Air Force Reserve and a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
“I represented survivors of the Eaton and Woolsey fires as a legal aid attorney, and as a councilmember, I bring my skills and experience to bear to advocate for smarter disaster preparation policies,” he told the Southern California News Group.
But he’s got challengers, who say voters should give them serious consideration.
Quemars Ahmed, a member of the city’s Sustainability and Resilience Commission, agrees that fire and emergency preparedness are vital topics in the city, but he emphasized city staffing and planning along with fiscal responsibility as other key issues to be addressed.
“All three of these issues are interconnected,” he told the Southern California News Group in the Voter Guide. “The Eaton fire exposed how unprepared the city is for major emergencies. We need to establish and implement procedures so that city government is better prepared to protect residents, advocate for them and communicate with them during emergencies.”
He noted that the city’s government has the smallest staff per capita among similarly situated cities, an issue that can muddle the city’s workflow as the city takes on more duties.
Nerses Aposhian says he wants to strike a balance between preserving what makes the city special with responsible planning for the future. As a planning commissioner, he says he’s brought a “hands-on,” common sense approach to land use, public safety and neighborhood issues. Housing, emergency preparedness and revitalization of the Foothill corridor are key focuses for him.
“At its core, my approach is simple: Protect what makes La Cañada special while planning responsibly for the future,” he told the Southern California News Group.