Politics & Government

David Shapiro Appointed to City Council

Shapiro has served on two commissions and has extensive volunteer experience in Calabasas.

Attorney, Library Commissioner and longtime volunteer David Shapiro was appointed by the Wednesday to replace former Councilman Jonathan Wolfson, who

Shapiro was elected with a 3-1 vote and will be sworn in at the Jan. 25 council meeting. He would serve the remainder of Wolfson's term, which expires in March 2013.

The four remaining council members spent several hours Wednesday evening interviewing 19 applicants seeking the position.

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Mayor Pro Tem Mary Sue Maurer and Councilman Fred Gaines initially had Environmental Commissioner Alicia Weintraub, who finished fifth in last March's council election, as their top pick.

If the appointee was to be selected from a pool of last year's candidates, Mayor James Bozajian said he would have rather appointed Bob Sibilia, who was the first runner up in that race behind winners Gaines and Councilwoman Lucy Martin.

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"It's difficult to conceptualize a recent election and undercutting that," Bozajian said.

After further deliberations, the mayor, Maurer and Gaines formed a majority to appoint Shapiro based on his extensive volunteer experience.

Martin said she would only support Sibilia since he was the first runner up in last March's election and voted not to name Shapiro to the council.

Shapiro moved to Calabasas with his family in 1994 and also set up his practice in the community.

He has volunteered with many organization and said that his "priority is the youth."

He served on the Parks, Recreation & Education Commission and up until his council appointment, served on the Library Commission.

Shapiro was a founding member of the Calabasas Kiwanis and helped boost membership of the Calabasas High Key Club. In addition, he coached local youth sports teams for 11 years and served as a judge on the local Teen Court.

Maurer said she was in awe of Shapiro's commitment to volunteerism and Bozajian said his experience was "probably the broadest" out of all the applicants.

"My goals have always been to help make a difference in the city without regard, without expecation, without any specific political agenda," Shapiro told the council.

He never ran for council before and said his reason for doing so was because of his three children, but now that two of them are grown up, he can more likely do a better job of serving.

Shapiro said he is undecided on whether he would run for re-election once his term expires in March 2013.


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