Candidate for
Council Member; City of Beverly Hills

Vice Mayor John Mirisch has built an impressive record in his first term on the Beverly Hills City Council which reflects his commitment to putting residents first. John has consistently fought to preserve the unique charm of our City and has demanded that City Hall provide residents with top-flight services. John also has a record of fighting against wasteful City spending.

Some of John Mirisch's accomplishments include:

• As a member of the California League of Cities' Employee Relations Policy Committee, John has fought hard to commence meaningful pension reform in order to reduce future City pension costs. He advocates that City staff salaries and benefits fall be comparable to those in the private sector.

• John was the only Council member to vote against an almost 15%, unnecessary, increase in our water rates over the next two years. Water rates have increased almost 50% over the past few years. John is convinced that the solution to the City's fiscal challenges is not to implement more tax hikes or rate increases at the expense of the residents.

• John has advocated for a reduction in the size of our City's staff without reducing City services.

• John has consistently voted against salary increases for our already well paid City Manager. With other City cut-backs, John believes that our City Manager should set an example by limiting his pay, not increasing it in this challenging economic climate.

• John was successful in reining in the massive development plans for the new Roxbury Park Community Center, would have wasted tens of millions of dollars. The new Center represents a compromise which preserves green space and maintains the Park's character.

• Despite the developer lobbyists who sought to increase the heights and density in our commercial areas, John fought hard to adopt a new General Plan which keeps the current, 3-story, 45 foot height limits in our commercial areas with no additional density. John continues to be committed to keeping our Beverly Hills commercial areas low-rise and built in conformance with our new General Plan.

• John created the vision for the City's new Cultural Heritage Commission. Now, thanks to John's efforts, for the first time ever, our City has a plan for historical preservation of our architectural treasures and to preserve our City's rich history.

• John has also been a tireless advocate and will continue to be an advocate for revitalization of the underserved parts of Beverly Hills, including the Southeast. John chaired the Southeast Task Force, which has made numerous concrete recommendations to help create more vibrant, livable neighborhoods.

• John has been a tireless advocate for increasing the bikeability and walkability of our neighborhoods, with the goal of creating a unique sense of place and community.

• John has introduced numerous measures aimed at increasing transparency and curbing the influence of special interests at City Hill. He will continue to be relentless to ensure that our City government has only one special interest, the interest of our residents.

• John has taken the lead in support of our schools in their fight against Metro's decision to tunnel under our only High School for the benefit of a well-heeled developer. As a graduate of Hawthorne and BHHS and the only candidate with a child currently in our schools, John continues to be passionately committed to ensuring that our school system gives our children the finest education available anywhere.