Eleven candidates are seeking to win a seat on the Beverly Hills City Council. (photo by Aaron Blevins)

Ten of the 11 candidates vying for three Beverly Hills City Council seats participated in a forum hosted by the Southwest Beverly Hills Homeowners Association in the Council Chambers at City Hall on May 3.

During their introductions, the candidates were asked to list their two biggest priorities if elected to the council. Unsurprisingly, public safety was among the candidates’ most important issues.

“The very first thing I want to do is I want to cancel the contracts with private security, and I want to hire more police officers,” real estate professional Akshat “A.B.” Bhatia said.

He said he would also like to see the council work more closely with the Beverly Hills Unified School District, especially regarding its curriculum.

Attorney Darian Bojeaux agreed that private security is not “as effective” as the Beverly Hills Police Department, and she wants to see more foot patrols and substations in the city. She also wants to further support the schools.

“How I differ is that I’m really against overdevelopment,” Bojeaux added. “I’m against raising our wonderful height limits, which have been 45 feet for the commercial area. I’m against reducing parking, and I would like to increase housing by adaptive reuse, guest houses and [accessory dwelling units].”

Councilman Lester Friedman, who is up for re-election alongside Councilmen John Mirisch and Robert Wunderlich, said the city not only needs to hire more BHPD officers, but it must hire the best officers it can.

“Part of it will be making sure that we are competitive in the marketplace for new police officers,” he said. “There is a deficit of officers who are coming into the marketplace, and we need to make sure that we are at the forefront.”

Friedman also lobbied for improving the city’s health services by expanding its nurse practitioner program and hosting a health summit with local health providers to ensure all residents have access to health care.

Small business owner Shiva Gordon Bagheri said she is running to “expose the corruption and drain the swamp in Beverly Hills.” If elected, she would use ordinances to block measures like Prop. 47, which altered the prosecution of some misdemeanors and felonies.

“There [has] to be ways that we can go after these props that are putting us in danger,” Bagheri said.

Wunderlich praised the council’s recent efforts to bolster the BHPD and said he wants to continue that momentum. He also hopes to continue improving the collaboration between the city and the BHUSD.

“I think that’s very important for community generational diversity – to provide additional reason for young families to move here,” Wunderlich added.

Financial services manager Robin Rowe said that hiring additional officers may not be the solution to the city’s crime problems. He referenced a handful of cities that have the same population as Beverly Hills but less crime.

“I’m not suggesting that anything is wrong with our police,” Rowe said. “I’m saying that hiring more people is not the solution – that we need to be more insightful.”

Preparedness community coordinator Vera Markowitz said the quality of policing in Beverly Hills must improve. She said she also hopes to increase the city’s water supply, as it currently has a “half-day reserve.”

“One big fire – you’re going to be turning on your taps and you’re not going to have water,” Markowitz said.

Beverly Hills Public Works Commissioner Sharona Nazarian mentioned public safety as well. She said she wants to bring in more young recruits and use technology to expedite the hiring process.

“I also think that we really need to do a better job of communicating with our community,” Nazarian said. “If we want to be representation for our city, we need to allow space for residents to understand what’s going on and how to communicate with various aspects of our community.”

Andy Licht, chair of the Beverly Hills Planning Commission, said his two biggest priorities would be quality of life and “safety over development.” He wants to hire more police officers without raising taxes or cutting services as well.

“We need sensible, sensible development,” Licht said, adding that he wants to be accessible to residents. He then shared his cell phone number.

Mirisch said he would like to see free preschool for residents of Beverly Hills, and he wants to facilitate more supportive affordable housing projects for seniors so they can “age in place.”

“We’ve all heard about safety, and the first things that I’d advocate – we’re already doing that now,” he said. “We’re literally doing all of the ideas and everything that we’ve heard from everybody else. And we’re doing that more – we’re taking unprecedented measures. There are no silver bullets.”

Business owner Kevin Kugley did not attend the event.

To view the forum, visit beverlyhills.org/elections.