Updated March 5: Beverly Hills Cookies owner Barry Axelrod has also qualified to run for City Council, according to the Beverly Hills City Clerk’s office.

As the March 6 filing deadline for the June 2 Beverly Hills City Council election approaches, the field of candidates is becoming clearer. According to the city clerk’s office, 12 people have pulled nomination papers as of March 4, and four people have officially qualified to run – Mayor Sharona Nazarian and Councilman Lester Friedman, Cultural Heritage Commissioner Andy Licht and Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education member Russell Stuart. While Councilman John Mirisch attempted to run for a fifth term, a term limit ordinance was upheld by a judge, preventing him from running. Additionally, Architectural and Design Review Commission Chair Rebecca Pynoos has announced her candidacy.

“I’m running because Beverly Hills needs new leadership that is strong, responsive and protects what residents love about our city and confronts the challenges we face,” Pynoos said in a statement. “For too long, City Hall has failed to plan proactively – or meaningfully engage residents – resulting in outcomes like 16 builder’s remedy projects and missed opportunities to thoughtfully revitalize and enhance areas around the Metro and other key commercial corridors. This is also personal for me. As a third-generation Beverly Hills resident, who grew up in the Flats, calls the southwest her home and whose family has been involved in this community since the 1950s, I’ve seen what Beverly Hills once was and what it can be again if we get it right. After more than a decade serving on city commissions with education in policy and planning, I’m energized and enthusiastic to listen, work hard and prioritize transparency, serious planning and public safety. I am committed to building a community that our city deserves – and I’m thrilled to be running to represent our residents. The Beverly Hills I envision is not a brand, or a platform or a cause, but a place we all still want to call home.”

Although Stuart has submitted nomination papers and qualified to run according to the city clerk, he has not publicly announced his candidacy and did not respond to several requests for comment. Stuart is a current member of the BHUSD school board, which has been mired in controversy in recent months over several allegations including retaliatory actions and unlawfully breaking its own bylaws.

Stuart ran for City Council in 2024 and received the fifth most votes in a field of 10 candidates. That election was won by Craig Corman and Mary Wells, a then-school board member who left the board early to assume the position on the City Council. Following Stuart’s unsuccessful run in the City Council election, he ran for a position on the school board, successfully receiving the third most votes in a four-person race for three seats.

Stuart’s apparent intention to run in the upcoming City Council race appears at odds with statements he made in a 2024 Beverly Press interview about the school board race. Stuart said he would not run for City Council in 2026.

“I do not see this as a stepping stone,” Stuart said while running for school board in 2024. “I know that Mary Wells did not finish out her term and a lot of people have already said to me, ‘if I support you, are you going to run for council in two years and jump even earlier than Mary Wells?’ No. No. Absolutely not. I have no interest in lying … I have no interest in telling people that I am going to jump ship instantly.”