Calabasas Mayor Maurer Will Not Run For Re-Election

CALABASAS, CA — After 17 years in local government, Calabasas Mayor Mary Sue Maurer announced Friday she will not run for re-election come November, citing shifting priorities and a desire to focus on her family.

In her remaining months as mayor, Maurer intends to see through two key priorities of her tenure: environmental issues and advocating for residents with disabilities. She told Patch she hopes her legacy is reflected in empowered female leaders and a green city.

Maurer decided to step back primarily to focus on her family, but she still feels a significant draw to help her community succeed in the face of a complicated national political landscape. Maurer doesn't know what her next step will be, but she is determined to find impactful work.

"I feel like I have one last significant contribution to make and I want it to be impactful," Maurer said. "If you looked back at my whole career,… I have had amazing opportunities throughout my career to not only serve people but have creative input in the arts, mentor young children,... advocate on behalf of women’s issues and work on legislative issues, so I have no doubt that something as compelling will come my way."

In her last months in office, Maurer will focus on the city's new Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, which will help reduce local greenhouse emissions and mitigate the local effects of global warming. The city on Wednesday moved forward the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan at a council study session.

Maurer has served on the board of the Clean Power Alliance and worked to convert the city to 100 percent renewable power. She is also a member of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory Board and has worked on policy to ban certain plastic materials in Calabasas.

"I will continue to address your issues of concern and protect the reputation Calabasas has earned as a beautiful, friendly and safe community in which to live and work. I have hope that together we can leave our corner of the world a better place for our children to raise their families," Maurer wrote in Friday's letter to the community.

Maurer's been working toward a version of Calabasas that is sustainable and bursting with thriving greenery, she said. However, she wishes she had seen more urgency from local officials and residents in responding to the climate crisis, she said.

Years down the line, she hopes future councils will take conservation seriously and continue working to make Calabasas a model for the rest of the world. Her dream is a city transformed into a green sanctuary with pockets of forest, thriving native plants and preserved open space.

"That [would] tell me that the residents fully understand what's at stake and what they did to set an example for the world," Maurer said. "It's a pretty ambitious vision, but my hope is that."

Maurer also hopes to see more women take leadership roles in the city. Women often lead with empathy and understanding, brining a unique perspective vital to the city's success, Maurer said.

"I never imagined myself running for office and staying as long as I did. ... My hope is that other women with young children [and] careers can also carve out the time to serve their public because my contributions as a woman are very different," Maurer said. "How I deliberate is different, how we discuss things in closed session is different, and that perspective from a woman ... is critical to government. I hope that there will be other women lined up behind me ready to step forward."

As a former special needs high school teacher, Maurer would also like to see the Special Olympics become a greater force in the city again with more frequent programming and partnerships.

Maurer said she is stepping out of her role with a sense gratitude for the community that elected her.

"I originally moved to the Calabasas community because of the school district and I never realized that a community could have so much personal value," she said. "To be entrusted to make decisions year after year, election after election, meant a lot to me."

The period to file a nomination petition to run for City Council was extended to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.