Beverly Hills, the exquisite city renowned for its celebrity residents and their glamorous life style. For a great majority, sun-shine glitz and glamor encompass what Beverly is all about. And no wonder that almost everyone desires to be among its 90210 zip code residents as it secures quality services by the local government. That said, it must be equally challenging for the local government to maintain its world-famous legacy and address its needs. What are the challenges and rewards that administering Beverly Hills brings along? What does the local government mean to Beverly Hills andvice versa? What have changed or should have changed in the city over the years?
These questions and many more were what the city’s current mayor John Mirisch addressed in his luncheon talk on Feb. 20, 2014, at the Pacifica Institute’s Los Angeles chapter. Mirischhimself is a fourth generation Beverly Hills resident and serving at the city council since 2009. Parenthetically, he has the distinction of being the first Swedish national to ever serve in the council and as mayor in Beverly Hills’s history.
Mirisch started out by highlighting his motives for running mayor in the city he grew up after quite a long time abroad. “When I came back I saw a lot of things were not going in the right direction. As is the case in the US or elsewhere around the world, there were a lot of things related to financial interests but not necessarily concerned about the long-term quality of life,” he noted. His first involvement in local government issues was initially through blogging. Then he ended up making himself heard and encouraging people to get involved too. “Local government does matter because it’s all about home. It’s that simple. I believe most decision making should be delegated to as low level as possible, as close to the ground as possible under the principles of subsidiarity.”
The mayor recalled the city has just turn 100 years old. It is quite young compared to the ones in the East coast or other prominent cities around the world, he admitted. “But over these years we managed to create a quality of life that, for better or worse, has been synonymous with a high standard quality of life,” he added.Mirisch further pointed to the significant role Hollywood played in the city’s prominence.
Speaking of his Sunshine Task Force project intended for more transparency and more public involvement in governmental issues, he said “I believe our residents deserve to know more about their cities. A lot of things are going on. When you get people tuned and used to a truly open government, then best decisions can be made, hopefully, in the long term. As we want to be around for longer than 100 years.” Transparency is a key for good government, Mirisch argued. He told how he got more people involved for the sake of transparency, how he benefit from other city’s experiences. Yet he still faced oppositions from various members. Mirisch listed the council’s initiatives as a part of Sunshine Task Force, including e-mail retention policy which brought the city in line with the state’s code.
The mayor continued with demographics of Beverly Hills, which surprisingly went against the stereotypes. The date he shared revealed Beverly is not all about 90210 where most of the residents own their houses. There are other parts of the city with affordable housings available for rent. And there’s a considerably large population who do their best to afford relatively high rents just to be able to use the high quality services the city offers. “Our fire department has 3-minutes response time. We have a good public schools, better than the surrounding schools. Schools actually play a decisive role in parents’ preference for Beverly.”
“What makes our city special is that we are cosmopolitan with people from many different countries in a homely place. It has ha community feel. Los Angeles area is very big and in Beverly Hills you can have a feel of belonging. It’s a very connected community.” “And as you can see from the demographics we are a very welcoming community. We are welcoming and trying to maintain our quality of life at the same time. It is a unique combination.”
Finally, a Q&A session followed Mirisch’s speech, during which he elaborated on his council’s efforts to achieve more transparency and residents’ security in Beverly Hills. Pacifica Institute wishes Mayor John Mirisch and his team further success in their future endeavors.
