For the first time in its six-year history, the City of Westlake has an all-resident council, following a series of swearings-in at the Monday, March 14 meeting of the Westlake City Council.
Greg Langowski, 43, a resident of Goldfinch Circle, was sworn in as the Seat 4 councilman, replacing Councilwoman Katrina Long-Robinson. Julian Martinez, 33, who lives on Bottlebrush Drive, was sworn-in to Seat 2, replacing Councilwoman Kara Crump. Finally, Seat 3 Councilman JohnPaul O’Connor, previously the vice mayor, vacated his seat to replace Roger Manning as mayor.
Crump, Long-Robinson and Manning had been in their seats since near the city’s inception. None sought re-election since Westlake residency is now required. Langowski, Martinez and O’Connor ran unopposed.
Also on the dais is Councilwoman Pillar Valle Ron, a Whippoorwill Circle resident, who was appointed in December to fill Seat 1, left vacant by the resignation of former Councilman Patric Paul in November.
Reflecting on her six years on the council, Crump, who actually lived on the land that was to become Westlake, remembered that she was in her mid-20s with no experience in government.
“I thought, wow, I’d have a hand in starting a city,” she recalled. “This is an opportunity I can’t pass up… And it has quickly turned into this beautiful, innovative community that is growing more and more each day.”
Crump sees great things ahead for the community.
“Today is bittersweet, because my time here has come to an end,” she said. “But as this chapter closes for the interim council, Westlake will have a full resident council on the dais, as it should be.”
The final seat will be filled May 9 when the council appoints a resident to fill O’Connor’s former Seat 3 post.
Applications will be taken through April 5. The council will conduct a workshop to review applications on April 19.
Contact City Clerk Zoie Burgess at zburgess@westlakegov.com for more information.
