Meet The Candidate: Jan Gerstel

AGOURA HILLS, CA — “Working in the entertainment industry has taught me that the word ‘no’ is not an option,” City Council candidate Jan Gerstel wrote on his website. “When I was told to deliver an elephant to the set the next day at 7am, I had only one question to ask. African or Asian?”

Gerstel, who served as an assistant to Barbra Streisand and other entertainment producers, and currently serves as senior digital video editor for Genesis International TV & Film, said that his training catering to the whims of demanding showbiz types sets him up well for local politics.

Gerstel has also prepared by leading the Morrison Ranch Estates Homeowners Association for the past eight years, which contains 1226 homes. Gerstel says that during his tenure, dues have dropped by 54 percent by auditing expenses, decreased legal bills by 80 percent, and decreased the cost of landscape maintenance by over 50 percent. He also helped lease land to build a communications tower on HOA property, but stopped the construction of an AT&T tower 200 feet away from HOA land that would not serve the community.

Gerstel’s time on the HOA has not been without controversy. A member of the HOA accused Gerstel of depreciating property values by hiring a “subpar” landscaping group, involving the community in needless litigation, refusing to clean out Medea Creek, and subjecting homeowners to a lawsuit by refusing to install artificial turf.

Gerstel responded to Patch that the landscaping has remained of the same quality (and said that Venco Western, the company he hired, does the landscaping for Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, and Carpinteria) but the price has dropped due to auditing the expenses; that the creek was cleaned, with the approval of the Fish and Game Commission; that artificial turf was installed against HOA rules and without its approval, and homeowners ignored a cease and desist letter, but a court ruled that the turf could remain; and that under his leadership legal fees have dropped 80 percent, and not many disputes have arisen.

Much of Gerstel’s platform revolves on improving city infrastructure and traffic. He said that many streets need to be repaved, street signs need maintenance, and weeds are high. On his website, he published photos he took of weeds, cracks in sidewalks, litter in parks, vandalized street signs, and more.

Gerstel also advocates changing all street lights to dimmable LED bulbs run by solar charging batteries, which he said would lower energy costs and keep street lights on during power outages, and installing more efficient timers on city streetlights, which he says are slow.

He calls the proposed development at the corner of Kanan and Agoura roads a “nonstarter,” and says that the location cannot support it safely and that particular location cannot handle any more traffic.

At the same time, he thinks the city needs more industry. “Take a look at Westlake. They’re still a bedroom community and a very nice community and the taxes they collect are humongous because they have Costco, they have Target, and we refused Costco to come in, so it sits on our border, but we don’t get any revenue from taxes,” he said. Gerstel also advocates for a bowling alley and various activities to get teenagers off the street.

Gerstel also thinks that a review of city staff can save money. He is highly critical of the city manager’s office, who he says has too much power, not enough oversight from the Council, and takes up too much money. Gerstel said that an audit of the office is necessary.

He cites a 2012 lawsuit from Frank Gonzalez, a former Agoura Hills landscape superintendent, against the city alleging labor code violations and wrongful termination related to private work he did at former City Manager Greg Ramirez’s home. According to the suit, Gonzalez was asked to work at Ramirez’s home during company hours, but was fired when he charged those hours to the city.

The city settled the lawsuit with a payout of $300,000 and another $100,000 for attorney fees, according to Gerstel, who says Ramirez should have been fired over the affair. He also said that he believes that the city manager should live in town.

He is also critical of the office for allegedly canceling a goat program that acres of fire-causing weeds. Besides the goats, he said the city needs better communication about fire danger, and said he got no alerts during the Woolsey Fire. “They need to be more proactive in keeping the population informed and having a plan - they didn’t have any plan,” he said. “You should have some sort of an evacuation plan to deal with everybody including old folks homes and evacuating kids out of here.”

He also criticized what he felt was lax communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said he’s not aware of what the city has done to help its businesses, and said that he was unaware of ways that the city has crafted legislations to help small businesses open outdoors, receive grant money, and advertise that they’re open.

Aside from allowing goats to graze, Gerstel’s website does not list any plans for managing fires or COVID-19.

“I hate politics,” he said. “I don’t swim in that pool. I tell you honestly what I believe and I’m gonna tell you honestly what I think.”

Learn about other Agoura Hills City Council candidates:

Illece Buckley Weber

Linda Northrup