CITY FATHER GOES 'ABOVE, BEYOND' HILL HONORED FOR HELPING LEAD CALABASAS TO CITYHOOD.

Byline: Mark Kellam Valley News Writer

He led not one, but two campaigns to make Calabasas its own city. He and a group of residents finally succeeded in their cityhood bid in 1991 - when Calabasas became the last community in Los Angeles County to incorporate.

For those and other efforts, Bob Hill recently received the 2006 Bill Van Gieson Memorial Award, an annual honor given by the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce to a resident who has gone ``above and beyond'' to help the community.

Hill moved to Calabasas in 1971 and got active in the community in the early 1980s. In 1985, he became president of the cityhood formation committee. The first incorporation request in 1989 was denied by LAFCO, the organization that rules on such petitions. The group tried again in 1991 and the request was approved.

During the year and a half between the two petitions, some large companies moved into Calabasas and built up business tax revenues, Hill said. Also, LAFCO approved a lower budget for police and fire services in the second proposal.

Hill said he's proud that his was the last group in 15 years to put together a plan that demonstrated a community's financial viability to stand on its own as a city in Los Angeles County.

After incorporation, Hill was on the Calabasas City Council for eight years, serving as mayor twice - in 1992 and 1996.

Incorporation allowed Calabasas to take control of its development and financial future. It also gave Calabasas residents closer access to their local elected officials, so they could more easily and directly express their opinions and concerns.

Hill said autonomy let Calabasas create an atmosphere that's conducive to economic development. ``There's no business tax out here,'' he said. ``That's encouraged businesses to come be part of the city.''

Local control also lets Calabasas make sure the city takes care of the environment with such measures as an oak tree protection ordinance, water quality regulations and lighting restrictions that particularly target neon lights.

``We have a reverence for the land we sit on here,'' he said.

Hill is currently president of the city's library commission. Calabasas removed its library from the county system 10 years ago. ``We were dumping $750,000 a year into the county system and getting back $540,000. The more affluent communities always subsidize the less-wealthy ones,'' Hill said.

Now the city's library is independent. ``This has worked out great,'' he said, adding that construction will begin soon on a new library. It will be part of a large civic center that will include a new city hall and auditorium. The civic center will be constructed on Park Sorrento, west of The Commons shopping center.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Bob Hill stands outside the Calabasas Tennis and Swim Club, one of the first acquisitions Calabasas made after it became a city.