Candidate filing period opens

The starting gun has fired for Agoura Hills' November city council race. The candidate nomination period opened July 13 and runs through Aug. 7, with a five-day extension to Aug. 12 available if any incumbent chooses not to file, as The Acorn reported. Prospective candidates must make an appointment with the city clerk's office to pick up nomination papers; a minimum of 20 signatures from registered voters is required to qualify for the ballot. The Agoura Hills General Municipal Election is scheduled for November 3, 2026, with three seats on the City Council up for a vote.

An Open Seat—and the Reason Why

For the first time in several election cycles, at least one of Agoura's three contested seats is genuinely open. Mayor Pro Tem Deborah Klein Lopez is not seeking re-election to the council; instead, she is running for the California State Assembly. Klein Lopez, a Democrat, is competing for California's 42nd Assembly District, the seat being vacated by term-limited Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin. Klein Lopez held a commanding lead in the June 2 primary election and will face Republican businessman Ted Nordblum in the November general election. The 42nd Assembly District covers an array of communities in western Los Angeles and eastern Ventura counties, including Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Malibu, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark and a portion of Camarillo.

Klein Lopez's departure leaves a vacancy that The Acorn reports is the only open seat among the three Agoura Hills positions on the November ballot. The other two incumbents—Mayor Jeremy Wolf and Councilmember Chris Anstead—are expected to seek re-election, according to the Acorn.

The First Challenger: Morgan Roth

So far, just one newcomer has publicly declared an intention to run: Morgan Roth, 34, who currently serves as chair of the city's Planning Commission. The Agoura Hills Planning Commission was established in 1986 and is a five-member body that evaluates applications for commercial and residential development and advises the City Council on zoning ordinances and General Plan amendments. Roth was appointed to the commission four years ago by Mayor Wolf and now leads it as chair, according to the Acorn.

Roth's path to local government is rooted in both Agoura Hills and the broader world of technology policy. He attended Yerba Buena Elementary, Lindero Canyon Middle School and Agoura High School before studying at Moorpark College and UC Irvine. He worked on political campaigns and in the congressional district office of U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragán before returning to Agoura Hills in 2022, where he and his wife are raising two children near Forest Cove Park—on the same street where he grew up, the Acorn reported. His current day job is manager of public policy and government relations for Samsara, a tech company that makes fleet and workforce tracking tools.

"This community has given me so much, from its public education to its environmental and local beauty," Roth told the Acorn. He argued that serving on the City Council would give him "a little bit more teeth" in pursuing community goals than his current role on the Planning Commission allows.

Three-Pillar Platform: Safety, Sustainability and Smart Growth

Roth is running on three themes: safety, sustainability and what he calls "smart growth"—a framing he acknowledges carries baggage in a city where development debates have long been contentious. "The g-word in Agoura Hills has historically been kind of a no-no," he told the Acorn, but argued that growth can encompass more than just housing projects. He praised the council's recent examination of underutilized areas for potential mixed-use redevelopment as "the best path forward" for meeting state housing mandates while preserving quality of life.

On the environment, Roth wants to expand open-space protections and push the city to build out infrastructure for car-free transportation. The city's Bicycle Master Plan envisions 11.5 miles of new bikeways and bikeway improvements, with priority projects including a two-mile path along the Medea Creek Channel and a 0.35-mile connection adjacent to Agoura High School. Roth said that now that a bike master plan is in place, the city must focus on securing funding to actually build the infrastructure. "It's incumbent on our city to make sure we have safe spaces where kids can ride," he said.

On public safety, Roth pointed to emergency communications as an area needing improvement, citing confusing evacuation messaging from Los Angeles County during last year's historic fires. He said the city should invest in digital tools to help residents navigate not just emergencies but routine administrative processes. "There are companies that would love to work with our city to help us digitize our infrastructure," he told the Acorn, arguing that better technology would make city government feel more responsive to constituent concerns.

Context: A City Watching the Dais Change

The November race will be the third consecutive Agoura Hills City Council election featuring at least one newcomer challenging the incumbent slate. In November 2024, Kate Anderson—herself a Planning Commission member at the time—won the top spot in a three-candidate race, with incumbent Penny Sylvester finishing second and challenger Artin Sodaify a distant third. That precedent may be instructive for Roth: Anderson, like him, came directly from the Planning Commission and benefited from establishment endorsements.

Current voter registration in Agoura Hills stands at 15,287, according to city clerk figures from October 2025. The city is home to approximately 20,299 residents as of the 2020 Census.

Would-be candidates still have time to act. Interested registered voters can contact City Clerk Kimberly M. Rodrigues at (818) 597-7303 or [email protected] to schedule a nomination appointment before the Aug. 7 deadline. The window could stretch to Aug. 12 if an incumbent does not file, per the Acorn's reporting.

With Klein Lopez's council seat open and two incumbents defending their positions, the race is shaping up as one of the more consequential local contests in recent years—touching live issues of fire preparedness, state housing pressure and the city's long-term character.