Eight residents vie for six seats

He has served four years on the council. In a previous interview with the Valley Sun, Thomas looked back on some of the accomplishments during his time as a council member.

“When I came on the council, we didn’t yet have a Montrose [Community Standards District] or a Foothill CSD. … And now that’s on its way to being accomplished. And, we put together a code of conduct. We went 14 years without having a code of conduct, and now we have better meetings because of that,” he said, adding, “I feel satisfied this is a good organization, and we do a lot for the community.”

On his council application, Thomas wrote that he’d like to see the Town Council “set a vision for our community and work toward it.”

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Dennis van Bremen

Alternate Councilmember Dennis van Bremen was born in Amsterdam and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1958. He attended Glendale schools and graduated from Crescenta Valley High School in 1966.

He earned a bachelor of arts degree and teaching credentials in English and art from San Fernando Valley State College, now known as California State University Northridge.

In 1971, he began teaching with Los Angeles Unified School District. He later transferred to Glendale High School, where he taught art and English as a second language.

In 1988, he became a counselor at Glendale High School and in 1992, he transferred to Crescenta Valley High School, where he currently serves as a guidance counselor.

Van Bremen and his wife, Karin have two sons, Christiaan, 30, of Echo Park and Nicholas, 28, of New York City.

On van Bremen’s application for the council, he wrote that the primary goal he’d like to see the council accomplish is to landscape medians on Foothill Boulevard.

“I think we’ve already accomplished a lot, it’s constant,” van Bremen said.

“We complete projects and new ones start. I do a lot of behind the scenes stuff. Wherever they need me to help out, I do it.

“It’s not always specific council stuff, but it’s all about the community,” he said, adding that he enjoys all of his community service, whether it is helping out at Oktoberfest or sitting in the dunk tank at the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Hometown Country Fair.