Six Take Out Papers at Start of Malibu City Council Nominating Period

• Familiar Names on the City Public Policy Scene Dominate the List of Possible Candidates

BY BILL KOENEKER

The nomination period for Malibu City Council candidates in the April 8 election, when three council seats will be up for grabs, started on Monday and runs through Jan. 11.

Taking out nominating papers this week were John Sibert, Kathy Wisnicki, Wade Major, Ed Gillespie and Ryan Embree. Jefferson Wagner said he would take out papers later this week. All of the council hopefuls said they were not running on a slate.

On Tuesday, in a somewhat surprising move, Kathy Wisnicki, who is on the school board of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and would have to give up that seat if elected to the council, announced her candidacy.

In a prepared statement, Wisnicki said she decided to run for the council since she would be up for reelection on the school board in the fall of 2008.

In her press release, Wisnicki said traffic, public safety, protecting the environment and education would be her top issues.

“[They] are the issues that concern Malibu residents every day, [and] are regional issues, Malibu’s leaders must work collaboratively with elected officials from the municipalities surrounding us to come up with creative and effective solutions,” she said.

Wisnicki claimed she would be the only parent of public school children on the city council, “bringing an important perspective to the council’s deliberations.” However, hours later Wisnicki retracted that statement, acknowledging that Councilmember Andy Stern’s son goes to Malibu High School. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich’s children are in private school.

On Monday, Ed Gillespie, who is the current president of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce and made a previous run for city council, took out papers.

Gillespie’s run is no surprise, since he had previously made it clear he would seek office again.

He had announced last year and at several other times he would run in 2008 and had vowed he would not use his one-year term as president of the chamber to campaign. “I’m thrilled to be running again,” he said. A relatively recent resident of Malibu, Gillespie is a yacht broker, interested in the arts and said he has been watching the city council at its meetings for the last two years.

Additionally, John Sibert, who is currently on the planning commission, pulled papers.

Sibert has been on the planning commission since 2002.

Sibert said one of his top priorities is ocean water quality. “There are some things we need to do,” he said,” adding the city must not contribute to the pollution of Santa Monica Bay.

A chemist by training, Sibert said he is one of the co-founders of Save Our Coast started in the 1980s, and over the years did work in environmental chemistry.

“It is not only the environment that is one of my concerns, but we need to work with all of the jurisdictions along Pacific Coast Highway. We need to find out what Caltrans is doing before they do it,” he said.

His other focus, according to Sibert, is dealing with the powerful state agencies that have a direct impact on Malibu. “My six years on the planning commission have given me a perspective,” he added.

Sibert said he got the commissioners to insist there be no camping unless a need was shown for a controversial park and trails plan sought by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

“I see no reason for 24 campsites, unless the state agencies can show it,” he said.

When asked about his role in the controversial issue surrounding Measure M, a development agreement turned down by the voters several years ago, Sibert said he took no formal position. He was not at the meeting when the commission considered the matter and did not publicly take a position on the issue.

Another potential candidate, Jefferson Wagner, announced on Tuesday he would be taking out papers later in the week.

Wagner, who is known professionally as Zuma Jay, unsuccessfully ran in the very first city council race.

A longtime activist, he has headed the Latigo Canyon Preservation Association, is a 35-year resident of Malibu, owns a surf shop in town and works as a special effects technician in the entertainment industry.

Wagner said he thought it was time for a “fresh face” on the council and said he would not shy away from trying to prevent overdevelopment within the law. “Not stop development, but prevent overdevelopment,” he emphasized.

Ryan Embree also took out papers. He ran two years ago and said a controversial decision on his candidate’s statement hurt his campaign. “It put me at a disadvantage,” he said, adding he wants to run again because he thinks he can win and to try to wrest the council away from Councilmember Sharon Barovsky, who he said has controlled the city for the last six years.

Embree eschews the term policy wonk saying it can be a pejorative, but he has been observed on a number of occasions telling the council about the fine print of some policy or another after a careful and complete reading of the documents.

Embree, who was on the city’s public safety commission for six years, said he was also moved to seek a seat on the council because of the most recent decision by the council on an attempt to ban overnight camping.

“They did a flip-flop on an issue about burning down the town,” he said.

Wade Major is a film critic who is best known in local political circles for some of the controversy he has generated during city council campaigns. When asked if his tactics are acrimonious, with a take-no-prisoners approach, Major doesn’t deny that, then says he hopes his campaign can heal those scars.

“Anybody who knows me, knows I have been at ground zero for Malibu’s darkest episodes,” said Major, who added that it is time to break from the past.

Major was successfully sued by activist and philanthropist Ozzie Silna during a strident city campaign four years ago when First Amendment rights were fought in a courtroom. Major declined to comment on the litigation and questions to his attorney.

Mayor Jeff Jennings and Councilmember Ken Kearsley are termed out and their seats are available. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich’s term is up, but she has not yet said whether she will seek a second term. Last week Conley Ulich said she would make an announcement in January.

Nominating petitions must be signed by no less than 20 registered voters in the City of Malibu and no more than 30, according to a city official. After the closing date, there is a verification of signatures by the City Clerk for the nominees to qualify for the ballot.

The filing period for write-in candidates is from Feb. 11 to March 25. Voters may request absentee ballots from March 10 to April 1. The last day to register to vote is March 24.