Publisher’s Notebook

• Malibu 2010 Election: Up and Running •

ANNE SOBLE

Even though many of the candidates for the two open seats on the Malibu City Council in the April election have already put up signs, sent out several mailings, taken part in numerous coffees and faced head-on the ever increasing cost of running for local office, the election season doesn’t kick into full gear for me until all the candidates are together in the same location for the first public forum.
Some of the candidates are placing heavy campaign emphasis on social media, and it will be interesting to see whether this is now a major political battleground for Malibu’s current voter demographics. There’s no denying the electronic reach on the state and national level for the new and under-30 voter, but whether Malibuites make going online a major determinant of their political decision-making process will be one of the aspects of this election that everyone will be watching closely.
One trend that Malibu has clearly adopted in ever growing numbers is voting by absentee ballot. When the absentee process kicks in and ballots start being mailed out next week and returned, there might be a sufficient number of votes cast to determine the outcome. March could be the critical juncture in an election that is decided weeks before the polls actually open.
Malibu is small enough and most Malibuites are not political junkies or policy wonks, so there still is a strong personal component in local elections. The sizable turnout at last Thursday’s forum bodes well for voter interest in the candidates. There are more forum options in the 2010 race, with three scheduled for this week and another two the week after.
Although one occasionally hears a resident describe attending a candidates forum as more painful than root canal surgery, most Malibuites try to get to at least one, and if they don’t make it in person, they watch the videos on the local municipal channel.
There will be 10 names printed on the 2010 ballot, but it appears likely that there only will be eight, or possibly just seven, candidates really hitting the campaign trail, unless those who have not responded to forum invites, filled out questionnaires and done media interviews decide to get involved.
Interesting also is the increased professionalization of local campaigning. Those who ran for the first council after Malibu incorporated must look at the mounds of literature, the signs, the banners, the websites, the consultants and the price tag for the media mix and are grateful they ran when they did.
Whatever the medium, elections at their most visceral level hinge on an affective human connection between voter and candidate that is based on communicating trust, respect and mutuality of interests. Those who do this best usually come out on top.