Member of Malibu's First City Council Planning to Run in the April 10 Race

• Seeks Second Term to Tackle Some 'Unfinished Business'

BY ANNE SOBLE

Bill Clinton was the "Comeback Kid" in national politics; Jerry Brown played the part in state politics; and Missy Zeitsoff hopes to earn the title on the Malibu political scene if she is a successful candidate for Malibu City Council in the April 10 election.

Zeitsoff told the Malibu Surfside News this week that she plans to pull nomination papers at city hall on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Zeitsoff, 65, served a two-year term on Malibu's first city council, whose members were elected at the same time local voters overwhelmingly decided to incorporate in 1980.

At that time, the length of a council member's term was determined by electoral vote count, and a different procedure was in place for rotating the post of mayor. This meant that Zeitsoff, who was unsuccessful in her bid for a second term in the next election, never served as mayor.

However, Zeitsoff says that's not the most important unfinished business she wants to be able to address.

The longtime resident, who raised her children in Malibu, left the community for several years and resided up the coast. Now that she has moved back, she says she is ready to jump headfirst into the local political fray that she has always relished.

"I am very displeased about the massive overdevelopment, the Malibu lagoon project, the plan for residential sewers in the civic center area, the fragile city budget, and the view protection planning."

In addition, Zeitsoff says the need to "improve safety on Pacific Coast Highway and address deferred city road maintenance are at a critical stage."

Another concern that she believes should be on the front burner is "the lack of review of utilities" in terms of daily and emergency needs.

Zeitsoff adds, "Our kids need a skate park, and more playing fields. Real activities for the teens are needed, and I don't mean more 'Casino Nights.'"

Generally speaking, the prospective candidate sees "the community as very detached, and the council members, excluding Pamela Conley Ulich, though respectful [of the public] at meetings, appear to leave real governing to the staff."

In addition to being able to wield the mayoral gavel, Zeitsoff would like to see "a majority of women on the council for the first time."

As for what she could bring new to the council, she says, "Classes at Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, starting Jan. 9, will be an asset for my style of community and agency interaction. I will be taking Negotiation—Theory and Practice, and Mediation—Theory and Practice. It seems like a good fit."

Zeitsoff stresses that "running will be an adventure—win or lose. If I win, I have the freedom to be proactive, and to shake things up. I think I can make a real difference."