Malibu City Council Candidate Responses Affirm Lack of Major Differences

• Answers Reflect Strong Sense of Self-Confidence and Eagerness to Govern

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu Surfside News asked the candidates to respond to a questionnaire that queried city council candidates on nearly two dozen issues.
What may be most remarkable about the council hopefuls’ answers is that they agree on many of the issues.
Everybody is against overnight camping. It was listed as one of the top ten municipal issues when candidates were asked to rank such topics.
Planning issues, the environment, emergency preparedness, view protection and traffic all ranked among the top five of a top-10 list.
Candidates also agreed on the need for a Civic Center Specific Plan, opposed new taxes, wanted to study whether to withdraw from the library system and shop locally.
Candidates were also asked to use the six adjectives that best describe them.
John Sibert said, “Experienced, knowledgeable, rational, visionary, dedicated and mediator.”
Pamela Conley Ulich wrote, “Innovative, independent, intelligent, effective, caring, and courageous.”
Kathy Wisnicki put, “Intelligent, thoughtful, good listener, big picture thinker, excellent reasoning skills and experience.”
Susan Tellem used, “Smart, funny, passionate, dedicated, conscientious, and persuasive.”
Jefferson Wagner wrote, “Pragmatic, Calvinistic, succinct, effervescent, optimistic and to remember my father; a humanist.”
The council hopefuls were also asked to describe in past tense how they would like to be remembered after having served on the Malibu City Council.
Wagner wrote, “He tried to instill a lifestyle that reflected a past forgotten Malibu—a Malibu where the new walls and fences were not as high as the egos that built them. He tried to remind people that Malibu was once an island community, not a town of individual fortresses. A town where a person’s word meant more than their apparent wealth.”
Wisnicki wrote, “As someone who made a positive difference for the next generation and who was responsive to the needs of the residents.”
Tellem replied, “Tellem did exactly what she promised to do. She brought humor and intelligence to the council and returned Malibu to the citizens it serves. She was a woman of her word and a strong negotiator and consensus builder when it came to the city council and other agencies. She brought Malibu closer together as a community. She saved lives.”
Conley Ulich responded, “It has been said that it is not the dates on your tombstone that matter, but the dash in between the dates. I hope my dash represents me as a person who was respectful of others and willing to listen. I hope to be remembered as the leader who was capable of understanding our laws and balancing the interests of the public, whose focus was on what unites us, not what divides us. I hope I will be remembered as a forceful and effective advocate who helped inspire others to make Malibu, and the world, a bit better. Most importantly, I hope I am remembered as a loving wife and mother.”
Sibert replied, “As a person who made a difference in preserving Malibu’s unique character, while acting within the rule of law.”
Some council hopefuls had their own “pet” projects or issues they also listed on the top ten. Conley Ulich said she ranked art as one of the those issues, saying she supported the arts and as a result during her term the community now has murals at Bluffs Park and Civic Center, a summer outdoor movie program and a musical festival.
Tellem, who owns a PR firm, not surprisingly named public relations in her top ten. She said the city’s PR is in need of shoring up, citing how the community has an image of being inhabited by rich celebrities in the coastal town who are NIMBYs. She said that differs from 95 percent of the folks here in the city that are retired, on fixed incomes, or may live in mobile homes.
Wagner cited bond responsibilities for open space acqusition as a top priority.
However, differences did emerge when candidates were asked to assess the performance of the current city council and planning commission.
Sibert, who is on the planning commission, gave it high marks, saying as a whole the panelists do not promote a pro or anti-development agenda. He said the council earned a B-plus in his book and had achieved a number of positive accomplishments while putting the city on sound financial footing.
Conley Ulich agreed, indicating she thought the commission has done a good job, but she was disappointed they did not vet more of the issues relating to the La Paz shopping center hearing.
She also believed the city council had accomplished a great deal and cited such things as the acquisition of Bluffs Park and Legacy Park. She said the one challenge she saw facing the council is how to be civil and respectful of people who are often critical of the council.
Tellem disagreed, saying the council is not in touch with the residents and works in a “lockstep fashion, though Conley Ulich is the exception.”
Tellem was as critical of the planning commission, saying it has lost its way and approves almost every project that has come before it.
Wagner said the council is not as efficient as it could be with four members of the city council seeing things one way and one member having a different outlook.
He was more critical of the planning commission, saying they rubber stamp projects with ease and the continuous variances granted invite further litigation.
Wisnicki said the city council has done a great job of land acquisition and obtaining grants. She indicated the council needs to do a better job of coordinating different agencies responsible for wastewater clean up and stormwater. She said the planning commission works well together and tries to be responsive to the rules and guidelines.
Candidates were also asked about the three best and worst actions taken by the council.
Sibert said his top three picks were acquiring and planning Legacy Park, the acquisition of Bluffs Park and putting the city on sound financial footing. The three worst he described as the slow progress toward adopting clarifying ordinances and coordinating Civic Center development. Not enough outreach to other cities that share Malibu’s issues and not enough effort to communicate the positive image of Malibu.
Tellem said the best actions were working against the LNG port proposal, enacting a no smoking ban on the beach and buying a portion of Bluffs Park.
The worst actions, according to Tellem, were not paying enough attention to the will of the people when it came to overnight camping, approving $12.5 million in more bond debt or what are called certificates of participation and failure to enact a specific plan for the Civic Center.
Wisnicki said the best three council actions were acquisition of Bluff Park, the purchase of Legacy Park and obtaining grants for clean water.
The worst action cited by Wisnicki was closing Civic Center Way at Winter Canyon Road.
Conley Ulich noted the three best actions in the last four years were purchasing Legacy Park, acquiring Bluffs Park and completing a stormwater treatment plant at Cross Creek. The three worst council actions, according to Conley Ulich, was failure to complete a Civic Center Specific Plan, failure to adopt a formula retail ordinance and failure to adopt green ordinances that promote sustainable development.
Wagner noted the two best actions were opening the stormwater treatment plant in the Civic Center area, the realization that 500,000 square feet of potential buildout in the Civic Center is not feasible.
The three worst actions were a lack of a Specific Plan for the Civic Center, lack of an evacuation plan for Webster and Our Lady of Malibu schools and loss of state funding for central park acquisitions.
Council hopefuls were asked to state their position on the level of emergency preparedness in the city.
Wagner said that the first responders have done their best in catastrophic events. He ticked off what the city does have, such as CERT training and Arson Watch,
Sibert indicated the community learned from the October fire. He said a manual should be prepared for citizens and there should be alarms to alert residents to disasters. The reverse 911, Sibert said, has a number of other potential applications that could be explored.
Tellem said the city was “sadly lacking” in the 2007 fires. She recited a list of what went wrong. She said there needs to be an evacuation plan. She said some kind of CERT training for animal evacuation should be adopted.
Conley Ulich said the level of emergency preparedness has increased, but there is more work to be done. She cited numerous allocations made during her tenure for disaster preparation and then insisted that the city had more steps to take including holding a town hall meeting, prepare a disaster manual among other items.
Council hopefuls disagree on whether development agreements are a good tool. Wagner said they are only as good as the lawyers who write them. He said sometimes other concerns are shoved aside.
Tellem said that agreements could get city officials in trouble and contended Malibu has a history of litigation related to development agreements.
Sibert indicated development agreements are sometimes the best way for the city to get some of the services it needs.
Conley Ulich said it depends on the details of the actual agreement.
Wisnicki agreed, saying she would need to see the proposal. Candidates were also asked what impacts does the city have on traffic.
Conley Ulich noted any new commercial development has the potential of increasing traffic.
Tellem noted without a specific plan the city could cause tremendous traffic problems. She said the city needs to be more aggressive with Caltrans.
Wisnicki said better communications with Caltrans are needed to solve traffic issues. Wagner said the city does not own PCH, but does have 40 or 50 miles of city streets. Traffic has a direct effect on city planning, according to Wagner.
Sibert agreed that commercial development particularly in the Civic Center impacts traffic. He said “Z” traffic is the major cause of PCH traffic tie-ups. He said working with other jurisdictions is important for synchronizing signals and enforcing traffic laws on PCH, and a better circulation plan needs to be developed for the Civic Center.