Mayor Announces Ambitious 100-Day Plan

* White Paper Sets Out Goals, Policies and Legislation

BY BILL KOENEKER

The reorganization meeting of the Malibu City Council last week lasted longer than usual and was filled with so much controversy about the mayoral succession, the actual changing of the guard, when outgoing members make their farewell remarks and incoming council members pronounce their intents, was overshadowed.
When the dust settled, newly installed Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich lost no time presenting what she called her 100-day plan for Malibu’s future, but had little time to elaborate on it.
The four-page white paper lays out the goals, ambitions, and legislation of the second-term lawmaker.
At the top of her list is public safety, with Conley Ulich calling on the need to develop, implement and communicate emergency plans that will increase public safety.
Along that line, Conley Ulich indicates she wants a town hall forum scheduled to bring community leaders, stakeholders and the public at large together to explore what lessons were learned from the three wildfires of 2007 and what new services are offered by the municipality.
While Conley Ulich expressed interest in a volunteer fire brigade, she said that education and training must be available for folks who want to take matters in their own hands. “What could happen when fire blows through if people emulate Matt Haines [who purchased fire equipment that saved his home and others last Nov. 24] and fight the fire?’ she asked.
Conley Ulich also talked about creating a plan for the Civic Center, building out Legacy Park, and exploring the feasibility of providing a home for Malibu’s library, a sheriff’s substation, teen center, senior center and farmers market.
The white paper also lists traffic as a top priority, suggesting the city council work with Caltrans to get a traffic monitor for PCH.
She wants to see legislation enacted for a formula retail ordinance, view preservation or what she calls tree ordinance, and sustainable city-wide green initiatives to promote water conservation and recycling grey water.
Conley Ulich also wants to explore the feasibility of purchasing “green” power for Malibu, looking at creating a “clean bus” that goes from Trancas to the Civic Center at peak hours and exploring the possibility of planning separate bike lanes up the coast from Trancas to Oxnard.
Other eco-goals set for the city include adopting and implementing a wastewater plan, banning “the worst stuff that pollutes our air and water,” adopting a strong green building code and offering green transportation programs.
Earlier in the evening, outgoing Mayor Jeff Jennings in his outgoing remarks thanked his many supporters, and then launched into what he called his “lecture.”
He said after serving on so many different councils, he believes the ninth council has been the most achieving one. He said there were a number of reasons that made the outgoing council different than others.
“We got good at setting priorities. We learned we can’t do everything. That was not always the case on previous councils. We adopted a protocol,” he said.
Jennings indicated council members learned to suppress their natural competitiveness that goes with most public figures. “There is no limit what you can do if you don’t care about who gets the credit. We developed a level of confidence to allow others to take ownership of issues. Andy took on LNG. Pam had the library and county and I was given the California Coastal Commission. Sharon and Ken took on Legacy Park,” said Jennings. “It always hasn’t been the case in each council.”
“It is a collegial body. But you still have to have three votes so nobody could get too far in front of the council,” he added.
Jennings said it was also important for the city to speak as one voice with other agencies. He said that had not always happened previously.
The outgoing mayor tried to dispel that notion of a council that was in lockstep. “You could say it was easy for you, because you all agreed. That is not true. We just did not allow our differences to become personal. I don’t think I ever voted against anybody to spite or for punishment. I don’t think anybody did that to me,” Jennings added.
Outgoing Councilmember Ken Kearsley, a former school teacher, said his final remarks would be his “last lecture” and talked briefly about his history in Malibu that led up to his term in office.
He said he has been asked if he has any regrets. “Not really, but I have had some disappointments. That would be hypocrisy.” He said he was “quoting from Billy Connolly, who said, ‘Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.’”
With mild titters from the audience, Kearsley then went on to say, “I guess I should have quoted Euripides, who said, ‘A noble face hides filthy waste.’”
Kearsley said the biggest municipal accomplishment, he believed, was to what he did not do, but what the people of Malibu did when they came together to acquire Legacy Park and what that might mean for future generations. He said one day he hoped to sit under the shade of one of the trees planted in Legacy Park.
Due to the late hour, both new Councilmembers John Sibert and Jefferson Wagner made very brief incoming remarks.
“It is different sitting on this side of the wall. It is a great start,” said Wagner.
Sibert, echoing his own remarks on the campaign trail, said he wanted to spend time on legislation and not litigation, and he too thought the evening was off to a good start.