The Seven Major Candidates Field Queries at MTC Forum

• Voters Have No Shortage of Opportunities to See Contenders for the Two Seats on City Council

BY BILL KOENEKER

A total of three city council candidates forums were scheduled last week, giving the council hopefuls a chance to polish their talking points. At the forums, candidates usually were given two minutes for an introduction and another two minutes to close.
Council hopefuls also were expected to respond to comprehensive questions, sometimes containing three or four subcategories.
By Saturday afternoon at the Malibu Township Council forum at the location of the future city hall, there were just seven of the 10 candidates at the dais and their spiels were well honed. Kofi, Matthew Katz and Jan Swift were absent.
The MTC forum tried to mix up the rigid forum format a bit. The moderator asked a series of yes-or-no “lightning round” questions that were interspersed between a set of essay questions and questions submitted in writing by the audience.
Later, during the forum, rules allowed the candidates to rebut what had been previously said by other candidates. It took a while for council hopefuls to get the hang of it, but by then the event was over.
Candidates were first asked to provide their environmental resumes.
Laura Rosenthal said she got the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters. She said she worked to ensure the Bluffs Park would be used for Malibu, and that she served on the BB oversight committee dedicated to green building on Malibu’s campuses. As a public works commissioner, she studies various issues related to the environment. “I am calling for a gray water ordinance,” she said.
Steve Schiekman cited his commitment to saving Ahmanson Ranch. “We found in it a frog and a flower,” he said, referring to the two endangered species found on the ranch property. He said he has lobbied to stop overnight camping within the city and pushed for the new city hall building to become a model of sustainability.
John Mazza said he had spent hours in front of the city council trying to convince them to follow the environmental rules and regulations to protect tide pools, streams on Point Dume and National Park Service trails
Harold Greene said he has also spoken up against overnight camping and had studied various environmental issues as the vice chair of the view protection task force.
Ed Gillepsie said his credentials include his testimony before various committees and panels against the LNG port and his efforts on clean water.
Lou La Monte said his efforts were more of a grass roots campaign in letter writing. He talked about his efforts to make Malibu green and his support for making sure the new city hall gets LEEDS certification.
Mike Sidley emphasized his endorsement by the League of Conservation Voters. “It is not what we did in the past or where we testified, it’s our vision for clean water for Malibu,” he said.
The candidates were also questioned further about the overnight camping issue, how to ensure that code enforcement becomes a top priority and they engaged in a debate on Malibu Lumber Yard shopping mall issues.