First City Council Candidates Forum Looks
at MoHo Issues
• Mood Is Cordial at Community’s
First Major Look at Five Hopefuls for Three Council Seats
There were no fireworks. No controversy
erupted. All of the Malibu City Council candidates at the first
forum held at Paradise Cove last Saturday afternoon were
extremely polite to one another.
The council hopefuls gathered at the mobile
home park for the two-hour question and answer session hosted
by Paradise Cove homeowners and their neighbors from the Point
Dume Club.
Each of the candidates was given a brief
two minutes to introduce themselves to the 50 or 60 folks
who filled the clubhouse, and then the same questions were
asked of each candidate.
Jefferson Wagner, who calls himself Zuma
Jay, said he had spent many days and hours sneaking into the
park for the prime surfing at their shoreline. He said he has
lived in Malibu for 33 or 35 years, depending upon where
“you place me.” He said as operator for the Malibu
Pier he helped open it up, has run a small business and
remembered the fire of 1983, which burned perilously close to
Paradise Cove.
Kathy Wisnicki described herself as
Malibu’s representative on the Santa Monica Malibu
Unified School District board, has been a resident since
1966, raised her children in Malibu and was instrumental in
getting the Boys and Girls Club started in Malibu.
She said she was prepared to fight
Propositions 98 and 99, which are on the June 3 ballot and
would phase out rent control in California, and urged tenants
of the parks to do likewise.
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who
is running for reelection, said she was proud of what the
council has accomplished, including acquiring the Bluffs
Park. She said she had just come from the Bluffs Park where
Little League season started and remarked that the
children were told to play fair. “I think we [candidates]
are all going to play fair,” she said.
Conley Ulich also mentioned Prop. 98.
“I talked to the city council about opposing it. The
terms are deceptive,” she said. Talking about the mobile
home park at Paradise Cove, she said, “Your water quality
and poop need to be cleaned up.”
Susan Tellem spoke about how her background
for the last 30 years has been in the business of public
relations. She mentioned she taught at UCLA, raised four
children, was a registered nurse and at one time was a reserve
deputy sheriff. “I am an environmentalist and animal
rescuer,” she concluded.
Planning Commissioner John Sibert said he
has lived and worked all over the world and decided he wants to
spend the rest of his life in Malibu.
Sibert talked about his service on the
Malibu Township Council and his work to stop sewers. He noted
his tenure on the planning commission where he witnessed rules
he wanted to see changed, which gave him the impetus to run for
city council in an effort to change those laws.
The first question asked of the candidates
was whether they would ever change the zoning on the two mobile
home parks, and if they did, would they resign from office.
They were told their answers were a verbal contract with
the voters.
Not surprisingly, all of the council
hopefuls answered they would not change the zoning, and, if for
some reason they did, they would then consequently resign from
office.
Conley Ulich used her answer as an
opportunity to announce that the city’s Mobilehome Park
Rent Stabilization Commission is scheduled to meet on
March 13. “The commission has not met in five
years,” she noted.
The candidates were also asked to explain
their views on rent control and Malibu’s law in
particular.
Wagner said he thought it is important to
find a balance. He said he has been both a property owner and
tenant.
Wisnicki said she believes rent control
allows diversity of residents who otherwise would be forced
out.
Conley Ulich said if rent control was
abolished under Prop. 98, then once a home is sold, it would
devalue other tenant property. “I am for rent control.
Under the [city’s] commission, they have the power to
decide for all issues. We have the law on the books. Are the
owners doing their fair share? If they are not living up to
their end of the bargain, should the rents be increased [per
CPI]? I qualified for rent control when I lived in Santa
Monica. I appreciate it,” she said.
Tellem said she had done her homework on
Prop. 98. “It is a frightening proposition. I am
glad to hear the city council is against it. There are many
organizations against it. I am totally in favor of rent
control. You have to stop Prop. 98,” she added.
Sibert said he opposed changes to rent
control. “I own apartments in Hollywood under rent
control. I do just fine. It keeps people in their homes. I am
opposed to Proposition 98. It is designed to fool people.
I think the city should oppose it,” he said.
Candidates were asked what could be done
about the traffic problems in Malibu, especially in the summer
when residents feel they cannot leave their homes.
Tellem said she agrees that traffic is
“horrible” and is a problem in the entire city.
“It is up to you to put your foot down,” she said
about proposed development that would add to traffic woes.
Conley Ulich proposed a shuttle that would
take residents from one end of town to the other and be funded
by developers. “We should tell the developers why they
should do it. We should be part of the solution,” she
said.
Sibert said, despite what might be said is
the cause of traffic congestion, “we know it is Z
traffic.” He said he believes the problem of traffic is
different in different parts of the city. He said the
timing of the signals on Pacific Coast Highway has still not
been done. “We need to go to Caltrans. They control PCH.
We need to get the stakeholders together now,” he added.
To some laughter, Wagner stated,
“There are too many cars.” He said since Malibu is
a destination spot, metered parking on PCH could help fund
solutions.
Wisnicki said it would be to
everyone’s benefit to help solve the problem. She ticked
off some possible solutions, such as widening the road,
and attempting to eliminate Z traffic.
“At the La Paz hearing, the traffic
expert said the traffic was already so horrible, that the added
traffic of the project would not make it any more
horrible,” she noted.
The council hopefuls were also asked if
they were willing to make some kind of trade-off with
developers to bring back a hardware store.
Sibert said that he too missed Malibu
Lumber, although he noted he never imagined he would ever say
that. “I don’t know an easy solution, maybe a
development agreement,” he said, noting that expensive
land and building requirements made a lumber yard prohibitive.
“I am going to do something about it,
if I am elected,” said Tellem, who said folks don’t
want to go over the hill to the west valley to get things.
Wagner said it is difficult to do business
in Malibu, and that he thought a development agreement might
encourage a property owner to offer a long-term lease for a
hardware store. “We can do that,” he added.
Wisnicki agreed there are ways to do it.
“Development is a dirty word in Malibu. Maybe we can
identify amenities, such as a place for teens and
seniors,” she said.
Conley Ulich used the opportunity to tout
her proposed retail formula ban ordinance. “We can
restrict what stores come here,” she noted.
Candidates were asked other questions about
water pressure in the mobile home parks during a fire, if the
municipality has any jurisdictions in the parks other than
rents, and what could be done about the 28-foot-high homes
sprouting up on the hillsides.
