By Kielle Lindsey
Staff Writer
On April 9, the residents of Malibu will make a crucial decision. They will vote to elect two new City Council members out of five possible candidates.
This decision may have seemed easier several weeks ago when Malibu Mayor Joan House announced her approval of two candidates, John Wall and Beverly Taki. However, now she endorses a third: her colleague, incumbent Councilwoman Sharon Barovsky.
With each day that passes in their campaigns, candidates for the Malibu City Council are sharpening political weaponry to try and pull in more votes, and it increasingly looks to be a very close election.
The citizens of Malibu have already witnessed mudslinging, verbal and written attacks of candidates, biased support from allegedly unbiased groups, arguments between candidates and even trading dirty looks in this campaign. Some say things could get worse.
The candidates running for city council are Robert “Roy” van de Hoek, Andy Stern,Taki, Wall and Barovsky.
These five candidates are vastly different in age, background and experience. Malibu voters need answers to one question to aid their voting decision: Where do these candidates stand on the important issues?
This year, the main issue on the minds of many residents in Malibu is the issue is land use.
Also, some have become concerned about the growing desire to develop the area’s bountiful open land.
Others see great opportunity for economic stabilization through bringing in more businesses.
Some understand the desperate need for ball fields, a community center and the protection of open space.
To help meet this growing need, Measure K was proposed and placed on the ballot in last November’s election.
The open parks and land bond asked Malibu residents to allow themselves to be taxed in order to pay for the purchase of land necessary for parks, ball fields, a community center and to preserve open space in the area.
Those opposed, mainly the members of the Lily’s Café Steering Committee led by former mayor John Harlow, were hesitant to allow city officials to handle the $15 million called for by the bond measure.
The Lily’s Café group is just one of many political action groups who involve themselves in Malibu’s affairs.
Some feel that Councilmember Tom Hasse’s last-minute opposition to the measure lead to its defeat. It received 61 percent support, but it needed a two-thirds vote.
Barovsky is a supporter of creating more open space for Malibu.
She also believes that minimizing commercial development in the area is a major concern, and enjoys endorsements from House, Council members Ken Kearsley and Jeff Jennings and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
Some controversy has followed Barovsky in this campaign.
She has been accused of attacking the citizens of Malibu through letters written in the local newspapers. She recently appointed a new Parks and Recreation Commissioner who some are saying harassed candidate John Wall in similar letters.
Wall believes that keeping Malibu beautiful, safe and rural is the most important issue.
Keeping Malibu beautiful and rural means different things to different people. Malibu currently does not own any park facilities, except for one hiking park and a small strip of Las Flores Creek.
Many uninformed residents assume that Bluffs Park belongs to Malibu, but the state owns that land and has a contract to lease it to the city of Malibu until the end of May.
At this time, the area will be turned into a visitor center.
The state will allow Malibu to keep this land for a short time after May only if the city is in the process of actively looking for parkland.
This is a main reason for Measure K being presented last November.
Also on last November’s ballot, Measures N and P dealt with land use in Malibu. Measure N proposed to require voter approval for all development agreements involving more than 30 acres.
This measure beat out Measure P, the “Right to Vote on Development Initiative,” by about 100 votes.
Another major concern at the heart of Malibu’s land use issue is the Local Coastal Plan for the city. A Local Coastal Plan is required by California law and states: “All cities within the Coastal Zone of California are required by law to have a Local Coastal Program (LCP).”
Malibu has been working on its LCP for five years. The City of Malibu submitted two versions of the plan to the Coastal Commission, one in March 2000 and the other in July 2001.
Both plans were considered inadequate, and now the Coastal Commission has written its own plan for Malibu.
One city council candidate, scientist and environmental leader van de Hoek, is especially concerned with overdevelopment.
Candidates Stern and Barovsky have been strident in opposing van de Hoek. Van de Hoek recently responded by writing a letter to the Malibu Surfside news, in which he expressed great anger over being referred to as a “terrorist.”
The Sierra Club, Americans for Democratic Action and a number of groups in Santa Monica support him.
In October 2001, the California Coastal Commission released the draft of its plan for Malibu. The general consensus was that the plan did not reflect the needs of the community.
The Coastal Commission had proposed 50 acres in the Civic Center to be devoted to “visitor-serving” uses, including a hotel, restaurants and more retail shopping.
The Commission added in the plan that they intended to remain in control of Malibu’s land use indefinitely.
Another important land use debate has been about beach access for all Malibu residents. Malibu owns 27 miles of beach, and only one-third of that is public beach.
The Coastal Commission is determined to put a public beach access outlet about every 1,000 feet.
The Commission also wants to put in more public street parking and required parking in commercial and shopping areas for beach visitors.
Residents who own beachfront property are unhappy with the amount of beach access that could potentially be put next to their homes.
Some neighborhood groups and beach communities are gathering now for the fight against more public beach access. In response to this, the Coastal Commission is preparing its own public relations campaign.
Taki, a real estate agent of Coldwell Banker in Malibu, is the candidate most adamant about preserving the quality of life and creating amenities and recreational opportunities for residents of the city.
Although she is a novice to the political scene, Taki has already gathered support from much of the real estate community.
She has always supported the Lily’s Café group, and some are now saying that, while the Café group says they remain unbiased to offer voter information, they are solely supporting Taki for City Council.
Malibu citizens are also questioning the Ahmanson Ranch project, which plans to put a $2 billion residential/ commercial development on a 2,800 acre corner of Ventura County.
Although it would create many new homes and jobs, this would add to the Malibu area’s already congested freeways and streets, in addition to its water treatment problems.
All five candidates are concerned with protecting Malibu’s special qualities, preserving the natural, open space, providing necessary amenities for residents and preventing overdevelopment by allowing appropriate and wise development to transpire.
Sharon Barovsky
A Malibu resident for more than 30 years, Barovsky is the incumbent in the City Council election.
She was elected in 2000 in a special election to complete her late husband’s council term.
“My husband and I have been involved in community service for over 30 years,” Barovsky said. “When he passed away, I believed he would have wanted me to carry on his service to Malibu.”
Barovsky has helped Malibu obtain grants totaling $7 million over the past two years. She has served on the General Task Plan Force and the Civic Center Advisory Committee. She is a writer and teacher.
Barovsky is environmentally sensitive and sees a need to minimize over-development in the city. She advocates more open space and more recreational opportunities as well as a community center for seniors and youth.
In the debate over the Coastal Commission Local Coastal Plan, Barovsky wants Malibu to be in control of its own land use by allowing the voters to decide what the city’s future will be. “I hope that we can negotiate an LCP that will be acceptable to the residents,” she said. “If not, then I am prepared to vote to seek judicial relief.”
About Pepperdine, Barovsky says that even though the campus is not within the city limits she hopes “we can begin to work on mutually beneficial shared-use agreements.”
Barovsky is supported by Mayor Joan House, Council members Ken Kearsley and Jeff Jennings, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Senator Shelia Kuehl, Assembly member Fran Pavely, Congressman Brad Sherman, the National Women’s Caucus and the Association of Sheriffs.
Andy Stern
Andy Stern, an attorney, businessman, family man and 11-year resident of Malibu, represents a new yet growing demographic in the city of Malibu: young families.
The most immediate and important issue he sees in this election is the Coastal Commission LCP, which he strongly opposes.
Among his plans for the city of Malibu are more parks, especially since Malibu leases all parks from the state and does not own any.
He is especially concerned about losing Bluffs Park (the state will re-claim it next year) and thinks Malibu should “give families a place to be involved.”
Stern is currently the chair of the Planning Commission. He was appointed by county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky as vice chair of the Los Angeles County Beach Commission.
His law experience has given him a new angle on city politics as he sees the importance of looking to the law for city policy and planning decisions.
Stern sees the importance of electing “candidates who have a proven record of experience, fairness, integrity and leadership.” He also hopes the young parents of Malibu will turn out and vote in this election.
One of the things he would like to do is sit down with Pepperdine administrators and find a way for the university and the city to cooperate.
He is not concerned with the fact that Pepper-dine is not in the city limits and believe students feel the same way. “I want a breath of fresh air,” Stern said.
When asked about Pepperdine’s past relations with the city he said, “let’s forget about the baggage from the past and get going in a positive direction.”
Beverly Taki
Beverly Taki has lived in Malibu 21 years and is a realtor with Coldwell Banker and Associates.
She was twice the president of the Malibu Association of Realtors, has represented Malibu by lobbying legislators in Sacramento about property rights issues, and hosts a public affairs television show.
Taki’s goal in this election is to preserve the overall quality of life for Malibu residents.
In particular she hopes to provide more ball fields, after-school activities, a teen center, an equestrian center and more for Malibu’s youth.
Regarding the Coastal Commis-sion controversy, Taki strongly opposes the LCP drafted by the Commission and will advocate filing a lawsuit if necessary.
She said it “unfairly places most of our Malibu properties in an ESHA and takes local control away from Malibu citizens and their elected city council.”
She also opposes the plan for the changes it proposes for Malibu Bluffs Park, which she says is a decision that will affect Pepperdine students because “Pepperdine would lose access to an important nearby amenity.”
Taki is supported by mayor Joan House, former mayor and current City Council member Tom Hasse and former mayor and Council member John Harlow.
“Beverly will bring a friendly attitude to City Hall,” House said.
“I believe she will work well with Malibu’s many active citizens.”
Many of the city council candidates agree on the basic issues, according to Taki.
“The real issue becomes the candidates themselves,” she said.
Robert “Roy” Van de Hoek
Professionally, Van de Hoek is a biologist, but has many other fields of endeavor that make him a qualified candidate.
Van de Hoek has run for City Council positions in the past.
He has a background in environmental biology, geography and archaeology and worked as a scientist for the government.
He was also a Department of Parks and Recreation supervisor for Los Angeles County for several years.
He serves with the Sierra Club and the Wetlands Action Network and teaches biology at Long Beach Community College.
He has been active in environmental protection groups and agencies throughout California.
What Van de Hoek sees as the main issue plaguing Malibu is over-development, especially because of its low water supply.
In addition, he does not rigorously oppose the Coastal Commission’s proposed LCP, as many other Malibuites do.
Rather, he hopes residents will work with the Coastal Commission ind drawing up a plan that is designed to slow the increase of development in the area.
Van de Hoek, along with two other Malibu residents, co-founded Access for All, a group promoting open access to the 27 miles of Malibu beach.
Van de Hoek believes that all Malibu residents have ownership of the beaches city’s and deserve access to their shorefront.
Van de Hoek has lived in Mali-bu for three years and has the support of various local residents, including actor Martin Sheen.
John Wall
One of the founding fathers of Malibu, John Wall is running for city council for the second time.
He has chaired the Economic Plan Advisory Commit-tee, the General Plan Task Force and the Flood Mitigation Advisory Committee and served on the Public Works Commission, Building Appeals Board, Friends of Arson Watch, Homeowners Association and many other boards and committees.
Wall’s vision for Malibu is more environmental protection, development of parks and meeting facilities, improving traffic flow on PCH and residential development consistent with the General Plan, among others.
Concerning government, Wall sees a serious need for fair and equal enforcement of all laws in Malibu.
“What we have now is a lawless city,” Wall said to a group of Malibu voters. He feels that the current city council and planning commission are overly generous concerning building, parking, and restaurant capacity laws.
He is especially concerned with building permits that restrict middle-income families from remodeling their houses but allow millionaires to build huge houses.
Wall’s solution for the Coastal Commission LCP is to allow Malibu residents to vote on it as a referendum. He says suing the Coastal Commission or caving in are not good options for the city, but if the voters revoke it, the Coastal Commission could not sue the entire population.
Wall is endorsed by Mayor Joan House and former mayor and current City Council member Tom Hasse. According to Wall, those who support him find him to be honest, logical and fair.
March 28, 2002