No one will ever be able to take the Malibu out of Michael Sidley. In fact Sidley believes he is one of the only “classic” Malibu citizens running for the Malibu City Council.Malibu is his roots: he was born and raised here. Sidley attended what was then called Malibu Park Junior High and graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1979. He graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 1983 with a B.A. in political science. He received his Juris Doctor in 1988 from the University of the Pacific. Sidley was a Los Angeles County deputy public defender from 1989-1990. Since 1990 he has been an attorney in private practice with an emphasis in litigation. He has also been an expert television legal commentator for CNN MSNBC E! Network and Court TV. For the past 12 years he has lived in Serra Retreat with his wife Wendy and their two daughters Jane13 and Ally 11. Wendy is the PTSA president of Malibu High School where their two daughters attend. He has served the community for years as a member of many organizations. He has been a member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Parcel Tax Advisory Committee and is a member of school district’s Prop BB Advisory Committee. He was a member of the Medical Board of California from 1996-1999 and was a member of the Los Angeles County Environmental Crime Sentencing Task Force from 1994-1995. Above all Sidley is a family man. He loves his wife and daughters more then anything in the world.”It is time for new Independent leadership in Malibu Sidley said. I grew up in Malibu I went to school here and now I am raising my family here. I have a deep commitment to Malibu and its future. Together we can make the change needed to move Malibu forward.” Sidley knew what Malibu was like in the past he knows what it is like in the present and he says he knows where Malibu needs to go in the future. Sidley wants to join the city council so that he can give back to the community that he has been apart of for so long. He wants to help Malibu use all of its potential. He thinks it is time to “elect someone with the historical perspective and skill necessary to deal with the complex issues now facing our city.”Sidley says he will work to pass the View Protection and Restoration ordinance if he is elected. He says he will find a responsible solution to the septic ban imposed on Malibu without bankrupting the city. Sidley is a strong supporter of Malibu’s public schools. He also wants to find a solution to the proliferation of Residential Drug Treatment Facilities in Malibu.
Sidley says that he will make sure that “the city spends its money wisely and responsibly.” One of the things on the top of Sidley’s list is to bring a real lumberyard back to Malibu like from his childhood.
As a council member Sidley says he will be committed to stop what he calls financial give-a-ways that he says have plagued Malibu’s budget.
Sidley has gone full circle. He grew up as a child running on the beaches of Malibu. Now he is running for Malibu council to protect the beaches.
