CURRY CHANDLER
Online Editor
Malibu city council candidate and Zuma Jay’s surf shop owner Jefferson Wagner has received two anonymous letters making ambiguous threats of retaliatory acts if he does not withdraw from the city council contest.
Wagner received the first letter at his surf shop Dec. 22, and the second message arrived Jan. 25. Both documents have been turned over to the Lost Hills Sheriff detectives who are investigating the incidents as possible criminal threats.
In addition to the written messages, Wagner said he received a menacing phone call last month.
“It was a male voice,” he said, “and they said, ‘We have pictures of you on your bicycle on a sidewalk without a helmet on, that is illegal,’ and then they hung up.”
Wagner reported the call to Los Angeles County sheriffs who told him the incident could not be investigated as a threat.
“It just sounds like somebody is mad at me,” he said. “They couldn’t deem the call a threat because it wasn’t an immediate threat to my life or limb, or to the lives and safety of my family.”
Known to many in the Malibu community as Zuma Jay, Wagner is the proprietor of Zuma Jay’s surf shop and the co-concessionaire of the historic Malibu pier. He is currently one of five candidates vying for three city council seats.
The first letter was delivered to Zuma Jay’s and bore no return address. The message was typed and made vague insinuations about past criminal charges and litigation against Wagner and warned against his city council candidacy.
“If you run [for city council], the district attorney will prosecute,” the letter stated. “You better never go to your house for 4 years if you run. We have people watching. Never mind the old drug charges and lawsuits.”
Two days after the Malibu Times reported the incident, a second letter arrived at Zuma Jay’s. The handwritten missive was addressed to “Mr. Zuma Jay,” and listed eight names, some of which were identified by Wagner as past or present employees of the surf shop.
“Well let me remind you that you did not pay tax’s for each,” the letter stated in part. “Big Problem Don’t run for office or these names will be turned into IRS and [Malibu Times reporter] Jonathan Friedman w/Much More Details.”
Wagner said the anonymous letters were being treated as a threatening incident by himself and the official investigation. He has continually characterized the ambiguous accusations as baseless and crude.
“What I find so interesting about all this is that even in a small-town election with 5,000 voters, something like this can happen,” Wagner said. “There are deep-rooted feelings about politics in this town, especially when it comes to development issues.”
Wagner cited new development in Malibu as a critical point of contention in the current local election campaign. Questions about land use, development and sustainability have been mainstays of the city council debates. He said the sentiment expressed in the threats of political blackmail could be related to the positions of so-called “slow growth” advocates.
“The big issue in this town is development,” he said. “How much more roadway can we fill up with traffic? At what point do we simply say ‘no more?’”
Pepperdine junior Eric Wilson has been an employee at Zuma Jay’s surf shop for approximately a month and a half. He said the letters have been the subject of conversation at the store, and do not seem to have affected spirits at the business.
“[Wagner’s] disappointed about it,” Wilson said, “but he hasn’t let the situation bother him too much.”
Pepperdine students have found employment opportunities at Zuma Jay’s for many years. In a previous interview with the Graphic, Wagner said he found hiring Pepperdine students to work at his store beneficial due to the “law of proximity,” a combination of their accessibility and persistency in achievement.
“These are the kids who are trying to do something with their lives,” Wagner said. “It’s a good stepping stone for them.”
Wilson said his employment at Zuma Jay’s has been a welcome stepping stone and enjoyable experience.
He described Wagner as a “real upstanding guy” and someone he felt he could support in a leadership position for the city of Malibu.
Wagner will appear on the ballot as Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner. The other city council candidates are John Sibert, Susan Tellem, Pamela Conley Ulich, and Kathy Wisnicki. Election day is April 8.
03-20-2008
