Malibu Times Multimedia Director Julie Ellerton asked past and present council members to share their thoughts on the city’s 25th anniversary.
“It’s kind of a thrill. It’s hard maybe for people to imagine what it was like 25 years ago; the battle up against Los Angeles County — it was a huge battle, with just a small group of citizens to beat the county of that size. It hasn’t been perfect but there’s no question in my mind, Malibu is a much better place now because we became a city.”
“After 25 years of cityhood, I have to hand it to past councils — whether you agreed with them or not, we’ve done pretty well. If somebody asked me what kind of percentage of satisfaction we’ve achieved, I’d say we are in a 70-80 percent, meaning that we possibly could have done a little bit better of a job, but we’re three quarters of the way successful. I look forward to the next 25 years, and I hope I’m around to be here for the 50th.”
“It’s been more than 25 years; it’s been 50 years because it took us 25 years to become a city. So in the lifetime of a person almost, we have blossomed from nothing to something that’s very beautiful and wonderful for every person who lives here, the hard workers and the people who have put in all the time and effort to make this city work. We went from poverty to where we have a surplus of 18-20 million dollars. That’s amazing for the city — the little City of Malibu.”
“Twenty-five years later and I hope Malibu always stays the same, with the friendly people, the energetic people, the dynamic environment, what more could you want? Malibu has not changed that much in its protection of the beauty and the environment, and keeping everything as beautiful as ever. With the population growth, there are more people so we have more tourists, but there are days when the weather is bad and Malibu is just ours.”
“The city didn’t turn out how I was expecting, I thought it was going to be special; that’s what the vision and mission statement is all about. I thought the council members would all be dedicated to nothing but cityhood, and that they wouldn’t turn into politicians. No reflection on anybody in particular, but as a lady from Westlake Village told me, people change when they get into city council. The big problem is getting people to vote. I’d like to convince our local newspapers that their responsibility is to help do that.”