One incumbent and seven newcomers are vying for three Malibu City Council seats this November. This week, The Malibu Times invited them to submit a 250-word bio describing who they are. These bios are printed word-for-word below:
Paul Grisanti
Graduated UCSB Bachelors in Business Economics. Four-year letterman in crew.
Real Estate licensed August 1977, Broker’s license 1981.
Malibu resident since January 1978.
Charter member, past president, Kiwanis Club of Malibu and remained active with them for 30 years.
Met Sara and her three children in 1987, married in 1988. The children graduated from our public schools and successfully earned degrees from two UCs and Pepperdine.
In 1990, Paul was one of 30 candidates for the first city council and was endorsed by the Santa Monica Evening Outlook.
Appointed to the first General Task Force and produced the minutes for the 24 area meetings held the first year.
Lost homes to fire in 1993 and 2007. Never again!
Past president of the Malibu Association of Realtors. Government affairs director and 26 coastal counties study group director.
Appointed to the public works commission by Jeff Jennings. The appointment was renewed by Lou La Monte in 2010 and again by Karen Farrer in 2018.
Appointed by City Manager Jim Thorson to a fire flow study group where he worked with representatives of Water District 29, LACo Fire and community stakeholders to identify water system deficiencies and solutions. The recommendations were shelved by the county in 2016. This fueled his ire after Woolsey when it was apparent that large swaths of the affected areas could not meet the fire flow requirements for rebuilding.
Awarded a Malibu Times Dolphin Award in 2019 for his work to facilitate fire flow compromise and fire rebuilds.
Doug Stewart
Doug Stewart is a successful businessman and Malibu resident of over 20 years. Doug’s drive for becoming a community leader in Malibu increased following the recent Woolsey Fire and COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted the need for strong leadership in the face of any potential financial crisis, health emergency or natural disaster affecting the city.
With multiple decades of business experience in finance, investment and budget management, Doug has achieved business success in both good and bad economic times. In his role as managing director of Sierra Nevada Investment Group, Doug has gained invaluable business and life experiences that can be put to use to help the City of Malibu prevent a budget crisis and bolster public safety measures.
Doug has served in numerous local leadership roles, including as the current vice-chair of the Malibu Public Safety Commission, a CERT Team Member, HOA president and on various nonprofit boards. Doug received his MA in management from The Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University and his bachelor of business administration, BBA, is from the University of Memphis.
Following his move to Southern California in the late ’70s, Doug met his wife Sharon with whom he had his son, Doug Stewart Jr. Doug Jr. is president of an investment management firm and married to Victoria, an assistant professor at UCLA. In their free time, Doug and his wife enjoy sailing, skiing, hiking and enjoying the beautiful scenery that Malibu has to offer.
For more information, his website is Stewart4Malibu.com.
Steve Uhring
Malibu’s quality of life and unique environment are rapidly diminishing due to a continued lack of focus by our elected officials. It is time to put Malibu residents at the top of our priority list and concentrate on environmental protection, traffic mitigation, recreational opportunities, public safety, long-term planning, fiscal responsibility and protecting our special way of life. The legacies of COVID-19 and the Woolsey Fire complicate achieving these objectives and experience and resolve will be required to get the job done.
My wife Marcia and I moved to Malibu over 25 years ago. I was raised in Upstate New York and attended college in New England where I graduated with an accounting degree. After a successful career as an executive officer of both a Fortune 500 company and an internet start-up, I have spent my time here protecting Malibu’s rural character. I was a leader in blocking a 185,000-square-foot shopping center, then subsequently helped raise $500,000 to purchase Legacy Park. I worked with the city and the local neighbors to negotiate a practical design for Trancas Canyon Park and was a member of the team that created a Dark Skies Ordinance, among many other civic endeavors. Marcia has made environmental protection a family affair as she started Coast and Canyon Wildlife, a volunteer wildlife rehabilitation organization.
My many years on the Malibu Planning Commission, as well as my executive experience, provide a strong foundation to protect your interests by moving Malibu forward. Malibu residents are my highest priority.
Andy Lyon
I’m a third generation, lifelong Malibu resident. My grandfather was the exclusive sales agent to the Malibu Colony for Marblehead Land Company back in the late ‘30s. My dad was able to buy a little lot on Malibu Road across from the old animal hospital and build our house that I grew up in.
I delivered the evening Outlook in the Colony when I was 10. I bagged groceries at the Colony Market, delivered prescriptions at the old Malibu Pharmacy inside the Colony Coffee Shop, washed dishes at Cardis, waited tables at I Love Sushi and bartended at Alice’s Restaurant and Beaurivage before becoming a real estate agent over 20 years ago.
I went to Webster, Malibu Park Jr High, Samohi and SMC.
I have five kids: 30, 29, 27,15 and 2.5!
My older kids went to Webster and Malibu High.
My 15-year-old was taken out of Malibu due to the toxin issues. I hope to have my littlest go to Webster!
I’ve run for city council before in 2012 and 2014 to try and protect the place I have called home my whole life. I’ve continued to show up.
I’ve been on the Civic Center design taskforce and the wastewater advisory committee.
I’ve been outspoken on the way I’ve seen Malibu being not protected from outside issues, the exact reason we became a city.
I will fight for what’s right and am not afraid to speak up against those that want to ignore Malibu’s mission statement.
Lance Simmens
Unity in Community
It’s time to re-imagine Malibu as a unified, community-driven city, able to support the needs of our citizens in a rapidly changing world. With COVID disrupting every aspect of our lives, we need strong, experienced leaders who can offer not only hope, but also the skills required to implement innovative solutions to the critical social, humanitarian and environmental issues we all face.
After four decades in senior level positions in federal, state and local government, I have the experience, contacts and resources needed for the job, as well a deep commitment to Malibu, my home for the past five years. I am currently serving as a public works commissioner, appointed by City Council Member Mikke Pierson, and have also served as president of the Malibu Adamson House Foundation, vice president of the Malibu Democratic Club, and a member of the Community Emergency Response Team.
As your city councilman I will involve citizens in the formulation and development of the best possible solutions for our schools, our businesses, those who have been impacted by fires, rising sea levels and climate change. I will work tirelessly to ensure that the City of Malibu offers our children the opportunity to live in a vibrant, sustainable and resilient community.
Issues that I will advance as your representative on city council include the establishment of a community driven visioning commission, significant redesign of PCH to ensure greater safety and smoother traffic flow, and development of a Fire Reserve Corps.
Bruce Lee Silverstein
I Won’t Back Down
I have lived in Malibu for nearly a decade. Malibu’s unique environment and natural beauty fills me with joy and appreciation for life and has made me a better person.
I was born in Philadelphia, grew up in a middle-class neighborhood and attended public school. I was the first in my family to graduate college, which I did with honors in philosophy. I attended law school, where I graduated Cum Laude among the top 10 law students.
Mindy and I met in college and have been married 38 years. We have two grown sons who have sheltered-in-place with us in our Malibu home during the pandemic.
I practiced corporate law in Delaware for 30 years, received various honors over the years, and was publicly identified as one of the top 500 lawyers in the country in 2007.
After buying a home in Malibu, I was admitted to the California Bar, which requires passing the most difficult bar exam in the country and a rigorous ethics evaluation by the State of California.
I frequently participate in city council meetings and often write and speak about environmental issues, public safety, city finance and city hall reform. I also devoted substantial time and effort to help my friends, neighbors and community members recover from the devastating effects of the Woolsey Fire.
Service as a member of Malibu City Council is a natural extension of my ongoing efforts on behalf of the community.
Rick Mullen
Rick Mullen is a Malibu City Council member elected in 2016 as part of “Team Malibu” along with Skylar Peak and Jefferson Wagner, which vowed to return the city council back to the mission statement’s priority of preservation and away from a pro-development bias.
Rick has previously served as a public safety commissioner for Malibu. He was also a past president of the Paradise Cove Homeowner’s Association where he negotiated a settlement between the park owners and the residents, ending 10 years of friction and lawsuits. Rick served as the president of the Ramirez Canyon Preservation Fund where he joined with the City of Malibu and successfully sued the California Coastal Commission on an important local control issue involving the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s intrusive efforts on the residents and neighborhoods in the City of Malibu.
Rick is a Los Angeles County Fire captain stationed at Fire Station 72 in Decker Canyon. During his 22 years in the fire department, he has been stationed at three of the four stations in the City of Malibu. He is a leadership instructor for the County Fire Department’s Wildland Academy.
Rick is a veteran of the Marine Corps and served as a squadron commander in Afghanistan in 2004 and is also a Gulf War veteran. Rick came to Malibu just before cityhood and is married to Jenny Ball, a lifelong Malibu resident.
Mark Wetton
I first arrived in Malibu in the winter of 1978 to attend Pepperdine University (BA ‘81). It was the start of a lifelong love affair with Malibu. As a student volunteer, I helped sandbag homes in the Colony after storms that winter. That led to forming a student service organization called Phi Zeta Chi. Our organization went on to do many community service projects in Malibu over the next decade.
My career has been primarily in the financial services industry (banking, insurance, finance). I have maintained offices in Malibu for the past 20 years. I currently run a family office and do some financial consulting work as well.
My wife Elisabeth and I have been married for 31 years. Lis’s grandparents built a home on Malibu Road in 1953 and I’m happy to report that the house is still in the family and being enjoyed by fourth generation Malibuites (our kids).
Our three children (Samantha, Patrick and Madison) all attended Malibu public schools, Point Dume Marine Science, Malibu Middle School and Malibu High School. Over the years, I have participated in their sports as a coach and parent volunteer. In 2008, I was appointed to the Malibu Parks & Recreation Commission by Jefferson Wagner. During my term on Parks & Rec, we opened Trancas Canyon Park and improved Las Flores Creek Park and Bluffs Park.
My free time is spent enjoying family life with my wife and children along with a bit of mountain biking and surfing.
