Former Mayor Joan House, who served on the City Council from 1992 to 2004, was selected by Councilmember Andy Stern Monday night to serve as his appointee on the Planning Commission.
By Jonathan Friedman / Special to The Malibu Times
Joan House left the Malibu government in 2004 when she declined to run for a fourth term on the City Council. But now she is back for another four-year term; however, this time it will be to serve on the Planning Commission. In a surprise move, Councilmember Andy Stern at Monday’s meeting named the former mayor as his appointee to the commission.
“I selected her because she’s the most qualified person in Malibu for the job,” Stern said on Tuesday. “She has the background, knowledge of land use and wisdom.”
There had been much speculation as to whom Stern would name to the commission after his appointee, Pete Anthony, resigned earlier this year. Many names were tossed around among the political insiders, including those who are thought to be potential candidates for the City Council race in 2008, since the Planning Commission is often a stepping-stone to the council.
As to whether House has plans to attempt a return to the council two years from now, she said on Tuesday, “I have no intention at this time of running for City Council… In life you don’t count anything out. The worst thing you could say is, ‘I’ll never do that.'”
Although House has served three terms on the council and city law limits a council member to two terms, she could still run for a fourth term because the term-limits law was approved in 2000, and only council elections since that year count as terms served under the law.
House said when Stern called her about serving on the commission, she looked through her appointment book, and decided she had time to commit to the meetings.
“I love Malibu, and also community service has always been a big part of my life,” House said when asked why she decided to accept the appointment.
House said she and Stern did not discuss whether she would serve the full four-year term on the commission. Stern said he would keep House as his appointee for as long as she was willing to do it.
House has been out of the city government for more than two years, but she has not stayed away from local politics. In 2004, she joined architect Ed Niles in opposing Measure S, the Santa Monica College capital projects bond measure that the voters would eventually approve. Although she did not conduct a major campaign against the measure, she did write letters to The Malibu Times in opposition to the proposal and spoke against it before the City Council, which unanimously supported the measure, during its meetings.
House’s opposition to Measure S came as a surprise to some because it was the first time in many years she was in conflict with the current council members on a major issue. But there was apparently no bitterness about the situation, because earlier this year House ran Councilmember Sharon Barovsky’s re-election campaign.
In her early years, House worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi and with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, designing a curriculum for Navajo Indians on reservations. Awarded the National Defense Education Act grant, she led a study on minorities conducted at Cal State Northridge.
House and her husband, Ken, moved to Malibu more than 30 years ago and built their home. The couple has two grown children. House served on the Malibu Committee for Incorporation, helping raise more than $80,000 for the cityhood campaign.
In addition to her service on the council, House was vice chair of the General Plan Task Force, which created the city’s General Plan.
House is probably most remembered for negotiating the original Malibu Bay Company Development Agreement. Along with former Councilmember Tom Hasse and former City Manager Harry Peacock, she spent more than a year in talks with Malibu Bay representatives to come up with a deal regarding the company’s many vacant Malibu properties. It was eventually revised to become Measure M, which Malibu voters rejected in 2004.
Council rejects appeal of
Silver project
Also at the meeting, the council rejected an appeal by architect Ron Goldman of a coastal development for an 11,158-square-foot, two-story home on the 24900 block of Pacific Coast Highway. The property, owned by Arthur and Kimberly Silver, has been in dispute for several years, and was at one time involved in litigation with the city.
The permit can be appealed to the California Coastal Commission.