Malibu City Council on Thursday, Jan. 28, appointed members to a slate of subcommittees that have stood empty since the last election.
Subcommittees consist of two council members who dedicate their time to working on specific issues such as school district separation or environmental sustainability. Those two members are elected by their peers on council.
New council member Bruce Silverstein was voted onto the fewest, with two subcommittee or task force placements: He was made the delegate to the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority and one of two delegates to the Pacific Coast Highway Task Force.
Malibu Mayor Mikke Pierson ended up on the most, with eight subcommittee or task force placements, including the Zoning Ordinance Revisions & Code Enforcement (ZORACES) subcommittee, together with fellow former planning commissioner Steve Uhring. The eight placements did not include those reseved for “mayor,” meaning whoever the mayor was at the time.
Silverstein argued that he should be on ZORACES, and was supported by Uhring.
“Give him the chance to learn what’s going on in Malibu,” Uhring said. “It’s a good place for him to get a better perspective of what’s going on.”
Pierson said that Silverstein, elected late last year, would benefit from more time on council before serving on ZORACES.
“I would agree, but I think it needs some experience because the learning curve is fairly steep, as you know,” Pierson said.
“I’ve been there, I understand,” Uhring responded.
Council left a few subcommittees—parks and recreation, public safety and public works—vacant, deeming them not necessary, especially because Malibu has entire five-person commissions dedicated to those issues.