On Tuesday, Malibu residents will be asked to vote for two candidates for City Council. Below are profiles of the five candidates.
Ed Gillespie
Age: 58
Occupation: Yacht salesman
Bio: Ed Gillespie is new to the political scene. He has served on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors since 2003, and has never been a member of any city commission or committee. A Malibu resident since 2003, Gillespie said he was inspired to run for council because of his desire for a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s station to be built in Malibu.
Gillespie calls himself a “middle of the road candidate” and said he supports a slow-growth approach toward development.
Quote: “They [the council members] pretty much have an idea of how things work and how they will continue to work, and there is going to be no challenge. When I get in there, at least there will be one vote for when a new idea comes up.”
John Mazza
Age: 60
Occupation: Head of a local brokerage firm
Bio: John Mazza is involved with several community associations and has been a regular at City Council and Planning Commission meetings during the past several years. He is a vocal opponent of the incumbents, saying they have a pro-development stance. He has criticized the council for what he called a “terrible” job in its handling of the Chili Cook-Off site acquisition. He said he is running because he wants the local government to be more responsive to the people.
Quote: “I want to reestablish a functional city government with good planning and citizen involvement, and that works for the betterment of the residents of Malibu rather than the developers.”
Ryan Embree
Age: 42
Occupation: Software programmer
Bio: Ryan Embree has been on the Public Safety Commission since it was formed in the ’90s. He has also served on various committees regarding public safety and traffic issues and he regularly attends City Council meetings to voice concerns about those subjects and financial matters. Embree said city leadership has been plagued by unfinished projects, constant staff turnover and a general lack of accomplishment. As a council member, he said, he wants to force the county to let Malibu keep more of its tax money and for the city to be removed of the burden of paying for Caltrans projects and policing Pacific Coast Highway.
Quote: “I shop at Ralphs at night because I can’t get through the store without someone telling me they agree with me on what I say and they tell me how stupid the council is.”
Sharon Barovsky
Age: 67
Occupation: Retired teacher and writer
Bio: Councilmember Sharon Barovsky has been on the City Council since 2000, serving as mayor from 2004 to 2005. She lists the acquisition of the Chili Cook-Off site and the likely purchase of a portion of Bluffs Park as the city’s greatest achievements during her tenure. She said she is also pleased with the city gaining land in Trancas and Las Flores canyons, which she said will eventually be turned into fully developed parks. Barovsky said she is running again because she wants to see the development of those parks completed. Other accomplishments the city has made during Barovsky’s tenure, the council member said, include putting the city’s “financial house in order” and increasing the amount of money it gives to the local school district.
Quote: “We didn’t have one city park when I came on the council. By the end of this month, we’ll have four city parks.”
Andy Stern
Age: 52
Occupation: Realtor
Bio: Mayor Andy Stern has been on the council since 2002, serving as mayor the past year. He said the greatest accomplishments during his time in office were the municipal acquisition of the Chili Cook-Off site, the likely acquisition of a portion of Bluffs Park, the approval of the construction of a storm water treatment facility in the Civic Center area, improved cooperation with state agencies and an increase in city support for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
Stern said he is running for reelection because he wants to complete the things he and the other council members have been working on.
Quote: “People want to criticize that we paid too much, we paid too little; we should have done this, we shouldn’t have done that. The bottom line is we own [the] Chili Cook-Off [site].”