New kids on the block

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The 12th Malibu City Council: Joan House, Lou La Monte, Laura Rosenthal, Skylar Peak and John Sibert. See Photos page for more photos.

Skylar Peak, Joan House and a re-elected John Sibert join Laura Rosenthal and Lou La Monte to form the 12th Malibu City Council.

By Knowles Adkisson / Associate Editor

City Hall was packed Monday night as the 11th Malibu City Council passed the baton to a new generation of leaders. Outgoing City Councilmembers Pamela Conley Ulich and Jefferson Wagner were honored by their colleagues and recognized by state and local elected officials. Incoming councilmembers Joan House and Skylar Peak, as well as the re-elected John Sibert, were then sworn in by family members to officially take their seats on the 12th Malibu City Council.

Ulich and Wagner departed after eight and four years on the council, respectively, a tenure that saw many changes take place in Malibu. Ulich was lauded for her important contributions, including promoting a playground and mural at the Michael Landon Center, the CineMalibu series of movies at Bluffs Park, and helping to bring the Malibu Marathon and the Nautica Triathlon to town. No contribution, however, was greater than her almost single-handed efforts to renovate the Malibu Library, which reopened Sunday after years of work and $6 million in renovations. Ulich helped secure funds for the renovations when she discovered in 2004 that nearly a half million dollars Malibu had been paying in property taxes per year was not being spent on services within the city, but was going to other areas of the county’s library system. She then served on the county library commission to help shepherd the process through.

“Yesterday was a fitting culmination to your last day in office,” Mayor Pro Tem Lou La Monte said. “The library that you were so, so instrumental in making happen is just a wonderful addition to our community.”

Ulich thanked her family, friends and colleagues in her closing remarks as a councilmember, and also played a video with pictures of Malibu residents taken during her tenure.

“We may have our differences, but the only thing that matters in life is each other,” Ulich said.

Wagner, a surfer and noted environmentalist, was honored for his role in delivering new facilities to improve water quality in Malibu, including Legacy Park and a stormwater treatment facility in Paradise Cove, as well as his efforts in getting Surfrider Beach named as the world’s first surfing preserve.

But Wagner said he was most proud of serving on the committee that successfully crafted a master plan for a trails system to connect Malibu in the future.

“This has been my greatest education, including college,” Wagner said of his time on the council.

Mayor Laura Rosenthal told Wagner that she regretted not supporting his candidacy when he ran for City Council in 2008, and said it was a mistake she would not repeat if he did so again.

“You are a gentleman, you are honorable, you are always willing to listen and be flexible,” Rosenthal said. “It has really been a privilege to serve with you.”

Among the many honors Ulich and Wagner received was a promise from the Los Angeles County Fire Department “for lifetime fire engine rides. “

Incoming Councilmembers Skylar Peak, Joan House and John Sibert were then sworn in to begin their terms. Peak was sworn in by his mother Denise and grandmother Phyllis, Sibert by his wife Blanca and House by her son David and granddaughter Jesse, with another granddaughter, Remi, looking on.

Peak thanked his supporters from the campaign, and promised a new direction for Malibu.

“It’s a new step in the right direction for the community,” Peak said. “I really want to bring you together.”

Peak then choked up when repeating a saying of his late father, before composing himself. “It’s a beautiful thing in life when you can either be a participant or a spectator, and you have to make the choice,” Peak said. “So thank you for participating.”

Sibert called the campaign “interesting” and said it was time for the council “to pull together to see if we can take care all of the myriad of issues the city faces,” including sewers, growth, clean water, public safety and schools.

“This is probably the most difficult city of 13,000 people in the country to try and govern, and it’s a daunting task. Fortunately, we have a very good staff, and we have a city council that I look forward to working with and I think we can do some very good things going forward,” Sibert said.

House joked that the election of Peak, who at 27 is the youngest person ever elected to the Malibu City Council, would lower the average age of the five-person council. She also said it was good to be back after serving on the council from 1992-2004.

“For me, this feels like deja vu,” said House. “It is a good feeling. It was my privilege and honor to serve on the council of our then-young city 20 years ago, and it is my honor to again take this seat.”

During her coming four-year term, House said she would push for more recreational programs, for the remodel of the Michael Landon Center and for a larger reserve budget. She also said she would ask her fellow city councilmembers to explore placing a bond measure on the ballot to see if the community would support retiring commercially zoned property in Malibu.