Weeks after being knocked out of the race for LA County’s Third District Supervisor, former Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich endorsed Bobby Shriver on Wednesday.
Ulich made her announcement during a small event in front of the Malibu Library where supporters from both camps gathered to hear the endorsement.
“What I like about Bobby is that he is here to encourage others to get involved,” Ulich said.Â
Ulich and Shriver were jovial throughout the ceremony, and said they had become close after participating in about 20 debates leading up to the June primary. Through those debates, Ulich said she got to know Shriver and support his ideas.
“We need you to take that quality of smart government, not big government, to the county,” she told a beaming Shriver.
Shriver is set to face off against former State Sen. Sheila Kuehl in the county’s November election to replace the termed-out Zev Yaroslavsky. Shriver, a former Santa Monica mayor, took a swipe at Kuehl as he reflected on how he and Ulich were first drawn to public service — through local City Council offices.
“Sheila calls it ‘part-time’ work,” Shriver said. “But we [Ulich and Shriver] both rebelled in the same way. We ran for office.”
If elected, Shriver said he wants to keep a local feel at the county level.
“We’re going to really make it an agency that listens to local people.”Â
John Duran, a West Hollywood City Councilman who was also knocked out of the supervisor race last month, has thrown his support behind Shriver as well.Â
“Sheila has been a great legislator. But it’s time for new ideas, fresh ideas, local government ideas and not a retread of Sacramento ideas,” Duran said in his endorsement.
In the June 3 primary, from which the top two candidates advanced to the November election, Kuehl received 36.2% of while Shriver finished with 28.8%. The fall election is scheduled for November 4.
Yaroslavsky has served 20 years as county supervisor for the Westside, representing more than 2 million constituents.Â