Sworn in Monday, Laura Zahn Rosenthal brings years of public advocacy work to her mayoral appointment.
By Paul Sisolak / Special to the Malibu Times
Laura Zahn Rosenthal was sworn in as Malibu’s new mayor during Monday night’s city council meeting. Rosenthal replaces Councilmember John Sibert as mayor, and Lou La Monte has been appointed as mayor pro tem.
Rosenthal will serve a nine-and-a-half month stint as mayor. Every city councilmember gets to serve as mayor during their respective terms.
As Malibu’s newly appointed mayor, Rosenthal said she’ll be expanding the city’s communications outreach, and working toward environmental and educational causes.
The Malibu City Council has a rotating mayoral seat amongst its five members, and with Rosenthal’s turn at the head of the council chambers dais, popularity with local voters is on her side. Rosenthal was the top vote getter in the city’s 2010 elections with 1,607 ballots, and she was appointed mayor pro tem in her first year on the council.
Though a newcomer to the city’s governing body, the longtime Malibu resident was no stranger to the city’s public sector before running for office. For several years, Rosenthal had been, and still is, an outspoken advocate for education reform, having served on the PTA for Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School, and as a PTA advisor to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. She was also Malibu High School’s onetime Shark Fund director and headed numerous other local education campaigns.
Three years ago, Rosenthal was involved with a group called the Malibu Unified School Trust, or MUST, which began researching the viability of Malibu schools forming their own separate district, distinct from the SMMUSD. As recent as this month, Rosenthal, as mayor pro tem, was coordinating information on making a Malibu school district and said that it will remain a top priority for her as mayor.
Rosenthal and fellow Councilmember Lou La Monte, who is now mayor pro tem, have been working with officials from the Los Angeles County Office of Education on the matter, which is expected to go before the council for consideration in the upcoming months.
One major item on Mayor Rosenthal’s checklist in her first few months is to help improve Malibu’s communications practices, through Web site outreach, and to better connect residents and other municipalities to the goings on at city hall. She wants to see more visibility for Malibu via resources like the city’s public access TV station, and its Facebook page.
“One of my goals is to get people more involved with the city, but more knowledgeable about what’s going on in the city,” she said. “Also being able to communicate out and show the world who Malibu is and all the wonderful things we do, and all the wonderful people who live here.”
During her campaign for city council last year, Rosenthal stressed that local environmental problems were some of the most important issues facing Malibu, and her stance hasn’t changed. One of her priorities as mayor, she said, will be to shepherd along the push for a grey water ordinance.
“I’m looking forward to getting that passed and moving forward,” she said.
Rosenthal said she would also continue to be involved in the ongoing Malibu Parks Plan by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a cleanup of the Malibu Lagoon, and the push to adopt a view ordinance. In addition, she said she’d be furthering her involvement with a newer entity in the city – the Malibu Arts Task Force. Rosenthal said she hopes to see a number of ongoing, major capital projects move forth, as well.
Rosenthal said that public safety for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists-especially on the oft-treacherous Pacific Coast Highway-would also remain important during her time as mayor. She said she’d like to collaborate with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and other community groups to bring both education and enforcement to dangerous traffic on Malibu’s primary thoroughfare.
“I really want to make our city as safe as we can make it,” she said. “I would like to see us have a plan in place for Kanan (Road) and PCH.”
Rosenthal is a Long Island native and a practicing clinical psychologist for the last 25 years. She operates a private practice locally in Malibu.
She said she is proud of the volunteer and committee work she’s done for Malibu and hopes that she’ll continue to advocate for important issues as mayor.“I’m really excited and honored to be the mayor of Malibu when I think about where I started,” Rosenthal said. “It’s been a long journey, but fulfilling in every step, and I’m looking forward to representing the city in the best way that I can.”