Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy President Steve Uhring looks to a statement by a former city attorney that says the two-term limit includes partial terms, which would mean Barovsky’s second term would conclude in April. Barovsky calls Uhring’s charge an “obvious” political move.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The 2006 City Council race has not even officially begun, and there is already a controversy. Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy President Steve Uhring charged this week that Councilmember Sharon Barovsky is barred by term limits from running in the 2006 election. Barovsky, who served a partial term from 2000 to 2002 and will complete her first full term in April, said she is eligible and city law supports her statement.
The Malibu municipal code prohibits council members from serving more than two four-year terms. The voters approved that rule in the April 2000 election, with 65 percent of the electorate voting for an ordinance that states, “No person shall be elected as a member of the City Council for more than two four-year terms commencing with the general municipal election in April 2000.”
However, the impartial analysis that appeared on the April 2000 ballot, which was written by then-interim City Attorney Richard Terzian states, “A term of office under the ordinance that would be enacted by this measure is either a full four-year term, or any part of a four-year term… A person who is elected or appointed to serve less than four years of a term will only be eligible to serve one other term.”
“There doesn’t seem to be much ambiguity about what the issue is,” Uhring said. “It certainly appears based on the language that Sharon is termed-out.”
Uhring asked about the issue during Monday’s council meeting. City Attorney Christi Hogin responded that the law is what is written in the municipal code, and therefore Barovsky is eligible to run in the April election. Hogin said after the meeting that she did not know why Terzian wrote what he did, but said his analysis was wrong.
“The fact that an interim city attorney made a mistake does not create a new law,” Hogin said.
Barovsky said on Tuesday she believed Uhring was playing politics by raising the issue.
“I think that it’s fairly obvious they [Uhring and his political allies] want me out of the campaign to ensure that their candidate would win,” Barovsky said.
Uhring said the issue was something “worth pursuing.” He declined to specify if he or MCLC planned to file a lawsuit.
Barovsky was appointed to the council in June 2000 following the death of her husband, Harry Barovsky. She was chosen in November of that year to complete Harry Barovsky’s term by Malibu residents in a special election.
Barovsky said when a majority of the council members voted in 1999 to put the term-limits issue before the voters in April 2000, they intended to restrict council members to two four-year terms.
According to the Oct. 13, 1999 council minutes, Mayor Pro Tem Harry Barovsky and Councilmember Joan House supported a two four-year term limit for the ballot. Councilmember Tom Hasse, who first proposed the measure, “confirmed that if someone was appointed [mid-term], it would not count as a four-year term.”
The Malibu Times contacted Hasse, who lives in New Mexico. He said he had received several e-mails and phone calls about the issue, and believed a lawsuit was imminent. Hasse said he would likely have to testify in such a suit and declined to comment on the issue because he said he did not remember the precise details, and wanted to refresh his memory by going through all the documents and videotapes of the meetings regarding term limits.
Barovsky said she had heard about a 2001 document written by then-City Attorney Steven Amerikaner that gave a legal opinion favoring her status as an eligible candidate for this year’s election. She said Hogin would have the document. Hogin told The Malibu Times that document was subject to attorney-client privilege and could not be shown to the newspaper.
Deadline approaches to enter council race
Persons who want to enter the council race must return a paper signed by 20 Malibu voters to City Hall by Friday at 4:30 p.m. So far, Barovsky, Mayor Andy Stern and Malibu Chamber of Commerce board member Ed Gillespie turned in papers. Public Safety Commissioner Ryan Embree and political unknown Jan Swift have pulled the appropriate papers from City Hall, but had not turned in the signed paper as of Tuesday afternoon.