All three incumbents seek reelection and two newcomers join the November election slate
By Barbara Burke
Special to The Malibu Times
Malibu employs staggered terms for its City Council, and this November, three of the five City Councilmembers are up for reelection. In alphabetical order of their surnames, they are Paul Grisanti, Bruce Silverstein, and Steve Uhring. Two newcomers, Haylynn Conrad and Dr. C. Channing Frykman, are also vying for council seats.
The Malibu Times sat down with each of them to discuss their qualifications and their City Council leadership goals.
Collaborative, not combative: Paul Grisanti seeks a more cooperative focus on the council and prioritizes fire and PCH safety, crime and the homeless.
Noting that he has served on the City Council for the past four years, including 19 months as the mayor, Paul Grisanti states that the city has greatly progressed on many fronts, yet there is still much work to be done.
“Our number one responsibility has always been public safety.” Grisanti said, noting that he joined his neighborhood fire brigade over four years ago and is a member of Arson Watch.
“The number of fire brigades has grown and will be further increased significantly, which should help our community and serve as a force multiplier for our fire department during this, and future fire seasons,” he stated, adding that the city’s “beacon boxes” contain valuable neighborhood specific information for “out of town” fire department personnel who may be dispatched to our community in an emergency.
Given that SMMUSD is the only remaining noncontiguous school district in the state and that such districts are no longer allowed, he expressed measured optimism that the school separation will occur.
“We have a good team of people working toward creating our district, but special legislation will be required to approve a reallocation of tax proceeds per the Tax Assessor,” he said.
“As for the terrible loss of life on PCH, the hiring of California Highway Patrol and the installation of speed cameras should further reduce speeding,” Grisanti said. “No matter what we do, until we make punishment fit the crime, we will continue to see the innocent loss of life, which is why I introduced a resolution calling for the loss of a driver’s license for those guilty of excessive speeding.”
Grisanti discussed his differences with some others on the City Council.
“I don’t believe developers are taking over our city as some would have the voters believe,” he said. “The fact is that inthe past four years, only one planning approval has been granted for a commercial development of any size within the city and that was for conversion of an existing office building to a moderate sized hotel in a commercially zoned district.” The one city approval was for the Sea View Hotel.
It is Grisanti’s hope that by allowing some overnight dwellings, the Coastal Commission will be more willing to support a city reduction in the daily rental of homes.
“Short-term rentals are a far greater threat to the quality of our residential areas than a hotel or motel in a commercial district,” he said. “The big problem is the Coastal Commission doesn’t think Malibu has enough hotels or motels for visitors and the construction of the Sea View Hotel should help.”
Finally, Grisanti stressed that he believes “in being collaborative, not combative,” when working on the council and that“the relentless attacks on city staff by some members of the City Council and their appointees are unprofessional and unwarranted. Their disrespect towards other governmental bodies, whose support we need, is counterproductive.”
Bruce Silverstein sees benefits to reelecting an incumbent and to having an attorney on the council
Stating that the city must continue to stridently work on efforts to improve the safety of PCH, Bruce Silverstein also prioritizes protecting Malibu’s rural environment: “I’ve done a lot to protect our environment while serving on the counsel and doing so is a very important objective of mine.”
Addressing his voting record concerning land use appeals, he stated, “There are false beliefs that I vote to deny land-use appeals and that is simply not the case. I voted with the majority of the council 13 out of 16 times with regard todenials of such appeals, in addition to my votes in instances where there were unanimously denied appeals.”
In Silverstein’s opinion, fiscal responsibility is very important, although he doesn’t hesitate to vote for allocating funds for the needs of residents when appropriate. “We have a healthy fiscal reserve,” he said, commenting that it is better to deal with preparing for how the local government will function in times of disaster.
He notes that as a member of the administrative and finance committee, he has advocated spending funds to benefit the schools, most notably providing seed money for the PTSA’s endowment fund to benefit arts and extracurricular opportunities for public school children.
Silverstein thinks that it is important for a city council to have an attorney member and notes he is the only lawyer to serve in the last decade.
“It’s very rare not to have an attorney on the council, and every council within a 10- to 20-mile radius of Malibu does so,” he said. “An attorney on council is more attune to what residents want than are a city manager and city attorney.”
There is great merit, Silverstein posits, to reelecting an incumbent. “There is a very big learning curve when one comes on the council and, notably, there hasn’t been an incumbent reelected in Malibu since 2016.”
Finally, with regard to why he is running for reelection, Silverstein states, “I do so out of civic responsibility only — I do not have a local business here that could benefit in any way.”
Steve Uhring emphasizes PCH safety, advocates clarifications in Malibu’s municipal planning code andexpediting permits for small projects
The urgency of improving PCH safety and making positive changes in the city’s Planning Department are top priorities for candidate Steve Uhring.
“Having the most qualified people in the planning department is critical,” Uhring stated. “Our municipal code is very complex and subject to varying interpretations and, as Lester Tobias stated recently in a City Council meeting, we need to make revisions to that code.”
In Uhring’s mind, smaller projects — such as installing a new water heater or a generator that is necessary for emergencies — should not involve a protracted process for permits. Rather, such permit applications should be performed over the counter with proper documentation, thereby taking some of the responsibilities of planning staff.
As to concerns relating to climate change, Uhring needs the city to be aware of and prepare for such events.
“Why not ensure that the new high school that is being built will be able to serve as a cooling center for residents?,” he queried. “Managed retreat won’t work in Malibu, but we have to come up with an agreement with the state and Coastal Commission to make a smart plan to address the impacts of climate change.”
“We also need to deal with our need to have clean, available water,” Uhring said. “When we have huge rains and the water drains to the oceans instead of fortifying our aquifers.”
Turning to the issue of the local public fisc, he stated, “The city should allocate segregated funds for disasters.”
Turning to the issue of Malibu residents’ budgets, he noted, “We live in a high fire zone, and it’s imperative we find a way to help residents to acquire wildfire insurance.”
Uhring emphasized that his “third holy grail is to keep up the fight for school separation. We have to find a way to accomplish it soon.”
Short-term rentals remains a huge focus for the city and its residents, Uhring noted, pointing out that Seal Beach, which has a population of well more than $20,000, can cap its short term rentals at only 47 units, whereas Malibu has approximately 300. “We must find a way to restrict the number of STR’s,” he said.
Malibu is working on its housing element plan and, in Uhring’s mind, the city’s approach to alternative dwelling units is interrelated to Malibu’s housing element.
“We who live here and serve on the council are custodians for both the present and the future,” Uhring stated. “We need people on the council who will enforce our building codes.”
The newcomers to Malibu politics, Conrad and Frykman, focus on PCH safety and school separation.
Haylynn Conrad’s superpower is seeing the big picture affecting critical issues for Malibu
“I’m most passionate about fire safety in Malibu because we are so vulnerable here, and the town can go up in smoke before our eyes and if that happened, we would no longer have a city to fight for,” said Haylynn Conrad, one of the two non-incumbent candidates. “We need to take care of our Woolsey Fire victims — it’s shameful not to do so! Malibu is just waiting for another fire, and without creative problem solving, we are bound to repeat history.”
Conrad notes that after Western Malibu experienced one of the highest incidents of homes destroyed by fire, many of which were approximately 2,200 square feet, many of the rebuilt homes are between 6,000 and 7,000 square feet, some of which are second and third homes that, Conrad states, doesn’t make for an engaged community.
“By allowing the building of such large homes, we’ve changed the nature of our community, which is partially contributing to our declining enrollment in schools because many of those larger homes are not homes with families,” she stated. “With real estate valued at approximately $24 billion in Malibu, I would like to see more members in the community participating in helping to solve the city’s problems.”
One of Conrad’s greatest concerns relates to the unsafe conditions on PCH and she proposes to design the thoroughfare as a local boulevard, not a major highway.
“The White Tires project, while good, is not enough to address our safety and congestion issues on PCH comprehensively — what we do on Big Rock affects Trancas and we need to make smart decisions — I advocate implementing better mass transportation alternatives, perhaps a shuttle, that would help alleviate congestion,” she said.“My vision of Malibu is that it should be a safe and welcoming city now, for residents and our visitors, and that ultimately, it would be a wonderful community for our kids and grandkids.”
Conrad also advocates expediting permit processing in Malibu, noting that she built a home here and waited for years to acquire permits. “Why did we have to wait for three years to get a generator permit in a fire zone?” she asked incredulously.
Greatly involved in the community, Conrad states she has a passion for supporting schools and participated greatly in Advocates for Malibu Public Schools (AMPS). “I also volunteer for Mending Kits and the Painted Turtle,” she said.
Conrad and her husband, molecular biologist and geneticist Andrew Conrad, a longtime Malibu resident, met in New York. She grew up in Coney Island and once modeled for runways and print work and worked for many notable fashion companies. A businessperson, Conrad once started a restaurant on the lower east side for the community to gather in the city and she and Andrew started Sycamore School in Malibu.
There is great value in electing a newcomer to the City Council, Conrad posited: “We need to see all of the issues I’vediscussed as quite interrelated and my superpower is to make sure I and others don’t get bogged down and fall into rabbit holes — currently, we need to make change happen on many levels and empower our community.”
Dr. C. Channing Frykman: “PCH safety STAT; MUSD STAT; resuscitating Malibu’s heartbeat and way of life STAT!”
“As a parent, pediatrician, PCH victim, passionate advocate, and servant leader, I am seeking to protect and serve Malibu,” Dr. C. Channing Frykman said. “PCH safety improvements are of critical concern — our family has experienced two life-threatening crashes on PCH!”
Frykman referred to a car speeding through the intersection at PCH and Trancas hitting her in the crosswalk. “It has been a long, hard road to recovery involving intensive in-patient and outpatient rehabilitation,” she said. “I was the first to speak at the Malibu City Council meeting about PCH tragedies.”
Just after Frykman fully recovered, her husband Phil was hit by a vehicle on an early morning ride in Encinal Canyon.“He has recovered well, but our family is in shock that we both had near-death accidents,” she said. “These recurrent, preventable crashes are far too common in our neighborhoods and city.”
Such PCH tragedies are, in Frykman’s view, “100 percent preventable and I am qualified to help with those efforts as I have been integrally involved in medical, institutional, community, and advocacy roles for more than 20 years.” She has served as a volunteer physician and board leader at a federally qualified health center in the heart of Los Angeles and been actively involved in Mending Kids, an organization that provides life-saving surgeries for children worldwide. She serves as a volunteer pediatrician at The Painted Turtle Summer Camps and fall/spring family weekend that enablechildren such as her own who have serious and life-threatening medical conditions and their siblings and families to enjoy camp experiences.
“My highest priorities for the Malibu City Council will include working with multiple agencies in catalyzing PCH safety to bring the death toll to zero, creating Malibu’s unified school district, and resuscitation the heartbeat and life line of Malibu by creating an engaged community,” she said.
Frykman and Phil, who’s also a pediatrician, have three children. They adopted twin sons, Ryan, 23, and the late Everett, who unfortunately passed away at 14. They also have a daughter, Kristin, who is 15.
“From the moment we arrived in Malibu 10 years ago, our family has been welcomed and nourished by theunsurpassable kindness, hospitality, generosity and support of this beloved community.” Frykman said. She states that she feels called to use her voice and advocate to keep Malibu that way … and, to make it safer.
