LOCAL ELECTIONS: BALLOT MEASURES : Malibu Stars Stay in Wings During Cityhood Stumping

Malibu is the kind of place where being a celebrity isn’t supposed to matter.

In a town where lawyers, doctors and retired schoolteachers share neighborhoods with some of the entertainment industry’s biggest names, people tend to think of themselves as equals.

Some say that helps to explain why, with residents poised to decide Tuesday whether the community will become a city and to select a five-member city council, Malibu’s celebrities have steered away from center stage when it comes to their town’s politics.

“Anyone who expected to see a battle of the stars (over Malibu’s future) must really be disappointed,” said Gary Amo, a political consultant for MCI/YES on Y, a pro-cityhood group.

Stars such as Michael Landon, Olivia Newton-John and others are on record as favoring cityhood. And others, including Herb Alpert, Mel Brooks and George C. Scott, have given between $100 and $1,000 to support the cause. But most of the dozens of celebrities who call Malibu home have clearly avoided taking sides by endorsing city council candidates.

“Many celebrities don’t want to be in the middle,” said Dr. Susan Reynolds, president of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce. “They like to show up and make a command performance if it’s a cause where they can be helpful, but they don’t like taking risks.”

Landon and Dick Van Dyke were guests at a cocktail reception sponsored in April by cityhood backers, with Landon making an impassioned speech in favor of incorporation. Others, including Rob Lowe and Martin Sheen, until recently Malibu’s honorary mayor, made early public appearances to support incorporation.

But as the focus has shifted from a community battle against county officials to rivalries over who will run the new city--assuming cityhood is approved--celebrity involvement has waned. It didn’t help any when, several months ago, grass-roots cityhood supporters suggested it might help their cause if actors and actresses were less visible when they pleaded their case to county officials.

“This is, after all, a small town,” said Susan Shaw, a pro-cityhood activist. “Celebrities are used to being popular, and I think that goes against the grain of taking sides against your neighbor.”

Although some residents had thought, and some had secretly hoped, that an actor or two might run for office a la Mayor Clint Eastwood in Carmel, there is not a single star among the more than 30 candidates.

The only candidate remotely connected with show business is 36-year-old Mary Culbert, an actress who appears in TV commercials, and she prefers to emphasize her credentials as an attorney. Gene Wood, a TV game show announcer, dropped out of the race after officials at CBS expressed concern that they might have to provide air time to other candidates as a result of his appearances on “Family Feud.”

A few big stars, however, have gotten involved.

Actor Rod Steiger is honorary campaign chairman for candidate Larry Wan, who, as a former head of the 2,000-member Malibu Township Council, a pro-cityhood group, is considered among the favorites in the race.

Steiger, whose mother-in-law is Wan’s political consultant, was the feature attraction at a party for Wan held two weeks ago for about 250 people at a private beach club.

“I got involved because I resent the way the county has pushed Malibu around and I think Larry’s the kind of guy who can help do something about it,” the actor said.

The same afternoon, at actor Burgess Meredith’s beach house in the Malibu Colony, several celebrities, including Carroll O’Connor and Jack Klugman, were among the guests at a reception for Walt Keller, another pro-cityhood candidate.

“Some of these candidates want to install Parisian sewers out here, and that’s what I want to see stopped,” said Meredith, who has taped a TV commercial for Keller that is being shown on a community cable channel.

Other celebrities have lent their names to candidates.

Kris Kristofferson, whose son attends school with the son of candidate Paul Shoop, is among Shoop’s supporters. Actress Ali MacGraw, who no longer lives in Malibu but is a popular figure there as a result of her past civic involvement, wrote a letter endorsing candidate Mike Caggiano.

Olivia Newton-John, TV producer Jerry Weintraub and his wife, actress Jane Morgan Weintraub, are supporting candidate Joan House. Several other celebrities, including Bob Newhart, O’Connor and James Whitmore, have donated money to one candidate or another.

Yet, while those in the race who have celebrities in their corner say they’re glad to have them, none of the candidates admit to seeking them out. Indeed, most appear uncomfortable even talking about the subject.

“It’s nice to have one or two celebrities backing you, but you don’t want to overdo it, or it begins to look like your campaign is relying too much on glitz,” said one city council hopeful.

Others question whether involvement by big stars in a town accustomed to celebrities makes any difference.

“People in other places won’t understand this,” said pro-cityhood activist Shaw, “but once you’re used to seeing movie stars at the supermarket, they begin to lose their impact.”MALIBU CITYHOOD: STARS’ ROLES