ELECTION PREVIEW : 20 Candidates to Battle for 3 Council Seats

Twenty candidates, including a trio of incumbents, have entered the race for the three seats up for grabs on the Malibu City Council.

Development issues will undoubtedly loom large in the first stand-alone council election since voters went to the polls in 1990 to approve cityhood and select a five-member City Council.

But observers say that winning the April 14 election may depend on which, if either, of two City Council factions has won the hearts and minds of voters.

Although comprised completely of slow-growth advocates, the City Council has become increasingly polarized in recent months, with Mayor Larry Wan and council members Mike Caggiano and Missy Zeitsoff often at odds with Walt Keller and Carolyn Van Horn.

Critics complain that petty differences have interfered with the group’s ability to govern, and some predict that the April vote will be as much a referendum on the council’s performance as it is a chance to debate issues.

Caggiano, Zeitsoff and Van Horn all face reelection.

Among the challengers are two candidates who posted decent showings the first time around in a field of 30 candidates.

Frank Basso, a pharmacist, finished seventh in 1990, and Joan House, a businesswoman, finished eighth, although neither garnered much more than half the votes of any of the winners.

Jeffrey Kramer, a lawyer who helped in Malibu’s legal battle with Los Angeles County over cityhood, and Charles (Chip) Post, a lawyer and former mayor of Hermosa Beach, are among the first-time challengers.

Among the other contenders are four candidates who finished well back in the pack in the 1990 election: Jack Corrodi, Paul Grisanti, Dennis Sinclair and Paula Login.

The other candidates are Sam Birenbaum, a 1990 write-in candidate, and newcomers Greg Ball, Kim DeVane, Emily Harlow, Jeffrey Jennings, C. J. Kraft, Edward Roberts, Charles Stern and Jefferson (Zuma Jay) Wagner.

Malibu’s City Council infighting has escalated since September, when the majority faction moved to oust Keller as mayor and replace him with Wan just five months after incorporation.

Since then, Keller’s supporters have targeted Caggiano and Zietsoff for defeat.

Against the backdrop of personal feuding, a long-awaited report by a consultant hired by the city to come up with an alternative to the county’s $43-million sewer plan is expected to be unveiled about a month before the vote.

The report, by Peter Warshall & Associates, may prove to be a lightning rod for the campaign, depending on whether the council embraces it, or whether it becomes another source of disharmony.