Pro-Property Rights Trio Wins in Malibu

Although the words “property rights” weren’t listed anywhere on the ballot, residents of Malibu voted overwhelmingly for them Tuesday anyway -- kicking a pair of environmentally conscious city council members out of office.

The election of Ken Kearsley and Jeff Jennings, along with incumbent Joan House, ended months of contentious campaigning that turned nasty and personal in its final weeks.

But it also set the stage for what could be a furious fight over the future of the center of Malibu -- 90 acres next to City Hall that builders want to turn into a commercial development but some environmentalists want to see converted into a wetlands wildlife preserve.

The election eased pressure for the interim appointment of a fifth City Council member to take the place of Mayor Pro Tem Harry Barovsky, who died late last month at 62 of lung disease.

Worried that the council might be deadlocked, two to two, after the election, officials had taken steps Monday to appoint a replacement for Barovsky until a new election can be held in November.

House, Jennings and Kearsley were swept to victory by large margins over incumbents Walter Keller and Carolyn Van Horn.

The Malibu contest was the most closely watched among a dozen city elections Tuesday in Los Angeles County.

None of the Malibu candidates was at City Hall Tuesday night where the votes were counted. But another council member, Tom Hasse, was pleased with the results and with a ballot measure he presented that calls for term limits for future council members.

“I think it’s a huge change in city government, which has been no-growth verses slow-growth,” he said. “It signals slow-growth is winning. It signals the community that they are going to have a functioning City Council from now on.”

Even for a tiny city where voters tend to take municipal issues seriously, the campaign leading to Tuesday’s election was heated and sometimes emotional as property owners anguished over what they feared was the loss of property rights.

Pro-growth factions supported Jennings, House and Kearsley. They directly targeted Keller and Van Horn for defeat, suggesting that the two were responsible for the alleged spying on homeowners by city building code enforcement officers.

They also accused Keller and Van Horn of wanting to ban tile roofs, residential security lighting and what were described in campaign advertisements as “politically incorrect” trees within the city.

The two denied the charges. But the allegations helped prompt an outcry over city zoning enforcement procedures. Joining the fray were those who complained that the city was ripping them off by assessing fines for code violations and expensive fees for such things as archeology and soil reports before issuing permits for simple home repairs.

In the weeks before the election, council members responded by creating a citizens’ task force to review enforcement procedure and the building permit process. That panel was also instructed to investigate possible amnesty for those who live in or own substandard structures built before the city’s 1991 incorporation.

Among those waiting to see what winners of Tuesday’s election plan to do about the amnesty question are John and Debbie Purucker.

They live with their four children in a 640-square-foot cottage on Point Dume, within walking distance of rambling estates owned by such celebrities as Johnny Carson and Barbra Streisand.

Citing safety concerns, Malibu code enforcement officials last year ordered the family to move out of the wood-beam structure and to obtain a city demolition permit and tear it down. So far they have refused.