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At a recent candidate forum in Point Dume, sparks started flying early when candidate Jefferson Wagner indirectly called out the only incumbent running for Malibu City Council, current Mayor Pro Tem Pamela Conley Ulich, saying, “you’re going be back into the good old boys if the appointees of this City Council” are elected.
Ulich shot back, “With all due respect to Jay, last time I checked, I’m not a good old boy … I’m a bad young girl.”
As the unique reply shows, Ulich is not the average political type most connect with local government.
At the age of 41, Ulich has been the youngest councilmember in her four years on the City Council, and is also the youngest candidate in the 2008 race — but her relative youth doesn’t mean she is short on accomplishments in her 12 years since moving to Malibu.
But her coming out party, of sorts, occurred when the Canyon Fire threatened the city. With Mayor Jeff Jennings out of town on business, it was suddenly Ulich that had to step up to help coordinate the emergency operations — giving updates to residents (and the rest of the worldwide TV audience) alongside Governor Schwarzenegger.
With a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from UC San Diego and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland Law School, her strong educational background propelled her to take on important positions in the legal world — notably as litigation supervisor for the Screen Actors Guild, associate general counsel for the Directors Guild of America. She then opened her own law firm here in Malibu in 2002.
Ulich also has ties to Pepperdine, teaching classes in Labor Law and Selected Issues in Entertainment Law and the Hollywood Entertainment Guilds as an adjunct professor at the Law School. She also frequently serves as a judge for the National Entertainment Moot Court Competition.
Ulich has been a described by many, including herself, to have independent political leanings, and has not been considered overly partisan in her four years serving on the City Council.
As mayor pro tem, she feels that she is more experienced than other candidates regarding the issues Malibu faces. She takes the approach of emphasizing preservation and protection in her decision-making and indicated those two ideals to be why she decided to serve in the first place.
Some of the issues Ulich took on in her first term include an ordinance to limit retail stores (which was not approved), working to purchase the land for the Legacy Park Project and Bluffs Park, an ordinance requiring mandatory septic tank inspections in every real estate transaction that is made in the city, and creating the reverse 911 warning system in the case of an emergency.
She has also advocated her environmental work while on the council — including the new storm water treatment center at the Civic Center, the pending Legacy Park Project and the recent improvements to Cross Creek Road in the heart of Malibu.
Another major issue Ulich pledges to take on involves addressing the explosion of high-end retail and skyrocketing rents that are proving too high for the service industry to be able to afford. She advocates, in addition to the retail limitation ordinance, that a campaign called “Shop Malibu” be implemented to show residents the importance of these local businesses in their service to the community.
And as the only candidate on the current City Council to vote for banning overnight camping within city limits, Ulich has taken a very strong position on this issue, which has been perhaps the most controversial issue the town has recently faced.
Ulich is seen as the frontrunner in the April 8 election, with support from many on the current council and even those opposed to certain stances the council has recently taken.
Submitted 04-03-2008
MALIBU, CA
