Five Good Minutes: Burt Ross

It is my pleasure to welcome Burt Ross to Malibu Patch. Burt’s column “Burt’s Eye View,” a humorous look at his life in Malibu, will start next Tuesday and will run on a weekly basis in Patch’s opinion section.

Burt, who moved to Malibu three months ago to be closer to his kids, is best known for both turning down and losing money. I learned this recently when Burt invited me to his Malibu home. He was one of many readers who took me up on my offer a few weeks ago to share a cup of coffee and a conversation.

This is what I learned about this interesting and humorous man:

Back in the early 1970s, Burt was elected mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey at the age of 28. At the time, he was the youngest mayor of a large town in the country. Burt became well known when he turned town a $500,000 bribe from the mafia, wore a wire for the FBI, and testified in federal court. Members of organized crime were sent to prison based on his testimony. His story is recounted in “The Bribe” published by Harper&Row and was excerpted as a cover story for New York Magazine. He continues to make headlines as The Record, New Jersey’s second largest newspaper, recently dedicated half a front page story about Burt’s move to Malibu.

Burt lost millions of dollars in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme. He became one of a handful of people to speak out for the thousands of investors who were betrayed. Burt spoke at Madoff’s sentencing hearing, which landed him on Nightline, Frontline, the Situation Room. He has never lost his sense of humor or dignity throughout the ordeal.

Burt was educated at Harvard College where he hosted Dr. Martin Luther King, and earned his juris doctorate degree from NYU Law School. Burt served as Administrator of the New Jersey State Energy Office in the mid 1970s.

I also learned that Burt can write and his works have been published in The Record and The Daily Beast. Burt, who had me laughing from the moment I walked into his door, has a dry, self-deprecating sense of humor. He tells me his columns in Malibu Patch will mostly consist of his humorous observations of Malibu from the eyes of an East Coaster.