Malibu Councilman Among Nominees For Open Coastal Commission Seat

Malibu Councilman John Sibert is among three nominees being considered for appointment as one of the 12 voting members on the California Coastal Commission.

Sibert, who was first elected to the Malibu City Council in 2008 and was re-elected in April, confirmed that he has been recommended to represent the South Coast area.

"It's important. They impact our city a lot," Sibert said, adding that he spent a lot of time last year meeting with Coastal Commission staff along with former Councilman Jefferson Wagner.

Sibert and two other nominees, Rancho Palos Verdes Councilman Jim Knight and Azusa Mayor Pro Tem Angel Carrillo, will be considered by the California Senate Rules Committee. 

The seat was recently vacated by Richard Bloom, formerly the mayor of Santa Monica. Bloom, who was appointed to the commission in 2009, was recently elected as the assemblymember for the 50th Assembly District.

The commission has 12 voting members and four nonvoting members. The voting members are appointed by the governor, the California Senate Rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly. Each represents one of six coastal regions specified in the Coastal Act. 

The commission's next meeting is set for Wednesday, Dec. 12 at the Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

Sibert, who has a PhD in Chemistry and served as a professor and administrator at Yale, Caltech and the CSU system, has said on many occasions that he agrees with Thoreau that "government is best which governs least." He has lived in Malibu for 27 years.

Sibert also has been a consultant for NOAA, California Sea Grant, DOE, Science Foundation of Arizona and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.