MALIBU—On January 24, the Malibu City Council elected John Sibert to serve as mayor and Laura Rosenthal to serve as mayor pro tem. Sibert, accompanied by his family, was sworn in by his daughter, Jolie. Rosenthal was sworn in by her father.

In his opening remarks, the new mayor stated, “Reasonable people can disagree reasonably”¦collegiality means a lot.”

Mayor Sibert, who has served on the council since 2008, touched base on issues he believes are important to the city such as the development of a Master plan for Pacific Coast Highway safety, water and waste water issues as well as the need for more activities for Malibu’s teens.

“There are clouds on the horizon”¦it’s important to recognize that while we may be doing well with almost 50 percent of our general fund budget in a reserve account currently, that’s one disaster away from bankruptcy. I am going to continue to work as hard as I can on this,” said Mayor Sibert when addressing the city’s budget problems. “It’s important to recognize that you cannot solve every problem by charging it head on.”

Sibert and Rosenthal will hold their positions until the next Council Reorganization, which will take place on November 14.