Keller Out as Mayor, Wan Is In : Politics: Council faction cites the need to improve effectiveness. The vote appears to leave the city’s leaders more divided than ever.

Malibu’s City Council voted this week to oust Walt Keller as mayor and appoint Larry Wan to the honorary post.

In a boisterous session, the City Council on Tuesday voted 3 to 2 to replace Keller, who had served as mayor since Malibu became a city five months ago, and was mayor-elect for seven months before then. Mike Caggiano was named mayor pro tem.

Although the new mayor immediately pledged to work for harmony between the council’s opposing factions, the action appeared to leave Malibu’s leaders more divided than ever.

“I think you’re going to see a pro-development steamroller from here on out,” said Keller, in a barb aimed at Wan, Caggiano and Missy Zeitsoff, the three council members who voted to oust him.

The trio had announced their intention to make the change last week, citing the need to improve the council’s effectiveness and saying Keller had held the post long enough.

The council did not specify how long Wan’s term will last. Wan said he prefers to occupy the position only for the seven months until April, when Malibu holds elections, and thereafter have his successors serve one-year terms.

Saying he wanted to remove any suggestion that he may have sought the mayor’s job for “personal power ambitions,” Wan offered to step down from the City Council next April should a majority of the council want him to.

In an interview, he later expanded on his remarks to say he would give up his City Council post at any time during the remainder of his term--which expires in 1994--should a majority of the City Council express such a desire.

Caggiano and Zeitsoff called Wan’s offer “magnanimous,” although Zeitsoff, who nominated Wan, questioned whether he may have gone too far in making the gesture.

“That’s just Larry,” she said. “I see it as a broad and generous commitment by a new mayor who wishes to do his best to abide by public and council scrutiny.”

Keller, meanwhile, said that Wan was “just blowing smoke,” adding that “it doesn’t mean much when you consider he’s part of the (council) majority--for now anyway.”

The division between the two factions dates to before cityhood, when Keller and Councilwoman Carolyn Van Horn co-chaired one community group and the other council members were closely allied with another, often competing, group.

After bickering among the council members about who should be named mayor-elect or even if anyone should hold the post before Malibu officially became a city, Wan, in a surprise, nominated Keller for the post last September.

At the time, Keller understood the appointment to mean he would be mayor until April, 1992. However, Wan, who was chosen mayor pro tem, said the intent of his motion was for the term to expire in April, 1991.

But it wasn’t until March 28, 1991--after the community finally resolved its protracted dispute with Los Angeles County--that the city finally incorporated. The month of April passed without the mayoral matter being mentioned.

Although the three council members who voted to oust Keller insisted that their actions were not intended to be personal, scores of Keller supporters who packed the council auditorium--including more than 40 who spoke on his behalf--saw it otherwise.

Zeitsoff, who placed the matter on the agenda, was especially singled out as a target by Keller supporters.

“I guess we can at least thank Missy for bringing the Missy show out of the closet,” said Dorene Franz, a Keller ally.

As Keller entered the council chamber before the meeting, about 100 supporters cheered and chanted, “We want Walt!”

Many of those same supporters took turns taunting the three council members who voted to replace him, referring to the mayoral switch as a “coup,” and warning that it will backfire at the polls. Caggiano, Zeitsoff and Van Horn all face reelection in April.

Several speakers, however, expressed support for the switch, saying a change was needed if the City Council was to overcome petty differences and get on with the business of governing.

After telling his colleagues that they were “making a mistake,” Keller addressed his supporters: “I want to thank all you folks out there. Your vote of confidence will help me continue over the next several months, which I think are going to be pretty rough.”

As the vote was announced, to applause and cheers from Wan supporters, Keller added, “All right, no more Mr. Nice Guy.”

Wan countered with a salvo of his own in his first words as mayor.

“I would now humbly assume the role of mayor, because in contrast to the aggrandizement of Malibu’s first mayor . . . the mayor’s post should now be approached with humility,” he said.