Malibu Surfside News

Seven Candidates to Vie for Three Council Seats on April 10

2012-01-25T18:17:00.001-08:00

• Secretary of State Randomly Determines Ballot Order for Listing of Candidates’ Names

BY BILL KOENEKER

The ballot for the Malibu City Council election set for April 10 is complete as the nomination period of nearly five weeks of candidate hopefuls returning papers has ended.

Seven candidates qualified for the council race with their position on the ballot determined by the Secretary of State who chose letters at a random drawing to determine placement.

The following are the candidates for the upcoming election in ballot order:

Hamish Patterson, carpenter; Skylar Peak, business owner; Hans Laetz, reporter/environmental analyst; Andy Lyon, Realtor/actor; Joan House, retired teacher; K. “Missy” Zeitsoff, teacher; and John W. Sibert, scientist/administrator. There are three seats up for election.

Those who did not return papers or declined to run are: current Councilmember Jefferson Wagner, producer Bobby Hayward, attorney Mike Sidley, attorney Jack Utter and Optimist Club member and community volunteer Amy Zimmermann.

Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who is termed out, is precluded from running again.

Councilmember John Sibert is the only incumbent. He is seeking reelection to a second term.

All of the candidates were asked by the Malibu Surfside News to briefly state why they are running and what their top priorities are.

Peak said, “I am running for city council to be a participant in the decisions that will affect the future of Malibu, our residents, our mountains and our coastline. My decisions will protect and preserve Malibu. I am open minded and willing to listen to both sides of an argument. Malibu has a small town vibe and I don’t want that to change,” Peak said.

The council hopeful indicated he has a vested interest in a long-term plan for the community, “as I am 27 and plan to be here for life. I am the only candidate that has gone to school here from kindergarten—university, having firsthand experience in our local public school system. My priorities are education, wastewater, safety and fiscal responsibility.”

Peak also took some stands on issues. He noted that he thinks Malibu’s youth will benefit from having its own school district. He pointed out that wastewater is a complex issue, but can be summed up by saying, “Onsite water treatment systems work when engineered properly, evaluated and monitored regularly. And the science is backing this up. I am not convinced a centralized facility is needed in the Cross Creek area as this will pave the road for more development which leads to more traffic.”

Hans Laetz introduced himself by saying, “We have a really good group of candidates, experienced, neophytes and then there is me.”

“I have never been on the council. I can’t match the multiple terms, but have been working on civic issues for five years,” he added.

Laetz said he did not want to sound negative, but the incumbent John Sibert has to offer some explanations on how he voted on some of the issues. “The incumbent has a lot of explaining to do to uphold the General Plan when he voted for 12 variances and waivers on a huge project at Trancas,” he said.

Laetz also said House owes the voters an explanation on her decision to run for a fourth term.

“That is not what the people voted for. Again, I don’t want to sound negative, but that has to be an issue, but that is just politics,” he said.

“But what really matters is there has been a 20-year failure to fix PCH, a failure to demand safe power lines and a failure to provide adequate water for fire,” he added.

House referred to her candidate’s statement. “I consider it a duty to protect Malibu’s environment and its natural and cultural resources so that future generations can enjoy what my family had enjoyed for over thirty-five years. That is why I served as vice-chair of the General Plan Task Force which wrote Malibu’s ‘Constitution,’ chair and present member of the planning commission; mayor, and member of the Malibu City Council.

“I have a proven record of working to end pollution that threatens our water; controlling high-density development; addressing the traffic dangers on PCH; and striving to build a financially healthy city by establishing an $8 million reserve fund.

“If elected, I pledge to demand that large landowners consider the community’s needs, not just their balance sheets; to limit the ‘build-out’ in the Civic Center and Trancas areas; expand our recreational facilities to meet the needs of our adults and youth; create a city-wide shuttle service which will reduce traffic and pollution; and implement a fire-safety program.

“I will encourage civil dialogue and avoid discord which stifles our creativity, and divides our community. I would be honored to serve you, and ask for your vote on April 10,” she wrote in her statement.

Missy Zeitsoff said she has some unfinished business from 20 years ago. “The greatest little city in the world has growing pains, and I have a plan to keep Malibu…Malibu. We don’t need a redo of a perfectly fine lagoon. We don’t need a growth inducing, potentially hazardous and outrageously expensive sewer in the Civic Center. We must work with A Safer PCH, and bring back “Slow Your Pace on PCH.” Seniors need low cost housing, and an assisted living residence.

“We need to honor the voters who, in 2008, voted for an ordinance for view restoration. We need to stop a rapid decrease in our reserve fund, as disaster could occur at any time in Malibu. The budget needs more scrutiny, and belts must be tightened. The council needs to make policy; the staff needs to carry it out. Currently, this isn’t the case. We became a city to have slow and sensible growth. We need a slow growth ordinance, which measures every project against infrastructure constraints, like PCH. These are my major goals for my one term as a council member,” she concluded.

Incumbent Councilmember John Sibert said he decided to seek one more term to finish some of the work he has begun in the last few years.

“Particularly the initiatives on clean water and protecting the unique Malibu environment. We have kept the budget balanced while maintaining a reasonable reserve and still building parks and the new City Hall,” he said.

“There are also a number of issues of public safety and relationships with external agencies that must be addressed in a fiscally responsible manner. I believe that I have the experience that can contribute to successfully accomplishing many of these goals.”

Council hopeful Andy Lyon said he is running because he wants to try to preserve the town he grew up in.

“I feel that right now Malibu is at a critical crossroads and I don’t like the direction that the current council is taking it. We became a city to fight the sewers and stop overdevelopment to keep Malibu’s rural beauty intact from outside forces, and it seems that is exactly the opposite to what the city is trying to do,” Lyon said. “Basically I am doing this because I feel that if the direction the majority of the current council is allowed to be reinforced with more of the same ‘machine’ people, the Malibu I love will be lost. Now is the time to stop the machine.”

“My top priorities: To stand up for Malibu. I want to stop the lagoon project. I want the city to reverse their stance on the sewer issue now that the USGS report is showing that it is bird fecal matter not septic [systems] polluting the lagoon and take that information to fight the [Regional Water Quality Control Board]. The local homeowners will pay for a sewer that will benefit the commercial developers. I am concerned with the overdevelopment of central Malibu that seems to be the direction that the current council is letting happen with going down the road of sewers,” Lyon added.

Patterson said Malibu became a city to protect itself from urban encroachment, keep the environment healthy and intact, and nurture a cohesive and friendly community spirit.

“What happened? Sewers, shopping plazas, parking lots, traffic, bulldozers in environmentally sensitive areas, deadly roads, and community fragmentation,” he said.

“How are we worse off than when we started? Hidden agendas, closed-door meetings, outside influences, and community disillusioned at a city government with a deaf ear to its needs,” Patterson added.

The council hopeful said PCH is deadlier than ever, only the super-rich can build dream homes, community services lack, chain stores threaten to make Malibu a giant shopping mall from Trancas to Big Rock.

“It is time for new faces, new ideas and new energy. I have worked, struggled, and grown up in Malibu, which gives me a genuine feel for the community. My only agenda is to be of service to Malibu and prevent its alteration into another overdeveloped beach town,” he added. The nominating process is whereupon candidates must obtain the signatures of not less than 20 Malibu registered voters “nominating” the candidate for a position on the ballot. No more than 30 signatures may be obtained.

The filing period for write-in candidates is Feb. 13 through March 27. Voters may request vote-by-mail ballots from March 12 to April 3. The last day to register to vote is March 26.

joan house

hans laetz

andy lyon

hamish patterson

skylar peak

john sibert

missy zeitsoff

Broad Beach GHAD Dissenter Wages Online Assault to Air Major Concerns about Project

2012-01-25T18:15:00.001-08:00

• Contends Homeowners in the Dark

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Broad Beach Geological Hazard Abatement District has a dissenter in its ranks. Property owner Paula Kent Meehan has gone on the offensive with a websit—FriendsofBroadBeach.com—that challenges the GHAD, its board and its activities.

Kent Meehan is reported to be a Beverly Hills resident who made her money developing Redken hair care products, which she subsequently sold. She currently is president of her own investment company.

Board members found out about her objections when a glossy handout was distributed at last Sunday’s board meeting and Alan Abshez, a land use attorney representing her, tangled with board members. Years ago Abshez represented the Malibu Bay Company in a fight with Malibu city officials.

Ken Ehrlich, the attorney representing the GHAD, said as far as the board knows, she is a lone dissenter, who owns two homes on Broad Beach.

“She is FriendsofBroadBeach. com, which is sort of misleading. We prepared a letter in response and are going to see how it plays out,” the GHAD attorney said.

Ehrlich said Kent Meehan has also hired another law firm to take care of a nonprofit created to accept donations and a public relations firm Dakota Communications. “There are 121 parcels and one dissenter,” Ehrlich added.

Neither Kent Meehan, nor any representation, was at the city council meeting when the GHAD was formed.

Her website goes on to state,

“The GHAD is planning to expand Broad Beach to create a large public beach in front of our homes without the homeowners first being provided a full understanding of the environmental impacts of the project.” Her brochure says “Our money. Their Beach?”

Just weeks ago, board member Zan Marquis noted the GHAD enjoys “overwhelming support among the 100 plus property owners along Broad Beach.”

He indicated restoring the dry sandy beach and dunes of Broad Beach is in everyone’s interest.

“The rebuilt sand dunes will cover the rock revetment and the widened sandy beach will provide extensive public access along the entire beach,” he added.

There is an upcoming vote on Feb. 5, asking property owners to consider a proposed assessment cap of $400 per linear foot. As noted by the board, the vote is not asking property owners whether they want to be included in the GHAD.

The Kent Meehan brochure challenges the sand replenishment program saying the tons of sand “can destroy intertidal biota, dune plants and other [marine life].” The website maintains the homeowners will pay the entire costs for a public beach without any guarantees.

GHAD Broad Beach property owners Steven Levitan, Zan Marquis, Norton Karno, Marshall Grossman and Jeff Lotman were tapped as the initial board of directors for terms not to exceed four years.

The proposed action stems from the overall plans proposed for Broad Beach where experts have determined there has been a significant change in the width of the beach since 1946.

Broad Beach has experienced variable but declining beach width at a rate of about two feet per year, according to experts.

The Broad Beach GHAD spans the entirety of Broad Beach and a portion of Victoria Point concluding with 6525 Point Lechuza.

GHADs, according to the city’s planning staff, are a political subdivision of the state and are formed in specific geographic areas to address potential geological hazards. The purpose of a GHAD is to prevent, mitigate, control or abate defined geologic hazards through maintenance improvements or other means.

City to Spend $40,000 for Skatepark Design

2012-01-25T18:14:00.001-08:00

• Current Equipment to Be Moved Temporarily to Location

BY BILL KOENEKER

To the thunderous applause of a standing-room-only crowd of young people and skateboard enthusiasts, the Malibu City Council this week unanimously agreed to spend up to $40,000 for design services for a new skatepark at Malibu Bluffs.

Skatepark enthusiasts praised the council’s decision. The call for design services is for a permanent facility at Bluffs Park.

However, this time was not without controversy as another group of park users, mostly seniors, urged the council to seek another venue for the skateboarders instead of Bluffs Park.

Hope Berk said it was too much to add another facility at Bluffs Park.

Jane Hannigan said the Bluffs Park location is “an impossible location” and that other sites should be more closely investigated including Trancas or Zuma Beach.

Council candidate Hamish Patterson said there had already been extensive discussions about other locations and that Bluffs Park fits the bill. “To deny use of the park to any one group would not be right,” he said.

There was a line of not just youngsters, but adult skateboarders moms and dads, who came to the council chambers to express their support for a skatepark and in particular a skatepark at Bluffs Park.

“Think about sharing it with the children. It is a world-class location. If you oppose it, take a deep breath, but keep the kids off the street,” he added.

Point Dume resident David Brotman suggested the design and construction of a skatepark could be turned into a competition for possibly a unique design.

Former planning commissioner Regan Scharr, whose son is a skateboard champion, said there are more children with a skateboard than own baseball mitts. “Skateboards are not just really for children,” she said.

Last year, the city council formed a Skatepark Ad Hoc Committee to address the loss of the city’s skate park. The committee, comprised of outgoing Councilmembers Jefferson Wagner and Pamela Conley Ulich, were tasked with assessing the need for a permanent or temporary skatepark, identifying potential locations with favorable zoning and community acceptance and researching funding sources and costs for new park construction.

The panel assessed several options for construction of a temporary skate park. Of the sites considered, a portion of the Malibu Bluffs Park parking lot was deemed the most feasible location.

Both council members talked about how other locations were looked at, but none proved as feasible as the Bluffs Park since the city owns the land.

“Bluffs Park is the place to put this. The kids are already there,” said Councilmember Lou La Monte. “We need to find a way to build a world-class skatepark. But we need to put a temporary park in now.”

“The staff is currently working on a plan to establish a temporary skate facility at the park, including negotiating an agreement with the adjacent property owner to use a portion of his land for parking,” said Bob Stallings, the city’s parks and recreation director, in a memo to council members.

Councilmember John Sibert said he had met with the folks who oppose the location. “We don’t know the design. We don’t know how it fits in at Bluffs Park,” he said, saying that is what the designers would show.

Sibert asked City Manager Jim Thorsen how long it would take to build a new park and was told anywhere from 15 months to two years.

At first, the council members got into a confusing discussion about how to proceed and what money to spend, but got back on track when City Attorney Christi Hogin explained that what was before them was only a Request for Proposal with authorizing up to $40,000 for the design process.

The council figured they already have the money to make the move of the old equipment onto the existing site at the bluffs location.

During subsequent meetings, according to city officials, community skaters expressed interest in placing a higher priority on constructing a permanent skate park in Malibu.

“The proposed scope of work for the RFP will include tasks for community outreach, conceptual design, schematic design, final design development and construction documents. The design work would include conceptual and schematic design, grading and drainage plans, community meetings to discuss needs and final construction documents and specifications,” Parks and Recreation Director Bob Stallings told council members.

Conley Ulich and Wagner announced at the previous council meeting they had reached a tentative agreement for locating the skate park at Bluffs Park.

City Manager Jim Thorsen said the old equipment is expected to be relocated to the new site and the agreement is being routed through attorneys. The municipal staff is currently looking at the exact cost for the move over to the Bluffs Park.

The city council several months ago unanimously voted to authorize the city manager to negotiate and sign a short-term lease/permitting agreement not to exceed $35,000 annually to relocate the city-run skatepark.

Almost 10 months ago, the city received notice of termination of the skatepark agreement, the new owners including Steve Soboroff needed to get back the land for an Environmental Impact Report that is about to begin on the property for a Whole Foods anchored shopping center. Soboroff said recently a lease has been signed by the Whole Foods Company

After further consideration, Soboroff agreed to extend the use of the property through Oct. 31, 2011 to allow more time for the city to relocate the park.

Municipal officials have always talked about using the parking lot at Malibu Bluffs Park.

However, planners insist the feasibility of relocating to the site is dependent on the use of the privately owned property adjacent to the park to offset the loss of parking spaces.

The committee also considered relocating the skatepark to the west end of the Zuma Beach parking lot # 12.

Wagner said the problem in relocating the park is the difficulty in securing property. “It is not a matter of will,” Wagner said in addressing the critics at a previous meeting. “We are not sitting on our hands. And I agree the park should be for all ages.”

Other costs include moving the ramps, possible fencing, windscreens, resurfacing, access gates and office trailer and utility connections.

“Until the relocation site has been identified, the projected costs are anticipated to range from $15,000-$50,000. Once a final location is determined, staff will present a budget to the city council for approval,” Stallings concluded in a previous staff report.

For more than 12 years, the city had maintained an agreement at no cost to use vacant land that was called Papa Jack’s skate park.

Final EIR for MHS BB Construction Released

2012-01-25T18:13:00.001-08:00

• Light Pollution Remains Major Issue

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The final environmental impact report for Measure BB-funded construction on the Malibu High School campus, released this week, indicates that the project will have a “significant and unavoidable impact” on dark skies, and that the light pollution generated by the development project will create permanent light pollution that will potentially change the “character” of the community.

The draft EIR received 30 comment letters expressing concern over aspects of the proposed project, which includes a 150-space parking lot, lit until 10 p.m. on school nights with 18-foot poles on a bluff overlooking the school, a new library and two-story middle school building and a new drop off area for students.

The majority of the letters expressed concerns over the impact of the parking lot lights on the area’s dark skies.

“Night lighting associated with the 150-space parking lot that would be operational until 10 p.m. on school nights with some exceptions, would result in a significant and unavoidable impact due to the night lighting’s contribution to sky glow, discussed in detail under DEIR Impact 4.1-3. As disclosed on DEIR page 4.1-82, “... Between the hours of dusk and 10 p.m. on evenings when school is in session, the proposed outdoor lighting’s contribution to sky glow would further reduce the contrast of stars and other celestial objects against the dark sky background, which are considered natural scenic resources,” the EIR states.

“To reduce the Proposed Project’s impact, mitigation measures 2 intended to direct light downward onto school property and to maintain the dark conditions of the surrounding area during the late hours of the night have been identified,” the report states.

However, “implementation of these mitigation measures would not reduce this impact to a less than significant level. Therefore, in consideration of the existing night lighting conditions in the surrounding area, the DEIR has made the appropriate significant and unavoidable impact finding.”

In addition to the parking lot and a new access road, other elements of the project include a reconfigured pick up and drop off area; a new library; a new two-story middle school building; two new tennis courts; synthetic turf for the athletic field; and improved waste water systems.

The Final EIR is available online at www.malibucity.org or www.smmusd.org

SMMUSD’s Board of Education will consider certifying the Final EIR and adopting findings, a statement of overriding considerations, and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program at the SMMUSD Board meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, at Malibu City Hall.

Residents Raise Concerns over Lagoon ‘Dewatering’ Proposal

2012-01-25T18:12:00.000-08:00

• Council Members Agree Plans Require Closer Scrutiny

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Malibu residents raised a number of concerns over a dewatering process for the proposed Malibu Lagoon construction project at the Malibu City Council meeting this week.

“I’m here to speak this evening about the 1.3 million gallons of treated water that is going to be entering the surf zone in regard to the Malibu Lagoon Restoration project,” Malibu resident Wendi Warner told the council during public comment. “I am speaking about the narrow window of opportunity to ensure that beachgoers, swimmers and surfers will be protected during the Malibu Lagoon construction project, if it moves forward.”

“I have completely lost confidence in the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the environmental organizations that are supposed to be responsible watchdogs for the public,” Werner said.

“I have poured over hundreds of documents that obviously were not transparent to the public, in response to all of questions, and as I've been looking into these documents I've found that there are some serious questions raised by the City of Malibu,” Warner said.

“The proposed water quality for the sampling is sorely lacking in bacterial analysis and the city also finds that the proposed filtration method, using carbon and resin vessels, will not disinfect. Using only chlorine for disinfection at the flow rate is not recommended.

“The proposed list of constituents for testing only included fecal coliform [bacteria], and all three fecal indicator bacteria must be monitored during the [dewatering] process,” Werner said.

“I ask the city to seriously pursue new monitoring and the best available science.”

“Last year, the bidders for this project pointed out that the dewatering plan was completely flawed,” Werner stated. “[The project] completely ignored the real potential for bacteria to increase during the construction and post construction, especially between the dewatering discharge location and the surf zone. So, this project for the ocean could cause a serious public health hazard, and I’m asking the city to please make sure that this lagoon project is, if it does go forward, that you take a serious look at it.”

Werner told the Malibu Surfside News after the meeting that the proposed dewatering mechanism described in the official project manual is one-tenth the size required to clean and disinfect the 1.3 million gallons of water that must be pumped out of the lagoon and into the ocean per day in order to enable the construction project to commence.

“According to the bidders, and they are the expert contractors that will be responsible for the actual work, it’s 10 times smaller than it needs to be,” Werner said. “As designed, it’s only capable of handling 10 percent of the water.

“[Project spokesperson] Suzanne Goode hasn’t addressed this. She keeps saying ‘we can’t dig the lagoon out with a spoon,’ but they don’t have a concrete plan for the dewatering.”

Longtime Malibu resident Steve Dunn, who is Werner's husband, also had concerns about the dewatering portion of the lagoon project.

“I have had the pleasure of surfing in Malibu since 1962,” Dunn told the Malibu City Council. “The process with which the [lagoon project] will discharge the water with no monitoring locations at the discharge site, sending levels of bacteria into the surf zone, will cause a public health hazard and possibly close the beaches and the surf zone.”

“They propose discharging 1.3 million gallons per day on the sand and the beach,” Dunn said. “The rate of discharge, as proposed, will inadequately disinfect the water before it is discharged into the surf zone. These organizations that receive public donations to be our environmental watchdogs are the ones in fact creating a public health hazard. In the long run, leaving the City of Malibu holding the bag.”

“I think we are all concerned with that, and were in the beginning,” said Councilmember John Sibert.

“The letter that the city sent said, ‘the City of Malibu has strong concerns regarding the project's potential adverse impact on water quality,’” Sibert read.

“‘We have developed and believe two specific areas need to be enhanced by additional permit conditions on the lagoon restoration project: bacterial indicator monitoring during construction and post construction and avian surveys pre-construction and post-construction.’”

“That was just part of the letter we did send to the Coastal Commission, because we had the same concerns that you did,” Sibert said. “I think we can reiterate those concerns.”

“I hate to do this, but I want to read from the same letter John was reading,” said Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich. “It also clearly states based on the expertise and information provided to the city by the agency involved, the city is again voicing it’s support of the project and the commissions’ issuance of a permit to complete this project.”

“The concerns were outlined after the support was given,” Conley Ulich said. “Since that time—we’re going to be working on it tonight-we had a meeting in April 2011 where we did have different scientists testify and there was ample opportunity to take your support and withdraw it and ask the governor to reconsider. I did that,” Conley Ulich said, describing her trip to Sacramento, where she spoke with the governor’s representative and told him about her concerns with the project.

“I think its time for the city to take a stand and either support the project on the record or oppose it, or ask for a reconsideration, instead of just trying to pick out the words that suit your case, let’s look at the whole case.”

“I would invite all of my colleagues on the city council to take action. It’s not time to sit back and wait. The project is going to commence in June. The time to act is now.”

“I wanted to also report that I was informed by Scott Valor of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission that I was appointed as an alternate of the City of Malibu I have been replaced by Laura Rosenthal. John Sibert, who is the vice chair, replaced me. Unfortunately I didn’t get notice from John.”

“I’m not the vice chair,” Sibert said.

Sibert is described on the SMBRC website as a voting member of the governing board. He explained that he selected Rosenthal because Conley Ulich will be termed out of office in April. Sibert is running for reeliction.

“Well, you are on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, decided to replace me with the alternate of Laura. I just found that out last week,” Conley Ulich responded.

Publisher’s Notebook

2012-01-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

• Day One on the Malibu Campaign Trail •

BY ANNE SOBLE

The streaming of this week’s city council meeting—when it wasn’t being interrupted by technical glitches—was an opportunity to see some of those who are now candidates for Malibu City Council speaking as such.

The lone incumbent in the race was at the dais, with access to the advantages that incumbency accrues—name recognition, a carryover campaign organization, a proven donor base, and the potential to implement council actions beneficial to a reelection campaign.

Four of the neophyte candidates had face time during the public comment and agenda item segments of the meeting and demonstrated an ability to speak cogently on diverse issues and work a crowd in their favor.

If municipal voters are going to go to the polls with as clear a picture as possible of the seven people on the April 10 ballot, it is time for voters to try to begin to attend political functions, watch city meetings online and read everything political that is available.

Talk has already begun about “new blood/time for change” candidates versus “old guard/machine politics” candidates. Whether candidates fit into categories along these or any other lines is expected to play out in the weeks ahead.

Interestingly, there are marked age differences between the first four names on the ballot and the final three, although two of the latter are in such clear opposition on issues and allegiances that they defy pairing.

One is stating the obvious when noting there is a tremendous amount of discontent with a number of current council stances. This reminds me of when city voters rebelled against the controversial then-council-backed Measure M—which happened to have been co-authored by one of the current council candidates—that would have allowed major commercial development in parts of Malibu.

When politicians are being criticized, they often try to marginalize opposition by slowing down the decision-making process with redundant studies. Issues can be dragged out until right before an election (possibly after many absentee voters have already cast their ballots) or kept from being acted on until after the polls have closed—classic Machiavellian political strategy.

The opponents of the state’s Malibu Lagoon construction project have made it clear that they will not be marginalized. They have dubbed the council’s recent move to undertake a new study without withdrawing the initial city support of the controversial project a political ploy.

However, those seeking a city measure to uphold Malibu’s General Plan and Mission Statement and protect its semi-rural atmosphere and locals-serving small businesses are apparently being co-opted to try to prevent that concern from becoming a council campaign issue.

Those who were so outspoken about PCH safety last year also seem to have been lulled into repose, but at least three council candidates so far have indicated PCH is going to be a major campaign talking point for them.

Malibuites should tell those seeking their votes that stalling for political advantage is not tolerated. Voters then might be able to rewrite the maxim “You can’t fight City Hall” to read “City Hall keeps Malibu Malibu.”

SMMUSD Approves $225,760 for ‘Soft Costs’ Associated with MHS Field Lighting

2012-01-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

• Community Fundraising Planned to Help Cover Portion of Final Project Cost Estimated at $665,000

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The controversial Malibu High School field lighting plan took another step forward last Thursday, when the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education approved without comment a consent item authorizing a budget of $225,760 to pay for the estimated "soft costs" of installing permanent field lighting at the Malibu High School athletic field.

According to the staff report, the soft costs include “design, CEQA, project management, and agency fees.”

“The total project costs, including the soft costs and hard costs, are estimated to be $665,000,” the report states. “A subsequent board item will be submitted requesting a budget allocation for the hard costs at a future meeting. A more accurate estimate of the hard costs will be prepared after the planning and design is complete,” the report states. A fundraising organization is reportedly being organized in Malibu to finance the hard costs of installation, which the staff currently estimates at approximately $436,520.

The board also approved an additional $44, 886 for Atkins North America, Inc. to pay for “additional services to prepare an addendum to the approved Mitigated Negative Declaration for the proposed Stadium Lighting project at Malibu.”

“On July 1, 2009 the board of education adopted Resolution 8-49, finding that the mitigated Malibu High School Football Lighting Project will not have a significant effect on the environment, adopting the Proposed Project MND, and approved the project,” the report states.

“The approved MND was based on the analysis of a temporary lighting system. However, in October of 2009 the California Coastal Commission did not approve an amendment to an existing CCC permit that would have allowed the use of temporary lighting at the site.

“Their reason for the disapproval was that the approved Malibu Local Coastal Plan did not allow the lighting.

“On Oct. 5, 2011, the California Coastal Commission approved an amendment to the Malibu Local Coastal Plan, presented by the City of Malibu, allowing lighting at the Malibu High School athletic field. The project being proposed is to install permanent lighting at the athletic field.

“The California Environmental Quality Act, Section 15164 requires that the differences between the approved project (temporary lights) and the proposed project (permanent lights) must be analyzed and any new impacts not addressed in the approved MND must be mitigated.

Atkins will “complete an analysis of all 17 CEQA issues analyzed in the approved MND, and prepare an addendum to the approved MND,” the report states.

“If the completed analysis determines that the proposed project introduces new impacts and mitigations not addressed in the approved MND, a supplemental MND process would be required to allow public review and comment on the new impacts and mitigations.”

“On July 1, 2009, the Board of Education adopted Resolution 8-49, finding that the mitigated Malibu High School Football Lighting Project will not have a significant effect on the environment, adopting the Proposed Project MND, and approved the Project. The approved MND was based on the analysis of a temporary lighting system.

“However, in October of 2009 the California Coastal Commission did not approve an amendment to an existing CCC permit that would have allowed the use of temporary lighting at the site. Their reason for the disapproval was that the approved Malibu Local Coastal Plan (LCP) did not allow the lighting.

On Oct. 5, 2011, the California Coastal Commission approved an amendment to the Malibu Local Coastal Plan, presented by the City of Malibu, allowing lighting at the Malibu High School athletic field. The project being proposed is to install permanent lighting at the athletic field. The California Environmental Quality Act, Section 15164 requires that the differences between the approved Project (temporary lights) and the proposed project (permanent lights) must be analyzed and any new impacts not addressed in the approved MND must be mitigated. Contract Amendment #22 is for Atkins to complete an analysis of all 17 CEQA issues analyzed in the approved MND, and prepare an Addendum to the approved MND.

If the completed analysis determines that the proposed project introduces new impacts and mitigations, not addressed in the approved MND, a supplemental MND process would be required to allow public review and comment on the new impacts and mitigations.”

Before the lights can be installed, the district must apply for and receive a Conditional Use Permit from the City of Malibu and develop an avian monitoring program required by the California Coastal Commission.

If the CUP is received, the lights will be subject to restrictions imposed by the CCC in an attempt to mitigate what the coastal panel acknowledged will be a “negative impact” from increased light pollution.

The SMMUSD’s field lighting plan for Malibu High School has been a highly divisive issue in the City of Malibu, pitting residents and environmental activists against sports enthusiasts.

The CCC agreed with activists that the plan as proposed first by the school distract and then by the City of Malibu would have the potential to negatively impact resident and migratory birds and imposed limits to the number and frequency of nights the school will be permitted to use the lights, provided the funding and the city permits are secured.

Local Business Support Efforts Allowed to Wane by City Council

2012-01-25T18:02:00.001-08:00

• Stakeholders Group Assumes New Leading Role

BY BILL KOENEKER

A staff report prepared for this week’s Malibu City Council meeting described as an update on what was once a hot topic—growing and sustaining local community serving business—is being criticized by the resident group that was formed to tackle the commercial development issue.

The update indicates the most recent step implemented by staff was formation of a stakeholders group to provide direction.

“The stakeholders group [consists] of ten participants—five from the Preserve Malibu group and five commercial shopping center property owners/ managers/representatives. Each interest determined its representation; however, the meeting [was] informal and not open to the public,” wrote Joseph Smith, an associate planner for the city, in a staff report.

However, before the council members could discuss the stakeholders meeting the first session was held last week.

Smith stated in the memo the objectives of the meetings will be to attempt to reach a consensus between the varying interests, allow an informal platform to openly share with one another and consider possible outcomes for future consideration by the city council.

He did not name the participants who are the stakeholders.

The reaction in a flurry of emails, sent to Smith from the Preserve Malibu group was less than enthusiastic.

“We really don’t see much point in attending this January city meeting that is simply updating the council—we’re unsure what the planning department will be updating them on as very little has moved forward, unfortunately, since the last city meeting.

“At this pace, Trancas [shopping center] will be finished and leased before any ordinance is created—this pace is simply not acceptable to citizens. We fully understand that the lack of progress is because no clear direction from the city has been given to the planning department to write up an ordinance,” wrote J. Flora-Katz on behalf of the residents group.

The group also questioned why the update was being moved from its schedule on the agenda in February to the meeting in January.

“We see no reason why the city can’t get the info together for a real city meeting in February—where a vote will happen. There’ll be a meeting with developers in the next few weeks. It is highly unlikely in [one month] that they agree to anything—or at least much of anything. Our proposal is ready. You know, we know what the citizens are asking for. It’s very clear. In reality this city effort is not dependent on an agreement with the developers. Would be nice, but not required and should not hold up a vote,” Katz and the group responded.

Smith indicated the update had been moved on the calendar “due to scheduling conflicts with the draft view restoration ordinance.”

At the city council meeting, none of the so-called major stakeholders spoke to the city council or discussed their reactions.

Smith also indicated the staff is recommending to the council, at this time, to not create an independent business alliance and instead use the $1000 allocated toward a community seminar.

“The community seminar would cover a wide range of opportunities to enhance local community serving business in Malibu. If there is any direction to be taken…The city has invited the Malibu Chamber of Commerce to be an integral part of the workshop,” Smith wrote.

The staff is recommending a $1000 be combined with an allocation of $1500 to be allocated to the American Independent Business Alliance in order to host a community seminar titled Strength in Numbers.

AMIBA, which was suggested by Councilmember John Sibert, who is running in the upcoming city council race to retain his seat, would host a one-day community seminar in early 2012, according to Smith.

“Strength in Numbers is designed to bring together the various interests engaged in local community serving business and seeks to build a coalition to stimulate local business and the economy.

The presentation begins with the economic, civic and environmental benefits of independent community based business and some of the hidden costs accompanying reliance on absentee businesses or chain proliferation. Examples are given from successful campaigns in numerous communities to illustrate, ‘Buy Local’ campaigns, programs to nurture local entrepreneurs and polity initiatives,” Smith noted.

The city would provide meeting space for the seminar, advertising and general coordination with AMIBA. The seminar could be offered free-of-charge to participants or by fee, according to Smith.

“It is anticipated that participants will emerge with a solid understanding of keys to successful local business alliances and best practices for a range of activities and campaigns,” Smith explained.

In possibly explaining their own strength in numbers in a campaign year, the group reminded the associate planner that the city was given petitions with nearly 2000 signatures, that are described as “primarily Malibu residents.”

“In a small town the size of Malibu, with approximately 8-9000 full-time residents including their children—nearly 2000 adult signatures is enormously significant and an overwhelming proportion of the adult population. Those voices must be heard and acted upon,” Katz and the rest of the resident group cautioned.

Katz did not speak at the meeting and apparently none of this sentiment was communicated directly to the council. members.

Council members then briefly discussed the matter and unanimously agreed to approve the staff recommendation of a one-day community meeting overseen by AMIBA at a cost of $2500. The council was told the stakeholders group would meet again in February.

City Needs to Double Its Annual Spending on Road Maintenance

2012-01-25T18:01:00.000-08:00

• Council Appears to Prioritize Other Needs over Roads

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu public works officials acknowledged this week at the regular Malibu City Council meeting, the city’s roadways have been underfunded for the last four years or longer.

Based on a proposed pavement management plan the city should have been spending a minimum of $600,000 per year, but has only been allocating $300,000 for annual street pavement overlay and maintenance.

Public Works Director Bob Brager told council members the “good news” is the municipality has not fallen behind yet and still ranks at about 70.

“Results showed that in order to maintain about 70 over the 15-year program period, a minimum annual funded budget of about $600,000 was required,” the staff report states.

Brager explained the city has approximately 45 centerline miles of city-owned streets with a replacement value of about $40 million.

The adopted budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 is $300,000 for street pavement projects. The plan recommends a minimum of $600,000.

A certain level of rehabilitation is required to maintain eligibility for Prop C funds and other transportation grants, according to city officials.

Brager said there are four streets that “are pretty bad” and Malibu Road should be the first street targeted because it is heavily used and in poor condition.

During public comment, Realtor Paul Grisanti said the city has been underspending on street maintenance for years. “The roads are not a sexy issue,” he said.

Ryan Embree insisted the underfunding is over a million dollars. “The $600,000 [figure] is way too low,” he said.

Council candidate Skylar Peak said he hoped the council would invest heavily in road maintenance. “I don’t think $600,000 would be enough,” he said.

The council briefly discussed how the budget should be increased, but also briefly discussed how they would have to find more money to do it.

Coastal Commissioners Take Quick Malibu Lagoon Field Trip

2012-01-18T17:22:00.001-08:00

• Contentious Issue Expected to Play Major Role in Upcoming Malibu City Council Election

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

A man in a nine-foot-tall green frog costume and nearly 40 protesters were at the Malibu Lagoon on Thursday when the California Coastal Commission visited the location to hear a presentation on the controversial State Parks’ plan to drain, dredge and reconstruct the western portion of the lagoon. The lagoon stop was part of a commission field trip that included the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s Ramirez Canyon Park property, Broad Beach and a number of Malibu-area beach easements in addition to the lagoon.

The commissioners listened to a short presentation by California State Parks representative and restoration plan spokesperson Suzanne Goode and were given five minutes to walk to the first of three bridges on the beach easement slated for removal in June if the project does not encounter additional delays, before returning to their bus and heading to the next stop at Legacy Park.

Goode outlined the history of the Malibu Lagoon and discussed the 1979 restoration, which removed ball fields located in the area used today for parking, and excavated the current arrangement of channels and bridges. She reminded the commissioners that the State Parks project is “a matter involving litigation,” which restricted the commissioners’ ability to discuss the issue.

“I’m glad to have the commission here,” Goode said. “Some of you were not on the board when [the restoration and enhancement project] was approved.”

Goode stated that the 1979 restoration project “created some habitat,” and that some of the fill deposited by Caltrans during the construction of PCH in the 1930s was “removed successfully,” creating “habitat where none had existed.”

Goode stated that nutrient laden sediment has partially filled the channels. “Vegetation did not develop well, we didn’t get plants. We didn’t have benthic invertebrates. We realized early that it wasn’t working.

“What we want to do is make it a little more natural,” Goode said. “Remember, we can never go back to the way it was before, but we can make [the channels] a little more shallow, so that the channels will have a shallower gradient and will be able to have the zonation of different plants that are tolerant of different periods of inundation, so there will be more diversity.

“We cannot hope to get back to what it was before the Europeans came,” she said. “It’s too hemmed in by development.

“The channels must be reconfigured to allow scouring. The problem with the sediment is that it’s extremely high in nutrients and extremely low in oxygen,” Goode said, adding that the project will reestablish a bank on the edge of the main channel and create a single channel in place of the three that were created in 1979.

“This can’t be done with a teaspoon,” Goode said. “It needs the same equipment used to put [the fill] there.

“We will make [the channel] more natural, shallower. We do have two endangered species, the tidewater goby and the steelhead trout. It’s not expected that [they will be] affected by dewatering. Biologists will watch for nesting birds. Fish will be moved.”

Goode stressed that State Parks has found that “There’s very little circulation, very little oxygen,” in the channels of the lagoon, despite the appearance of lush vegetation and the presence of numerous bird species. “You will not see birds eating when the water is out,” Goode said.

Goode added that “[The plan is] not intended to address fecal coliform [bacteria], it’s intended to improve habitat for fish and birds. A side benefit is water quality for recreation,” she said.

Goode said that the bridge trail crosses through “sensitive habitat. There are pinch points [caused by the bridges]. The ocean has a very hard time, a right angle turn, to get in,” she said.

Goode said that the plan includes improvements to the remaining beach easement, which skirts the western side of the lagoon. “We’re going to improve it,” she said. “It will be very interesting.”

Plans call for a bird blind and education features. Goode told the commissioners that visitors “will be able to view wildlife the way they do now. Habitat will be much better, much healthier.”

Opponents of the reconstruction project did not agree.

A debate erupted between project proponent Shelley Luce, city council candidate Andy Lyon and lagoon project opponents Alden Marin and Athena Shlein after the commissioners left. “It has to be your way or not at all?” asked Shlein. “We’re angry. That’s the difference.

“Another difference is I understand the lagoon,” Luce replied.

“Look how the water is moving,” Lyon told the Malibu Surfside News. “Look at all of the kelp, how did it get this far up the channel if the water doesn’t circulate? It does circulate. It’s like a tidal bore when the breach is open.”

“It’s great that the commissioners came out here today, but I am dismayed that they only wanted to hear one side,” said project opponent Marcia Hanscom, who expressed disappointment that the commissioners were not given the time to walk down to the beach and see first hand the bridge trail and channels slated for removal.

She also expressed concerns over Goode’s presentation. “Almost 90 percent of Suzanne Goode’s data is based on old science,” Hanscom said. “Things have changed.” She added that mud birds are regularly documented feeding by the channels and raised the concern that it may take years for some species to recover from the proposed reconstruction. “Some may never come back,” she said.

Malibu City Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich has also expressed concern over the extent of the project. In a letter to Cliff Rechtschaffen, senior advisor to California Governor Jerry Brown, Conley Ulich wrote that there is “growing public concern that this project will not ‘restore’ the lagoon, not ‘protect’ wildlife, and not ‘increase,’ but decrease, public access.

“Many people with whom I have spoken believe it is a colossal waste of precious government resources,” Conley Ulich wrote.

Several More Council Hopefuls Throw Their Hats in the Ring

2012-01-18T17:21:00.001-08:00

• Wagner Decides Not to Seek Reelection to a Second Term

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council election set for April 10 got off to an official start four weeks ago and has picked up speed as the deadline on Jan. 18, after the Malibu Surfside News goes to press, approached for pulling nominating papers and qualifying as a candidate.

The biggest news may have been when Councilmember Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner announced last week that he would not seek a second term.

It had been rumored for weeks Wagner was considering not running for a second term for financial reasons.

The surfer/businessman maintains two residences, no doubt a burden for anyone like Wagner who describes himself as a man of modest financial means.

One home is purported to be located in the hillsides outside of city limits. Another residence is located within the city. This year when he took out nomination papers, Wagner gave his address as an apartment located in the Las Flores Canyon area.

Wagner not running for a second term means both his seat and Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich’s seat, who is termed out of office are up for grabs.

Councilmember John Sibert is the only incumbent. He is seeking reelection to a second term.

More council hopefuls including two new names Bobby Heyward and Jack Utter have pulled nominating papers.

Mike Sidley pulled papers and announced he was not going to run this time.

Two other council hopefuls, Skylar Peak, who pulled nominating papers last week, and Missy Zeitsoff, who pulled papers this week, have tentatively thrown their hats into the ring.

Activist and journalist Hans Laetz pulled papers this Tuesday afternoon and explained why.

“The Malibu City Council has never adequately addressed the issue of public safety. My three issues are public safety, public safety and public safety. The city doesn’t listen to its own commissioners and the people who talk at the meetings,” he said.

Laetz suggested the commissions could be more effective if there were always two city council members present at commission meetings to hear what is being said.

He noted existing practices tend to isolate the city council from public opinion.

Laetz suggested the council should have more meetings especially to avoid putting two controversial issues on the same agenda.

“The city council should have one meeting on every issue. It is ridiculous to have people waiting for hours for their issue,” he said.

The council hopefuls as of Tuesday who were deemed qualified candidates, meaning they had returned their papers and had the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder’s office declare at least 20 of the signatures on the nomination papers valid, include activist, real estate agent and surfer Andy Lyon, former councilmember and current planning commissioner Joan House, former planning commissioner and current city council member John Sibert. and social media skateboard enthusiast Hamish Patterson.

Newcomer Utter is an attorney with offices in Orange County and Los Angeles. He gave his home phone to the city clerk, which is a landline located in Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach, according to the phone company.

He told a local media outlet he has lived with his daughter in Malibu for the last six months.

His website indicates he is also a licensed real estate broker. He is the former president of Regency Real Estate, Inc. former CEO and Chairman of the board of Nerox Energy Corporation and Tommy Lasorda Foods, Inc.

His website reports he has offered legal services for 30 years and offers a broad range of services from corporate law, securities law, business and corporate counseling to residential and commercial real estate transactions.

Skylar Peak is the son of the late local activist Dusty Peak and has taken over his father’s electrical business Peak Power.

He is probably best known as one of the surfers who tangled with the law after his physical attempts to keep the paparazzi at bay on a Point Dume cove when a local celebrity was trying to surf.

Another newcomer, Hayward is the son of Andy Hayward, a producer well-known for putting together a string of successful cartoon programs that appeared on television in the ’80s and ’90s.

The son is best know, according to web information, as producing a short-lived reality program that thatfeatured local celebrity sons.

Hayward produced the program with another son of a television producer, CBS’s CEO Leslie Moonves.

City Clerk Lisa Pope explained as the nominating papers are returned to her, they are sent off to the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder’s office for verification of the status of the voters making the nominations. They must live in the City of Malibu and must be currently registered to vote, according to the city clerk’s office.

The nominating procedure is a formal process whereupon candidates must obtain the signatures of not less than 20 Malibu registered voters “nominating” the candidate for a position on the ballot. No more than 30 signatures may be obtained.

The last date to file nomination papers for incumbents was Jan. 13, the last date for all others is Jan. 18. The filing period for write-in candidates is Feb. 13 through March 27. Voters may request vote-by-mail ballots from March 12 to April 3. The last day to register to vote is March 26.

Plans for a Permanent Skate Park Site Start to Take Shape

2012-01-18T17:20:00.001-08:00

• City Council Poised to Spend $40,000 for Design Plans in an RFP to Be Finalized Next Week

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council is prepared to spend up to $40,000 for design services for a new skate park at Malibu Bluffs Park.

Skate park enthusiasts last week praised the council’s direction, while details of the plans were not revealed until the release of the council’s agenda packet.

The call for design services is for a permanent multi-use facility at Bluffs Park.

Last year, the city council formed a Skate Park Ad Hoc Committee to address the loss of the city’s skate park. The committee comprised of outgoing Councilmembers Jefferson Wagner and Pamela Conley Ulich, were tasked with assessing the need for a permanent or temporary skate park, identifying potential locations with favorable zoning and community acceptance and researching funding sources and costs for new park construction.

The panel assessed several options for construction of a temporary skate park. Of the sites considered, a portion of the Malibu Bluffs Park parking lot was deemed the most feasible location

“Staff is currently working on a plan to establish a temporary skate facility at the park, including negotiating an agreement with the adjacent property owner to use a portion of his land for parking,” wrote Bob Stallings, the city’s parks and recreation director, in a memo to council members.

During subsequent meetings, according to city officials, community skaters expressed interest in placing a higher priority on constructing a permanent skate park in Malibu.

“During those discussions, Michael McIntyre, representing Action Sports Design (a company specializing in skate park design), presented an idea for a permanent skate facility along the southern edge of the Malibu Bluffs Park” added Stallings. “The concept introduced was for a mixed-used skate plaza that would combine challenging skate features with pedestrian friendly pathways and landscaping amid a skate park.”

The design could include an all-wheel design that would allow BMX and rollerblade uses. There was also discussion of a traditional style permanent skate park in the southwest corner of the park to be used, according to Stallings, exclusively for skateboarding.

Last week, the council directed the staff to return with an item for the issue of a Request for Proposal or RFP for design services for a permanent skate facility at Malibu Bluffs Park.

“The proposed scope of work for the RFP will include tasks for community outreach, conceptual design, schematic design, final design development and construction documents.. the design work would include conceptual and schematic design, grading and drainage plans, community meetings to discuss needs and final construction documents and specifications,” the staff report states.

Conley Ulich and Wagner announced last week at the council meeting they had reached a tentative agreement for locating the skate park at Bluffs Park.

A contingent of skate park enthusiasts came to council chambers Monday night to laud members for the probable relocation of the city-operated Papa Jack’s skate park, which closed last year.

Wagner and Conley Ulich told other council members, who have not been privy to the negotiations, that the tentative agreement is an outgrowth of the last skate park meeting held just before Christmas.

Councilmember Lou La Monte, who acknowledged he was just now hearing the news, said, “ You know a lot more than we have. I heard about Bluffs Park. We deserve a world-class park,” he said.

Conley Ulich said the next move is to issue a RFP at the next council meeting on Jan. 23.

Wagner said, “We elected to do this as a ad hoc committee.”

“Now it is up to the city council,” said Conley Ulich.

The council agreed to attach a Dec. 1 2011 deadline and if no offers were finalized, the ramps would be moved to the parking lot behind City Hall. Members upped the ante from $10,000 to $35,000 after a representative, acting on behalf of Steve Soboroff, presented the council with a check for $25,000 promised for relocation costs and $2500 for a farewell party the city had recently sponsored.

Almost 10 months ago, the city received notice of termination of the skate park agreement. The new owners including Soboroff needed to get back the land for an Environmental Impact Report that is about to begin on the property for a Whole Foods anchored shopping center. Soboroff said recently a lease has been signed by the Whole Foods Company.

After further consideration, Soboroff agreed to extend the use of the property through Oct. 31, 2011 to allow more time for the city to relocate the park.

The council had heard from a number of speakers who each had their own idea of what the city should do.

Hamish Patterson, now considering a run for city council, reminded the council skateboarding is also an adult sport and that the city should consider building a world-class facility that includes new equipment rather than the old ramps.

Conley Ulich said the city had set up a fund in 2008, but nobody contributed money in anticipation of the removal of the skate park.

Municipal officials have always talked about using the parking lot at Malibu Bluffs Park.

However, planners insisted the feasibility of relocating to the site is dependent on the use of the privately owned property adjacent to the park to offset the loss of parking spaces.

The committee also considered relocating the skate park to the west end of the Zuma Beach parking lot # 12.

As a follow up, the city manager and parks officials met with the Los Angeles County Beaches and Harbors Deputy Director Kerry Silverstrom to discuss the potential use of the Zuma Beach parking lot.

“The county staff was receptive to the idea and requested time to fully vet the city’s request before committing to the relocation,” Stallings noted.

Other costs include moving the ramps, possible fencing, windscreens, resurfacing, access gates and office trailer and utility connections.

For more than 12 years, the city had maintained an agreement at no cost to use vacant land that was called Papa Jack’s skate park.

Pot Smugglers Make Another Attempt to Unload at County Line in Malibu

2012-01-18T17:19:00.001-08:00

• Illegal Boat Forays Are Becoming More Frequent

BY ANNE SOBLE

Federal authorities arrested three allegedly undocumented individuals on Sunday for attempting to smuggle marjiuana onshore in western Malibu north of Yerba Buena Road.

The latest incident occurred just two weeks after a major bust of over a ton of marijuana in the same vicinity had put federal agents and local law enforcement on alert for illegal activity off Pacific Coast Highway north of the county line.

The boat and its contraband were spotted first before dawn. A multi-agency foot search then got underway that resulted in the apprehension of the three men several hours later.

Officials indicated that the trio said they were transporting several hundred pounds of marijuana in the panga-like fishing boat and had brought the boat ashore and then scattered.

Smuggling incidents have increased in the Malibu 90265 zip code area of Ventura County in the last two years as other avenues for access to the local drug market have been closed off.

DFG Creates ‘Time-Delay’ Map for Gray Wolf on the Move

2012-01-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

• ‘Journey’ May Now Be Nevada Bound

BY ANNE SOBLE

Malibuites interested in monitoring the travel of the Oregon gray wolf, OR 7, aka Journey, that is now wending his way through California, can follow his trail on a map on the new state Department of Fish and Game website dedicated to the wolf.

DFG put up the travel map on Friday that shows the nearly three-year-old male wolf’s approximate itinerary since he left his family pack in Oregon and headed alone across the state line.

To try to help assure the GPS-collared wolf’s safety, DFG will time-delay posting his actual location on the map.

California environmentalists heralding the return of a wolf may be disappointed to learn that Journey’s latest direction has been eastward through Lassen County toward Nevada. Since one of the animal’s primary objectives is to find a mate and establish territory, he may have decided that Nevada has more social potential.

When Journey crossed into California in late December, he is believed to be the first wolf to set foot in the state in more than 80 years.

Biologists warn that the young wolf faces numerous perils, and say that many of the tales of lone wolves striking out into unknown territory do not end happily.

The DFG map is located at: www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/wolf/docs/OR7-Map.pdf

Council to Hire Consultants for Trancas Water District Formation

2012-01-18T17:16:00.001-08:00

• Funding Mechanism Is to Finance Long-Sought Tank and Distribution System for the Area

BY BILL KOENEKER

Moving forward with the formation of the Trancas Highlands Utility Assessment District, the Malibu City Council is poised next week to authorize the city manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Penfield and Smith to provide consultation for the formation of such a district.

The cost of the contract is $52,500. The district would include Trancas Canyon Road, Anacapa View Drive and the surrounding gated private streets and access easements in the Trancas Highlands neighborhood, according to city officials.

The homeowners within the proposed district have deposited $86,200 with the municipality, which will be used for studies of special tax, utility engineering, bond and legal counsel for the formation of the proposed utilities undergrounding district and water distribution system.

In 2002, the city was approached by homeowners from the Trancas Highlands Association, interested in the installation of a new water distribution system and dry utility infrastructure improvements.

“Since that time, staff has worked with the homeowners to conduct preliminary engineering and feasibility studies. Recently, the THHOA secured a site for the proposed water tank and requested the city’s assistance in the formation of an assessment district,” wrote Robert DuBoux, a senior civil engineer for the city’s public works department.

Just last month, the planning commission approved a coastal permit for the construction of a public water system and dry utility infrastructure improvements in the highlands neighborhood.

Most of the area’s residents showed up in chambers to urge approval for the request. “The entire neighborhood is here,” said Scott Tallal. “This is about fire protection. We desperately need this.”

Commissioners were assured the additional water would not be growth inducing, that it was designed to “just serve the neighborhood,” including 18 new fire hydrants.

The Trancas Highlands Homeowners Association successfully sought a permit for a project, which calls for a 500,000-gallon water storage tank constructed on a vacant lot at 31537 Anacapa View Drive, which is located in the northwest corner of the neighborhood, according to planning department documents.

At the same time, at a separate hearing, the commission approved an application on the same property at 31537 Anacapa View Drive for the construction of a new 11,165 square foot house, reduced from the original 12,731 square foot, two-story single-family home with a basement and attached 640 square foot garage, a detached 447 square foot guest house, a motor court with fire department turnaround, swimming pool and a new 1,950 square foot access road, according to a public notice.

The HOA proposes forming a special assessment district to fund the extension of a public water line from Trancas Canyon Park north along Trancas Canyon Road and within the gated private streets of Anacapa View Drive, Beach View Estates Drive and Foxview Drive. The assessment district would encompass about 66 parcels and 209 acres, according to municipal planners.

Water would be obtained from a booster pump station constructed at Trancas Canyon Park, near an existing Los Angeles County Water District No. 29 storage tank that would pump water up to the new tank.

Fire hydrants, two pressure reducing stations, valves and other appurtenances would be constructed along the public and private streets.

An additional “dry” trench is also proposed for undergrounding existing overhead electric lines and extension of utilities such as natural gas and cable.

Once underground utilities are installed, overhead lines and poles would be removed. The underground wiring is a safety factor, panelists were told.

Access to the tank would be a new 2,250-foot access road up to the building sites for the new water tank and the two new homes.

Commissioners spent some time discussing the access road and if during construction it would impact nearby neighbors.

The HOA will form the assessment district to fund preparation of final-engineering and construction plans.

The water system and utility plans would be designed in compliance with Water District 29, Los Angeles County Fire Department, City of Malibu and utility provider requirements.

Many of the homes in the highlands do not have potable water and must have water trucked to them and stored in tanks.

Most of the homes were developed with wells, which seem to have dried up for the most part in the hilly area above Broad Beach.

Homeowner Margaret Hauptman reminded commissioners that even when wells have water, if the fire comes, the power is usually off and then there is no way to run a well pump without electricity.

It has been a long-held dream of many of the residents for nearly 20 years to have piped water connected to their homes.

Unopened Access Ways Are Point of Interest During Coastal Commission Visit

2012-01-18T17:15:00.001-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

In addition to a quick Malibu Lagoon visit and a picnic lunch at the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s Ramirez Canyon Park, California Coastal Commissioners participating in a Malibu bus trip had an opportunity to view a number of current and future Malibu beach easements.

According to a report published in December of 2011, 67 vertical access ways acquired through Commission permit actions have been opened in the six coastal California counties-60 percent of the 111 access ways acquired to date.

“In Los Angeles County, a total of 34 vertical access ways have been recorded pursuant to Coastal Commission actions since 1973. Of those 34 access ways, 13 (or 38 percent) have been constructed and opened for public use; and 21 (or 62 percent) remain yet to be opened.” All 21 of unopened Los Angeles County access ways are located within the City of Malibu, according to the report.

Commissioners caught a glimpse from their bus of many of the eight open and 21 future access way sites- including a Carbon Beach easement that has been held up by litigation for more than a decade, and blocked by a generator and a concrete wall, and Zonker-Harris, and Geffen access ways in eastern Malibu.

The commissioners had an opportunity to exit the bus and view the open Broad Beach lateral easement, while hearing first hand from CCC Ventura Office representative Steve Hudson about the issues involved in clearing, opening and maintaining public easements.

Critics have questioned why Los Angeles County and the State Parks Department has failed to open public access ways that, in some cases, have been deeded for decades.

Malibu City Councilmember Jefferson Wagner recently suggested that the state consider transferring Dan Blocker State Beach to the City of Malibu. While the Corral Beach portion of the park has been easily accessible and largely unchanged for the past 50 years, a smaller section, deeded to the public in the 1970s, but separated from the main beach by private property, remains fenced off and inaccessible, except at low tide.

Access advocates say that even the open access ways can be difficult to locate and confusing for visitors. Even longtime residents are often unaware of public easements.

“There's this view that Malibu residents hog the beach,” a Malibu beachgoer at Escondido Beach told the Malibu Surfside News. “Most of us don't live at the beach, we depend on public easements, too. I always took our kids to Zuma. I had no idea that this access was here. It's a great beach, it's great for swimming, really calm water, beautiful, and I never knew about it. How many other people have driven past 100 times and never seen the access sign or bothered to stop?”

Whales Ahoy: Grays Are Making Their Journey South

2012-01-18T17:13:00.001-08:00

• Large Numbers of These Magnificent Behemoths Appear to Be Traveling Closer to Shore than Usual

BY KAYLA BROWN

Malibu is renowned for its “27 miles of scenic beauty,” but from late December until April it is noted for the gray whales that grace its coast. These giant mammals, measuring up to 46 feet in length and weighing as much as 40 tons, travel every year from the arctic waters of the Bering Sea to the warm bays of Baja California.

According to the American Cetacean Society, “the gray whale makes one of the longest of all mammalian migrations, averaging 10,000-14,000 miles round trip.” This lengthy journey takes around two to three months as the whales travel from the feeding grounds in the Bering Sea, to the mating and birthing lagoons in Baja California.

These massive beauties feed on small crustaceans on the oceans floor. Grays feed on organisms like amphipods and tubeworms that live in bottom sediments. The construction of a gray whale’s mouth does not consist of large sharp teeth, like the species primary marine predator, the orca.

The gray whale is categorized as a baleen mammal, which means that its ‘teeth’ are made up of a series of fingernail-like plates, called keratin, that are similar to fine hairs within the mouth. To feed, the whale dives to the bottom of the ocean floor, rolls on its side to unsettle the bottom feeders, and draws the sediment and water into its mouth. As the gray whale closes its mouth, filled with 180 fringed overlapping plates, the excess water is expelled through the baleen plates and the food is trapped on the tongue and swallowed.

Although the gray whale spends most of its time under the water, Malibu locals can be sure to spot their prominent dorsal hump back, infamous flipper tail, or notched fin gracing the surface of local coastal waters when they come to the surface to breathe.

In past years Malibu residents and visitors have taken pleasure in the Malibu Pier whale watching tours and received a first hand experience to an amazing array of Malibu sea life. This tour has been cancelled for the 2011-2012 whale watching season due to the large September swell that damaged the landing at the Malibu Pier, according to the Pier website.

Although this whale-watching opportunity is not available, alternative nearby tours are.

Island Packers, the official concessionaire for Channel Islands National Park, offers a tour that departs out of Ventura and Oxnard Harbors and travels out into the channel for a 3 1/2 hour adventure. Adult tickets are $35, seniors are $32, and children $25. More information is available at www.islandpackers.com/GrayWhales.html. Reservations are suggested.

Marina Del Rey Sportfishing also offers weekend watching tours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for $25 per person.

This nature excursion ventures into Santa Monica Bay and provides passengers the chance to witness the giant gray whales in action as well as “dolphins, porpoise, seals and all sorts of marine birds,” states the Sportfishing website. FI: 310-822-3625.

For whale watchers who would rather leave the water to the whales and stay on land to view the giant grays, Point Dume State Beach and the viewing platform atop the Point Dume Reserve is reportedly one of the best places in Malibu to spot whales.

The gray whale is one of the whale species to recover from near extinction due to over hunting.

This massive mammal was given partial protection in 1937 and full protection in 1947 by the International Whaling Commission, and since that time the Pacific gray whale population has multiplied into a population of 19,000-23,000 whales, according to the American Cetacean Society.

Malibuites have the luxury of viewing migrating whales traveling right past their backyard.

As the migration period for gray whales reaches its peak, whether one travels by boat or simply sticks to the sightings by land, everyone should keep their eyes open.

More City Council Hopefuls Pull Nominating Papers

2012-01-11T17:40:00.001-08:00

• Some Prospective Candidates Begin Campaigning at First Council Meeting of the New Year

BY BILL KOENEKER

The upcoming Malibu City Council election set for April 10 got off to an official start three weeks ago and has picked up speed as council hopefuls took their campaigns to the city council meeting Monday night.

Two other council hopefuls, Skylar Peak, who pulled nominating papers last week and Missy Zeitsoff, who pulled papers Tuesday afternoon, have tentatively thrown their hats into the ring.

Activist and surfer Andy Lyon, the only candidate who has returned nominating papers and been deemed qualified by Monday night, launched his campaign by praising council members for reaching a tentative solution to locate the skate park at Bluffs Park.

“I wish it had been here when I was a little kid,” he said.

Just minutes before another council hopeful, Hamish Patterson commented on the skate park. “I am here on behalf of the skating community. Bluffs Park is an excellent spot,” he said.

However, Lyon was not finished with the council and moved on to one of his top issues, the Malibu Lagoon.

“Bring the lagoon project back for a vote. It has never been a clear vote. The staff letter still supports the project as designed. Support it or not and decide whether to pull the letter. Make it clear,” he insisted.

Minutes later, Councilmember John Sibert, who is presumably running for a second term, agreed and announced his own proposal.

“There is so much heat and so little light on the lagoon. The city needs to take a position,” he said, in calling for the municipality to finance a $25,000 study by an independent third party preferably outside of California “to look at the verifiable truth.”

“Let’s get this in front of us. I am not a hydraulic engineer, nor marine biologist or ecologist,” Sibert said, adding there is a lot of misinformation and a third qualified party could give “a good sound evaluation of what is there in the Environmental Impact Report.”

“This is not to do another study, but look at what is there. Do it quickly. When you get new facts, you reassess your position,” he added.

Other council members agreed, but were stopped short from deliberating on the matter after City Attorney Christi Hogin told members the proposal would have to go on the agenda for council consideration.

Mayor Laura Rosenthal, Councilmembers Lou LaMonte and Pamela Conley Ulich concurred.

Later in the meeting, soon-to-be candidate Missy Zeitsoff talked about how there has been no increase in the developer fee program for the benefit of the Consolidated Fire Protection District of Los Angeles. “There should be an increase in the development fee to support the fire department,” she said.

Zeitsoff said the city should craft a program for itself for law enforcement so that new development pays a share for the required increased services.

She said the city should look at creating their own version of the Quimby fee for every new residential development. “Currently the Quimby fee is only for subdivisions. Every new home should be charged and we would have a lot for the parks,” she said.

One more candidate pulled nominating papers Tuesday afternoon, Jack Utter, according to the City Clerk’s office, as the Malibu Surfside News went to press.

By the end of Tuesday this week, Joan House, Andy Lyon, Hamish Patterson, John Sibert, Skylar Peak Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner, Jack Utter and Missy Zeitsoff had gone to the city clerk’s office to obtain the documents.

City Clerk Lisa Pope explained that as the nominating papers are returned to her, they are sent off to the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder’s office for verification of the status of the voters making the nominations. They must live in the City of Malibu and must be currently registered to vote.

Councilmember John Sibert had already filled out a notice of intent to collect campaign contributions, according to the City Clerk’s office.

The nominating procedure is a formal process in which candidates must obtain the signatures of not less than 20 Malibu registered voters “nominating” the candidate for a position on the ballot. No more than 30 signatures may be obtained.

In April, there will be three seats open. Councilmember John Sibert is running to keep his seat, as is Councilmember Jefferson Wagner. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich is termed out of office. Her seat will be up for grabs.

The last date to file nomination papers for incumbents is Friday, Jan. 13, while the last date for all others is Jan. 18. The filing period for write-in candidates is Feb. 13 through March 27.

Voters may request vote-by-mail ballots from March 12 to April 3. The last day to register to vote is March 26.

Malibu’s New Marine Protected Areas Implemented without Hitch

2012-01-11T17:39:00.001-08:00

• MLPA Proponent Announces He Is Leaving Advocacy Group for Position at UCLA

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The California Department of Fish and Game implemented Southern California’s new network of Marine Protected Areas—including two MPAs in Malibu—on Jan. 1 without fanfare. A low-key celebration is planned by Heal the Bay on Jan. 21, featuring a beach cleanup at Westward Beach at 12:30 p.m., followed by a nature walk at Point Dume State Park at 1 p.m. and an education booth on the beach. New education programs are anticipated to emerge as the program is more firmly established.

A legal action filed by a coalition of sportfishing interests continues to attempt to challenge implementation, but at Point Dume, where a State Marine Reserve that prohibits all fishing activities is now in effect from the western end of Paradise Cove to the outflow of Zuma Creek, the attitude appears to be one of acceptance or perhaps apathy. A group of spearfishers observed fishing in Little Dume Cove on Jan. 10 appeared unconcerned, or perhaps unaware, of the new restrictions. Waves, not fish, were the apparent subject of most beach conversations the week following implementation.

A handful of anonymous hot pink tags made a minor stir in Paradise Cove, when they materialized attached to kayaks and surfboards, warning: “Your vessel is moored in a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and may adversely impact marine life. You are hereby given notice to remove your vessel within seven days or face fines/impounding.”

Officials have dismissed the tags, which bear no official seals or contact information other than the words “MPA Patrol,” as a half-hearted effort to generate controversy.

Heal the Bay, which operates a volunteer citizen science MPA stewardship program called MPA Watch, issued the following statement:

“It has come to Heal the Bay’s attention that some kayaks in the Malibu area have been tagged with a notice that states they are not allowed to be moored or placed on the beach within the newly established marine protected areas (MPAs) near Point Dume. These tags contain inaccurate information and are of unknown origin.

“MPAs allow for the mooring of vessels or any other non-consumptive use activities, such as surfing, kayaking, diving and sailing. Heal the Bay and other organizations are involved in marine protected area monitoring, but not enforcement. Enforcement is being conducted by the Department of Fish and Game. Refer to the Department of Fish and Game website for information on MPAs...”

Heal the Bay president and passionate MPA proponent Mark Gold chose the week following MPA implementation to announce that he will be leaving the organization after 23 years to assume a leadership post at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

“He has deep ties there,” writes Heal the Bay representative Matthew King. “He’s been an adjunct professor for a number of years—and this is a chance for him to grow professionally. It's been in the works for a while and he will remain on our board, so we can continue to tap into his expertise.

According to King, the board of directors will be meeting shortly to finalize the management structure of Heal the Bay moving forward. “Longtime executive director Karin Hall and associate director Alix Hobbs, who have been here more than 10 years, will provide day to day management and organizational supervision,” King said.

“So for Heal the Bay, it really is business as usual. The core team of directors will continue to work on upcoming initiatives —MPA implementation, plastic bag ban in city of Los Angeles, the Environmental Education Initiative, Earth Month, etc.”

Whether the newly created MPAs will function as envisioned remains to be seen, but proponents are optimistic, calling the new parks an “underwater Yosemite.”

Boat Carrying Over a Ton of Marijuana Intercepted at County Line Last Week

2012-01-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

• Authorities Are Now Regularly Patrolling West PCH

BY ANNE SOBLE

A 25-foot fishing boat allegedly carrying more than a ton of marijuana with an estimated street value as high as $1 million was intercepted off the coast of Malibu’s western flank by federal agents last week.

The panga-like boat was preparing to come ashore north of Yerba Buena Road when agents from the Department of Homeland Security who are now routinely monitoring western Pacific Coast Highway observed the vessel in the pre-dawn darkness on Wednesday, Jan. 4.

An automobile and a large SUV were parked nearby on PCH and are believed to have been connected to the boat’s arrival.

Four undocumented individuals on the boat and another six undocumented people associated with the two vehicles were apprehended. No additional information is available about possible charges, deportation proceedings or other aspects of the status of the 10 who were taken into custody.

Last September, an alleged drug smuggling boat was discovered in the same 90265 location. Crew and passengers that were taken into custody during that incident are still being processed.

Other recent forays into this area of western Malibu by drug-carrying vessels have drawn attention to its potential as a drop-off site for contraband as well as undocumented individuals seeking illegal entry into the United States.

With land access and South Coast shoreline locations under increased government surveillance, drug and human traffickers have been moving further up the coast.

However, an official in the regional office monitoring PCH said, “We are now watching for them there. Even though the coastline is so rugged in parts that smugglers can enter under cover of darkness without being seen by motorists on PCH, we are learning where to watch for them.”

New DFG Website to Follow Gray Wolf’s ‘Journey’

2012-01-11T17:36:00.001-08:00

• Malibuites Can Donate to Defenders of Wildlife Wolf Program

BY ANNE SOBLE

In response to tremendous public interest in the Oregon gray wolf now traversing Shasta County in Northern California, the state Department of Fish and Game has set up a special gray wolf Web page at www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/nongame/wolf/

A DFG spokesperson said the page will address gray wolf facts and fiction, as well as deal with wolf-related issues ranging from environmental protection to ranching concerns.

The three-year-old male wolf seeking to establish his own territory and find a mate is known to Oregon biologists as OR-7, but a recent children’s competition has come up with the nickname “Journey.”

Journey’s pioneering journey has taken him hundreds of miles to a state that hasn’t seen wolves in nearly 90 years. His dramatic story demonstrates the struggle of wolves as they seek to reclaim a place in their historic range across the American West.

The organization Defenders of Wildlife says it has been working with public agencies “to ensure wolves continue to remain safe in their historic range. Our pioneering work with ranchers and livestock producers has saved lives—of wolves and livestock alike—in the Northern Rockies and Northwest.”

DOW helped draft Oregon’s landmark wolf compensation and coexistence law and expects to work with California public agencies on these same issues.

If Journey or any other wolves defy the odds and are able to establish a pack in California, this will be seen as a milestone in wolf and environmental recovery. But Defenders of Wildlife emphasizes that “it will only be the beginning of a struggle for a safe and lasting future.”

Malibuites interested in making a tax-deductible contribution to the DOW gray wolf support program can go to www.defenders.org or call 1-800-385-9712 .

City Council Unanimously Approves ‘E Pluribus Unum’

2012-01-11T17:35:00.001-08:00

• ‘In God We Trust’ Was Rejected

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu City Council members made a successful attempt this week at adopting a motto for public display at City Hall when they unanimously approved E Pluribus Unum, which is Latin for “Out of Many, One.

In stark contrast to the public debate and council deliberations when considering “In God We Trust,” there was no public speakers or comments, there was no council debate or comments, and the directive passed on a simple voice vote.

The impetus for the motto adoption came about after the last council session when it was split on allowing the display of the motto, “In God We Trust” at City Hall.

Councilmembers Lou La Monte and Pamela Conley Ulich favored it and Mayor Laura Rosenthal and Councilmembers John Sibert and Jefferson Wagner were opposed.

Instead, the council decided they would discuss placing another motto in City Hall.

Conley Ulich and La Monte had wanted their colleagues to consider the matter of placing what is our country’s national motto in City Hall.

“I’m really against bringing this up,” said Mayor Laura Rosenthal. “I agree with John and Jay, patriotism does not have anything to do with it. I feel strongly about the separation of church and state.”

The mayor suggested E Pluribus Unum. “That is a great motto,” she said. Other council members concurred.

Various sources describe E Pluribus Unum, which is on coins and currency, as the federal government’s unofficial first motto until it was officially replaced with “In God We Trust” by the U.S. Congress in 1957.

The phrase is included in the seal of the United States and that of the President and Congress.

Some historians maintain the phrase originally suggested that out of many colonies or states emerged a single nation. In recent years it has come to suggest that out of many peoples, races, religions and ancestries has emerged a single people and nation

According to the city manager, on July 30, 1957, the U.S. code section 302 established the saying “In God We Trust” found on U.S. dollar bills and coins as the country’s national motto.

On Nov. 13, 2002, the 107th Congress “reaffirmed the exact language that has appeared in the motto for decades,” according to City Manager Jim Thorsen’s research.

In God We Trust—America, Inc. was put together to promote the display of the national motto in city halls and county headquarters across the country during the last couple of years.

According to the campaign’s website, 364 cities or counties across the country, including 89 in California, have approved the displays.

However, the motto is not without controversy. For a long time, critics have contended the words are indeed a matter of “law respecting an establishment of religion,” by the government and violates the establishment clause of the first amendment and the separation of church and state.

Critics went to court in 1970, but the appellate court ruled otherwise, saying “It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency ‘In God We Trust’ has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise.”

Tentative Plans Call for Skate Park to Relocate to Bluffs Park

2012-01-11T17:34:00.001-08:00

• Contingent of Skateboarders Praise Council Members at Monday Night’s Session

BY BILL KOENEKER

Councilmembers Pamela Conley Ulich and Jefferson Wagner announced this week at a Malibu City Council meeting they have reached a tentative agreement to locate the skate park at Bluffs Park.

A contingent of skate park enthusiasts came to council chambers to laud members for the probable relocation of the city-operated Papa Jack’s skate park which closed.

Wagner and Conley Ulich told other members, who have not been privy to the negotiations, that the tentative agreement is an outgrowth of the last skate park meeting just before Christmas.

Councilmember Lou La Monte, who acknowledged he was just now hearing the news said, “You know a lot more than we have. I heard about Bluffs Park. We deserve a world-class park,” he said.

Conley Ulich said the next move is to issue a Request for a Proposal or RFP by the next council meeting on Jan. 23. Wagner said, “We elected to do this as a ad hoc committee.”

“Now it is up to the city council,” said Conley Ulich.

City Manager Jim Thorsen said the old equipment is expected to be relocated to the new site and that the agreement is being routed through attorneys and the municipal staff is currently looking at the cost for the moving over to the Bluffs Park.

Malibu Democratic Club Is Case Study in ‘Time-Honored’ Politics

2012-01-11T17:33:00.000-08:00

• Endorsements Have Traditionally Been Based on Who Succeeds in Packing Party Club Meetings with the Most Supporters

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

An audience of approximately 80 packed the multi-purpose room at Malibu City Hall for the first official debate between the three Democratic candidates for newly redistricted state Assembly District 50 at a forum sponsored by the Malibu Democratic Club.

The new district is comprised of Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Carthay Square, West Hollywood, portions of Hollywood, Hancock Park, Miracle Mile, Topanga, Agoura Hills and unincorporated portions of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Gay and lesbian civil rights activist Torie Osborn received 41 votes for endorsement following the debate; Betsy Butler, seeking re-election to the 50th Assembly District, which prior to redistricting, did not include Malibu, received five votes; Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom did not receive any endorsement votes.

There were also 13 votes from members of the organization who did not wish to endorse any of the candidates.

A strong contingent of opponents of the State Park’s Malibu Lagoon construction plan tended to cheer loudest for Osborn, who has expressed opposition to the project, calling it “overkill,” and actively booed Bloom, who is chair of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and an outspoken supporter of the project.

Observers say the response is another indicator that the Lagoon issue may be a significant campaign issue in the upcoming Malibu City Council election.

Malibu issues discussed at the debate included PCH safety and the water board-mandated Civic Center septic system ban.

Several observers said that some of the candidates “still have a lot to learn about Malibu’s environmental issues.”

After the meeting, several longtime members of the club indicated that, while they were not concerned by the presence of large numbers of apparently non-resident members, they were troubled by the rumor that the club received a check for $1000 to cover the $25 membership fee for 40 people, which might correlates with the Osborn vote tally.

“Will we even see any of these people again?” one member asked.

The next forum for the three Democratic candidates for District 50 will be sponsored by the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club and is scheduled to take place on Jan. 15, 2-4 p.m. at the Pacific Palisades Women’s Club, 901 Haverford Ave, Pacific Palisades, 90272.

Musician’s Folk Piano Style Celebrates American Roots

2012-01-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Pianist George Winston will be performing at Pepperdine University on Friday, Jan. 20. The artist spoke to the Malibu Surfside News this week about his music.

The piano is often viewed as a classical instrument, but Winston, for the past 35 years, has explored its range as a folk, jazz and improvisational instrument. He describes his style as rural folk piano, combining elements of jazz, folk, rhythm and blues, ragtime and stride-a piano style developed by black jazz pianists in Harlem and New Orleans in the 1920s and 30s that involves the left hand “striding” across the octaves of the keyboard from tonic to chord.

Winston says that the new age label that stuck when he signed with Windham Hill in 1979 is inaccurate and he also isn’t comfortable being called a composer, preferring to describe what he does as “interpretation.”

Winston's distinctive musical style works brilliantly for the artist's interpretations of the music of jazz composer Vince Guaraldi and The Doors. The musician’s own compositions create a musical impression of the changing seasons, the rush of flowing water, falling leaves, or the swift, elusive flight of a hummingbird.

“I started on organ,” Winston told The News. “I switched to piano, which has just one sound. I wanted more.”

Winston began playing organ in 1967, inspired by the Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek. In 1971 Winston switched to the acoustic piano after hearing recordings from the 1920s and '30s of stride pianists Thomas “Fats” Waller and Teddy Wilson.

Winston’s website indicates that it was during this period of experimentation while he was studying stride piano that he developed his own style of melodic instrumental music that he calls folk piano.

Other sources of inspiration include Appalachian and old time American folk music; Hawaiian slack key guitar, which Winston also plays; New Orleans pianists Henry Butler and James Booker; Henry Roeland Byrd, aka Professor Longhair; composers Frank Zappa, Randy Newman, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Laura Nyro, and longtime friend Philip Aaberg, among others.

In 1972, Winston recorded his first solo piano album, “Ballad and Blues” for the late guitarist John Fahey’s Takoma label, followed in 1979 by “Autumn” for the new record label Windham Hill. Subsequent albums “Winter into Spring” and “December” went platinum. “December,” with its austerely beautiful settings of Johannas Pachelbel’s Canon, “Carol of the Bells” and Winston's original composition “Thanksgiving” that evokes falling snow and winter stillness, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Winston continues to experiment and develop his folk piano technique. In addition to playing the piano's keys, Winston will sometimes reach into the inner workings of the piano to pluck or dampen the strings, create harmonics or cause the hammers to buzz, not unlike harp techniques.

“Harp is an influence on everybody,” Winston said. “I like the sustain, I like it better than organ sustain. One of the reasons I like [the piano’s] percussion and plucked notes is the decay.

“Every instrument has its limitations,” Winston added. “What do you want to express? If you want it, you’ll find a way to do it, whatever the song needs, a certain sound.”

Winston spent much of his childhood in Montana, later moving to Mississippi and Florida.

“When I was a child in Montana there was no TV, and just one radio station. The seasons were everything. In summer, swimming; in winter sledding; autumn, leaves. I’d look out the window [instead of at a TV]. “I didn’t miss it because it didn’t exist,” he said.

When television did enter his life he was captivated by the music of jazz composer Vince Guaraldi, which was an integral part of the “Peanuts” animated specials, starting with “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” in 1966.

“Guaraldi’s music is seasonal—Christmas, Valentine’s, Thanksgiving. That appealed to me.

I recorded each new “Peanuts” episode on a cassette recorder,” Winston said. “I still check through [the episodes]. There may be a 12-second little bit used to bridge into another cue.”

Years later, Guaraldi’s family gave Winston access to the jazz composer's original tapes and handwritten notes. Winston released his first album of Guaraldi’s music, “Linus and Lucy,” in 1996. His second album of Guaraldi’s music, “Love Will Come-the Music of Vince Guaraldi” was released last year.

“I play 55 of his compositions,” Winston said. “More than any other composer” [in his repertoire].

Winston, who lives in Northern California, will be touring for much of the spring and summer. “I tour most of the time,” Winston told the Malibu Surfside News. “I’m used to it. It’s like home.”

Winston uses his tours not only to promote and share his music but to raise funds and awareness for causes he believes in.

In 2001 George released “Remembrance-A Benefit Concert,” a six song CD of piano, guitar and harmonica solos, to benefit those affected by 9/11. Two of his recent albums-Gulf Coast Blues 1 and 2-were recorded to benefit the work of groups such as The Voice of the Wetlands organization, which was established by musician Tab Benoit in 2004 as a volunteer-based non-profit organization that raises awareness about the loss of the wetlands in southern Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina and the catastrophic BP oil spill.

“The Louisiana wetlands are the biggest eco-disaster in the U.S.,” Winston explained.

Winston asks that concert-goers bring canned food to his upcoming concerts, which will be donated to local shelters. Donations brought to the Pepperdine concert will be donated to the Malibu Labor Exchange. Proceeds from the concert will benefit City of Hope’s cancer research program.

“I’ve wanted to do something for City of Hope for a while,” Winston told The News. “They help so many people. This is my only [concert] in the Los Angeles area, so it just seemed right.”

His audience at the Malibu concert can expect to hear selections from the music of Vince Guaraldi and The Doors in addition to Winston’s own compositions. They may also be treated to a harmonica solo, or a Hawaiian slack key guitar song or two. Winston, who is a passionate advocate and patron of the traditional Hawaiian finger style, enjoys sharing it with audiences. “I don’t have a concept of recording [at this time]. It’s not an expression of that instrument,” he told The News.

Winston’s own Dancing Cat Records label was founded in 1983 with the goal “to record both the musicians who have influenced his music and musicians whose music he felt needed to be preserved for future generations,” including performances by masters of the Hawaiian slack key guitar style.

Winston will be performing at Pepperdine University’s Smothers Theater on Friday, Jan. 20, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35-$45.

More information on the Malibu concert is available at www.arts.Pepperdine.edu. Information on Winston and his music is available at www.georgewinston.com

Candidacy Documents for One of the Five Who Pulled Papers Is Returned

2012-01-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

• Number of Prospective Ballot Names Remains at Five

BY BILL KOENEKER

The upcoming Malibu City Council election set for April 10 got off to an official start two weeks ago and has slowed down to a crawl as two holidays came and went.

As of Tuesday evening, only Andy Lyon had returned nominating papers.

No more candidates pulled nominating papers by Tuesday, according to the city clerk’s office, as the Malibu Surfside News went to press.

By the end of last week, Joan House, Andy Lyon, Hamish Patterson, John Sibert and Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner had gone to the city clerk’s office to obtain the documents.

“I hope to have Andy’s back by Thursday,” said Pope.

Councilmember John Sibert had already filled out a notice of intent to collect campaign contributions, according to the city clerk’s office, but Sibert kept telling the local media beforehand he was not sure if he was running for reelection, but he did pull out papers by the end of the week.

Next April, there will be three seats open. Councilmember John Sibert is running to keep his seat, as is Councilmember Jefferson Wagner. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich is termed out of office. Her seat will be up for grabs.

The last date to file nomination papers for incumbents is Jan. 13, the last date for all others is Jan. 18. The filing period for write-in candidates is Feb. 13 through March 27.

Voters may request vote-by-mail ballots from March 12 to April 3. The last day to register to vote is March 26.

750 Manifold New State Laws Are Now in Effect

2012-01-04T17:20:00.001-08:00

• 14 Bills Were Sponsored by Pavley

BY BILL KOENEKER

The state legislature approved 750 laws that, for the most part, went into effect this week on Jan. 1, 2012.

State Senator Fran Pavley had 14 bills she authored take effect on the first of this year.

Pavley’s Senate Bill 61, sponsored by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, is a wiretap extension, a law that ensures the continuation of the state’s wiretap program, which includes both telephonic and electronic technology, to Jan. 2015.

Her other laws deal with rent equity on private recreation piers constructed on state lands. It requires the State Lands Commission to charge appropriate and fair rents for all private recreational piers built over state land.

SB 381 deals with inter-district school transfers, a law which ensures that California students continue to be allowed to attend school in the district where a parent or guardian is employed, rather than where the student resides.

SB 179 ensures that sex offenders identified as sexually violent predators serve their court-ordered parole after their release from state hospitals. It corrects a previous glitch in the law, according to Pavley’s office.

Her other bills address domestic violence prevention, medical exams for juvenile offenders, energy conservation projects and air pollution options.

Some of the other laws impacting Californians include higher health standards for tattoo parlors and requiring school districts to enact formal plans for bullying. The schools have until July 1, 2012 to comply.

AB 0090 requires higher penalties for the human trafficking of minors.

A new law will prohibit purchasing alcoholic beverages from a self-service check out stand.

Another new law will make it illegal to openly carry an unloaded handgun. Concealed weapons with a permit will still be allowed.

Member of Malibu’s First City Council Planning to Run in the April 10 Race

2012-01-04T17:19:00.001-08:00

• Seeks Second Term to Tackle Some ‘Unfinished Business’

BY ANNE SOBLE

Bill Clinton was the “Comeback Kid” in national politics; Jerry Brown played the part in state politics; and Missy Zeitsoff hopes to wear the title on the Malibu political scene when she is a successful candidate for Malibu City Council in the April 10 election.

Zeitsoff told the Malibu Surfside News this week that she plans to pull nomination papers at city hall on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Zeitsoff, 65, served a two-year term on Malibu’s first city council, whose members were elected at the same time local voters overwhelmingly decided to incorporate in 1980.

At that time, the length of a council member’s term was determined by electoral vote count, and a different procedure was in place for rotating the post of mayor. This meant that Zeitsoff, who was unsuccessful in her bid for a second term in the next election, never served as mayor.

However, Zeitsoff says that’s not the most important unfinished business she wants to be able to address.

The longtime resident, who raised her children in Malibu, left the community for several years and resided up the coast. Now that she has moved back, she says she is ready to jump headfirst into the local political fray that she has always relished.

“I am very displeased about the massive overdevelopment, the Malibu lagoon project, the plan for residential sewers in the civic center area, the fragile city budget, and the view protection planning.”

In addition, Zeitsoff says the need to “improve safety on Pacific Coast Highway and address deferred city road maintenance are at a critical stage.”

Another concern that she believes should be on the front burner is “the lack of review of utilities” in terms of daily and emergency needs.

Zeitsoff adds, “Our kids need a skate park, and more playing fields. Real activities for the teens are needed, and I don’t mean more ‘Casino Nights.’”

Generally speaking, the prospective candidate sees “the community as very detached, and the council members, excluding Pamela Conley Ulich, though respectful [of the public] at meetings, appear to leave real governing to the staff.”

In addition to being able to wield the mayoral gavel, Zeitsoff would like to see “a majority of women on the council for the first time.”

As for what she could bring new to the council, she says, “Classes at Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, starting Jan. 9, will be an asset for my style of community and agency interaction. I will be taking Negotiation—Theory and Practice, and Mediation—Theory and Practice. It seems like a good fit.”

Zeitsoff stresses that “running will be an adventure—win or lose. If I win, I have the freedom to be proactive, and to shake things up. I think I can make a real difference.”

NPS Superintendent Is Headed to High Sierras

2012-01-04T17:18:00.001-08:00

Woody Smeck, superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the country’s largest urban national park, for more than a decade, will be heading to the Sierras in April to become Yosemite National Park’s new deputy superintendent.

Smeck has been a passionate advocate for the SMMNRA, described as the largest urban park in the world, with 153,750 acres in two counties. The park service has not yet announced a replacement for his position.

CCC Field Trip Planned

2012-01-04T17:16:00.001-08:00

• Malibu Is on Agenda for Quick Visit

The California Coastal Commission is scheduled to take a field trip of the Malibu coastline on Thursday, Jan. 12, when it meets at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica.

It will be the first official field trip of the newly composed commission, which will leave the beach house at 10:30 a.m. and then visit various points along the Pacific Coast Highway and the Malibu coastline. The commission will return at approximately 2:30 p.m. to complete its remaining agenda, according to a CCC public notice.

The public is invited to attend by following the commission vehicle(s) in private vehicles and joining the commission at designated stops.

Limited seating may be available on the commission bus. A more detailed itinerary will be available at a later date. For more information, please contact the commission's south central district office in Ventura at 805-585-1800.

Publisher’s Notebook

2012-01-04T17:14:00.001-08:00

• 2012: First Malibu Musings •

BY ANNE SOBLE

While we’re taking note of the things we would like to accomplish in the New Year, we should look around the community. Although it seems that many of us already have more to do than we can hope to complete, prioritization may make room for local involvement.

It’s easy to speak in platitudes during the holiday season, but local concerns require a year-round commitment of more than words. Whether the issues are the environment, development, wildfire danger, traffic safety, public education, or any of myriad concerns that impact life in Malibu, people have to stand up and be counted.

Municipal meetings may start becoming livelier when city council candidates show up everywhere there is a possibility of being quoted or included in a photo opportunity. Voters have to hold these candidates’ feet to the fire, ask questions, insist on answers, challenge data, and pay attention to behind-the-scene machinations. The people who are running and financing a campaign are sometimes more important than the candidate.

Preoccupation with the weather continues to be an annual Malibu requisite. There are no familiar weather patterns and timetables any more. Rain can give way to Santa Ana winds, then segue to fog, all accompanied by temperatures that don’t correlate with any of these. There is no area of Malibu that is free of wildfire danger, and residents must be on alert during all weather conditions.

The Malibu Surfside News had to run too many traffic accident articles in 2011. Fatalities shattered families and are a reminder that Malibu’s roads, whether Pacific Coast Highway, or the cross-canyon routes, need special attention and increased law enforcement. Three black-and-whites parked together off Kanan Road south of the 101 is not an effective way to catch speeders on Kanan, let alone PCH. A state measure to ban all digital communication when driving, even hands-free, is imperative.

Public education is a major local concern every year. The monitoring of local school district finances is a priority—second only to oversight of the quality of education. School district officials must cease disregarding public requests for information. Administrators must stop pretending there are no drug issues and bullying problems.

The New Year includes the return of a once eradicated wildlife species in the form of a GPS-collared gray wolf that was written about in The News long before its travels attracted the attention of the mainstream media. The healthy soon to be three year old male wolf from Oregon is now in Siskiyou County. How people react to the wolf’s return tells a lot about their relationship to nature. It will be interesting to watch this eco-drama unfold.

An individual requirement at the start of every New Year in Malibu should be a spirit quest in the wilderness. It can be as simple as a short walk on an easily accessible trail, or as challenging as a long trek into the local backcountry. Malibuites need to remind themselves that living here is predicated on a binding pact with nature. Whether it takes the form of rain, wind, fire, or any other manifestation, nature is in command of the community’s fate.

Lastly, as most Malibuites already anticipate, 2012 will have its share of surprises. We’re ready.

Building of Malibu Bridge an Early Engineering Marvel

2012-01-04T17:13:00.001-08:00

• This Is the Story of When and How the First Malibu Creek Bridge Came to Be

BY BILL KOENEKER

After years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1923 sided with the state and county and ruled that a road could be built through the Malibu Rancho owned by the Rindge family.

After four more years of lawsuits in a futile attempt to halt construction, the final order of condemnation was issued in 1927 and building of the road began in earnest.

The next order of business was laying down the concrete along the rugged coastal route.

Besides the roadway, a couple dozen bridges were required to span the creeks and streams that flowed out of the coastal canyons and into the Pacific Ocean.

The Malibu Creek bridge was the biggest engineering challenge because it was built over the largest creek along the coastline.

The story of how the bridge was built spanning Malibu Creek is told in an article in a somewhat obscure publication called the Engineering News-Record published on Aug. 25, 1927.

It explains how the original Malibu Creek Bridge was built using the technology of the day.

An interesting aside in the article, written by Ralph Twaddle, a public works engineer, talks about how the construction program was laid out.

“Because of lawsuits with the owner of adjoining lands, the contractor was instructed to devise some scheme whereby all construction operations and piles of material could be kept within the limits of the highway right-of-way, which is here 80 feet wide,” Twaddle wrote.

The plans called for a 17-span concrete girder bridge over Malibu Creek.

The material bunkers were built with entrances on the roadway pavement at one end of the bridge. Materials went out of these bunkers through bottom bin gates into a batch car that was pushed by hand about 30 feet and then dumped into the mixer skip.

The cement house was placed into the mixer skip and the cement was released by the operation of a lever, through a canvas irrigation hose leading down into the skip.

When a complete batch of dry materials had been added into the skip, it was taken up on an inclined track to a 14-cubic-foot mixer about 30 feet above, Twaddle explained.

From the mixer, concrete was discharged into a floor hopper and then into a specially built hopper car powered by a Ford engine on an industrial track.

“This track ran the entire length of the bridge at an elevation approximately 10 feet above the deck, permitting the depositing of concrete to all parts of the structure from piers to bridge railing by means of a movable chute,” the engineer reported.

The movable chute was supported by two wooden trusses spanning the full width of the bridge and arranged so it could be moved along from time to time.

The chutes were placed on a flatter slope than would otherwise have been used for reason of the addition of three percent, by weight of soil, used to facilitate the flow of the concrete mix.

“The result was a highly satisfactory concrete job, free from honeycomb and with an average 28-day strength of slightly over 4000 lb. per square inch,” Twaddle wrote.

Twenty-two years after the first court action, the roadway then called Roosevelt Highway was opened to the public.

However, in 1995, the bridge was closed after severe flooding of Malibu Creek caused the structure to buckle. For the first week, only foot traffic was allowed. Two of the four lanes of the coast road, now called Pacific Coast Highway, were reopened.

In a surprise to almost everyone, the first phase of a $9.2 million reconstruction project was completed in five weeks—100 days ahead of schedule.

Malibu Place Names Offer Tantalizing Clues to History

2012-01-04T17:12:00.001-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Most Malibu residents adapt quickly to the local nomenclature, but even by California standards Malibu has an odd mix of place names. A never-to-be-forgotten visitor once stumped a resident with a request for directions to “Toppa Anga Sin,” and even among longtime residents the meaning of local names and their history is sometimes a mystery.

Pragmatic settlers christened Boney Ridge, Sandstone Peak, Cross Creek, Westward Beach, Corral Canyon and Broad Beach with un-enigmatic accuracy, although Sandstone Peak is actually volcanic, not sedimentary.

Many of Malibu’s Spanish names sound more romantic but are also largely pragmatic: Encinal, which means oakgrove, was named for the canyon’s impressive live oak woodlands; Trancas, meaning barrier, describes the narrow box canyon in western Malibu that was ideal for containing cattle; Latigo means harness leather; Puerco, pig.

Las Flores was named for the canyon’s abundant spring flowers; Tuna Canyon gets its name from the native prickly pear cactus. La Costa means simply coast, while Escondido means hidden.

Yerba Buena could be named for any of the dozens of “good plants” the grow in the area, but the consensus is that the road takes its name from redshanks, a shrub that is abundant in the highest portion of the Santa Monica Mountains and rarely seen in the rest of the range. It was used by the Chumash, the Spanish and Mexican Americans as a medicine for toothache, fevers, colds, injuries and infections.

Most of Malibu’s Spanish names are said to date from the period when the Rancho was owned by the Tapia family, in the early 1900s. The Tapia name is commemorated in Tapia Park.

The Prudhomme family, who purchased Malibu in 1848, and Irish immigrant Matthew Keller, who acquired the Ranchero in 1857, appear not to have left any names behind, other than “Keller’s Shelter,” a name that appears on maps along the shore at Old Malibu Road.

Ramirez and Zumirez are Spanish surnames, but if the locations given those names were named for specific individuals no record appears to have survived.

Solstice Canyon was renamed from the original Soston Canyon—presumably another surname—in the 20th century.

El Matador—the bullfighter, El Pescador—the fish, and La Piedra—the stone, apparently acquired their names in the early 20th century.

Lechuza, Spanish for “barn owl,” may be folk-etymology derived from the area’s original, somewhat similar sounding Chumash name, “Lisiqsihi.” According to Chumash language specialist Richard Applegate. His research indicates that Arroyo Sequit, may also derive from Lisiqsihi. Applegate suggests the word was Ventureño for “beachworm.”

Water baron William Mulholland lends his name to the road that cuts through Arroyo Sequit on its way through the Santa Monica Mountains to Pacific Coast Highway at Leo Carrillo State Park.

Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo, born Aug. 6, 1881, died Sept. 10, 1961, was a fourth generation Californian, and an actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist. Carrillo served on the California Beach and Parks commission for eighteen years and was involved in the acquisition of Hearst Castle, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and other properties.

He purchased 1500 acres in Arroyo Sequit from Waite Phillips, a Los Angeles financier, in 1952.

Carrillo left an endowment after his death to fund the conversion of the ranch into a State Park.

Other 20th century individuals commemorated in Malibu place names include Busch Drive, named for Malibu Realtor Louis Busch; Merritt Drive, commemorating Merritt Adamson, Jr., the son of Rindge family heir Rhoda Rindge and Merritt Adamson; and Decker Canyon, named for the homesteading family who dynamited the road out of the mountainside in the early 20th century.

Malibu, home for thousands of years to Chumash communities, retains only a few Chumash place names, including the city’s name, adapted from a Ventureño Chumash word that means “where the surf sounds.”

Topanga Canyon, which confused that hapless visitor, means “above” in the Tongva language. Anacapa Island, visible on clear days from west Malibu beaches, is said to mean mirage.

While British explorer George Vancouver is credited with naming Point Dume for Father Francisco Dumetz, whom he visited prior to naming the peninsula in 1793, there is evidence to suggest the word Dume may have come from the same root as Zuma, the Chumash word Sumo, which reportedly means abundance.

Vancouver named Point Mugu for the Chumash community of Muwu, shortly before assigning the name Dume, not Dumetz, to the eastern point. “This Point I will call ‘Point Dume,’” he wrote.

Frederick Hastings Rindge, who purchased the entire 13,300-acre Malibu Rancho in 1892, called the point “Duma,” and stated the name was derived from Zuma.

His view may be supported by information provided by Chumash elder Ferdinando Librado to ethnographer John Peabody Harrington between 1912-15, who said that “Sumo extends out to sea and at the end of the point there was a hill.” Librado added that “Sumo is called in nautical language Dume.”

Point Dume was a significant Chumash population center. The portion that is now part of Point Dume State Beach was reportedly a shrine site.

Other portions of the point, now developed, contained the remains of large villages and several cemeteries. The street name “Indian Mound” within the Point Dume Club Mobile Home Park is a reminder of what was there before homes were built.

Homeowners on De Buttes Terrace, which was named for the De Buttes family who lived there in the mid 20th century, petitioned the Malibu City Council in 2006 to change the name of their street to “Paradise View Way.”

They were required to choose a name with historical significance and opted to rechristen the road Murphy Way, after the family of film director Dudley Murphy, who once owned several Malibu-area properties, including the celebrated Holiday House Inn, now Geoffrey’s Restaurant, and what is now Cold Creek Preserve, one of the most pristine and undisturbed portions of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Fauquier Road, also named by Marianne and Edward Delaplane De Buttes in the 1950s was changed decades ago to Winding Way.

The Paradise that the newly named Murphy Way overlooks was given its name in the early 20th century.

On nautical charts the cove is still called Banning Harbor, named for Captain Phineas Banning whose ships would regularly anchor in the cove while the crews went ashore to cut oak wood that was shipped to San Pedro.

Rindge appears to have enjoyed creating romantic names for landmarks on his ranch. Few of the names mentioned in his book “Happy Days in California” appear to have stuck.

The location of “Conviction, Conversion and Salvation” peaks, “Cataclysm Chasm,” “Mocking Bird Valley,” “Crag Noble,” and “Sycamore Grove” are anyone’s guess today.

Rindge gives a colorful account of the dread bandit Nicholas, driven into the mountains by the Mexican soldiers. “I know the precipice over which he leaped, rather than be taken alive,” Rindge wrote. He indicates, however, that the location was apparently in Tuna Canyon, not what is called today Nicholas Canyon.

In Rindge’s Massachusetts hometown, streets and buildings are named for the philanthropist. In Malibu almost no trace of the Rindge name remains.

Potential Candidates for Malibu City Council Seats Begin Pulling Papers

2011-12-28T16:42:00.001-08:00

• Five Hopefuls Pick Up Nomination Materials So Far

BY BILL KOENEKER

The upcoming Malibu City Council election set for April 10, 2012 got off to an official start last week and was interrupted by a Christmas holiday.

City Hall was closed by Friday afternoon and also on Monday.

No candidates pulled nominating papers this Tuesday, according to the City Clerk’s office, as the Malibu Surfside News went to press.

By the end of last week, Joan House, Andy Lyon, Hamish Patterson, John Sibert and Jefferson Wagner had gone to the city clerk’s office to obtain the documents.

Hamish Patterson is a skateboard park activist who is a newcomer to local politics. He is also known as Malibu Hamish Illusion, whose series of videos are posted on YouTube.

Patterson says he grew up in Malibu and, like many of his local friends, didn’t really pay much attention to Malibu politics.

The 42-year-old council hopeful said it was not until he got involved in the skate park issue several months ago did he notice how the policies and complexity of not just the skate park issue but other municipal issues shapes how something happens and how it gets done.

“That is not getting out to the public. There is a disconnect between the city council and the rest of us,” he said.

Patterson said he also noticed there are a lot of different agendas held by many different people as the issues unfold.

He said on the skate park issue he hoped to raise it to a new level and also to inform the city it is not just youngsters who skateboard or who have a need for a good skate park.

“I never used Papa Jack’s. It really was not adequate. All right, let’s do a real skate park,” he said. “I’m talking about also for those of us over 40.”

With his eyes wide open, he said, he started getting involved in other local issues such as the planned restoration of the Malibu Lagoon.

“Why dig it up? It is not a big lagoon. It is basically just an outflow of a creek. It seems like there is this back door dealing or some kind of inside deals going on,” he said. “It is the same thing with Legacy Park. All of that expense, just for water storage?”

He said the Malibu of his youth is changing and right before his eyes. “We’ve got Pepperdine coming on with their giant arena and more beds for the dorms. All of these things are going on. For me it has become more about how and what is going on behind the scenes,” he said.

“Everything needs to be public. I don’t see anybody on the council holding to that,” he insisted. “Things should not be behind closed doors. There are five members telling people too ignorant or disenfranchised to do anything. Or they let you know after-the-fact.”

Patterson said he works in the construction trades as a carpenter and has done work in the “sober living community” in Malibu.

“There is a disconnect with the city council and the drug rehabilitation facilities [workers and clients]”

The potential candidate ticked off a list of agenda items he would like to see accomplished. “I cannot fathom why the city council has not gotten together with Caltrans to alter the timing of the traffic light at Cross Creek and PCH. The traffic patterns have changed and the city council should be addressing that,” he added.

He noted these are “quality of life” issues especially everyone’s favorite—traffic and more traffic. “Some of the other lights on PCH, the timing is not adequate. There is a traffic issue at Heathercliff and PCH that needs to be addressed. That is one of the many basics. Traffic issues lend themselves to a lot of problems. The city seems to be willing to spend a lot of money for bikes passing through Malibu, but not paying attention to the locals, the rest of us.”

Councilmember John Sibert had already filled out a notice of intent to collect campaign contributions, according to the City Clerk’s office, but kept telling the local media last week he was not sure if he was running for reelection, but he did pull papers by the end of the week.

The last date to file nomination papers for incumbents is Jan. 13, the last date for all others is Jan. 18. The filing period for write-in candidates is Feb. 13 through March 27.

Voters may request vote-by -mail ballots from March 12 to April 3. The last day to register to vote is March 26.

Council to Revisit Motto

2011-12-28T16:41:00.000-08:00

• E Pluribus Unum Has Inside Track

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu City Council members are going to make another attempt at adopting a motto for public display at City Hall on Jan. 9 when they consider “E Pluribus Unum,” which is Latin for “Out of Many, One.”

The impetus for the motto adoption came about after the last council session when it was split on allowing the display of the motto, “In God We Trust” at City Hall.

Councilmembers Lou La Monte and Pamela Conley Ulich favored it and Mayor Laura Rosenthal and Councilmembers John Sibert and Jefferson Wagner were opposed.

Instead, the council decided they would discuss placing another motto in City Hall.

Conley Ulich and La Monte had wanted their colleagues to consider the matter of placing what is our country’s national motto in City Hall.

The mayor suggested E Pluribus Unum. “That is a great motto,” she added. Other council members concurred.

However, a shout from the public about acting on an item that was not on the agenda, caused City Attorney Christi Hogin to advise the matter should be brought back at the next council hearing.

The phrase is included in the seal of the United States and that of the President and Congress.

Some historians maintain the phrase originally suggested that out of many colonies or states emerged a single nation. In recent years, it has come to suggest that out of many diverse people, races, religions and ancestries has emerged a nation.

According to the city manager, on July 30, 1957, the U.S. code section 302 established the saying “In God We Trust” found on U.S. dollar bills and coins as the country’s national motto.

On Nov. 13, 2002, the 107th Congress “reaffirmed the exact language that has appeared in the Motto for decades,” according to City Manager Jim Thorsen’s research.

In God We Trust—America, Inc. was put together to promote the display of the national motto in city halls and county headquarters across the country during the last couple of years.

According to the campaign’s website, 364 cities or counties across the country, including 89 in California, have approved the displays.

Planning Commission Starts Off the New Year with Numerous Agenda Items

2011-12-28T16:40:00.000-08:00

• Church Construction and Wine Tasting Room Need Permits

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu Planning Commission has a number of notable items to consider on its agenda next week at its Tuesday, Jan. 3, meeting.

The commission is being asked to grant a conditional use permit to allow a retail beer and wine store with onsite wine tasting. A California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control license is required to issue the CUP. No new square footage is proposed, according to planners.

The staff is recommending the planning panel approve the request.

The location is in the building owned by Councilmember Jefferson Wagner

The tasting bar, according to a staff report, occupies about 50 square feet of the 1,124-square-foot tenant space and does not include any seating.

“The tasting bar is only associated with the retail sale of beer and wine and will not serve as a location for wine tasting classes or special events unless permitted under a separate CUP or Temporary Use Permit. For tasting, full glasses are not poured and bottles are not left open with the customers,” the staff report written by Associate Planner Ha Ly states.

Malibu Beach Wines, the applicant, proposes to provide local vineyards a place to sell their wines as smaller local vineyards may not produce enough to sell to corporate businesses such as grocery stores, convenience stores and service stations. The proposed project also includes the sale of “specialty boutique handcrafted artisan style beer and in limited production.”

The applicant has recently submitted an application, according to city officials, for a Type 42 license to the ABC. The Department of ABC will not issue the license until the CUP is approved.

The staff report indicates the staff compiled a list of ABC licenses issued for the City of Malibu.

“There are currently a total of 15 off-sale licenses issued by the ABC within the city. There are no off-site licenses issued to any retailers within 1000 foot radius of the project site, the nearest off-site license is issued to PC Greens located 1,400 feet to the east,” the staff report goes on to state.

The commission last month turned down a second request by Circle K that wanted to sell beer and wine. There were loud protests from neighbors and others at that hearing. But as of yet, there seems to be no opposition to this proposal located next to Zuma Jay’s surf shop.

Also on tap, commissioners are expected to take a look-see at an application to reconstruct the Malibu Presbyterian Church, which was destroyed in the 2007 Canyon wildfire.

On Oct. 21 2007, the church’s sanctuary, fellowship hall and preschool were destroyed by a wildfire. The detached ministry building was not damaged.

On March 18, 2008, an application for a coastal permit and Conditional Use Permit, which allowed for the temporary placement of two trailers that would serve as a temporary preschool were approved by the planning commission.

Later, the city allowed for the placement of two Sprung structures and office trailers on the site of the previous church. These temporary structures allow for the operation of the church until the replacement church is completed, according to planners.

Building plans call for two structures that total 17,132 square feet. The sanctuary building is 7,964 square feet including a mezzanine level. The fellowship hall and administration building is 9,168 square feet. There will be elevated walkways and plazas to connect the two structures.

“The rebuilt church will have a footprint that is approximately 18 percent less than the previous church since the previous church was primarily a single-story structure with vaulted ceilings. The overall design of the replacement structure will result in a structure that appears to be smaller than the previous structure,” wrote Associate Planner Richard Mollica, in a staff report.

Larry Ellison has so many workers involved on his construction projects—at the former sites of Pierview and Windsail Restaurants where two new eateries are being constructed and the residential project in Serra Retreat area—that his company Wave Property Inc. is seeking a permit to create a temporary parking lot for 152 vehicles for workers who will be shuttled to the building sites.

Ellison apparently has plans for upcoming development projects in the Carbon Beach area and at the Malibu Racquet Club and wanted more time for the parking lot for those workers too, but was turned down by the planning staff since no coastal permits had been pulled for those two proposed projects.

The temporary parking lot will be located at the former Allied Nursery site that has a 3542 Coast View Drive address.

The remnant nursery plants will remain to provide visual shielding.

Former Malibu Planning Director Drew Purvis, who is now on the other side of the counter, is handling the request for Ellison and also sought a permit for four years.

The planning panel is also expected to tackle a controversial request to demolish a Point Dume house designed by architect Bart Prince in 2004 and replace it with another home.

The existing Prince-designed home consists of a series of six two-story diamond-shaped segments that cascade toward the canyon and a terraced garden.

Preservationists have cried foul and believe the city should reconsider, given the example.

However, the planning staff indicates the residence “does not qualify as a ‘historical resource’ under any of the criteria [it cited].”

“First, the existing residence is not listed in the California Register of Historical Resources and has not been determined to be eligible for listing by the State Historical Resources Commission. Second, the city does not maintain a local register of historical resources. Third, the city has not determined that the existing residence is historically or architecturally significant. Generally properties eligible for listing must be at least 50 years old. The California Register only considers a resource ‘less than fifty years old’…if it can be demonstrated that sufficient time has passed to understand its historical importance. The existing residence was built in 2004, making it approximately seven years old. While it was designed by a respected architect, it does not appear to have sufficient significance to override the 50-year age criterion of the California Resister. Accordingly, the existing residence is not an historical resource for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act.”

Attorney Frank Angel, who represents a next door neighbor said that is exactly why he is calling for the city to require a Conditional Use Permit for the single-family home—a somewhat unusual determination.

Angel says instead of exempting it from CEQA, “CEQA offers a pause to think. By avoiding CEQA, city planners aren’t given time to think, to make an informed decision about what is being torn down.”

Broad Beach GHAD Has Extensive Support from Involved Parcel Owners

2011-12-28T16:38:00.001-08:00

• Vote on Assessment Is Set for Feb. 5

BY BILL KOENEKER

A Broad Beach Geological Hazard Abatement District board member said it was inaccurate to describe the entire Malibu West neighborhood as worried or concerned about the costs of the GHAD.

Malibu West is involved in the GHAD project as a property owner on the beach. The goal of the GHAD is an attempt to restore Broad Beach by not only a revetment, but a planned series of sand replenishments.

“The Malibu West Board of Directors requested to be included in the Broad Beach GHAD. The dissenters among Malibu West’s membership are an internal matter for Malibu West,” wrote GHAD board member Zan Marquis, in an email commenting on last week’s GHAD story.

Cindy Vandor and her husband had written a letter extensively quoted in last week’s story about their fiscal concerns to neighboring Malibu West property owners.

Also responding to the story, the Malibu West Board sent the Malibu Surfside News a press release.

“The Malibu West Board of Directors wants to express their continuing support and approval for the Broad Beach Replenishment Project and the Geologic Hazard Abatement District formed to fund and manage this effort. The board is confident that this is the best solution to protect and enhance this valuable asset so important to the residents of Malibu West and our neighbors on Broad Beach,” the press release states.

Marquis noted the GHAD enjoys “overwhelming support among the 100-plus property owners along Broad Beach.”

He indicated restoring the dry sandy beach and dunes of Broad Beach is in everyone’s interest.

“The rebuilt sand dunes will cover the rock revetment and the widened sandy beach will provide extensive public access along the entire beach,” he added.

The MW board also issued an update and FAQ’S sheet to Malibu West homeowners informing them of the current status of the GHAD, its mission and the upcoming vote on Feb. 5, 2012 asking property owners to consider a proposed assessment cap of $400 per linear foot. As noted by the board, the vote is not asking property owners whether they want to be included in the GHAD.

The question of how much Malibu West will be charged annually was answered.

If the vote passes, the parcel upon which the Malibu West Swimming Club site will be levied is a maximum of $400 per linear foot, including interest currently predicted at five percent.

“At 100 feet of beachfront, the MW annual levy would be a maximum of $40,000 per year, plus consumer price index increases. Special assessments are possible, but would require a separate vote of members of the GHAD district,” the FAQ’S sheet states.

The assessment will be billed to the MWSC and will be paid through and included as part of the HOA budget. “It is not anticipated this assessment will require an increase in homeowner’s dues, which are currently $1,500 per year,” the fact sheet goes on to state.

The update continues to talk about the benefits of the project and what kind of oversight there will be on the GHAD.

“The GHAD board voted to hire an independent certified public accountant who will audit all GHAD board expenditures and review moneys spent on TPOA prior to the GHAD formation.”

The fact sheet also made clear that the $83,000 spent by the HOA was in fact the cost during the past 25 months for the maintenance of the HOA’s beach.

“If the project does not proceed, it is anticipated that these maintenance expenses will continue to be incurred,” the update reports.

The HOA, like other beach property owners is being asked to contribute $55,000 to voluntarily pay for its proportional fair share of expenses which have been incurred to date and will be incurred up to the point where the GHAD is capitalized

GHAD Broad Beach property owners Steven Levitan, Zan Marquis, Norton Karno, Marshall Grossman and Jeff Lotman were tapped as the initial board of directors for terms not to exceed four years.

The MWHOA owns a lot and would be one of the property owners in the assessment district.

There are 237 homeowners as part of the MWHOA, which owns 105 feet of beach frontage and a building used for commercial use.

The proposed action stems from the overall plans proposed for Broad Beach where experts have determined there has been a significant change in the width of the beach since 1946.

Broad Beach has experienced variable, but declining beach width at a rate of about two feet per year, according to experts.

The proposed Broad Beach GHAD would span the entirety of Broad Beach and a portion of Victoria Point concluding with 6525 Point Lechuza.

GHADs, according to the planning staff, are a political subdivision of the state and are formed in specific geographic areas to address potential geological hazards. The purpose of a GHAD is to prevent, mitigate, control or abate defined geologic hazards through maintenance improvements or other means.

Malibu Marine Protected Area Takes Effect First Day of New Year

2011-12-28T16:37:00.001-08:00

• Proponents Expect to See All Forms of Sea Life Off Point Dume Benefit

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

On Jan. 1, the California Department of Fish and Game will officially implement Southern California’s new network of Marine Protected Areas, including a State Marine Reserve and State Marine Conservation Area off Point Dume in Malibu. The new Southern California underwater parks will be part of a statewide system of MPAs that were created through the Marine Life Protection Act.

“Jan. 1 is a real turning point for Southern California’s ocean,” said Greg Helms of Ocean Conservancy. “By protecting hot spots like South La Jolla, Point Dume and Laguna, we are charting a course towards greater sustainability, and that means better fishing, diving, kayaking, tidepooling and birding for our children.”

“Like parks on land, these new marine protected areas are a huge opportunity to connect with nature,” said Malibu resident Sarah Sikich of Heal the Bay. “From Heal the Bay’s own MPA Watch program to Underwater Parks Day events at local aquaria, there are lots of opportunities for people to get involved and learn.”

Not everyone is happy about the implementation of the program. A coalition of fishing interests continues to attempt to block the MPAs, arguing that the MLPA processes environmental review, overseen by the state Department of Fish and Game, has violated the California Environmental Quality Act in the commission’s environmental review of the regulations.

In Malibu, the Point Dume SMR incorporates an area of reefs and kelp forest popular with kayak fishers and the diving community. The area, and a marine canyon located directly off the Point Dume Headlands, are described as “rare and vitally important habitat” that was one of the MLPA Science Advisory Teams top preservation priorities.

MLPA proponents counter that the marine protected areas going into effect were designed with the input of the local fishing community, conservationists and other stakeholders.

“The new MPAs protect the most productive ocean areas while leaving nearly 90 percent of the coast open for fishing,” an Ocean Conservancy press release states. “Most of the new protected areas are adjacent to public beaches and state parks, creating great opportunities for education, research, and recreation. A couple of areas—Kashtayit west of Santa Barbara and Matlahuayl near San Diego—were designed to protect and showcase tribal cultural history in the south coast region.”

Chumash activist Mati Waiya, founder of the Wishtoyo Foundation in Malibu, has stated that he hopes that there will be an opportunity to incorporate Chumash culture and seafaring traditions in the new Point Dume MPA areas.

“The ocean is more than just a source of fish, it’s a vital piece of our shared natural and cultural heritage,” said Diane Castaneda of the organization WiLDCOAST. “Our community has been overwhelmingly supportive of marine protected areas, and is excited to help spread the word and study their results.”

According to MPA advocates, Southern California already has one marine protected area success story. The Channel Islands marine reserve network, created in 2002, appears to be successfully helping to rebuild depleted fish populations and restore kelp forest habitat. According to the Ocean Conservancy, a five-year review has found that rockfish numbers at the MPA were up by 50 percent, and that the size of the fish studied had increased by 80 percent. The report concludes that the Department of Fish and Game found no evidence the marine reserves impacted fisheries value.

According to the DFG, the Point Dume State Marine Reserve, which extends from the west end of Paradise Cove to the outflow of Zuma Creek, is bounded by the mean high tide line and straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed: 34° 00.76’ N. lat. 118° 49.20’ W. long.;?33° 56.96’ N. lat. 118° 49.20’ W. long.; thence eastward along the three nautical mile offshore boundary to?33° 57.06’ N. lat. 118° 47.26’ W. long.; and?34° 01.20’ N. lat. 118° 47.26’ W. long. Take of all living marine resources in the SMR is prohibited.”

The State Marine Conservation Area extends from Zuma Creek to El Matador State Beach, defined as “from the mean high tide line and straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed: 34° 02.28’ N. lat. 118° 53.00’ W. long; 33° 59.14’ N. lat. 118° 53.00’ W. long.; thence southeastward along the three nautical mile offshore boundary to 33° 56.96’ N. lat. 118° 49.20’ W. long; and 34° 00.76’ N. lat. 118° 49.20’ W. long. Take of all living marine resources is prohibited except: The recreational take of pelagic finfish, including Pacific bonito, and white sea bass by spearfishing is allowed, and the commercial take of coastal pelagic species by round haul net and swordfish by harpoon is allowed.

“Take pursuant to beach nourishment and other sediment management activities is allowed inside the conservation area pursuant to any required federal, state and local permits, or as otherwise authorized by the department.”

More information is available at websites: www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa or www.caloceans.org

Report on Trancas Canyon Park Addresses Its Operation

2011-12-28T16:36:00.001-08:00

• Some Thorny Dog-Related Issues Continue to Surface

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu’s Parks and Recreation Department wants the city council on Jan. 9 to get into the discussion about modifying the hours of operation for Trancas Canyon Park allowing the park to close at sunset.

Currently, the park is open for public use every day of the year opening at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday and at 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The park closes at 7 p.m. or dusk, whichever is earlier. The park also closes on days when red flag warnings are issued, according to park officials.

Park users would like to see the hours extended in the summer time when sunset is later than 7 p.m.

A report issued by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department offers a profile of the canyon park during its first 12 months.

“The park is typically frequented by local residents, creating a neighborhood park environment. Concerns that the park would be heavily used on a regional basis have gone largely unfounded based on the general observed use of the park,” wrote Parks and Recreation Director Bob Stallings.

The dog park has been well received by the residents and is used more consistently by park goers than any of the other park amenities. Occasionally, dog owners can be seen waiting in line for the park gates to be opened in order to use the dog park, according to Stallings.

Peak use of the picnic areas occurs on weekends during children’s birthday events and other family gatherings. Parents have told staff that the centralized location of the picnic areas allows convenient supervision of children. The picnic areas are available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

The playground is used on a daily basis by children primarily five-to-12 years of age.

The sports field may be used as an overflow area for practices when all other athletic fields in the city are being used.

In the fall of 2010, Malibu AYSO used the field throughout its season for practices about three days per week, according to Stallings, who noted during the spring of 2011 Malibu Little League did not assign teams to the park.

The call for the longer hours came about in the summer time when sunset was as late as 8:10 p.m.

The issue of extending park hours was brought before the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission for consideration.

Stallings characterized the commission’s response that there was merit in extending the park hours with little effect on the surrounding residents.

The commission recommended the city council approve an extension of the daily park hours to sunset.

When speaking of park rules, Stallings is quick to point out that of the many comments received by the park staff one of “the greatest concerns pertained to the unwillingness or inability of dog owners to comply with park rules.”

Park rules require that dog owners maintain control of their dogs at all times, and that their dogs belong on a leash when not in the dog park.

“Staff received complaints about dogs being off leash and disrupting the use of the multi-purpose sports field and the children’s playground. The concerns of the park goers ranged from dogs attacking other dogs to frightening the children and adults in the park,” the report states.

Stallings said his staff has made a concerted effort to address the issues in several ways. Staff has met with dog owners, contacted animal control, conducted routine patrols and placed large signs throughout the park.

“To further educate dog owners, a workshop, lead by one of the preeminent dog trainers was held at the dog park. Through these efforts, the situation has improved significantly, but not resolved entirely,” Stallings wrote in this report.

What might be an eye-opener to some folks is the total annual cost of maintenance and operation of the park during the fiscal year, which was $104,060. In the first year of operation, it is estimated that a total of 20,850 visitors came to the park.

Questions Raised about Permits for Controversial Lagoon Project

2011-12-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Opponents of the Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement Project say that they cannot appeal a ruling made by a San Francisco Superior Court judge until the ruling is formally issued in writing, but lawyers for the project opponents have submitted a letter to the California Department of Fish and Game, raising questions about permits for the project.

“On behalf of Wetlands Defense Fund, Access for All and the Coastal Law Enforcement Action Network, we write to request that the Department of Fish and Game fulfill its permitting responsibilities for the Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement Project,” the letter from the Law Offices of James Birkelund states. “As the California state agency tasked with protecting our wildlife habitats, your agency’s examination of project impacts to the rare and especially sensitive habitat in Malibu Lagoon is essential.”

The letter states that the department “has the duty to consider: 1. Requirements for a streambed alteration agreement, 2. requirements for incidental take permits under the California Endangered Species Act, and 3. other state laws, such as Fish and Game code sections [pertaining to water pollution, fish passage ] and the need for the project to undergo additional environmental review with a subsequent or supplemental environmental impact report, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act.”

The letter states that the DFG has “previously raised serious concerns with the project.”

It points out that a streambed alteration waiver issued in 2007 required that “the project must be the same one and conducted in the same manner…including completing the project within the proposed term and same seasonal work period,” and that the work is now scheduled to take place in the summer, rather than in the winter, concluding that “the 2007 waiver is therefore by its own express terms no longer of any force or effect.”

The letter proposes that a new supplemental or subsequent EIR is needed for the project, based on “new information, which was not known and could not have been known at the time the EIR was certified complete.”

The letter cites a recent U.S. Geological Survey report, currently undergoing peer review, which “determined that bacteria pollution in Malibu Lagoon and offshore waters is likely from natural sources,” and the fact that the Tapia Water Reclamation Facility is no longer permitted to discharge waste during the period from April 15-Nov. 15.

“Discharges at the time the project was initially designed occurred year-round,” the letter states. “Now, since there is no excess water coming downstream from Tapia to Malibu Lagoon during the late spring, summer and early autumn, the project need to enhance water flushing is also no longer evident. These changed circumstances must be analyzed under CEQA.”

The tiny endangered tidewater goby fish is also discussed in the letter, which states “…since the department issued the now-expired waiver for a streambed alteration permit, additional information indicates that the planned reconstruction would be unlikely to support a thriving population of tidewater goby and would further alter the ecology as compared to historic conditions existing before human disturbances.

“According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service critical habitat designations, tidewater goby require ‘persistent, shallow, still-to-slow-moving aquatic habitat;’ yet the plan for the project is designed to provide deep, faster moving water.”

The letter concludes “Because the department is a responsible agency with discretionary approvals pending, it must consider whether the project warrants further environmental review with a subsequent or supplemental EIR.”

The State Parks plan to drain, dredge and re-contour the western portion of the Malibu Lagoon has attracted substantial opposition in the Malibu community.

Observers say the project appears set to become a major issue in the April 2012 Malibu City Council election.

Decker School Was an Important Part of Malibu’s History

2011-12-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

While the City of Malibu considers whether it can successfully separate from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, many longtime Malibuites are reminded that Malibu’s first school managed on its own for more than 40 years and the relationship between the two communities has never been entirely comfortable, despite the word “United.”

In 1980, Los Angeles County rejected a bid made by Malibu residents concerned and angered by the closure of Point Dume Elementary School, among other issues, for a separate school district. Subsequent secession attempts made in the 1990s and in 2004 were also unsuccessful.

Malibu joined the Santa Monica School District in 1953. The decision was controversial with some residents, even then, suggesting that a separate district would be preferable.

Before 1953, Malibu students K-8 shared a traditional one-room schoolhouse in Decker Canyon.

Then under the aegis of the Los Angeles County School System, students had access to Los Angeles County library materials and, according to an article in the now-defunct Santa Monica Evening Outlook, dated 1955, “help from the Los Angeles County office was given in art, music, physical education, child guidance, speech correction, health problems, and audio visual education.”

The article chronicles the history of the Malibu school, which opened in 1911 in a temporary building described as hardly more than a barn. The schoolhouse was completed the following year, on property contributed by the Decker family, who owned most of the canyon that still bears their name.

According to the Outlook, enrollment varied from just seven to just over two-dozen.

Helena Weaver began teaching at Decker in 1926 with 15 pupils.

“Over the years since I first began teaching there has been a decided change in teaching practices.” Weaver is quoted in the Outlook. “In the past it seems to me that more attention was given to teaching the fundamentals and not so much to social activities and physical education. There were not so many subjects to be taught and the program was not as flexible as at the present time. Of course in this type of school, with only one teacher and eight grades, it has been necessary to stick to a pretty rigid schedule.”

Until 1939 there was no bus service for Decker students. Children walked to school or rode horseback.

Fires threatened the Decker Schoolhouse in 1930, ’35 and ’55.

Weaver recalled her experiences with all three wildfires at the school.

“The most exciting events that happened in this area since I’ve been here were the fires of 1930 and 1935. When the first fire came there was much concern and excitement but the experience was not as terrifying as that caused by the fire in 1955,” she said.

“The first fire was not accompanied by wind so it approached more slowly and was stopped before reaching the school. The most exciting thing during that ordeal was the encampment of the Los Angeles Forestry Department. in the school yard. During their stay there was more attention given to what was going on in the school yard than what was going on in the school room.

“The night before the [1935] fire started a terrific wind started blowing and continued during the next day. On the day of the fire during the recess period at 11 a.m. we spotted a puff of smoke in the northeast. The puff began expanding rapidly until a huge, black cloud spread over the sky and began to approach very fast.

“Some of the parents began arriving at school because of concern over the advancing fire. Men who had been working on the road came to the school to see if we needed help.

“Later we were very glad for their assistance. They climbed on the school roof and kept it wet so the sparks from the oncoming fire would not ignite it. The mothers and I got wet towels ready in case we might need them when the fire came through.”

Two homes near the school were destroyed by the ’35 fire. The families were evacuated to the schoolhouse until accommodations could be found for them.

Popular Malibu legend involves a resident ghosts at the old school following the’35 fire.

By 1948, the post-WW II building boom was in full-swing on Point Dume and in Malibu Park. Malibu's population, which was in stasis during the war years, grew exponentially.

The increased demand for schools resulted in the construction of Juan Cabrillo—originally Zuma Mesa—Elementary School in 1955, followed by Malibu Park Junior High, Point Dume Elementary and Webster Elementary schools in the 1960s.

There were 26 pupils when the school—the last one-room schoolhouse in the area—closed its doors in June of 1955.

“They will continue their elementary schooling next September at the new Zuma Mesa School, now under construction,” the Outlook article concludes. “A modern school with modern classroom facilities and most of all a school that has individual classes for individual grades.”

Observers suggest that if Malibu forms its own school district, the self-contained, historic Decker School, which provided a good education to two generations of Malibu residents despite limited resources and an isolated location, could be an inspiration.

WINDOW ON THE PAST—Decker Canyon School opened in 1911. By 1928, when this photograph was taken, the schoolhouse, complete with water tower and bell, had 18 pupils of all ages from kindergarten to eighth grade. In addition to providing a comprehensive education, the school house, like its contemporary counterparts, served as an evacuation center during wildfires. Before Pacific Coast Highway opened, graduates of the one-room schoolhouse usually traveled to Oxnard to attend high school. Santa Monica High School was founded in 1884, and the current school site opened in 1906, but the trip to Santa Monica was an all-day expedition for Malibu residents. Photo courtesy of Emerson MacGregor

Potential Council Candidates Start to Pull Nomination Papers

2011-12-21T18:50:00.001-08:00

• Names that Will Be on the Ballot for April 10 Election Will Not Be Finalized until Jan. 18

BY BILL KOENEKER

The upcoming Malibu City Council election set for April 10 got off to an official start, as some candidates pulled papers, others made official announcements, a debate ensued between a potential candidate and a candidate, and already City Hall observers are speculating about possible slates, potential alignments and how this race could shape up to be like no other.

Activist, surfer and actor Andy Lyon was the first to pull nominating papers on Monday. Other candidates included incumbent Councilmember Jefferson Wagner, who had said he was pulling papers either Tuesday or Wednesday, and did so on Tuesday afternoon.

A dark horse candidate could be Hamish Patterson, also known as Malibu Hamish Illusion, whose series of videos are posted on YouTube.com.

Patterson, a skateboarder, pulled papers on Tuesday morning. says he got involved because of the skate park issue.

Current planning commissioner and former council member Joan House made the media rounds formally announcing her candidacy on Monday morning before arriving at City Hall on Tuesday to obtain her nominating papers.

Councilmember John Sibert has already filled out a notice of intent to collect campaign contributions, according to City Clerk Lisa Pope, but as of Tuesday afternoon had not picked up nomination papers.

Another potential candidate Missy Zeitsoff, who has been absent for years from Malibu but has rejoined the community and is expressing possible political intentions, called into question House’s bid for a council seat.

“Why would House run for a fourth term, thus opposing the spirit, if not the legality, of the voters’ double mandate [on term limits]?,” Zeitsoff wrote in an email.

When asked that question, House said, “I am entitled to run for another term.” She explained term limits were enacted after she had already served two terms in office.

“I completed one term and can run for one more term,” she added.

House said her number one reason for running, “I love Malibu.”

Zeitsoff, who served as a council member, said, “I would certainly be a one term council member, if elected in April 2012, as I would honor the vote in 2000, and in 2006. I already served one partial term, which is considered one of two terms in the Measure A. Maybe House forgot about the two ballot measures? I hope someone reminds her.”

Next April, there will be three seats open. Councilmember John Sibert is expected to run to try to keep his seat, as is Councilmember Jefferson Wagner. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich is termed out of office. Her seat will be up for grabs.

Lyon would be a newcomer to government office or civic duty. His involvement with local politics stems from his opposition to the Malibu Lagoon restoration plan and he recently announced another issue would be the Civic Center septic prohibition and resultant sewer system.

Lyon, in the past, said he considered his citation for illegally breaching the berm at the lagoon a badge of honor in opposing the status quo.

When asked to comment about Lyon, Wagner, a fellow surfer, declined to speak other than to say he is not familiar with any of Lyon’s platforms or issues nor did he know of any other civic work that Lyon might have done.

Lyon is best known nationally for a Subaru commercial, which his two daughters appear in as he plays the father sending his teenage daughter off on her first solo drive.

Various interviews with those who worked on the commercial say Lyon was asked to simply speak to his daughters first portrayed as a little girl, who emerges into the teenager.

His impromptu earnestness, so the story goes, caused the director to throw away the script

Wagner, however, was effusive in his praise for House, saying he did know about her history and was well aware of her popularity in the past elections in which she was top vote getter. He said he thinks she still has that same level of attractiveness to the voters.

Another surfer, who could possibly join Wagner and Lyon on the dais, is Skylar Peak, who said he is inclined to throw his hat in the ring.

That prompted talk by wags of a “Surfers Take Back Malibu,” political campaign for 2012.

However, keen political observers say that the tense relationship between Wagner and Lyon precludes their working together.

Former council candidate Mike Sidley was asked last week, if he might give it another try. He said he had been thinking about it, but has been more inclined to not run.

Another planning commissioner John Mazza declined to talk about if he will try again for a council seat

The last date to file nomination papers for incumbents is Jan. 13, the last date for all others is Jan. 18. The filing period for write-in candidates is Feb. 13 through March 27. Voters may request vote-by -mail ballots from March 12 to April 3. The last day to register to vote is March 26.

Enviro Groups Seek Septic MOU Remand to L.A. Water Board

2011-12-21T18:49:00.000-08:00

• Allege Document Violates State Law

BY BILL KOENEKER

Santa Monica Baykeeper and Heal the Bay have filed a petition with the State Water Resources Control Board asking it to review the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board’s Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Malibu regarding the Malibu Civic Center septic prohibition.

The two environmental groups, both cried howls of protest when the MOU was agreed upon by both the city and the water boards without input from the environmental organizations.

The petitioners are asking the state water board to review the actions of the water board in approving the MOU.

They also want the state board to hold a public hearing to consider “the deficiencies of the Malibu MOU and hold the petition in abeyance” to allow further discussion, negotiation, and public proceedings in relation to the MOU.

“The regional board’s action in approving the Malibu MOU…was inappropriate and improper and resulted in violations of state law and regulatory requirements,” the petition states.

The enviro groups contend the MOU deviates “substantively from the directives of the septic prohibition” and constitutes an improper and illegal attempt to amend the Basin Plan.

The two groups assert the MOU, because of inconsistency with the septic prohibition, violates the regional board’s duty pursuant to the water code.

The petitions go on to state the regional board also failed to conduct the mandatory assessment of significant environmental consequences of the MOU and its resolution.

The groups allege that the regional board failed to provide proper notice and a comment period and as a result the July 14 public hearing violated a section of the water code and the regional board failed to provide the requisite justification for its “substantive and significant changes” to the Basin Plan amendment.

“The Malibu MOU purports to merely provide the frame work for implementation of the prohibitions established in the septic prohibition. In reality, it attempts to significantly change the Basin Plan itself. It extends the ultimate compliance deadline and substantively reviews the phasing for achieving compliance with the septic prohibition. The Malibu MOU also fails to hold the City of Malibu accountable for its non-compliance. The language of the MOU essentially excuses anticipated violations of the Basin Plan requirements by the City of Malibu should the city fail to establish assessment districts to fund the proposed sewer connections. Indeed, the MOU fails to adequately describe how the city will comply should the voters reject the assessment district, a result which is highly likely.”

The petitioners also want the state board to overturn the regional board’s approval of the MOU, remand the matter to the regional board with specific directions to the LA water board about complying with the water code and Basin Plan in any future agreements with the city.

Malibu West Homeowners Starting to Worry as GHAD Bills Begin to Mount

2011-12-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

• Concern about Representation of All Interests Is Voiced

BY BILL KOENEKER

As the bills start coming in for preliminary work done for the Broad Beach Geological Hazard Abatement District, Malibu West homeowners, who collectively own one lot on Broad Beach, are becoming increasingly concerned about just how much ultimately the GHAD might cost the residents of the more financially modest neighborhood.

Malibu West is involved in the GHAD project, an attempt to restore Broad Beach by not only a revetment, but a planned series of sand replenishments that may cost millions of dollars.

“The GHAD has already spent more than a million dollars on the project with no source of funding except to impose new taxes on all property owners within the GHAD. In order to raise funds, the Trancas Property Owners Association has already sent the Malibu West HOA bills totaling $80,000 without any itemization as to how these monies have been spent,” wrote Ron and Cindy Vandor, in a letter to neighboring Malibu West property owners.

When the matter was discussed by the Malibu City Council, the issue about Malibu West having some representation on the board was discussed, but with little success. What was considered a little wrinkle at the time developed when the city council approved the formation of the GHAD and the Malibu West Homeowners Association, its president and an attorney came asking that the HOA be included on the GHAD board of directors.

The council was also set to approve the plan of control and appoint five property owners to the initial board of directors of the GHAD. The planning staff recommended the council appoint Broad Beach property owners Steven Levitan, Zan Marquis, Norton Karno, Marshall Grossman and Jeff Lotman as the initial board of directors for terms not to exceed four years.

Steve Rucker, Malibu West HOA president, said residents were extremely excited about creating a beautiful new beach with the other property owners at Broad Beach. The HOA owns a lot and would be one of the property owners in the assessment district.

Rucker said with 237 homeowners as part of the HOA, which owns 105 feet of beach frontage and a building used for commercial use, they wanted representation on the board.

The HOAs attorney Ben Benumof said there were many unanswered questions about the plan of control and it would be worthwhile for a Malibu West homeowner to be on the GHAD board.

The council was told there was no opposition to the formation of the GHAD and it appeared—after a show of hands for support—many Broad Beach residents had come to show their overwhelming support for the GHAD.

When it appeared there was council approval for the formation of the GHAD, the wrangling began on how the Malibu West HOA could be represented on the GHAD board.

“How do we accommodate the Malibu West HOA?” asked Councilmember Jefferson Wagner.

“I agree with Jay,” said Councilmember Laura Rosenthal. “How did you come up with the five owners?”

Council members were told the Broad Beach property owners had already worked years on the project and represented different geographical regions of the beach.

At first when council members asked the attorneys representing the Trancas Property Owners Association about a Malibu West HOA, they were told “No one will step in the way,”

However, after details were explored about how a Malibu West HOA representative could be installed on the board, the wrangling began in earnest.

City Attorney Christi Hogin said, “I’d be reluctant to monkey with the politics of that. The group has been working a long time. Mr. Grossman says he is stepping down in a year and I would take that to the bank.”

Council members intent on having Malibu West represented kept pressing for a way that could happen. There was a discussion about an advisory member. Talk about if the “up to four years” terms could be changed or if more than five members could be appointed to a GHAD board.

Council members also wanted to know why the Malibu West HOA was making the request so late in the game.

“It is a recent thing,” said Rucker. “The notion of the GHAD is becoming apparent. We are the poor kids on the block. Malibu West is a modest neighborhood by Malibu standards.”

“I can understand Malibu West HOA interests. I want them to be represented,” said then Mayor John Sibert.

Hogin replied, “I did not hear any resistance to an appointment.” A motion was suggested for the council to appoint an advisory board member for Malibu West.

But, then the GHAD attorney said firstly that Grossman would step down in one year. Then he suggested the council could leave the matter up to the GHAD board.

Councilmember Lou La Monte had said why not call for an ex-officio board member decided by the GHAD. Sibert and Wagner went along with the motion, but Rosenthal dissented. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich was absent.

The Vandors said the apparent costs could be enormous for Malibu West and unexpected costs could go even higher.

“If a $19 million bond is approved, it is estimated that the Malibu West HOA will be paying at least $400,000 into the GHAD. According to current estimates, this translates to about $170 per home per year. However, built-in cost-of-living increases and unexpected additional costs make it likely that assessments paid by Malibu West will actually be higher in years to come and total more than $400,000,” the Vandors added.

The couple’s letter calls on the Malibu West community to decide whether to vote for or against the assessment. “Time is short, the Malibu West HOA Board must return our one ballot soon. We believe that the MWHOA Board should not vote to take on this new debt without clear direction from the community. We call on the MWHOA Board to make a presentation to the community about the pros and cons of being part of the GHAD,” the letter states.

According to the city’s staff report, there is no immediate fiscal impact to the city. Once the GHAD has been formed, a funding mechanism has been approved by the board and affected property owners, the costs associated with the operation of the GHAD will be offset by assessments paid by the property owners within the district.

The GHAD petition was submitted by attorney Kenneth Ehrlich on behalf of the Trancas Property Owners Association.

The GHAD will provide a means of financing the beach nourishment and associated maintenance, city council members were told.

“The city department of public works has reviewed the proposed plan of control and has determined that public health, safety and welfare require the formation of a GHAD,” a staff report states.

The proposed action stems from the overall plans for Broad Beach, where experts have determined there has been a significant change in the width of the beach since 1946.

Broad Beach has experienced variable, but declining beach width at a rate of about two feet per year, according to experts.

“Between 1974 and 2009 approximately 600,000 cubic yards of sand was lost at Broad Beach, a majority of which has moved east to nourish Zuma Beach. On average, the shoreline moved inland 65 feet,” a report from Moffatt and Nichol in April 2010 concluded.

“The sand rate turned negative in 1974 and the loss rate accelerated to approximately 35,000 cubic yards per year during the last five years. Recent higher erosion rates during the 2009-2010 winter season necessitated that emergency precautions be taken to protect residential structures and onsite wastewater treatment systems located seaward of the residences,” the report went on to state.

Consequently, the TPOA obtained emergency permits for the installation of a rock revetment about five feet high and 25 feet wide, to protect the existing homes along the beach, city officials noted.

The property owners are now working on getting permits to allow a permanent buried rock revetment along with the periodic sand nourishment. The California Coastal Commission is the permitting agency and will oversee the project.

The Broad Beach GHAD would span the entirety of Broad Beach and a portion of Victoria Point concluding with 6525 Point Lechuza.

GHADs, according to the planning staff, are a political subdivision of the state and are formed in specific geographic areas to address potential geological hazards.

The purpose of a GHAD is to prevent, mitigate, control or abate defined geologic hazards through maintenance improvements or other means.

Financing of a GHAD is accomplished through an assessment of only those property owners who own real estate within the boundaries of the designated district, issuing and serving of bonds, notes or other debentures is also authorized under a GHAD. The assessment will be based on an engineer’s report, which is being prepared by ENGEO, Inc, according to city planners.

The assessments and associated financing of the GHAD improvements would be overseen entirely by the GHAD board.

In an email sent to local media after that meeting Rucker, who described it as “a joint statement to the press,” wrote, “Despite the decision at last night’s city council meeting to deny Malibu West’s request to have a designated Malibu West member on the GHAD board, the Malibu West board and the Trancas Property Owners Association want our neighbors to know that we have a strong working relationship and a mutual trust in our ability to work within the GHAD to benefit the beach.

“Subsequent to last night’s meeting the newly appointed GHAD Board communicated to Malibu West the intention of adding a Malibu West designee as an advisory member to work closely with the GHAD Board. Malibu West appreciates the graciousness of this prompt action by the Broad Beach property owners and their representatives.”

Station Owners File Appeal for Reversal of Permit Denial

2011-12-21T18:46:00.001-08:00

• Claim Commissioners Acted Politically

BY BILL KOENEKER

The owners of the Circle K convenience store located at 21216 Pacific Coast Highway are appealing the planning commission’s decision to not allow the store to sell beer and wine.

It was rejected by the Malibu Planning Commission for the second time last month on a 3-1 vote with Planning Commissioner Jeff Jennings the sole vote in the affirmative.

Commissioners were apparently swayed by public opinion that there were already too many outlets where alcoholic beverages can be obtained along Pacific Coast Highway.

The appellant, who is represented by Schmitz and Associates, contends in an appeal letter that the basis for denial on the grounds that there are a concentration of too many businesses selling alcohol for off-site consumption is not legal and cannot be implemented by the municipality.

“The city may not deny the [Conditional Use Permit] on the basis of ‘undue concentration’ or ‘saturation’ as it is preempted from making such a finding,” wrote Schmitz and Associates representative Chris Deleau.

The argument was also made that the planning commission has unanimously approved three CUPs in four locations for the off-site sale of alcohol since the General Plan was adopted

In one instance, according to Deleau, the city “expressly found that General Plan Land Use Policy 4.1.5 could not be utilized as a means to properly regulate the number of off sale alcohol establishments, the planning commission subsequently approved the other listed CUP applications for similarly situated properties/applicants without applying LUP Policy 4.1.5.”

The appeal letter contends that very policy was used to deny a permit for Circle K

That violates the state Constitution, according to Deleau, who added it also violates the applicant’s equal protection and due process afforded it.

There is another basis for the appeal, Deleau added.

“The record reflects a clear and direct bias against the applicant and its application based upon the fact that the sales location is a service station. The applicant contends that the denial of its CUP was discriminatory and in violation of this provision of law [and] that the commission’s decisions were politically motivated and not factually supported,” the appeal letter goes on to state.

The commission hearing was for an application for a conditional use permit to allow the off-site sale of alcoholic beverages as an accessory use to the existing uses of the convenience store.

In May 2007, an application was received by the planning department for a CUP for store use, which included a proposal to sell beer and wine as well as the interior remodel of the existing service station.

At that meeting, commissioners heard from homeowners, attorneys and others who protested the opening of another location for the sale of alcoholic beverages given the proximity of so many other outlets in the area.

Last month’s meeting was no different when some of that same group of critics came back to the commission to show opposition.

The staff carried out a reevaluation of the new CUP application and “determined that onsite conditions, which led the planning commission to the aforementioned conclusion, have not changed since 2007.”

Commissioner John Mazza first made the motion to deny the permit.

Jennings said there was no real logic in denying the permit.

During his presentation before the commission, the applicant’s consultant Don Schmitz said they were willing to accept almost any conditions the commission or the public would want to impose for approval of the permit.

The applicant also unsuccessfully argued the sale of beer and wine “will be an incidental sale item to the nearly 5000 goods currently offered for sale at the market.”

Ho-Ho-Ho—Point Dume Santa Parade Marks Its 63rd Year of Merriment

2011-12-21T18:45:00.001-08:00

• Residents Line the Streets and Sing

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

For more than 60 years on Christmas Eve, Santa has paused from his very busy schedule to stop on Point Dume and visit with children, young and old, to share in the magic and wonder of the season.

Malibu lifeguards Bob Burnside and Jack Campbell began the tradition in 1948.

The Kotler, Rondell, and Smith families have once again volunteered to keep the tradition alive and help coordinate Santa’s visit.

“It is with great pride that we will continue the tradition of the Point Dume Santa Sleigh Ride this year,” Kirby and Honore Kotler told the Malibu Surfside News. “We look forward to watching Christmas wishes come true with all of you.”

The parade begins on Cliffside Drive at 5 p.m. Official Santa Stops are located at Grasswood Avenue, Dume Drive (two stops), Bluewater Road, Birdview Avenue, Sea Lion Place, Fernhill Drive, Grayfox Street, Wildlife Road (three stops), Zumirez Drive, Heathercliff Road, and Wandermere Road (twice). A detailed map of the stops is located at: http://tinyurl.com/ptdumesantasleigh

Residents and friends are asked to congregate at designated and marked “Santa Stops” along the route. “For everyone’s safety, Santa can only stop at the designated stops. If you cannot make your way to one of the designated stops, please wave and sing a noel as we drive by,” Kirby Kotler writes.

Even mythical beings must follow fire regulations, and that Santa’s “sleigh must make a U-turn before stopping on streets that end in a cul de sac, like Wandermere and Grayfox.

Point Dume drivers are reminded to use extra caution on Christmas Eve, watch for children, and have patience with any traffic generated by the parade.

FI: 310-600-1106

Reexamination of Remains Yields No New Clues about Mitrice Richardson’s Death

2011-12-21T18:44:00.001-08:00

• LASD ‘Watchdog’ Panel Bans Public Access to Draft Reports on Malfeasance Allegations

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has completed its recent forensic reassessment and review of the exhumed remains of Mitrice Richardson. Despite extensive additional autopsy and toxicology studies, the cause of her death remains unknown.

Department of Coroner Deputy Medical Examiner Lisa Scheinin wrote in a supplemental report to the agency’s 2010 report that had also reached the same conclusion, “After reexamination of the remains, no traumatic injury is identified. Therefore, while homicide is not excluded, the cause and manner of death must remain undetermined.”

Assistant Chief Coroner and DOC spokesperson Ed Winter told the Malibu Surfside News this week that the ruling means, “The case is done.”

Winter declined to comment about any of the specifics of the latest report, which notes that a number of the dead woman’s bones were never recovered, including the hyoid bone in the neck that supports the tongue—important for the detection of strangulation or asphyxiation, the xiphoid process (lower sternum), coccyx, one rib, and a number of finger bones.

Richardson was a 24-year-old African-American honors college graduate taken into custody at Geoffrey’s restaurant on Sept. 16, 2009, for allegedly being unable to pay an $89 dinner check and possessing a minimal amount of marijuana.

Patrons and restaurant staff described Richardson as disoriented and speaking gibberish. She said she was from Mars, and would become mesmerized by bright lights and moving objects on the restaurant’s computer screens.

After the restaurant manager performed a citizen’s arrest, the three responding deputies handcuffed Richardson and drove her to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station. The woman’s car—with her purse and cell phone locked inside—was towed to the Malibu impound lot in the Civic Center area.

The Los Angeles resident was booked at Lost Hills and released from the station’s side entrance just after midnight the next morning.

She was ostensibly alone and without a means of transportation, money, credit cards, cell phone, or adequate attire for the cold temperature in an unfamiliar and isolated area.

A subsequent professional assessment indicated that Richardson might have been experiencing a bipolar episode and could have been unable to provide for her personal safety.

The aspiring psychologist disappeared without a trace. Other than a possible sighting in Monte Nido on the morning of Sept. 17, there was no sign of Richardson for 11 months until park rangers checking on an abandoned marijuana grove not far from that lone sighting location discovered what were determined to be her unclothed skeletal remains.

Last November, the coroner’s office officially ruled that a cause of death could not be determined and publicly criticized the sheriff’s department for impeding its investigation by mishandling the remains at the find site.

The county coroner’s office lambasted LASD personnel for moving Richardson’s remains before specially trained coroner’s department investigators could examine them in place. This could constitute a violation of state law, and the coroner’s report states that it compromised the DOC investigation.

When additional bones were subsequently found on two separate occasions in the same vicinity, the Richardson family outcry about carelessness and possible LASD ulterior motivation became louder.

The Office of Independent Review, the county panel that reviews allegations of law enforcement misconduct, had indicated that it would monitor the dispute between the two agencies.

Michael Gennaco, the chief attorney and head of the OIR, told The News last month that the report on the alleged mishandling of Richardson’s remains by the sheriff’s department is in draft form and has been sent to the agencies for review.

When asked about the report, Winter said that he could not comment on the coroner department’s reaction to the report.

Gennaco will not discuss the second draft report. It is not clear whether he ever will, as he also declines to comment on the first report exonerating the LASD in Richardson’s booking and release from Lost Hills. Gennaco maintains that the first report is also a draft. He refuses to regard it as a public document even though the LASD leaked it to the media.

Observers say that from a public relations perspective, it was to the sheriff’s department’s advantage to release the original report clearing the agency at about the same time that Richardson’s remains were discovered. The timing helped divert attention from LASD insistence that Richardson was alive and did not want to be found.

LASD spokesperson Steve Whitmore told The News on Tuesday that he will check into the status of the second report. The News will continue its ongoing efforts to request that OIR and the sheriff’s department make copies available to the media.

It is not clear whether the fact that Los Angeles County has finalized the legal claims against it by Richardson’s parents, essentially precluding additional claims, may be a factor in a decision on release.

The impact of the Richardson case on LASD operations is evident in the formalization of a department policy during the summer, requiring that an “arresting deputy shall, when practicable, book with the arrestee certain personnel items or items of personal identification in possession of the arrestee at the time of arrest (e.g. driver license, passport, credit cards, cellular telephone, etc.) when the items would provide proof of identification and/or facilitate the identification, booking or release procedure.”

Whitmore repeatedly reiterates that Sheriff Lee Baca will continue to do whatever is possible to try “to get answers surrounding the tragic death” of Mitrice Richardson.

Members of the Richardson investigation support group say they were told in person by Baca that he plans to hold a press conference and issue a plea that anyone with information related to the case, no matter how seemingly insignificant, share it with authorities. The date for this event has not yet been scheduled.

Athlete Paints Picture of Extraordinary Life with Book of Poetry

2011-12-21T18:43:00.000-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Longtime Malibu resident Tommy Hawkins, a native of Chicago, was a two-time basketball All-American and captain of the Notre Dame team, and one of the first black athletes in the NBA.

Hawkins has played for the Lakers, served as player representative and as a member of the NBA players’ labor negotiation team, spent 18 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers as vice president of communications and external affairs, was a local and national television and radio broadcaster, and network sports analyst. He has also taught university courses at California State University Long Beach, where he serves on the advisory board of the school of sports management.

Hawkins volunteers his time and energy as a member of the board of directors of the Center Theater Group, the Los Angeles Sports Council, the Children’s Burn Foundation and the Friends of Jazz at UCLA. He is now the author of a book of poetry.

“I take nothing for granted,” Hawkins told the Malibu Surfside News during an interview this week. “Hustle like a rookie, that’s my motto.”

“Life’s Reflections: Poetry for the People” is a coffee table book that pairs Hawkins’ poetry with photographs and paintings by artists, includes works by LeRoy Nieman, a longtime friend of Hawkins, and the late Ernie Barnes.

“What we have here is a product I guarantee will challenge, enlighten and inspire,” Hawkins told The News. “This is poetry for people who on a scale of 1-10 would rate poetry a minus 1, people who think poetry is a waste of time. What I have put together is narratives that rhyme and are supported by paintings. It’s user-friendly.”

This is an intensely personal book. The 45 narratives explore Hawkins’ passion for sports and jazz, his love of words and rhythm, his experiences as an African American, his thoughts on love and the events of 9/11. Words create portraits of the author’s mother, artist LeRoy Nieman, and the pain Hawkins felt at the death of his father.

“My life is poetry, syncopated rhythm,” Hawkins says. “Questions come to me as music.”

“When I was at Notre Dame working on a degree in sociology, I was required to take a year of English literature. I was thinking, Oh no, “Beowulf” and “Canterbury Tales,” get it over with. When the teacher walked in, he was a priest, tall, deep resonant voice. ‘Good morning men, it is my pleasure to be teaching you. My specialty is poetry. I will make it live in your souls.’”

“He wasn’t sending out words,” Hawkins says, “It was lightning bolts. He taught us how to read poetry, recite it, research it, understand it. He planted the seeds in 1956.”

The introduction to the book includes a tribute to Father Chester Soleta, who “engendered a lifelong love of poetic expression.”

Hawkins recites the last line of his never-to-be-forgotten mentor’s favorite poem, T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”: “We have lingered in the chambers of the sea/By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown/Till human voices wake us, and we drown.”

“That’s powerful stuff,” Hawkins says. “I have said to myself through the years how can I impart that power?”

“When I wake up at 1:30 a.m. and this is on my mind, tugging on me, when that happens, sleep is not an option.”

Hawkins recalls “When I was a rookie with the Lakers, sitting on a plane, hiding, writing poetry. Today, I can laugh at myself and laugh at you.”

Hawkins shares some recollections of the early days of the L.A. Lakers. “We were the pioneers,” he says. “We didn’t even have a full-time trainer. The Dodgers moved to L.A. in 1957, flew in on a private plane. There was a ticker-tape parade, a welcome at City Hall.

“The Lakers drove in through San Bernardino on a bus. No one knew we had arrived. We were such a non-entity we didn’t even have a radio broadcast.”

Hawkins recalls that the team would be loaded into trucks, given a script and driven around town broadcasting things like: “Hello, I’m Tommy Hawkins, of your new L.A. Lakers.”

“I have seen these things grow and develop, the exciting part is to see it grow,” Hawkins says, adding that he is writing an autobiography and a history of the NBA.

Hawkins also shared some thoughts about Malibu with The News.

“I moved here 30 years ago,” Hawkins says. “I used to drive through Malibu, I loved it.” Hawkins moved from the coast to one of Malibu’s canyons 25 years ago.

“It’s a paradise for birds,” he says. “I hear the coyotes every night. I stepped out the door the other day and this big buck went right past me. You don’t realize how powerful they are until you see them up close.”

His current plans include sharing “Life’s Reflections” with the world. “This book comes with a guarantee. You will find images of self, me, family, friends. This is the first book of its kind written by a professional athlete. This is me. What you see is what you get. This has been decades in the making.”

Hawkins’ poem “Yesterday’s Gardenias” appears to sum up his philosophy:

“‘Where have all the flowers gone”’ I’ve heard so many sing,/ voicing the need of adornment that pretty blossoms bring./ Gently caress a bouquet of beauty, partake of petals galore/ and when they die and lose their form, go out and get some more.”

The author says he is planning to have a Malibu book reading and signing event in the near future. “Life’s Reflections: Poetry for the People” is available at Hawkins website: http://tommyhawkins.net

Malibu Artists Publish Two New Field Guides

2011-12-21T18:41:00.001-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Dawn Navarro Ericson and Dominique Navarro, a mother and daughter team of Malibu illustrators, have published two new field guides that invite the reader to take a closer look at two local ecosystems: Southern California coastal wetlands and the Channel Islands.

Like the previous four “Weekend Naturalist” foldout field guides in the series, the new guides are lightweight, waterproof and user friendly.

Malibu residents will find “Ocean Animals of the Channel Islands” and “Southern California Coastal Wetlands” relevant and helpful. Both guides feature numerous species that are residents or frequent visitors offshore and in the Malibu and Zuma lagoons.

The Channel Islands book includes illustrations comparing the size and markings of five species of whale and eight species of dolphin.

The wetlands book features illustrations of a wide range of bird, fish and mammal species in the habitats where they are most likely to be observed.

One illustration shows how birds like the long-billed curlew and the marbled godwit use their specialized beaks to extract tasty invertebrates and gastropods from sand or mud.

“I’ve always wanted to illustrate that,” Ericson told the Malibu Surfside News. “It’s been in my mind for years.”

“The field guides have been so much more successful than anticipated,” Ericson said. “We wanted them to be more like a tour guide, to give you a scope of the environment. not just provide a list of names.”

Ericson and her daughter provide full-color and black-and-white illustrations. They are accompanied by photographs and text that has been written by scientists in the field.

Latin and common names are provided for each organism. The guides are equally appealing to children and adults.

“Kids don’t need something different,” Ericson says. “They don’t need it to be dumbed down.”

Maps offer a guide to locations that are farther afield, although many of the species in both guides, ranging from Western grebes to gray whales, can be found in and around Malibu.

Two new guides—one featuring the Channel Island fox—are already being developed and will be appearing in 2012.

All six guides in the “Weekend Naturalist” series are available at Diesel Bookstore in Malibu, at 23410 Civic Center Way, 310-456-9961.

Controversial View Restoration Proposal Inches Forward

2011-12-14T20:09:00.001-08:00

• Extent of Retroactivity Time Frame Remains a Thorny Component for Some Council Members

BY BILL KOENEKER

In what has become a highly divisive issue among the public and even council members moved closer to adoption by the Malibu City Council at its meeting this week after a series of motions narrowed down the shape of the proposed ordinance.

The two big questions before the council Monday night were: “Should the city be involved in making a determination in view disputes and enforcing that determination? [And] Should the view ordinance retroactively restore views or be effective day forward?

Previously, the council could not agree on whether to make the ordinance protect a view that existed on the date of ordinance adoption, date of incorporation or the date of a property acquisition, but no earlier than March 28, 1991.

After hours of deliberations, the council this week voted 3-2 with Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich and Councilmember Lou La Monte dissenting, to allow retroactivity to the date of incorporation or point of purchase.

The staff had provided two draft versions. “The majority of the two ordinances are identical with the exception of the Malibu Municipal Code (Restoration Procedure). Draft Ordinance No. 1 offers a non-binding city advisory opinion as a step in the restoration procedure and Draft Ordinance Number 2 offers a city determinant, made by the planning commission as a step in the restorative procedure,” the staff report states.

The council deliberated for hours on which way to go, but ultimately, the majority chose Draft Ordinance Number 2. The majority insisted the city should get involved, meaning after arbitration and mediation if the parties had not resolved the matter, it would go to the planning commission for a full hearing and could be appealed to the city council.

During public comments before council deliberations, much had been made about the city’s liability if the final determination in the process was made by the municipality.

City Attorney Christi Hogin explained. “If the final determination is by the city, it is subject to judicial review. If someone is unhappy they could sue. The liability would be attorney’s fees if they were successful. In terms of other liability, it would have to be something unusual,” she said.

Councilmember John Sibert said he wanted a trial run, having folks come in and show what kind of information or evidence they have to determine how many cases there might be and what kind of data people could provide before the council enacted any law.

Councilmember Lou La Monte said he was willing to support Sibert’s proposal, that he would not support a retroactive ordinance and that the view restoration proposal created a brand new right at the expense of the foliage owner.

“You cannot legislate neighborliness. It is not our responsibility. There is no guarantee that the city will get anything. The legal fees could bankrupt the city,” he said.

Councilmember Jefferson Wagner said he saw it as “a lot of squabbling between neighbors that has moved to the city council level.” He insisted the city should get involved and the retroactive date should be the point of sale or date of incorporation.

Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich said that 60 percent of the voters had asked for some type of restoration and insisted the retroactive date should be 2008 when the advisory measure was voted upon by the public.

Mayor Laura Rosenthal said she supported the notion that folks had paid for their view when they bought their homes and the loss of those views because of foliage growth meant a loss of equity. “People have a right to a view. They paid for a view when they bought their houses. In three or four years there is nothing,” she said.

Planners also wanted the council to provide general comments on the draft ordinances such as the maximum allowable foliage height, indemnification language and whether a city determination should run with the land.

The most substantial change, according to planners, is the addition of an allowable foliage height permitted by right, according to the staff report.

The citywide view restoration ordinance is described by municipal planners as a proposal “establishing a private right of action for property owners to restore pre-existing views that have been significantly obstructed by landscaping on neighboring properties.”

The majority of the planning commission in June was able to tether together a proposed citywide view restoration ordinance using various parts from other cities, staff and commission recommendations.

A majority of the planning panel turned down a proposed ordinance that would have been more closely modeled after a Rancho Palos Verdes version.

The impetus for the proposed ordinance came from the voters on April 8, 2008 when an advisory measure asked the citizens, “Should the Malibu City Council adopt an ordinance that would require the removal or trimming of landscaping in order to restore and maintain primary views from private homes?” The measure was approved by 60 percent of the voters.

The then city council decided on June, 2008 to create the View Protection Task Force to gather public input on what should be included in the citywide ordinance.

During the subsequent public hearings and workshops there have been some speakers who urged the commission and the city council to adopt the proposed ordinance, which was crafted by the municipal task force charged by the city council to vet the issue.

Speakers, who were on the task force, suggested that the panel’s recommended ordinance would better serve the city.

Some former task force members said they will make one last effort to convince the council the panel’s proposed ordinance is the best fit for Malibu.

Council to Consider ‘E Pluribus Unum’ on Office Wall

2011-12-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

• Rejects Lobby for ‘In God We Trust’ that Predicates Patriotism on Religiosity

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu City Council members were split on allowing the display of the motto, “In God We Trust” at Malibu City Hall with Councilmembers Lou LaMonte and Pamela Conley Ulich favoring it and Mayor Laura Rosenthal and Councilmembers John Sibert and Jefferson Wagner opposed.

Instead, the council decided they would discuss placing the motto E Pluribus Unum, Latin meaning all for one, in City Hall.

Conley Ulich and La Monte had wanted their colleagues to consider the matter of placing what is called our country’s national motto in City Hall.

Proponents, who are not from Malibu, but represented a group that lobbies around the country, equated a level of patriotism with those who endorsed placing the motto in civic places.

However, Councilmember John Sibert was most adamant about how he believed in the separation of church and state. “I recognize the motto has been adopted twice by Congress. They are equating putting up this motto with patriotism. If I don’t believe in putting this motto up, then I am not a patriot? That is wrong. The people pushing this are equating patriotism and Christianity,” he said.

“I have the same difficulties with this,” said Wagner, who went on to talk about how many religious activities the city endorses, including a crèche on city land. “I stand with John. This is a no go,” he added.

La Monte said he does not equate patriotism with displaying the motto. “These four words are something to be forbidden?” he asked. He said Conley Ulich had brought the matter up and he wanted to hear from his colleagues. “I got phone calls about 50-50 on this,” he said.

Some local opponents, who urged the council to not endorse the public display of the motto, were also critical of Conley Ulich.

“You obviously don’t know me,” responded Conley Ulich. “I do what I think is right. I feel strongly about displaying the motto. I understand what John and Jay are saying about equating it with patriotism. But the motto is for everyone, not for just one group. I can display it on my own property. I don’t care about my approval ratings.”

The mayor suggested E pluribus unum. “That is a great motto,” she added. Other council members concurred.

However, a shout from the public about acting on an item that was not on the agenda caused City Attorney Christi Hogin to advise the matter should be brought back at the next council hearing.

Malibu resident Lucy Atwood said she was offended that “outside” groups would come to Malibu to urge the action. She said it would be different if it were Malibu residents.

“‘In God We Trust’ for 180 years was not our motto,” she added. “This country is about everybody, not just those who believe in God.”

John Carr said his group, In God We Trust. Inc. is trying to encourage patriotism. “It does not offend anyone. This is legally approved. Patriotism is a love of God and a love of country.”

According to the city manager, on July 30, 1957, the U.S. code section 302 established the saying found on U.S. dollar bills and coins as the country’s national motto.

On Nov. 13, 2002, the 107th Congress “reaffirmed the exact language that has appeared in the Motto for decades,” according to Thorsen’s research.

In God We Trust—America, Inc. was put together to promote the display of the national motto in city halls and county headquarters across the country.

According to the campaign’s website, 364 cities or counties across the country, including 89 in California, have approved the displays.

Critics went to court in 1970, but the appellate court ruled otherwise, saying “It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency. ‘In God We Trust’ has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion. Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise.”

Nominating Papers Can Be Pulled Next Week by City Council Candidates

2011-12-14T20:06:00.001-08:00

• Campaigning for April Election Begins

BY BILL KOENEKER

The upcoming Malibu City Council election is set for April 10, 2012 and already City Hall observers are speculating about who will run.

Next April, there will be three seats open. Councilmember John Sibert is expected to run to keep his seat, as is Councilmember Jefferson Wagner. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich is termed out of office. Her seat will be up for grabs.

There have been several names bandied about, including former councilmember and current planning commissioner Joan House and former councilmember Missy Zeitsoff, who have both declined to publicly state their intentions.

Skylar Peak, another surfer who could join Wagner on the dais, has said he is inclined to throw his hat in the ring.

Former council candidate Mike Sidley was asked this week if he might give it another try. He said he has been thinking about it, but has been more inclined to not run.

John Mazza, another planning commissioner who has previously run, also declined to talk about whether he will try again for a council seat.

Folks may start to find out on Dec. 19, the first day nomination papers can be picked up at the city clerk’s office, who may or may not be running for a council seat ,The last date to file nomination papers is Jan. 18. The filing period for write-in candidates is Feb. 13 through March 27.

Voters may request vote-by-mail ballots from March 12 to April 3. The last day to register to vote is March 26.

Long-Sought Trancas Highlands H2O System Gets Planning Panel Approval

2011-12-14T20:05:00.001-08:00

• Project to Serve Homes Calls for 500,000-Gallon Tank

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu Planning Commission approved a number of applications at its meeting last week including construction of a Trancas Highlands water system, demolition of a Civic Center gas station and a permit for the operation of an environmental learning center.

The hearing for a request to operate a retail wine store and wine tasting room was continued to Jan. 3 at the request of the applicant.

Plans call for opening the wine outlet in the building owned by Councilmember Jefferson Wagner.

The on-again off-again planning commission hearing on a request for a public water system and dry utility infrastructure improvements in the Trancas Highlands was heard by the planning panel, which was also able to render a decision last week.

Most of the neighborhood’s residents showed up in chambers to urge approval for the request.

“The entire neighborhood is here,” said Scott Tallal. “This is about fire protection. We desperately need this.”

Commissioners were assured the additional water would not be growth inducing, that it was designed to “just serve the neighborhood,” including 18 new fire hydrants.

At the same time, at a separate hearing, the council also approved an application on the same property at 31537 Anacapa View Drive for the construction of a new, 11,165-square-foot house reduced from the original 12,731-square-foot, two-story single-family home with a basement and attached 640-square-foot-garage, a detached 447-square-foot guest house, a motor court with fire department turn around, swimming pool and a new 1950-foot access road, according to a public notice.

Fire hydrants, two pressure reducing stations, valves and other appurtenances would be constructed along the public and private streets.

An additional “dry” trench is also proposed for undergrounding existing overhead electric lines and extension of utilities such as natural gas and cable.

Once underground utilities are installed, the overhead lines and poles would be removed. The underground wiring is a safety factor, panelists were told.

Access to the tank would be a new 2250-foot access road up to the building sites for the new water tank and the two new homes.

Commissioners spent some time discussing the access road and if during construction it would impact nearby neighbors.

The HOA will form the assessment district to fund preparation of final-engineering and construction plans.

The water system and utility plans would be designed in compliance with Water District 29, Los Angeles County Fire Department, City of Malibu and utility provider requirements.

Many of the homes in the highlands do not have potable water and must have water trucked to them and stored in tanks.

Most of the homes were developed with wells, which seem to have dried out for the most part in the hilly area above Broad Beach.

Homeowner Margaret Hauptman reminded commissioners that even when wells have water, if the fire comes, the power is usually off and then there is no way to run a well pump without electricity.

It has been a long-held dream of many of the residents for nearly 20 years to have piped water connected to their homes.

Also at the meeting, Cornucopia Foundation sought a CUP for its environmental learning center described as an educational, non-profit agricultural use benefiting the students of Juan Cabrillo Elementary and Malibu Middle schools and the high school.

The commission, without comment, approved the permit.

The planning panel was told the learning center is poised to sign a five-year lease with the school district, which is requiring the CUP.

Cornucopia Foundation is the operator of the Malibu Farmers Market and is headed up by Debra Bianco and Remy O’Neill, who have often explained that the operations of the market are designed to be a money maker for the learning center.

The environmental center is tucked back behind the school campus away from the concrete and pavement on a acre of land.

O’Neill told the panel the degraded piece of land was overgrown with fennel and weeds and was hand cleared using no herbicides or pesticides. Native plants and a drought tolerant garden were planted.

The center has a shaded natural amphitheater, planted wind screens and a garden that is currently planted with pumpkins.

It has been used by teachers and children for a before and after school enrichment program and summer program.

Another ongoing project is described as a riparian restoration project on a disturbed stream that runs along the side of the property and down to the ocean, the web site explains.

Plans include a secret garden, yurt, more picnic tables, a pond, a greenhouse and tool shed.

A longtime Civic Center gasoline service station, currently no longer in business, is about to disappear.

The Chevron Company got approval for a permit from the planning commission last week for the “full demolition” of the existing gas and service station at 23614 Pacific Coast Highway.

“I’ll be happy to see the eyesore gone,” said Commissioner Joan House.

Plans call for the removal of all structures, piping, pumps, hydraulic lifts, hardscape and signage and the removal of four 10,000 gallon underground gasoline and diesel storage tanks.

The 23,409 square foot property, which forms the tip of a triangle at the intersection of PCH and Malibu Road, has been on the real estate market for several years at an asking price of $3 million, according to Tony Dorn, who is a commercial real estate broker.

“Chevron has kept that property and is selling it themselves,” he said.

Planners have determined the service station began operation in 1956 based on review of historic aerial photos.

The outlet ceased operations in 2008.

Planners indicate the fourth generation of underground storage tanks will have to be removed and there is some suspicion there might still be leakage. There is a requirement that the tanks be pumped before they are removed.

The cancelled commission hearing involved a request to obtain a CUP by Malibu Beach Wines to allow a retail wine store and onsite wine tasting with a California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control license.

The project includes the installation of a three compartment sinks and a mop sink as part of the tenant improvement. No new square footage is proposed, according to city planners.

The location is in the building owned by Wagner, whose building was also the site chosen by a large-scale corporation, which wanted to establish a building full of offices all related to the sale of medical marijuana.

That request was turned down by the planning commission, which instead approved a permit for a much smaller low key operation at another location.

Safety Panel Hears End of Year Project Reports

2011-12-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

End of year business was the order of the day at the December City of Malibu Public Safety Commission meeting. The gavel changed hands at this month’s meeting as Vice Chair Chris Frost replaced longtime commission chair Carol Randall, and the commissioners heard reports on a variety of ongoing safety issues.

Brad Davis, the City of Malibu’s Emergency Services Coordinator, told the commission that the city is still encouraging Malibuites to join Volunteers on Patrol, a volunteer citizen group that is trained by the sheriff's department and helps to provide extra eyes and ears for the Lost Hills Station “We have eight people altogether,” Davis said. “They are alternating and rotating patrol.”

Davis said he is currently working to develop a “pet friendly shelter plan,” for the City of Malibu. Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station Liaison Lt. Jim Royal volunteered that his station has created a coyote-safe small animal shelter area for use during emergencies.

City of Malibu’s Public Works Director Bob Brager reported that preliminary plans for a redesigned Kanan Dume Road arrestor bed will be completed within 90 days.

Brager said that a Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District Measure BB-funded water line replacement project at Malibu High School is beginning to get underway. The line will run north of Harvester, down Busch and Merritt, and require lane closures through March of 2012. Brager said the city has the authority to limit work time or change the hours when work is conducted if the closures create serious problems for residents.

Brager reported that recent safety improvements on PCH include the addition of a second bus bench on PCH at Heathercliff. “On Morning View Drive and PCH we made big improvements at that bus stop,” Brager said. “We noticed people waiting close to the road so we opened [the bus stop area] up, made a larger waiting area, added another bench closer to Zuma.”

Brager said that Caltrans has approved a city proposal to extend a grant-funded bike route east of Trancas Canyon to Busch Drive, Brager said. “We will see if we have the ability to put a bike route in that area.”

The Sheriff’s liaison reported that the city’s crime rate is down 24.3 percent from last year. We have burglary suppression teams out. We’ve been doing it for a while, following up on leads.

“There have been 63 DUI stops so far this year directly related to citizen calls,” Royal said. “We’re going to try to get that number higher.”

“I’ve been looking very closely at how many calls and working at getting [cars] dispatched quicker, and responding quicker, but not so quick that it’s a Code 3 and causes an accident.”

The next Public Safety Commission is scheduled for Jan. 4.

Publisher’s Notebook

2011-12-14T20:02:00.001-08:00

• Journey from Extinction •

ANNE SOBLE

The howl of the wolf epitomizes the call of the wild to many people. The sound is like that of no other animal and inspires the full range of human reactions from reverential awe to abject terror and every emotion in-between.

Even in this era when technology and science have transformed nearly every facet of human existence, wolves remain locked in the stereotypes of tales crafted during a medieval agrarian era and connected to the dark side of human and animal behavior. Experts maintain that these images are grossly inaccurate, but the false assertions prevail.

The environmental activist organization, Defenders of Wildlife, has been the primary force behind the reintroduction of wolves to the American West. Ranchers long used to domain over public as well as private lands and allowed to dispatch wildlife with abandon are less than happy.

That is why the California Department of Fish and Game has remained well below the radar for the 15 months it has been preparing for the eventual return of wolves to the state. DFG is expected to release its plan on reintroduction next month. Why is the agency doing this if California wolves have been extinct for almost a century?

DFG is at work because of one wolf that just might be somewhere in Northern California right now–probably not too far below the Oregon border. Hope is pinned on this apparently lone animal to help bring about the return of the wolf to its rightful place in the local natural order.

This male gray wolf has reportedly crossed the length of Oregon in two months—circumventing pockets of human civilization, traversing dangerous highways, and surviving bitter winter weather. Dubbed OR7, the healthy three-year-old now slated to cross the border would be the first wild wolf confirmed in the state since the 1920s.

Livestock interests eradicated wolves in this state at the beginning of the 20th century. However, with increased environmental awareness has grown a new appreciation for the role of the wolf in Western ecosystems. Wolves help keep elk and deer species stronger. They also keep coyotes in check, curbing the overpopulation that forces these animals to move into suburban and urban areas.

Still, the reintroduction of wolves to the Northern Rockies by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1995 remains controversial. The service transplanted 66 wolves from Canada to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho wilderness areas that have increased twenty-five-fold.

No one disputes that some livestock losses from wolves can be expected, but ranchers will be compensated with an average $1000 per animal lost, and permits will be granted to kill wolves proven to be livestock repeat offenders.

According to information about the reintroduction program, OR7 is a direct descendant of the original stock. The wolf wears a GPS collar that records his location daily. If he moves into California, he’ll become a media celebrity.

To stay in the state, he’ll need a steady food supply. Deer are abundant, and California’s elk population is growing. OR7 will want to avoid humans, but won’t be able to avoid high speed roadways. And, of course, he will want to find a mate, although the possibility exists that other animals—as yet unknown—have similar itineraries.

Any wolves that enter California would be considered a federally endangered species. If several do, it might be years before the state has a full-fledged pack. And the extraordinary sound of wolfspeak reverberates in the night.

Malibu Couple’s Vineyard Grows from Hobby to Award-Winning Vintage

2011-12-14T20:01:00.001-08:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Malibu residents Donna and John Freeman, the proprietors of Colcanyon Estate Wines, a two-acre boutique vineyard in Latigo Canyon, won a double gold medal this year at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. The award was a validation of ten years of hard work and experimentation for the couple whose winemaking hobby has turned into a serious vocation.

The Freemans are British expats who moved to Malibu when John Freeman’s work took him to the west coast.

They quickly fell in love with the Santa Monica Mountains. “It’s something unique and enduring,” Freeman told the Malibu Surfside News. “We love it.”

“Donna found the house. She loved it at first sight. When we bought it, the vineyard was here. We had no concept when we started. It was a steep learning curve. We do everything. We are both involved.” Freeman said.

The vines had been planted by the previous owners. They were only a few years old when the property was purchased by the Freemans. Early challenges included problems with the well that waters the vines.

“The well played up the first few years, when the vines were still new and needed the most water,” Freeman said. “We trucked water in, we got to know the trucker very well and traded wine for water. I think he was a bit disappointed when we sorted out the problem with the well.”

Freeman described the grape growing process as “a little like a lottery.” Pockets of volcanic soil provide ideal growing conditions, as do the 45-degree slope and the way the canyons funnel the morning mist. But it also involves hard work.

“A lot of people get swept up in the romance,” Freeman said. “This is the only month when things aren’t going on. January is pruning, then there is canopy management, pest management, harvest.”

Pest management at Colcanyon is relatively benign. Freeman says that they endeavor to coexist peaceably with their wild neighbors. The vineyard is securely fenced to keep out deer.

Raccoons, skunks, and occasional rattlesnakes who get through the fencing are relocated.

“I was sprayed the first time I tried to relocate a skunk,” Freeman recounted. “People on the plane the next day gave me strange looks.”

Owls and hawks are welcome at the vineyard, and help keep the gopher population under control.

Once the harvest is in, the Colcanyon grapes are transported to a small town near Santa Inez, where they are pressed and fermented.

The Freemans say that their preference is for a simple process, one that places emphasis on the flavor of the grapes. They also use only the grapes that they grow at the vineyard. Their annual average output is just 3000-4000 bottles.

The two-acre hillside is 50 percent Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, 40 percent Merlot and 10 percent Cabernet Franc.

“You need to match the vines with growing conditions,” Freeman explained. “Anybody who embarks on this needs to acquire expertise.”

“Until recently, our wines haven’t been available beyond our family and friends,” Freeman said.

In 2010, Colcanyon Estate Wines ventured into the wine market for the first time. According to Freeman, the vines are just now reaching their peak.

“Our mission is to get people to take Malibu coast wines seriously and try them. There is every good reason why wines can and should be grown in Malibu and in a responsible way,” Freeman told The News.

“I like having the bobcats for neighbors,” Freeman said. “We don’t plan to expand or become commercial, we just want to keep going with what we started. We are happy to offer high quality.”

Freeman can be found working among the vines most weekends. He says he enjoys chatting with passing bicyclists and motorcyclists. Many Latigo drivers, he says, have taken an interest in the vineyard and the wines it produces, feeling a connection to the vines that they see grow and change with the seasons.

More information on Colcanyon Estate Wine is available at colcanyon-estate-wines.com

Controversial View Restoration Proposal Is Back Before Council

2011-12-07T17:30:00.001-08:00

• Differences of Opinion Appear to Be Difficult to Bridge

BY BILL KOENEKER

What has become a highly divisive issue among the public and even council members is set to go again before the Malibu City Council at its regular meeting next week.

The city has held 30 public meetings regarding a citywide view restoration ordinance, including 19 View Protection Task Force meetings and several sessions conducted by both the planning commission and the city council.

The council two months ago agreed on a half-dozen revisions to the draft ordinance.

Nevertheless, the council has failed to reach consensus on several key items.

Consequently, the planning staff is seeking direction on what they call two outstanding items.

“Should the city be involved in making a determination in view disputes and enforcing that determination? [And] Should the view ordinance retroactively restore views or be effective day forward?”

The council could not agree on whether to make the ordinance protect a view that existed on the date of ordinance adoption, date of incorporation (March 28, 1991),or the date of a property acquisition.

Planners, who have not made a recommendation, have subsequently drafted two versions of the proposed ordinance.

“The majority of the two ordinances are identical with the exception of the Malibu Municipal Code (Restoration Procedure). Draft Ordinance No. 1 offers a non-binding city advisory opinion as a step in the restoration procedure and Draft Ordinance No. 2 offers a city determinant, made by the planning commission as a step in the restorative procedure,” the staff report states.

Planners also want the council to provide general comments on the draft ordinances such as the maximum allowable foliage height, indemnification language and whether a city determination should run with the land.

Planners indicate that most of the content of the two drafts remain the same as the previous draft that was considered by the council in September.

The most substantial change is the addition of an allowable foliage height permitted by right, according to the staff report.

Some cities, the staff found, have included a provision to allow certain foliage up to a certain height by right including Beverly Hills and Rancho Palos Verdes.

Beverly Hills establishes a protected line of sight plane or safe harbor plane. Rancho Palos Verdes allows foliage that is 16 feet in height or the ridgeline of the primary structure, whichever is lower, to be exempt from the restorative actions. Staff is recommending the city exempt foliage lower than a certain height similar to RPV.

The majority of the planning commission in June was able to tether together a proposed citywide view restoration ordinance using various parts from other cities, staff and commission recommendations.

A majority of the planning panel turned down a proposed ordinance that would have been more closely modeled after a Rancho Palos Verdes version.

The then city council decided on June, 2008 to create the View Protection Task Force to gather public input on what should be included in the citywide ordinance.

Speakers, who were on the task force, suggested that the panel’s recommended ordinance would better serve the city.

Some former task force members said they will make one last effort to convince the council the panel’s proposed ordinance is the best fit for Malibu.

City (Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station) Receives State Traffic Safety Grant for Local Roads

2011-12-07T17:29:00.001-08:00

• More Checkpoints and Enforcement Operations Planned

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The California Office of Traffic Safety has awarded the City of Malibu a $70,000 grant to fund a yearlong program designed to improve traffic safety on PCH and local roads that will be implemented by the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, according to a city press release.

Grant activities will include DUI and driver license checkpoints, and special enforcement operations will specifically target motorcycle safety, DUI offenders, drivers with suspended or revoked licenses and speeding, the announcement states.

“The $70,000 grant awarded by the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) to the City of Malibu will aid in the city’s ongoing effort to improve traffic safety and the quality of life. New Laser Speed Detection devices will be used and special traffic enforcement measures will be instituted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as part of an on-going commitment to keep our roadways safe through both enforcement and education. “The city is proud to work with the sheriff’s department on increasing our efforts to improve safety along PCH and on our city streets,” said Malibu Mayor Laura Zahn Rosenthal. “This grant will help us achieve that goal. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that everyone who travels in or through Malibu makes it to their destination safely.”

The grant is intended to assist in efforts to deal with traffic safety problems and to reduce the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions, according to the announcement. Traffic deaths from all causes declined in California by 11.9 percent, from 3,081 killed in 2009 to 2,715 in 2010. While alcohol impaired deaths saw a sharp decline last year, DUI deaths remain the largest sector, at more than 30 percent of traffic fatalities.

In Malibu, speeding continues to be a major traffic hazard, with the vast majority of fatal accidents caused by speed or loss of vehicle control on Malibu’s serpentine canyon roads, and certain stretches of PCH.

The grant activities “will specifically target motorcycle safety, DUI offenders, drivers with suspended or revoked licenses, and speeding. This will be done through the use of DUI/driver’s license checkpoints and special enforcement operations.”

“Thanks to the dedicated hard work of agencies like the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, California has the fewest traffic fatalities since 1944,” said OTS Director Christopher Murphy.

“While this is good news, we know that only by keeping the pressure on through enforcement and public awareness can we hope to sustain these declines and save lives.”

“DUI/Drivers License Checkpoints are a key component of the grant. These highly visible, widely publicized events are meant to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests. Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.

“This grant also provides drug impairment training to help combat the increasing problem of drivers under the influence of legal and illegal substances. Grant funding will allow 15 officers to receive specialized training to detect impaired drivers under the influence of legal and illegal drugs. This training will enhance officers’ ability to perform on-the-spot assessment of drivers suspected of drug impairment.”

Special motorcycle safety enforcement operations are a new addition, according to the report. The press release states that “motorcycle fatalities have finally dropped in California, following a decade long rise in deaths. In 2010, 353 motorcyclists were killed, a 37 percent drop from the all time high for California in 2008.”

The city’s announcement was made the same day a motorcyclist died in a crash on PCH near Las Flores.

“Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs will be conducting specialized enforcement efforts throughout the next twelve months. Extra officers will be on duty patrolling areas and events where motorcycle crashes and incidents have occurred. Officers will be cracking down on traffic violations made by regular vehicle drivers and motorcyclists that result in far too many motorcycle collisions, injuries and deaths.

“We are on the right path with declining fatalities,” said Murphy. “We have to stick to that path so that some day we can reach the vision we all share—toward zero deaths, every one counts.”

Funding for this program is from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Display of ‘In God We Trust’ at City Hall on Next Meeting Agenda

2011-12-07T17:28:00.001-08:00

• No Opposition Expressed on Issue

BY BILL KOENEKER

Should municipal officials approve the public display of the motto, “In God We Trust” at Malibu City Hall?

That is the question posed before the Malibu City Council at its meeting next week.

Councilmembers Pamela Conley Ulich and Lou La Monte want their colleagues to consider the matter of placing what is called the United States national motto in City Hall, according to City Manager Jim Thorsen, in a memo to council members.

According to the city manager, on July 30, 1957, the U.S. code section 302 established the saying found on U.S. dollar bills and coins as the country’s national motto.

On Nov. 13, 2002, the 107th Congress “reaffirmed the exact language that has appeared in the motto for decades,” according to Thorsen’s research.

A private lobbying organization, In God We Trust—America, Inc. was put together to promote the display of the national motto in city halls and county headquarters across the country.

According to the campaign’s website, 364 cities or counties across the country, including 89 in California, have approved the displays.

The U. S. Supreme Court, in settling the matter, also held that the nation’s “institutions presuppose a Supreme Being and that government recognition of God does not constitute the establishment of such a state church as the Constitution’s authors intended to prohibit.” The U.S. Supreme Court, in settling the matter, also held that the nation’s “institutions presuppose a Supreme Being and that government recognition of God does not constitute the establishment of such a state church as the Constitution’s authors intended to prohibit.”

SMMUSD Approves Policy to Centralize Fundraising and Limit PTA Authority

2011-12-07T17:27:00.001-08:00

• Decision Adds Fuel to Secession Debate

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

After several hours of public comment and discussion, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education approved a plan to centralize fundraising and transfer authority to the Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation, restricting individual district school PTAs from raising funds to pay for programs or personnel.

The special meeting last Tuesday at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica concluded well after midnight.

The plan was endorsed 6-0 by the board members present. Boardmember Ralph Mecher, whose life partner is the executive director of the Ed Foundation, recused himself from the meeting and from all previous discussions of the plan.

The board approved the policy with some minor changes. The text of the resolution stated: “To ensure program parity and equity across all schools and students in the district, the board is establishing a centralized and collaborative fundraising model that will enable the district to provide equity in program and personnel in all district schools while preserving flexibility at each school. This model will be implemented in phases. The board designates the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation as the central fundraising entity for the School District. Once this centralized model is implemented, the Education Foundation will be the only fundraising entity to raise funds for the district to use to pay for personnel and professional development.”

“The Superintendent will create an Advisory Committee that will study best practices and propose an implementation plan for this policy. The committee will work to devise a plan that actualizes the board’s goal of achieving program parity and equity for all schools and students in the district by increasing programming and resources at underserved schools while preserving and sustaining programs of excellence that are important to a school community’s learning goals. Consideration of “best practices” should inform evaluation of existing programs and development of a “premium program” that the district will endeavor, through centralized fundraising, to offer at all schools. In addition, the Advisory Committee is tasked with developing a proposal for centralizing certain donations from the business/corporate community.

The policy will be implemented in all district elementary schools beginning July 1, 2013.

Malibu parents opposed to the plan campaigned up to the eleventh hour ahead of the special board of education meeting on the issue in Santa Monica on Tuesday, despite the consensus that the board of education would unanimously support the fundraising changes.

A petition launched on Nov. 17 pledging the support of “Malibu parents, students, community members and businesses to encourage the development of a reasonable alternative SMMUSD Districtwide Fundraising Plan,” received more than 400 signatures.

Phone calls, emails and formal information sessions at school auditoriums have encouraged action on the measure that many Malibu parents say they see as a district grab for Malibu funding. Websites and organizations opposing the proposal have appeared. Many plan critics have stated that their only recourse is to seek a separate school district.

Many who favored the policy change have stated that they view it as a civil rights issue.

Council to Hear Resolution to Certify LCP Amendment for MHS Field Lights

2011-12-07T17:26:00.000-08:00

• Approval of Certification Expected to Be Pro Forma Vote

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The issue of field lighting at Malibu High School returns to city hall on Monday, when the City Council is scheduled to hear a resolution of certification for the Local Coastal Program Amendment that would permit “limited lighting of the main sports field at public high schools”

Staff is recommending that the city council approve certification of the LCP amendment, which incorporates modifications required by the California Coastal Commission.

Although the City of Malibu and the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District initially denied that the lights would have a negative environmental impact, the Coastal Commission acknowledged concerns raised by project opponents and conditioned approval of the LCP amendment to limit the number and frequency of light use, specify shielded lights, and require a biologist to conduct bird surveys if the lights are to be used during peak bird migration periods.

“The CCC recognized potential impacts to resources that include public views of natural landforms, the beach and ocean, nighttime sky, and environmentally sensitive habitat in the surrounding area,” the staff report states. “The CCC evaluated the city’s LCP amendment request against these standards and determined that allowing the request for proposed lighting of the main sports field at Malibu High School , subject to the issuance of a coastal development permit and a conditional use permit by the city, is permissible with modifications. The modifications confine the proposed night lighting to a limited number of hours, nights per week, and nights per year; to protect the general scenic and visual qualities of the nearby coastal areas; and to minimize impacts on scenic areas visible from scenic roads or public viewing areas to the maximum feasible extent.

“Additionally, the modifications ensure that field night lights would not spill into any areas designated environmentally sensitive habitat area or ESHA buffer and would minimize adverse impacts to biologically significant wildlife and coastal resources, consistent with the relevant ESHA policies of the LCP Land Use Plan.

“The modified LCP amendment was found to adequately protect ESHA from significant disruption of habitat values and is consistent with, and adequate to carry out, the ESHA policies of the LUP. “

The City Council has three options: to certify the modified LCP amendment, to take no action, or to approve with additional modifications, which would require a new CCC review.

The modifications include language that specifies “sports field lighting in the Institutional zone must be limited to the main sports field at Malibu High School and subject to the standards of [the] LIP.

“In order to minimize the cumulative effect of night lighting on the scenic quality and character of Malibu, suggested modification 1 specifies that lighted sports fields are prohibited in all other zone districts, and lighted sports courts shall continue to be prohibited in the institutional zone, as was the case prior to this amendment.

“ As for the propriety of allowing lighting of even the main athletic field at Malibu High School, given the topography of the area and the distance from that field to the public viewing areas described above, the light standards/poles themselves at the main sports field at the Malibu High campus are not expected to significantly block or obscure public views of the ocean or mountains during the daytime. However, to ensure that public views are not obscured by light fixtures during the daytime and that impacts to scenic resources from the operation of the lights are minimized as required by the policies of the LUP, Suggested Modification 3 limits night lighting usage to the main sports field at Malibu High School according to the following restrictions and requirements:

Lighting may not be used between June 1 and Aug. 31; lighting maybe used until 7:30 p.m. three nights a week between the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March (defined as Pacific Standard Time) so long as it does not occur on consecutive nights or more than two nights a week; The 18 nights until 10:30 p.m. allotment may be used outside of Pacific Standard Time according to the following restrictions: during the fall bird migration period, lighting may be used from September through the first week in November; during the spring avian migration period, lighting may be used from the last week of March through May; and lighting use during either the fall or spring migration periods requires an avian monitoring plan to be reviewed and approved by the city biologist prior to issuance of a coastal development permit authorizing the lighting.

According to the staff report, “the plan is required to be implemented concurrent with the approved field lighting operations. If the monitoring component of the plan indicates that the approved field lighting results in significant adverse impacts upon birds, the city will be required to modify the approved lighting schedule in order to ensure avoidance of the identified impacts.

Suggested modification 4 specifies that field lighting at Malibu High School “must be minimized, directed downward, and shielded using the best available visor technology and pole height and design that minimizes light spill, sky glow, and glare impacts to public views to the maximum extent feasible.”

The CCC executive director will determine in writing whether the city’s action is “legally adequate to satisfy any specific requirements set forth in the CCC’s certification order.” The director then reports the determination to the CCC at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

If the LCP amendment is approved, the school district must apply to the city for a Conditional Use Permit before any plan to light the field can be implemented.

Publisher’s Notebook

2011-12-07T17:24:00.001-08:00

• Malibu Is Ready for Winter •

ANNE SOBLE

The winds that wreaked havoc throughout most of the rest of Los Angeles County last week were not Santa Ana winds—many of the weather reports to the contrary—but north winds, which is why Malibuites spent the first three days of this powerful and perilous wind event on the sidelines.

It was not until the strong winds became northeasterly in nature, true Santa Anas, that Malibu residents had to join those battening down the hatches and anything else that was freestanding, while having the additional task of going into red flag alert response.

As fierce as this week’s winds were—I clocked a little over 54 miles per hour on my handheld anemometer on Monday and other instruments recorded up to 67 miles per hour further up into the mountains—they didn’t come close to matching the 80-plus mph winds that battered the community two years ago.

The statistics comparison notwithstanding, Santa Anas always spell danger if people are using power tools outdoors, have vehicles with faulty catalytic converters, or carelessly toss a lit cigarette out a car window. All it takes is one errant spark making contact with the abundant dry fuel that exists in even the smallest of open spaces throughout the community and the adjacent hillsides.

The speed with which a wind-driven wildfire travels and the intense heat on its front lines makes these conflagrations virtually impossible to head off, let alone contain, until the weather conditions change and nature demonstrates once again that it calls the shots when it comes to wildland firefighting.

As soon as the winds threatened to change course, the Los Angeles County Fire Department reacted swiftly to the potential for dangerous wildland fire behavior with major augmented staffing and the predeployment of resources into position to respond quickly to areas deemed most vulnerable.

Among the added resources were 20 engines in strike team configuration, eight water tenders, 10 fire crews, three dozer teams and two helitenders, joined by the three CL-415 SuperScoopers (whose Canadian contract was recently extended by the county because of concerns about local weather patterns), five LACFD water-dropping copters and one Ericson SkyCrane. An additional 290 firefighting personnel were also at the ready.

That the crews and equipment did not have to be called into action left local residents with an extra dose of post-Thanksgiving gratitude. But there are no delusions about the ongoing wildfire danger if another major wind event occurs before the next rainstorm. Malibu has to remain vigilant until winter arrives and it has to come to grips with a whole new set of meteorological unknowns.

OLM School Retains New Permanent Principal

2011-12-07T17:23:00.001-08:00

Our Lady of Malibu Catholic School has chosen a permanent principal.

Father Bill Kerze, pastor of Our Lady of Malibu Church, announced that Michael Smith has been retained as the permanent principal, effective immediately.

Smith had been hired as an interim principal at the K-8 parochial school for the current school year, while an extensive search was to be conducted for someone to fill the position on a permanent basis.

“With his thirty-seven years of experience on all levels of education, however, Smith has proven to be an excellent fit at OLM, providing outstanding leadership and direction to the school,” Kerze said. “Therefore, [we] decided that any further search was unnecessary.”

Before making his decision, Kerze consulted with parents, faculty and OLM school board members, who expressed their overwhelming support of Smith’s appointment.

Smith retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District in 2009, but “missed being with the kids and the teachers” and so welcomed the opportunity to serve as interim principal of Our Lady of Malibu School.

“Described as ‘a great listener and a dynamic doer,’ Smith has accomplished much during his brief time at OLM, a press release states.

“He has established a school-wide assertive discipline plan, which assists the faculty in running organized, teacher-in-charge classrooms. He acquired the necessary funding to launch a foreign language program, which offers OLM students the opportunity to study Spanish, French or Mandarin.

“He secured the space which now serves as an art studio for all, and he welcomed the Wildlife Learning Center to the campus as the first ev-ent in OLM’s after-school enrichment program, which is open for free to all in the Malibu community.”

“Mr. Smith has provided OLM with much needed consistency in academic planning, in discipline, and with his fantastic camaraderie with the parents, students and faculty,” parent Tammy Arlidge said. “We all feel very blessed to have him.”

More information on OLM School is available at olmalibuschool.org

Dume Buoy Kept Boats Off the Rocks for 108 Years

2011-12-07T17:22:00.001-08:00

• Modern Mariners Can Rely on GPS Technology but the Point Sea Lion Colony Is Out of Luck

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

For over 100 years, the Point Dume buoy has warned mariners away from dangerous rocks, and enchanted—or disconcerted—visitors and residents with the sound of its deep, mournful whistle, and later with the ringing of its massive bronze bell.

Earlier this year, the buoy was permanently removed by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The proposal to discontinue the buoy was reportedly submitted to the Marina Del Rey yachting and fishing community for comment, where the discontinuance apparently did not receive any opposition. The removal plan appears not to have been circulated in the City of Malibu. However, Lt. Morgan Barbieri, the officer in charge of collecting comments on the proposal did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him for clarification.

The first Point Dume buoy was installed in 1903, after the U.S. Government’s longtime plan to build a light house on the headland was finally abandoned—Malibu Ranchero owner Frederick Hastings Rindge, and later his widow, May Knight Rindge, refused to let the government have access to the headlands.

For 90 years, the marker installed to warn mariners away from the rocks featured a wave-powered whistle. Longtime Point Dume residents vividly remember the doleful cow-like lowing of the whistle. When weather and surf conditions were right, the sound carried for miles.

A 1909 mariner’s guide published by the U.S. government describes: “A whistling buoy, red, ‘Pt. Dume,’ is placed mile off the point, and vessels must not go inside of it.”

According to Malibu historians John Merrick and Ronald Rindge, in their book “Maritime Stories of Point Dume and Malibu,” the whistle was removed in 1993, “in response to complaints from residents about the whistling sound being too loud.”

It was replaced with a light and bell buoy. The bell, cast out of bronze and weighing 225 pounds, according to a Coast Guard schematic, had four clappers. As waves rocked the buoy, the clappers would strike the bell, producing a single tone that increased in volume and frequency with high surf or choppy conditions. Like the whistle, the sound carried during certain weather conditions, and was often accompanied by the barking calls of the buoy’s sea lion passengers.

Merrick and Rindge speculated that the buoy light would have been discontinued during WWII, when the Malibu coast was under blackout orders.

They provide a newspaper account of the buoy, valued at that time at $8000, breaking its moorings and washing out to sea during a powerful winter storm on Jan. 9, 1974, and an evocative description, written by journalist Jim Murray, of “nights when the fog creeps across the fingers of land, and the deep-water buoy off the rocks sounds its mournful dirge…”

According to Merrick and Rindge, every six years, the buoy would be hauled out, scraped, repaired and repainted.

Rindge accompanied the Coast Guard cutter Conifer in 1999, when a new bell buoy, equipped with a solar-powered red light was installed—a serious undertaking, since the buoys weigh an estimated 11,800 pounds, not including an 8500 pound concrete sinker and 400 feet of mooring chain, weighing as much as an additional 20,000 pounds.

Although generations of local sailors have been taught that the buoy marked dangerous rocks and kelp and that it should never be passed on the shore side, 21st century mariners will have to depend on GPS technology to stay clear of troubled waters.

Point Dume residents were not the only ones upset by the removal of the buoy. Locals say that the area’s large colony of sea lions appears to have dispersed following the removal of the buoy, and that only a few of the marine mammals appear to have remained in the vicinity.

If the sea lions had been surveyed, they might have had plenty to say about the removal of what has been a favorite pinniped gathering place.

Malibu Pioneer Family Established Homestead in Trancas Canyon

2011-12-07T17:21:00.001-08:00

• Early Settlers Endured Wild Fire, Floods and Faltering Gold Mine

BY BILL KOENEKER

It was the turn of the century, when Freeman Mills Kincaid was shown some land in Trancas Canyon with a good spring, but better yet the rugged coastal canyon was part of the U.S. government’s homestead lands and was available if he was willing to work the land and settle on it.

Thus was born the Kincaid Ranch, still a place name on many maps, a 160-acre homestead by 1905 and where years later almost the entire canyon was owned by some Kincaid or relative of the land-loving family.

Kincaid, along with his wife Theresia Grace Valerie settled on a ridge that overlooked the ocean that is now near the top of Trancas Canyon Road.

Like most pioneer families, the Kincaids suffered the hardships of the environment. The first ramshackle cabin was nearly pummeled to the ground by the fierce Santa Ana winds.

In 1935, the house that replaced the cabin burned to the ground. The Kincaid family stayed in a line shack provided by the Rindge family, located near the existing sycamore grove behind the now empty Trancas market.

The late Evelyn Kincaid Lippincott, daughter to Freeman, recalled how the destruction of the 1935 fire “nearly broke my dad’s heart.”

The family rebuilt in 1936 and that house still exists today, having survived the fires of 1956 and 1978.

Kincaid was an educated man, who felt equally at home either raising cattle and horses or growing roses.

He also wrote a book of poetry as well as leading such notables as actor Joel McCrea and director Frank Capra on deer hunting expeditions in the canyon.

In what became a big chapter in the family’s life was the discovery of gold on the Kincaid property.

A mine was built into the side of a hill, but the expected largesse promised by the original assay of gold flour never materialized.

A vast network of land claims, purchases and land swaps that left the Kincaid name on the deeds of thousands of acres of land in Trancas Canyon dwindled as the failed mine ended up costing a fortune rather than producing one.

By the time both parents had died, the land was divided for each sibling to get a piece of the ranch albeit fourteen or fifteen acre parcels.

Freeman, Jr., Alvin, Evelyn and Joe shared in owning a small piece of the canyon.

All of those children have passed away except Alvin, who sold his parcel, and the Kincaid name exists only on title reports and in the photos and memories of their descendants.

Freeman Jr. might have best said it when he uttered, “If I knew we were making history, I would have paid more attention.”

Dick Van Dyke and Brent Moon

2011-12-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

Multi-talented Malibu resident Dick Van Dyke will be joining actor Brent Moon and the pop/rock/hip hop band Thick as Thieves on Dec. 3 at Gladstone’s Restaurant, 17300 PCH, Pacific Palisades, for a night of comedy and music in support of children’s charity SoCal HeARTS.

The event takes place from 8:30-11:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. Proceeds will fund holiday gifts for disadvantaged children.

More information is available at socalhearts.bbnow.org

City Council United in Effort to Explore Secession Feasibility

2011-11-30T18:16:00.001-08:00

• Process Should Gain Access to Financial and Other Data Previously Unavailable to the Public

BY BILL KOENEKER

Except for one dissenter, all of the public speakers in Malibu City Council chambers Monday night, including the council members, agreed to proceed with the process to pursue a petition with the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization aka County Committee for the purpose of forming a unified school district from territory currently within the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

The council’s school subcommittee consisting of Mayor Laura Rosenthal and Councilmember Lou La Monte has been researching the concept of Malibu forming its own school district and separating from the SMMUSD.

Rosenthal and La Monte, at this week’s council meeting, successfully sought the support and consensus of their colleagues to initiate a “formal, multi-entity process to pursue a unification petition.”

The mayor said she wanted to clarify some points at the outset. She said there is no effort underway to ask for city funds for polling or consultants. “We are not looking for municipal funds,” she said.

What remained unspoken was that city money had already been used, since City Manager Jim Thorsen wrote the staff report and presumably was not working pro bono for the time he spent on the matter.

Rosenthal was also adamant that the separate district was not in response to the current school district effort to require all fundraising to be collected for district-wide purposes rather than earmarked for certain schools at the request of the donors.

“This process began a year ago and it has nothing to do with district-wide funding,” the mayor said.

Both Rosenthal and La Monte quickly pointed out that the money issues are unknown and share a major role in the viability of a separate district.

“We don’t know what the money issues are,” said Rosenthal. “The city has a joint use agreement, so we have a stake in that.”

“The concept is to find out if we can financially do this,” said La Monte. “We have never gotten that information. This is information gathering. Nothing will be decided by the two of us. It will come back to the council and the people.”

Rosenthal emphasized how important it is to arrive at a consensus with all of the agencies involved including district officials and the school board.

The goal is to build a consensus within a joint petition group. It would involve meetings with the district, the City of Santa Monica and the City of Malibu to work toward submitting a joint petition to the County Committee.

The joint petition would present an agreement in principle among the entities in regard to distribution of resources, taxes, facilities, joint use agreements and other relevant issues. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who said she supported the effort, talked about some of the potentially difficult issues.

“It will be about the money. It has to be approved by the voters. I see this costing a lot of money. My question is, what is within the jurisdiction of the city?” she said.

City Attorney Christi Hogin responded, “It might sound like hair-splitting. From a legal point of view, public education is not a municipal matter. No city money can be spent on a school district. It is a misuse of public funds.”

She said the California Constitution is clear on that, although over the years the courts have allowed cities to take increasing roles in public education.

Councilmember John Sibert said the problem has always been that there has been no information available. “The members of the city council are pursuing that information. We can do that?” he asked.

Hogin said, “Absolutely.”

“I see this as essentially what we are doing. I support it,” Sibert said.

Malibu city officials are apparently taking their cue from public statements and previous private conversations with district officials that the school district might cooperate with Malibu creating its own school district.

The lone dissenting voice was former council candidate Mike Sidley, who said it is an “ill conceived idea,” and urged the city council to reject it.

Other public speakers encouraged the council to move forward.

Paul Grisanti said, “Absolutely the right thing to be doing. We are willing to help.”

Craig Foster, PTA president for Webster School, urged the council to move forward. “Malibu has flirted with this. But never before has the board supported it. We are a super–minority. The district is not dedicated to the excellence of our [Malibu] schools,” he said.

Ryan Embee said the potential success of any new district would depend upon what kind of “deal” Malibu could get. “I am reminded of the ‘deal’ the city got from the county—the miniscule amount of property taxes. Whatever the ‘deal’ it better be good,” he said. “It is fraught with unintended consequences. It will be in the details.”

Other interested parties need to be consulted including the California Teachers Association, Service Employees International Union, Community for Excellent Public Schools and Parent Teacher Associations.

Once a valid petition is submitted, the County Committee will study the feasibility of the petition.

“A united front among all the entities will be a key factor in the success of this petition,” wrote Thorsen in his staff report.

The County Committee consists of 11 members—two from each of the five county supervisory districts and one member serving at-large.

Members are elected annually by a voting representative of each of the 94 school and community college district governing boards in Los Angeles County. The term of office is four years. The committee meets one time per month.

Any proposal to reorganize a school district must be considered by the County Committee requiring a public hearing, decision and recommendation, according to state law.

Several years ago, Rosenthal lead a failed attempt to initiate the process by getting 25 percent of the registered Malibu voters to petition the County Committee and found it to be rough sledding.

That is one of two ways the process can be initiated. This time Malibu has chosen the other effort by filing what is called a joint attempt, meaning having the approval of the board and filing the petition with the County Committee.

In 2004 Malibu parents organized another movement to separate local schools from Santa Monica.

A feasibility study was undertaken, according to published reports, by the Malibu Unified School Team, LLC, which concluded the split was feasible. At the time, split leaders said the separation would allow Malibu schools to more effectively raise money from voluntary contributions and develop programs they did not have and wanted.

That effort also failed.

School District Moves Ahead with Its Phased Joint Funding Pool Proposal

2011-11-30T18:15:00.001-08:00

• Corporate Grants Over $2500 Are Covered Immediately

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Malibu parents opposed to a Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District plan that will centralize fundraising and prohibit individual school PTAs from directly funding programs or personnel campaigned up to the eleventh hour ahead of the special board of education meeting on the issue in Santa Monica on Tuesday, despite the consensus that the board of education would unanimously support the fundraising changes.

Phone calls, emails and formal information sessions at school auditoriums have encouraged action on the measure that many Malibu parents say they see as a district grab for Malibu funding. Websites and organizations opposing the proposal have appeared, but many plan critics have stated that their only recourse is to seek a separate school district.

“The board of education meeting was still underway at Lincoln idle School in Santa Monica when the Malibu Surfside News went to press on Tuesday night, but the fundraising reform is expected to pass with a unanimous vote.

The revised text of the proposal states:

“To ensure program parity and equity across all schools and students in the district, the board is establishing a centralized and collaborative fundraising model that will enable the District to provide equity in program and personnel in all district schools while preserving flexibility at each school. This model will be implemented in phases. The board designates the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation as the central fundraising entity for the School District. Once this centralized model is implemented, the Education Foundation will be the only fundraising entity to raise funds for the district to use to pay for personnel and professional development.”

The policy will be implemented in all district elementary schools beginning July 1, 2013.

Effective July 1, 2012, all corporate gifts to district elementary schools in an amount over $2500 and smaller gifts the cumulatively total $2,500 or more in a year will be directed through the Education Foundation. Current corporate gifts are exempt.

Trancas Highlands Water System Back on Planning Panel’s Agenda Again

2011-11-30T18:14:00.001-08:00

• Closed Service Station to Be Demo’d

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu Planning Commission is scheduled to hear a number of applications at its meeting on Tuesday Dec. 6 including construction of a Trancas Highlands water system, demolition of a Civic Center gas station and a permit for the operation of an environmental learning center.

The hearing for a request to operate a retail wine store and wine tasting room has been continued to Jan. 3 at the request of the applicant.

Plans call for opening the wine outlet in the building owned by Councilmember Jefferson Wagner.

The on-again off-again planning commission hearing on a request for a public water system and dry utility infrastructure improvements in the Trancas Highlands is back on again, according to a public notice.

The Trancas Highlands Homeowners Association is seeking a permit for current plans, which call for a 500,000-gallon water storage tank constructed on a vacant lot at 31537 Anacapa View Drive, which is located in the northwest corner of the neighborhood, according to planning department documents.

At the same time, at a separate hearing, the council is expected to consider an application on the same property at 31537 Anacapa View Drive for the construction of a new, 11,165-square-foot house reduced from the original 12,731-square-foot, two-story single-family home with a basement and attached 640-square foot garage, a detached 447-square foot guest house, a motor court with fire department turn around, swimming pool and a new 1,950-foot access road, according to a public notice.

Fire hydrants, two pressure reducing stations, valves and other appurtenances would be constructed along the public and private streets.

An additional “dry” trench is also proposed for undergrounding existing overhead electric lines and extension of utilities such as natural gas and cable.

Once underground utilities are installed, overhead lines and poles would be removed.

Access to the tank would be a new 2,250-foot access road up to the building sites for the new water tank and the two new homes.

Planners indicate the rest of the process should unfold like this: A coastal permit must be approved. Then the HOA forms the assessment district to fund preparation of final-engineering and construction plans.

The water system and utility plans would be designed in compliance with Water District 29, Los Angeles County Fire Department, City of Malibu and utility provider requirements.

Many of the homes in the highlands do not have potable water and must have water trucked to them and stored in tanks.

Most of the homes were developed with wells, which seem to have dried out for the most part in the hilly area above Broad Beach.

It has been a long-held dream of many of the residents for nearly 20 years to have piped water connected to their homes.

Also on tap, Cornucopia Foundation is seeking a CUP for its environmental learning center described as an educational, non-profit agricultural use benefiting the students of Juan Cabrillo Elementary and Malibu Middle schools and the high school.

Cornucopia Foundation is the operator of the Malibu Farmers Market and is headed up by Debra Bianco and Remy O’Neil, who have often explained that the operations of the market are designed to be a money maker for the learning center.

Planners were told the Foundation is about to sign a five year lease with the school district for use of the land where the learning center is located.

The environmental center is tucked back behind the school campus away from the concrete and pavement on an acre of land.

According to its website, the degraded piece of land was overgrown with fennel and weeds and was hand-cleared using no herbicides or pesticides. Native plants and a drought tolerant garden were planted.

The center has a shaded natural amphitheater, planted wind screens and a garden currently planted with pumpkins.

It has been used by teachers and children for an after school enrichment program and summer program.

Another ongoing project is described as a riparian restoration project on a disturbed stream that runs along the side of the property and down to the ocean, the web site explains.

Plans include a secret garden, a yurt, more picnic tables, a pond, a greenhouse and tool shed.

A longtime Civic Center gasoline service station, currently no longer in business, is about to disappear if the Chevron Company has its way.

The firm is seeking approval for a permit from the planning commission next week for the “full demolition” of the existing gas and service station at 23614 Pacific Coast Highway.

Plans call for the removal of all structures, piping, pumps, hydraulic lifts, hardscape and signage and the removal of four 10,000 gallon underground gasoline and diesel storage tanks.

“Chevron has kept that property and is selling it themselves,” he said.

Planners have determined the service station began operation in 1956 based on review of historic aerial photos. The outlet ceased operations in 2008.

The project includes the installation of a three compartment sinks and a mop sink as part of the tenant improvement. No new square footage is proposed, according to city planners.

The location is in the building owned by Wagner, whose building was also the site chosen by a large-scale corporation that wanted to establish a building full of offices all related to the sale of medical marijuana.

That request was turned down by the planning commission, which instead approved a permit for a much smaller low key operation at another location.

Majority of Council Sends Housing Element to State for Its Assessment

2011-11-30T18:13:00.000-08:00

• Rezoning of Parcels Raises Concerns for Some Critics

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council this week discussed the completed draft of the Housing Element update at its meeting Monday night when more options were made available for review.

The council, on a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich dissenting, agreed to authorize the staff to submit the draft 2008-2014 Housing Element to the state of California Department of Housing and Community Development or HCD, for review and comment.

Council members also directed staff and consultants to study in detail selected sites for the Environmental Impact Report.

Conley Ulich said she had a problem with the sites chosen for analysis. “Why are we not looking at other areas?” she asked. “This is a big red flag: putting housing units where we are considering sewage treatment.”

John Douglas, the consultant hired by the city to draft the document, told the council the plan currently takes a two-prong strategy in meeting affordable housing needs.

“We are taking credit for second units and have concluded 53 of those to satisfy the requirements. The remainder of the 135 would come from new multi-family lots not developed and the subdivision of selected parcels,” he said.

The two key elements, according to the consultant, is that second unit credits can be preapproved as prototypes and new affordable housing would be developed from a selected number of sites, which would be rezoned for affordable housing. The additional units would be restricted to affordable housing.

Douglas said he and the staff were seeking what approach to take with the Environmental Impact Report, whether to go forward with a study of all potential sites or a study of selected sites in detail for analysis. “There are different costs,” he said.

The council ultimately agreed upon a detailed analysis of selected sites, La Paz considered city-owned and existing multi-family lots on the landside of Pacific Coast Highway.

Councilmember Lou La Monte wanted to know, if the document was submitted to HCD, how long it could take. He was told they have 60 days. “Is there any acknowledgment about the bad numbers [of affordable housing units required, 188] submitted by [Southern California Association of Governments]?” La Monte asked.

During public comments, attorney Fred Gaines, who said he was representing Trancas PCH LLC, asked the council to not move forward with submitting the document to HCD.

“It utterly fails to meet the standards. The upzoning cannot possibly get you to the goals. There are a large amount of guesthouses that will be turned into affordable housing? That is not a believable statement. You can’t get there from the numbers you have. It’s backwards. You should identify all the possibilities then make a decision about what you want to eliminate,” he said.

Gaines was referring to the council’s previous action when it agreed to take the Trancas parcels including Trancas PCH LLC’s vacant lots out of any consideration for upzoning or analysis in the Environmental Impact Report.

Activist Lynn Norton praised the plan and said she believed there is no problem for the city to reach the affordable housing goals.

Representing the Malibu Township Council, Lucile Keller said MTC opposes the rezoning. She said it was not done the last time and even when the city was sued to the appellate level, the courts sided with the city. “Review the court documents,” she said.

Planning Commissioner John Mazza said the draft is a good job. “They [consultants] listened [to the public]. Nobody believes you are going to build a lot of affordable housing.”

The council had heard the matter previously and at that time, urged on by activists and the public, agreed to the further study of guesthouses and other secondary residential units to be counted as low cost housing, but nixed further consideration of allowing existing commercial properties to have residential use on the second story and development of mixed use commercial and residential.

Upon the recommendation of Councilmember Jefferson Wagner, the council agreed to include the possible donation of two acres in the La Paz project as a study site.

At that meeting, Planning Director Joyce Parker-Bozylinski noted the city is three years late in submitting an update, should send a draft of the update to the state housing department later this year, and would offer public hearings on the Environmental Impact Report in the summer of 2012.

“By Oct. 2013, the document should be adopted and that is when we need the next update,” she said.

The planning director had said the most important issue is the number generated by the SCAG concerning the assignment of 188 low income housing units.

“That should be our most intense focus. Malibu needs to demonstrate a capacity for 188 units. If you cannot show you can accommodate the number, you have to have high density [up zoning],” she said.

Earlier, Parker-Bozylinksi explained the public sees the counting of second units as the preferred method, a strategy for providing adequate sites to accommodate regional housing needs assessment [or RHNA] requirements.

She explained staff believes that land use changes would be necessary in order to obtain certification to accommodate the city’s assigned share of new housing under the current RHNA .

Planners acknowledge that some residents had recommended that the Environmental Impact Report process be put on hold until options other than rezoning are fully investigated and it is determined whether any rezoning is necessary.

“Staff agrees that all viable alternatives to rezoning should be fully considered in order to minimize impacts on the community. However, the purpose of the EIR is to provide an objective evaluation of feasible housing element options to support sound decision-making. Staff is also concerned that a delay in the EIR process could jeopardize the city’s ability to complete the housing element update within the state mandated timeframe. It is staff’s intent to run the timeline for completing the EIR concurrently with the housing element update,” the planning head added. The council agreed.

Planners had also acknowledged that some residents had recommended that the city seek a revision to the RHNA allocation for the current planning period (2006-2014) prior to moving forward with the housing element. Residents had complained about an apparent discrepancy between the RHNA allocation of 14 units in the previous planning period (1998-2005) and the allocation of 441 units in the current period.

According to the planning staff, they contacted SCAG about the reason for the large differences between the RHNA allocation of the last two planning periods.

“As explained by SCAG, the discrepancy between the two RHNA cycles is apparently based on the small number of housing units built in Malibu during the 1990s compared to the early 2000s. SCAG’s forecast methodology relies heavily on historical growth trends to project future development. According to building records, during the period after city incorporation in 1991 to 1997, the number of housing units declined. This decline appears to explain why the 1998-2005 RHNA allocation was only 14 units. However, during the period 2000-2006, housing units increased by 258. This change in historical growth pattern appears to explain the large increase in the RHNA allocation for the current period.

The staff has in recent months been focusing on ensuring that the RHNA for the next planning period, which is currently being prepared, should “fairly and accurately reflect the significant constraints to development in Malibu.”

The SCAG director agreed that would happen.

The EIR would support the effort by providing factual information regarding the various environmental constraints that limit the city’s potential for future development, according to planners.

“This is another reason why staff believes the preparation of the EIR should not be delayed,” the staff report states.

The most common method of addressing an RHNA shortfall for low-income housing is through rezoning to allow multi-family residential development, according to planners. However, other options have been identified that may satisfy some portion of the RHNA requirements.

Such as determining the amount of credit of second units, which state law allows cities to satisfy as portion of their RHNA requirements.

City planners describe the update as a state mandate to establish new policies, goals and programs relative to the provision of housing in the city.

State law mandates that local governments plan for their share of the region’s housing needs for all income categories.

City Revises the Municipal Policy on General Fund Undesignated Reserve

2011-11-30T18:11:00.001-08:00

• Council Members Keep Language Loose for ‘Emergencies’

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council took action this week to establish a revised council policy on the general fund undesignated reserve.

In 1997, council policy was adopted to establish a reserve equal to the annual discretionary general fund revenue, according to city officials.

“In 2000, the city established an informal policy to maintain a general fund undesignated reserve in the amount of $8 million,” wrote

Assistant City Manager Reva Feldman in a memo to council members.

“The $8 million was established in fiscal year 2000-2001 as a city council goal, at which time the city’s general fund operating budget was $11 million.”

Feldman indicated the city achieved the $8 million reserve in fiscal year 2004-2005. At that time the city’s general fund operating budget was $16 million.

By way of comparison, the city’s general fund operating budget for this fiscal year is $22.2 million.

The council’s administration and finance subcommittee discussed the policy in March and recommended the council establish a formal reserve policy at no less than 50 percent of the municipality’s general fund operating budget.

In April, the council discussed the matter and agreed to a policy of 50 percent and directed the staff to come back with such a policy.

This week, the council approved such a policy, but only after council members agreed with Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich and removed language from the policy stipulating that the city “shall” maintain a minimum amount.

Conley Ulich said the mandate implied by the word “shall” could force the hands of councils in the future, especially if there was some kind of emergency, and it should be deleted. The council agreed.

Malibu Couple Adds $2000 to Cougar Poacher Reward Fund

2011-11-30T18:10:00.001-08:00

• $18,700 for Info Leading to Takedown of Culprit(s)

The Malibu City Council this week was putting the finishing touches to add $5000 to the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of a mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains when a Malibu couple announced they are contributing $2000 of their own money.

Denise and Daniel Villefort made the announcement in front of the council saying they would use their own personal funds to up the ante for reward money.

“We hope to send a message: it will not be tolerated,” said Denise Villefort.

Councilmember Lou La Monte said it was the kind of action he hoped to see others emulate.

On Sept. 11, a 7-year-old cougar, known to the National Park Service researchers as P-15, was found dead in a canyon near Newbury Park in Ventura County, according to federal officials.

The puma was one of several mountain lions in the region equipped with a GPS device that allowed NPS biologists to track their moves.

While the specific cause of death is still under investigation, Park Service officials state that the injuries to the lion were human caused, leading them to believe that poachers killed the animal.

Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich had introduced the original measure for council consideration.

Malibu and the Villeforts joined the City of Calabasas, which recently approved a $5000 reward to match earlier rewards offered by the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust. Other organizations are also offering rewards bringing the total reward amount to $18,700.

Publisher’s Notebook

2011-11-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

• It’s Time for Transparency in Malibu Public Education •

ANNE SOBLE

Pursuing a feasibility analysis of what is involved in the secession of Malibu from the SMMUSD school district is a long overdue opportunity to pierce the veil of secrecy that surrounds the district’s bureaucratic processes. Even if it turns out that a separate Malibu school district might not be viable in this era of fiscal uncertainty, governmental obfuscation, and the labyrinth of state and federal regulations that take much education policymaking out of local hands, the information will be invaluable to Malibu, as well as Santa Monica.

Few governing entities appear to be as public phobic and media averse as the SMMUSD. Basic data is virtually impossible to obtain. Need numbers? “How many Malibu students go to Samohi?—Our computer system can’t do that.” “How much Title One and other funding goes to which school?—That’s too difficult to break down.” “Can I get a copy of these statistics?—We’ll try to get it done in a few weeks,” etc.

At the newspaper office, we have a running joke that new SMMUSD superintendents—or at least the last three—were required to solemnly pledge not to discuss anything with the media that is the least bit negative or might reflect adversely on the system. Leave them a message or send an email about a major public concern and no response will be forthcoming. The district thinks that cheerleaders should do education news reporting.

Going the county petition route may finally mean that financial data for the individual schools and the district, as a whole, will become available. It is impossible to understand current district policy without this, let alone consider a major move such as forming a separate Malibu district. Only then can the prevailing mythology—“Malibu doesn’t get its fair share;” “Title One dollars are as much, or more, than private donations;” and “Well-heeled parents don’t mean better students,” etc.—be proved or disproved.

Although there are always misgivings when politicizing the issue of education—and make no mistake, this effort is as much about politics as education—it is already the case in Santa Monica. Politics is a major force in local school board elections, effectively shutting out Malibu candidates who don’t take a blood oath to follow the Santa Monica political machine.

That the current “Malibu” school district’s boundaries and the city’s boundaries are not the same will also have to be adequately addressed. The school district is all of the 90265 addresses, which include unincorporated Malibu (with its surprisingly different voter demographics), part of unincorporated Topanga, and even some addresses in unincorporated Ventura County.

When the numbers for assessing financial viability are finally available for review, hopefully there will be no going back to closed-door fiscal or any other policymaking. What is then done with the information in terms of seceding from the district, or not, will be a separate subject unto itself. If everyone in the district has a transparent picture of what has hitherto been hidden, there is increased potential for intelligent decision-making, whatever structural system is in place.

Adamson House Offers Ambiance

2011-11-30T18:05:00.001-08:00

• Special Christmas Holiday Tours Are Still Available

The Adamson House is decorated for the holidays in authentic 1930s style, and reservations are still available for docent-led 2011 Christmas tours.
Open tours include Sunday, Dec. 18, from 2-5 p.m., Christmas Day, 2-5 p.m. and New Year’s Day, 3-4 p.m.
Admission is $15 per person and includes the tour, refreshments and a special, handmade keepsake gift. Prepaid reservations are required.
Participants should make sure that they give themselves enough time to explore the Adamson House gardens.
A tour can be combined with a visit to the Malibu Lagoon and the Malibu Pier for a full day of local history and scenery. All three are owned and operated by California State Parks.
Built in 1930 for Rhoda Rindge Adamson, the daughter of Malibu Ranchero owners Frederick Hastings Rindge and May Knight Rindge, and her husband, Merritt Huntley Adamson, the Adamson House is a showcase for the extensive, custom ceramic art tiles designed by Rufus Bradley Keeler ceramist and manager of the Malibu Potteries, which was owned by the Adamson family.
Other highlights include painted panels and murals created by artists Ejnar Hansen, and Peter Nielsen, decorative ironwork, art glass windows, period furnishings and spectacular views.
The Adamson House Museum gift shop, located in the garden next to the house, and featuring a wide range of gift ideas that include handmade Malibu Potteries-style tiles and facsimile editions of Frederick Hastings Rindge’s 1898 book about life on the Malibu Ranchero, “Happy Days in Southern California,” will be open on weekends throughout the holiday season.
More information on the Adamson House is available at www.adamsonhouse.org. Reservations can be made by calling 310-456-8432.

Westminster Is Next Stop for Malibu Wire Fox Terrier Following National Show Win

2011-11-30T17:48:00.000-08:00

TOP DOG— Malibu dog breeder Torie Steele reports that her wire fox terrier Ch. Steele Your Heart, otherwise known as Eira, which means “snow” in Welsh, took top honors at the National Dog Show on Nov. 19. “Outshining the English springer spaniel, the affenpinscher, the Australian shepherd, the Dalmatian, the Bernese mountain dog and the whippet,” Eira was crowned Best in Show. Eira, who is co-owned by Steele and Mary Ann Roma, is headed next to the Westminster Kennel. Steele says Eira, who was born and raised in Malibu, loves to run on the beach. When she is traveling the show circuit, Eira enjoys “sleeping late in the hotel bed.” A show biz pro, this little terrier has won 15 Best in Show awards and numerous “Best in Specialty” shows. “In addition to being the number one wire fox terrier, she is also the number-two-ranked terrier in the United States,” according to Steele.

Water Board Challenger Has Day in Court

2011-11-02T16:43:00.001-07:00

• Local Attorney Filed Lawsuit over Civic Center Septic Ban

BY BILL KOENEKER

A Malibu Road attorney, who has filed a lawsuit against the local and state water boards and the California Environmental Protection Agency and the state concerning the Civic Center septic ban, which includes residential areas such as Malibu Road, has walked away from her first courtroom encounter with a mixed bag of results.

Attorney Joan Lavine, who owns a home on Malibu Road, sought to have the ban overturned and set aside and has also made a claim that the septic ban has resulted in an inverse condemnation, “due to the unconstitutional regulatory taking…of all viable economic value and use of her substantial property interests in her Malibu Road property and seeks the award of reasonable monetary damages.”

Most of the state agencies asked the court to dismiss the complaint on technical grounds, what is legally called a demurrer.

For the most part, the court agreed with the state agencies and sustained the demurrers without leave to amend. “I will have to appeal that,” said Lavine, who acknowledged the court stipulating “without leave to amend” left her with few options.

Lavine said not all was lost to her. Here is what the court said: “Petitioner requested that this court stay entry of an order dismissing these causes of action as to these respondents to allow her to seek appellate review. That request is denied. Writ proceedings should proceed promptly. As there remains a viable and underlying Petition that needs to be adjudicated, that proceeding should proceed with all deliberate speed.”

The judge reviewed how the parties had argued. “Respondents State Water Board and Regional Water Board demur to the second cause of action on the grounds that the first amended petition fails to state a cause of action for Writ of Administrative Mandate because petitioner is seeking to over-turn the quasi-legislative action of Respondent Water Boards instead of any quasi-adjudicative action that would properly be the subject of a Writ of Administrative Mandate.”

“Water Boards thus extrapolate that the septic ban resolution being part of a basin plan (a.k.a. ‘regulation’ ) are quasi-legislative action, and therefore not amendable to being judicially reviewed on a petition for writ of administrative mandamus,” Lavine wrote.

However, the judge said, “There is no doubt that respondent demurring water boards engaged in what was processed as a ‘legislative act’ when they amend the Regional Board’s LA Regional Basin Plan.

Lavine countered, “It is these erroneously employed quasi-legislative procedures, required by law to be quasi-adjudicatory, that petitioner challenges in her petition for writ of administrative mandamus, as illegal, void and subject being restrained and prevented.”

The judge disagreed. “The petitioner is incorrect.”

The judge agreed with the state attorney general’s office, which represents state agencies.

“A demurrer is appropriate when the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against a party,” the legal brief from the AG’s office states. “When the complaint lacks sufficiency, the court must decide whether there is a reasonable possibility that the plaintiff may cure the defect by amendment. The petitioner bears the burden of proving such reasonable possibility. Where the petitioner fails to meet this burden, the court may properly sustain a demurrer without leave to amend. In considering this demurrer, the court may accept all properly pleaded material facts in the first amended petition, but not its contentions, deductions or conclusion of fact of law.”

In agreeing with the state, the judge wrote a brief summary citing case law. “When pleadings are defective a party may raise the defect by way of a demurrer. A demurrer tests the sufficiency of a pleading and the grounds. A demurrer may be sustained without leave to amend when there is no reasonable possibility that the defect can be cured by amendment. Indeed, where the facts are not in dispute and the nature of the plaintiff’s claim is clear, but no liability exists under substantive law and no amendment would change the result the sustaining of a demurrer without leave to amend is proper,” the judge wrote.

Lavine asserts in her original complaint that by enacting a septic ban the agencies “illegally engaged in a regulatory taking and confiscation of her substantial real property and related interests.”

The lawsuit calls the prohibition “an invalid underground regulation and is arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, overbroad, confiscatory, is an exercise of authority in excess of and without jurisdiction, is a usurpation of power, authority and jurisdiction where respondents have none, is without any factual support, and is invalid as a matter of law and therefore is null and void.”

Lavine said she was not notified that her property impermissibly discharged water, pollution or contaminants, violated any health, safety, environmental or clean water laws or in any way was non-compliant with any law, rule or regulation over which the water boards have jurisdiction.

She indicated in the legal brief she had not been notified that her property in any way created or caused a nuisance. She has never been cited for any said potential hazards described, she wrote in the lawsuit.

She said the water boards’ actions make her property unsaleable and unmarketable and constitutes a per se regulatory taking.

Malibuites Urged to Stay on Wildfire Alert

2011-11-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

BY ANNE SOBLE

Local fire department personnel have been kept busy changing the Smokey Bear wildfire condition signs at a dizzying pace last week as conditions changed from low to moderate to high, and back to low and moderate, depending on whether the marine layer or the offshore winds were dominating Malibu weather.

As the Malibu Surfside News went to press, the Los Angeles County Fire Department has received notification from the National Weather Service that predicts weather conditions that called for a “red flag warning.”

Strong northeast winds and very low humidities are expected for the mountains, passes, and canyons of Los Angeles County from Tuesday through Wednesday. This weather, combined with extremely dry brush, creates high fire danger in the Malibu area.

Thursday may continue on red flag alert or begin a transition that by Friday includes the possibility of light precipitation. The need to frequently update the Smokey Bear signs are to be expected when there is a La Niña influence on Southern California weather.

When a red flag alert is called, local residents are reminded to take basic precautions including:

• Report any sign of smoke immediately by dialing 911. If dialing 911 from a cellular phone, be prepared to provide the location.

• Use caution when operating spark- or flame-producing machinery in grass or brush areas. This causes more fires than arson.

• Malibuites are urged to have a wildfire action plan in place, including pre-planning and possible evacuation procedures, a way for family members to coordinate if they are scattered, special plans for disabled individuals, and equipment to safeguard or transport pets and livestock.

• Everyone should remain vigilant and report suspicious persons or vehicles to law enforcement.

Local Entrepreneur Avoided a Rock and Hard Place with Largess to City Coffers

2011-11-02T16:39:00.001-07:00

• Million Dollar Donation May Have Facilitated Planning OK

BY BILL KOENEKER

A one-time highly controversial proposal by the cofounder of the Hard Rock Cafe empire, Peter Morton, the owner of a mansion on Carbon Beach, to create a view corridor by demolishing a house on another beach has wound down after the rules of the game were changed when Morton and the city successfully obtained a Local Coastal Program Amendment from the California Coastal Commission. Morton donated $1 million to Legacy Park and the Malibu City Council last week accepted the CCC’s modifications to the LCPA.

The story began when Morton sought a demolition permit for a single-family house located at 19862 Pacific Coast Highway to create an offsite view corridor.

Morton, through his permit expediters, the law firm of Latham and Watkins, had originally sought the same permit for a beachfront home on La Costa Beach that raised the ire of neighbors there who immediately hired attorneys and began fighting the request.

Morton, at the time, withdrew his application and the matter was seemingly dropped.

However, the application quietly resurfaced with a new Las Tunas Beach location with a new set of neighbors expressing their concerns about such an arrangement.

At the time, the city’s Local Coastal Program did not allow for off-site view corridors, consequently the request required approval by the California Coastal Commission, as well as the city council, for the LCP amendment.

Morton’s attempt to build a beachfront mansion has a long history, even after the CCC issued a permit in 2001.

The mansion kept getting bigger and, by 2004, more numerous special conditions were imposed, including the creation of an on-site public view corridor equal to 20 percent of the width of the property frontage along PCH.

The view corridor requirements imposed by the commission never were acted upon and privacy walls and landscaping exceeded city and commission regulations.

In 2007, the applicant purchased La Costa property and then dropped plans for that after strenuous objections by neighbors.

Subsequently, he purchased the Las Tunas property and again proceeded with attempting to obtain an after-the-fact permit for the landscaping and walls and a request for an LCP amendment to permit off-site view corridors instead of required on-site ones.

Alan Block, who represented one of the property owners originally objecting to the La Costa Beach proposal, said Morton had sweetened the pot for the city.

“[Morton] is now further proposing to contribute $1 million to the Legacy Park project if the amendments are approved,” he wrote in a letter to city officials objecting to his latest proposal.

Susan Shaw Noble, who was handling donations for Legacy Park, said she did not know of any negotiations and was not aware of promises by Morton to contribute money to the park fund.

She acknowledged Morton had previously contributed $25,000 for acquisition of park property.

Block also wrote in his 14-page letter that there is no justification for the proposed amendments.

“Further, the approval of the requested amendments would set an extremely negative precedent, which would allow wealthy individuals to transfer the burdens of their proposed developments to off-site neighborhoods regardless of on-site negative consequences of the same wreaking havoc on public views,” he concluded.

However, when a suitable lot was found next to another view corridor on Big Rock Beach, objections were dropped. City officials confirmed Morton planned to donate $1 million to the city if the deal was approved and Monday night the last major hurdle was approved by the city council.

Besides using the high-priced Latham and Watkins firm to make sure the proposal wended its way through the approval process, it was revealed this week that lobbyist Susan McCabe was hired and attempted to lobby council members on the LCPA.

A developer might have best summed the situation: Engineer Norm Haynie said, “I am disturbed. It only affects one project,” referring to the LCPA and the Coastal Commission’s modifications accepted by the council.

General City Update Is Quarterly Meeting Goal

2011-11-02T16:38:00.001-07:00

• Nuts and Bolts of Municipal Operations

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council met last week for the special session called the quarterly meeting when they hear reports from all of the department heads about ongoing projects, the status of newly initiated programs and the completion of programs reflecting the goals and policies of the council.

Not all of the municipal programs generate major headlines, but a random selection below offers another view of what city officials are doing.

City Clerk Lisa Pope reported that this summer’s intern program has concluded and the intern program for the fall recently started. Twenty-one applications were received from college students, but no high school applications were received, despite the city extending the deadline.

Six college student interns began work the week of Oct. 3. Interns are currently working in administrative services, such as human resources, finance, and media information, the planning department, public works, the city clerk’s office and the city manager’s office.

The summer program consisted of five summer interns who provided 414 hours of service to the city during their exposure to the basics of local government.

Public works reported that the city’s annual tree maintenance program is underway with the first phase of work, which is to identify and remove all city-owned trees that are dead, in very poor health, or in danger of falling over.

Once this phase is complete, the consultants hired by the city will begin the systematic trimming of the overgrown trees. The trees that flourish within the city’s right-of-way are viewed, by city officials, as Malibu’s urban forest. Municipal urban forests are considered an important and valued public asset.

An application was received by the planning department for the construction of a new 146-room hotel with free-standing parking structure, swimming pools, spa, fitness center, restaurant and retail on the vacant parcel at the corner of Malibu Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway.

This area has long been considered a potential location for a hotel or resort-type facility that could serve Malibu visitors.

The application was submitted several months ago and planners have been actively working with the project team on necessary plan revisions and entitlement path issues. The staff is awaiting the submittal of a complete set of plans, which demonstrate conformance with the Local Coastal Program and Malibu municipal code.

The administrative services department oversees the city’s film permit office. The city issued 60 still photo permits and 62 motion picture permits during the first quarter of the fiscal year resulting in $96,691 of revenue. Annually, the city collects approximately $300,000 in revenue generated by film permits, according to city officials.

Assistant City Manager Reva Feldman reported to the city council about the efforts of the media information officer, who was hired during this June.

“Since then the following projects have been completed: fifteen press releases have been disseminated. The comprehensive communications policy and social media administrative guidelines were put into place. A ribbon–cutting ceremony to unveil the city’s three new electric vehicle charging stations was held and reported on the event by 32 media outlets,” she said.

Feldman also noted new video equipment has been purchased to begin broadcasting video segments on channel 3. In addition to a video camera, tripod and several other items, a scan converter was also purchased. The scan converter will significantly improve the readability and broadcast quality of computer graphics and slides at city council meetings, according to municipal officials.

The media officer will also provide staff support to the city’s Telecommunications Commission meetings, according to Feldman.

The commission has been working on ways to improve wireless reception within city limits. The media information officer is in the process of inviting representatives from Verizon Wireless, TMobile, AT&T and Sprint to come to City Hall during a Telecommunications Commission meeting to discuss plans to implement future and improved technology, increase capacity and further service offerings in the city, according to Feldman in a memo to the council.

City staff continues to work with the sheriff’s department to launch the new Volunteers on Patrol program.

Nine applicants went through extensive background checks and the official training program, including team training in August and September. The new patrol car was delivered in September and the patrols should begin on Oct. 11.

Judge Rules for Public Agencies But Action Has Not Curbed Zeal of Lagoon Plan Foes

2011-11-02T16:37:00.001-07:00

• Critics of Reconstruction Talk about ‘Manning Barricades’

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith has rejected a lawsuit that attempted to block California Coastal Commission approval of State Parks’ Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement Project.

The controversial project, which involves draining, dredging and re-contouring the western portion of the lagoon and removing the wooden bridges that provide public access through the center of the lagoon, has generated strong opposition in the Malibu community.

The Wetlands Defense Fund, Coastal Law Enforcement Action Network and Access for All filed a petition for writ of mandate against the project, and succeeded in obtaining a temporary restraining order, which prevented the project from breaking ground in June.

On Thursday, the judge ruled against the arguments presented by the petitioners, finding that the Coastal Commission adequately analyzed all feasible alternatives to the project and selected the least detrimental option.

Goldsmith also found that the project’s mitigation measures were sufficient, and ruled that the removal of the existing wooden bridges would not have a substantial impact on public access.

The ruling clears the way for the project to move forward in June 2012, unless an appeal is filed. Opponents are also discussing civil protest.

An official draft of the final ruling signed by the judge is expected to be released later this week.

Publisher’s Notebook

2011-11-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

• Public Condolences •

BY ANNE SOBLE

The News has received several letters to the editor about the recent reported suicides in the surrounding area. Some letters deal with what Malibu students may be experiencing; others conjecture about causality in specific cases; and a few address prevention of suicide in general.

Not everyone will agree with my decision not to print these letters because the writers criticize parents of the suicides, blame academic pressures, or attribute an array of issues from gender identity to personality disorders to these losses, even though not one of the writers says they personally knew the individuals, or know their families.

This does not mean that suicide, particularly teen or youth suicide, is not an important topic for public discussion. But shouldn’t human decency and respect for the grieving families and friends preclude speculation about those they have lost? Social discourse can deal with the relevant issues without pointing fingers.

My own perspective is that no one can really know the final thoughts that result in an individual taking their own life unless they have been clearly stated in a final note, text or video; and even then there may be subconscious elements that remain undisclosed. To conjecture is not only an invasion of privacy, it can be cruel.

The propensity of teen and young adult suicides to have a clustering effect among friends and peer groups mandates that all families be especially alert, whether their children knew those who have taken their lives, or have heard about them. Few are the young people who do not have to face disappointment, rejection, failure, or any of the possible provocations for someone in an already vulnerable state. Most, however, develop coping mechanisms and are able to handle life’s difficult turns.

Postulation about why others cannot or choose not to cope by those who have never met them, however well meaning that might be, or however extensive the proponent’s professional background, may be grounded in personal biases and have the effect of rubbing salt in the already raw and gaping wounds of those left behind.

Perhaps the most fitting response to such tragedies at this point is to offer condolences for the losses. Families and friends should be allowed to go through the grieving process and be given the time and the space to address these losses in their own ways.

When they are ready, some of the family members and friends may wish to participate in the kinds of open discussions that should be ongoing in every community, not only to pinpoint specific concerns, such as school pressures, conformity issues, and personality and mental health factors, but to foster an atmosphere where every young person knows there is someone with whom they can share thoughts and feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, isolation, fear, anger and despondency.

There are no easy formulae. The issues that foster consideration of self-destruction are as unique as an individual’s DNA. The need for all of us to try to be sensitive to the fact that someone may be floundering, and reach out and try to respond to what are most often silent cries, is one of the most important things one human being can do for another.

Aspects of Investigation of Samohi ‘Racial’ Incident Continue

2011-11-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

• School District Officials Absolved But Youths Participation in Possible Hate Crime Is Still an Issue

BY KAYLA BROWN

On May 4, reports surfaced of a male African-American Santa Monica High School student allegedly being attacked, then chained to his locker, and taunted with racial slurs by two male Samohi non African-American students.

These students were also accused of assembling a practice dummy with a noose around its neck. Although the incident was reported to district administration, the parent of the student was never notified.

This racially tinged confrontation triggered the attention of local activist Najee Ali of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. Ali filed a federal civil rights complaint on July 6, against all individuals involved; including the two student wrestlers and their head coach.

Ali also filed an additional complaint against former district Superintendent Tim Cuneo, and previous Samohi principal Hugo Pedroza for the “obstruction of justice.”

The California Penal Code states that any display of a noose “knowing it to be a symbol representing a threat of life, on the property of a high school” is a criminal offense. Ali firmly believes that the students involved “did indeed commit a hate crime,” and the administration should be considered “a party to this incident for covering up the crime and encouraging the destruction of evidence.” (California Penal Code Section 11411)

After heavy media coverage and community input, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department began immediate investigation of the incident.

On Monday, SMMUSD released the results of the LASD investigation, which focused on allegations that SMMUSD employees had “intimidated victims and/or witnesses and destroyed evidence in the racial incident.”

An LASD Internal Investigation unit found “no probable cause that any staff member or employee of SMMUSD acted in such a manner that supports an allegation of criminal misconduct.”

SMMUSD will now initiate a third-party investigation per the Board of Education’s direction; examining whether “existing policies, practices, and procedures were followed immediately following the incident and to make recommendations about changes that should be made.”

Despite ongoing efforts, Ali finds the dismissal of the case by LASD as a “slap in the face.” “The Sheriff’s investigation was of substance, not the school board.” and added, “Law enforcement continues to turn a blind eye to justice especially when it comes to minorities.”

As SMMUSD embarks upon a subsequent investigation, additional legal actions may still take place. Ali and fellow contenders are currently developing response methods, including contacting the victim’s mother.

Meanwhile the federal civil rights complaints against the SMMUSD officials and involved parties still stand.