Some Residents Want Ban on League Play at Trancas Park

• Unrestricted Use of Sports Fields Rallies Homeowners Who Say They Were Ignored

BY BILL KOENEKER

Reaction to the City of Malibu Parks and Recreation Commission’s recommendation to allow league play at the proposed Trancas Canyon Park met swift and adamant opposition at this week’s Malibu City Council meeting.
“On behalf of members of our Trancas Highlands HOA, our board has voted unanimously to register our vehement opposition to that decision,” said Scott Tallal, the president of the homeowners association.
“Over the past two years, we along with our neighbors living in and around Trancas Canyon, Malibu West and Broad Beach have been repeatedly promised that the park would only have a single practice field with no scheduled games. More than just a promise, this was often stated as fact in everything from the information sheet distributed by park proponents to the comments made during the various community meetings and design workshops which many of us attended.”
Tallal was not alone in his comments.
Justine Petretti, who said she is the president of Friends of Trancas, a grass roots organization consisting of 200 people dedicated to reopening Trancas Park, accused the commission of ignoring the concerns of the residents who live near the park.
“Unlike Bluffs Park, Trancas Park is in the center of a residential area. Malibu West, Broad Beach and Malibu Park residents have attended workshops, written letters and voiced their concerns for years. It was these residents who also had the highest percentage of votes in the recent election. Their neighborhood would be adversely impacted if games are held at this park. If the park is designed according to what the public has voted on, it will be a huge asset to the entire community,” she added.
The outcry of protest caused another proponent of the park, Mona Loo, who acknowledged she has been an advocate for a dog park on the property, to ask the council to put the brakes on the recommendation because the growing opposition could jeopardize the entire project.
Loo said, “I would not like to see it derailed. I would like the council to address the Parks and Recreation Commission vote. Why did the vote change? What is the reason?”
Council members explained they could not discuss the matter in detail since it was not on the agenda, but some council members wanted the matter to come back as soon as possible.
“We can’t decide it now, but the people have a legitimate concern,” said Councilmember Andy Stern.
City Manager Jim Thorsen told council members the matter would come back to the council when they review the final design and the recommendation could be separated out for council discussion.
“I’m confused,” said Councilmember Sharon Barovsky. “I thought we approved plan B.”
Thorsen reiterated that the staff would bring back the plan, the Draft Environmental Impact Report and the Parks and Recreation Commission recommendation.
Tallal also shared comments with the council about the DEIR. “After reading though the DEIR, it’s readily apparent that this report was prepared in direct consultation with the AYSO Soccer. We have also identified at least one flaw in the DEIR, which describes Trancas Canyon Road as a 35-foot-wide, two-lane roadway. In fact the portion of Trancas Canyon Road immediately adjacent to the proposed park is a very narrow, windy mountain road, which is only 20 feet wide. Asking the sports leagues to carpool as suggested by the DEIR simply isn’t going to cut it, especially when the report goes on to state that ‘the playing area is large enough to hold four playing areas for the U-6 division. That’s why one of the alternatives suggested by the DEIR is to actually enlarge the parking area beyond 64 spaces already allocated.”
Tallal compared the ongoing struggle to what happened to Ramirez Canyon residents once the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy took over the former Barbra Streisand estate. “It may too late for Ramirez Canyon, but it’s not too late to prevent something like this from happening again,” he added.
The Trancas Highlands homeowner urged the council to ban not only league play, but also “permanently prohibit any form of amplified sound and any rental of the park for commercial or private events and large public gatherings.”
The Malibu West Homeowners Association has also weighed in on the matter. In a letter sent to the city council, Eileen Bice, the secretary of the Malibu West Homeowners Association board of directors wrote that commissioners appeared to “have a single-minded objective,” and that both Commissioners Madonna Slattery and Doug O’Brian had continued to push this item “with little or no heed to the repeated objections and outcry of the community members who have attended these meetings. At the April 17 meeting, the public’s opinion was essentially shut out.”
The HOA letter charged that some of the commissioners “are abusing their position of public trust [and] used their position to forward their personal agenda, at the expense of the community. They are derelict of their public duty and should be removed, or at least censured.”
The HOA received an e-mail from Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich, who said little during Monday’s night’s meeting, “I think what you are saying is that the city should expend over three million dollars for a small tot-lot, dog park, half court basketball and practice fields only because games would adversely affect your neighborhood. Another option would be for the city to use the funds in an alternate area that could be used for all purposes, then your neighborhood would not be affected at all by a new public park.”
In a letter sent to the editor, a board member of the Malibu Park HOA avoided the issue altogether and simply praised the proposal, insisting the park would be a huge asset to the surrounding communities as well as the entire city.

City Council Joins the Call for Tibetan Rights

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council by unanimous vote adopted a resolution supporting the human rights of the people of Tibet and urging the state of California and the United States government to take any actions necessary to end the ongoing conflict between the Chinese government and the people of Tibet.
Councilmember Sharon Barovsky had made the request of the council to adopt the resolution, saying she had not followed the recent events very closely, but had been alerted about the ongoing troubles in Tibet.
Two months ago, in Lhasa Tibet, hundreds of monks staged a protest in commemoration of Tibetan National Uprising Day, to which Chinese soldiers responded with arbitrary arrests and beatings, according to a narrative in the city’s staff report.
When subsequent protests broke out in other parts of Tibet, the Chinese government imposed a curfew in Lhasa and began a military crackdown in the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, which saw Tibetan protesters being killed. In support of those directly impacted by the Chinese government’s actions, Tibetans in exile worldwide have been staging various peaceful campaigns.
Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 413-1, adopted House Resolution 1077, introduced by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, calling on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to end its crackdown in Tibet and enter into a substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama to negotiate a solution that respects the distinctive language, culture, religious identity and fundamental freedoms of all Tibetans.
The resolution also urged unrestricted access by media and representatives of international organization to observe development in the country and provide medical aide to injured protesters, according to the city’s staff report.
The matter has prompted some to call for a boycott of the Olympic Games being held in China this summer. Even President Bush was urged to refrain from attending the games. He has apparently rebuffed those requests.
Not too differently, Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich said she would also be attending the games, but promised to take the resolution with her and boycott the opening ceremonies.
Barovsky was even more adamant, calling for a boycott of China. “Do not spend your money there,” she added.

Corral Wildfire Zone Still Raises Public Concerns in Malibu

• Are Other Malibu Areas Attracting Irresponsible Access?

BY ANNE SOBLE

Firefighters are battling the first major Southland blaze of 2008 in the Sierra Madre area, but Corral Canyon residents are still waging their own warfare related to the Nov. 24 wildfire that claimed over 80 homes and outbuildings and scorched upwards of 4500 acres.
There were no fatalities or serious injuries during the devastating blaze, but some residents are attributing the recent deaths of two longtime elderly residents who lost their homes in the firestorm to the stress of dealing with post-fire complications.
Even residents whose homes survived the fiery inferno are expressing dismay that issues of illegal behavior and trespass on public lands in the area where the fire started are going unresolved.
Some canyon burnouts have served notice that they will file suit against the California State Parks Department for having allowed illegal fires and alcohol consumption to occur on its holdings despite frequent resident warnings of high fire danger.
Residents repeatedly requested the gating of canyon roads that are supposed to be off-limits at night as well as additional patrols to monitor illegal activities.
Five men have been charged with recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure, and arson during a declared emergency. All three crimes are felonies with possible sentences of two to four years in state prison for conviction.
Residents, many of whom do not want to go on the record in case they are involved in any of the potential litigation, say people are still regularly spotted going up into the fire zone. These residents are also voicing concerns about the possibility that guns are being discharged in the area.
A number of the people in the fire zone express the hope that the state will sit down and address these access and use issues, not only in Corral Canyon, but on other public lands in Malibu now that wildfire has become a year-round public policy issue.

City Attorney Says Malibu Is Ready to Take On Water Suit

• Santa Monica Baykeeper and Natural Resources Defense Council Rattle Enviro Sabers

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu City Attorney Christi Hogin announced at this week’s council meeting that members gave the nod for her to begin defending the city in the clean water lawsuit filed against the municipality by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Santa Monica Baykeeper.
Council members made no comment about the lawsuit and Hogin tersely reported the litigation is because of allegations of seepage into Malibu Creek and alleged discharges into what are called areas of biological significance in Malibu offshore waters.
Hogin went into greater specifics about the lawsuit after the meeting. “It is true we have been in negotiations and continue to be in negotiations,” she said. “We think we have some pretty good defenses.”
The city attorney noted clean water cannot be obtained in the courtroom or by money changing hands. “That is not a secret,” she added.
“We need to look at the bigger picture. We need to look at all three elements. The dry weather flow, the wet weather flow and how to get discharges clean,” she added.
As far as the allegations of violations in the areas of biological significance, Hogin said, “There are legal reasons why we should not be sued.”
The city attorney said she understands what the objectives of the groups are by bringing the city and the county to court. “They have said what they want,” she added.
Hogin contends the two groups are attempting to push the legal and regulatory limits for how governing bodies are judged by the standards of the Clean Water Act.
Traditionally and in the past, cities, counties and other government entities have been judged in compliance by the efforts they have made in implementing various programs.
Hogin noted that even if pollution levels were higher than standards a city would be considered in compliance because of the ongoing program.
The city attorney said the NRDC and the Baykeeper want to change that. “Until the standards are met, the city is not in compliance. In other words, you should not be left off the hook until every standard is met,” the city attorney added.
The NRDC and the Baykeeper filed what is called a citizen enforcement action in federal court for purported violations of the Clean Water Act.
Hogin said she has not seen the letter being circulated by the Baykeeper that contends that the city’s plans to treat stormwater and wastewater in the Civic Center won’t work and that both systems, as planned, are inadequate.
The previous city council regarded the plans for stormwater treatment in the Civic Center area as a landmark accomplishment.
The Baykeeper charted out a list of measures that should be implemented by the city for the two facilities, or otherwise they claim discharges will continue to occur causing the possibility of additional flows into the lagoon.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

A Case of Malibu Park and Switch?

BY ANNE SOBLE

The noises reverberating through the halls of the municipal office complex Monday night were not the usual clash of political interests. In a way, the section of the meeting that addressed items not even agendized for council action may have shed more light on local politics than some of the traditional special interest battles that follow the usual pro-or-con development lines. Before we consider weighing in on the Trancas Park fray, let’s get one thing out of the way quickly. I am a fervent soccer fan. This is the “football” that I grew up with and still cheer. And I think the youth soccer program is children’s athletics at its best. In short, we are not talking about substance when we raise the issue of how park public policy is being made. We are talking about process. Any number of other public issues could generate the same questions by residents who are concerned that their views are not only being ignored but that they have also been misled by city officials about the plans for Trancas Park. Opponents of unrestricted use of the playing fields at the park site in western Malibu contend that they were given one set of policy parameters to assess by city officials who had decided to approve alternate intensive-use plans from the very beginning.
These residents perceive themselves to be the victims of a municipal shell game. Was there a policy of purposeful deceit? Are conflicts of interest involved here? People involved in youth sports are ideal prospects for recreation panels. Citizens who devote time to these activities make major contributions to the community, but is it fair to expect them to subjugate those interests when faced with an opportunity to add new facilities to the community? Whether blueprinting a park, or overseeing retail development, there may be times when decision-making requires a special panel of objective voices. The decision of a blue ribbon group might still be that there is such strong community need for more regulation playing fields that local opposition should be overruled. But under those circumstances, differences are less likely to deteriorate into charges of “bait-and-switch.”
People adapt to change of all kinds but if any bitterness is created by a perception of the lack of integrity on the part of representatives of the city, it won’t go quietly into the night. There is already reason to be concerned about growing negativity toward local government in Malibu. All aspects of Trancas Park decision-making have to be brought out into the open. Malibu needs as large a pool of citizens willing to participate in governing as possible, but the rules of fair play have to be agreed upon in advance.

Ballot Measure Named After Murdered Malibu Woman Goes to Sacramento for Verification

• Victim Rights Proposal Known as Marsy’s Law Appears to Be On Track for the November Ballot

BY NICOLE KLIEST

Members of the Malibu-based group Justice for Homicide Victims say they made a huge step forward for crime victims in Sacramento Monday, after a press conference that indicated they foresee a victims rights measure’s likely inclusion on the November ballot.
The proposal, “Marsy’s Law: Crime Victims Bill of Rights Act of 2008,” is named after Marsalee Nicholas, a Malibu 21-year-old who was murdered by an ex-boyfriend in 1983.
Nicholas’ mother, Marcella Leach, is co-founder of Justice for Homicide Victims and a victims’ rights activist. She spoke in Sacramento at the press conference in the state capital.
“The district attorney from Sacramento spoke as did Assemblyperson Todd Spitzer and many others from our organization,” Leach said. “We have enough signatures to get it on the ballot, and there seemed to be an overall favorable response to it.”
Constitutional amendments require 763,798 valid signatures; Marsy’s Law has submitted 1.27 million for verification. The bill hasn’t been qualified yet, but the organization fully anticipates it is going to be on the ballot in November.
One element of Marsy’s Law states that crime victims should be informed when an individual is released on bail. Leach’s mother said she had to “endure running into her daughter’s murderer in Malibu not long after her death.”
“We had the funeral, and about a week later, we went to the cemetery to put flowers on her grave. We stopped at the market on the way home, and when I walked in, I practically ran into her murderer,” Leach said. “I was shocked. I went home and called the DA’s office, and they said he was let out on $50,000 bail a week before.”
Marsy’s Law is written on behalf of all of her family, including Leach’s son, Henry Nicholas, who is financially underwriting much of the bill’s campaign that is essentially intended to give crime victims the “same respect and fairness currently awarded to prisoners and convicted criminals.”
“Marsy’s Law” will constitutionalize victims’ rights in the California State Constitution, and its passage will give California one of the most comprehensive Victims’ Bill of Rights in the nation.
For more information on Marsy’s Law, visit www. justiceforcrimevictims.com

New City Council Prepares to Tackle First Full Agenda

• Traffic Light, Park Design and Street Sweeping Top List of Nitty-Gritty Decisions

BY BILL KOENEKER

The newly installed Malibu City Council will be asked next week to allocate more money for the installation of a Pacific Coast Highway/Corral Canyon Road traffic light.
The council is being urged to pony up another $64,800 for a redesign of the traffic signal that canyon residents have clamored for the past several years.
The city had entered into an agreement with state Department of Transportation in what was described as an effort to expedite the installation of the signal by the municipality overseeing the funding and design. Most recently, Caltrans suggested alterations to the original design and after a series of meetings between the city staff and state agency came to an agreement on the final design. The work for the design company David Evans and Associates, Inc., or DEA, has become increasingly complex and in order for DEA to complete the design that will incorporate Caltrans conditions and standards, it will cost an additional $64,800.
Once the design is complete, Malibu will submit the final draft to Caltrans for an encroachment permit and funding approval. After the state’s approval has been finalized, the project will be ready for public bidding, according to city officials.
The installation of a traffic signal at the location will allow vehicles entering PCH from Corral Canyon Road through a signed, controlled intersection, thereby potentially reducing accidents at that location, according to city officials.
The proposal includes a provision for U-turn movements at the intersection. The traffic signals are being installed to allow a protected U-turn movement from westbound PCH to eastbound PCH.
However, the consultant has told municipal officials it was their understanding that Caltrans is currently not willing to approve the protected U-turn due to the warrants not being met. The city has, nevertheless, directed DEA to proceed with the plans showing the U-turns and continue to discuss this issue concurrently as the plans are processed.
Malibu had originally signed a $24,600 contract with DEA. The work done by DEA has already exceeded the amount authorized and the firm came back to the city for more money.
In other action, funding for phase two for Las Flores Canyon Creek Park is set to air before the city council when members will be asked to approve $109,730.
The council is being asked to authorize a contract for MNS Engineers, Inc. as the design firm.
The previous council held a ribbon-cutting event just before the election ceremoniously ending phase one, which included restoration of the creek bed, creation of a parking area on Rambla Pacifico, a trails system and installation of park amenities.
Phase two will consist of the installation of a pedestrian bridge that will connect the parking for visitors from the Rambla Pacifico side of the park to the last Flores Canyon Road side, according to municipal officials, who indicate the work will also include the installation of a restroom facility with an advanced onsite wastewater treatment system.
A proposal for the design of phase two has been put together. The staff said it anticipates the design to be finished and ready for public bidding at the end of the summer with construction to follow and finishing in the winter 2008.
The council is poised to approve a street sweeping contract for $82,560.
The contract which was put out to bid will extend an agreement awarded to CleanStreet for the next two years. Clean Street has performed sweeping services for the past two years and bid for contract that includes no price increase.
The state will reimburse the city $39,360 per year for sweeping Pacific Coast Highway within the city’s jurisdiction.
Richard Calvin, who is the city’s public works superintendent, is expected to tell the council the agreement with CleanStreet would benefit the city since it will allow the city to lock-in prices that originated two years ago and carry these same prices forward for the next two years.

Mayor Announces Ambitious 100-Day Plan

* White Paper Sets Out Goals, Policies and Legislation

BY BILL KOENEKER

The reorganization meeting of the Malibu City Council last week lasted longer than usual and was filled with so much controversy about the mayoral succession, the actual changing of the guard, when outgoing members make their farewell remarks and incoming council members pronounce their intents, was overshadowed.
When the dust settled, newly installed Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich lost no time presenting what she called her 100-day plan for Malibu’s future, but had little time to elaborate on it.
The four-page white paper lays out the goals, ambitions, and legislation of the second-term lawmaker.
At the top of her list is public safety, with Conley Ulich calling on the need to develop, implement and communicate emergency plans that will increase public safety.
Along that line, Conley Ulich indicates she wants a town hall forum scheduled to bring community leaders, stakeholders and the public at large together to explore what lessons were learned from the three wildfires of 2007 and what new services are offered by the municipality.
While Conley Ulich expressed interest in a volunteer fire brigade, she said that education and training must be available for folks who want to take matters in their own hands. “What could happen when fire blows through if people emulate Matt Haines [who purchased fire equipment that saved his home and others last Nov. 24] and fight the fire?’ she asked.
Conley Ulich also talked about creating a plan for the Civic Center, building out Legacy Park, and exploring the feasibility of providing a home for Malibu’s library, a sheriff’s substation, teen center, senior center and farmers market.
The white paper also lists traffic as a top priority, suggesting the city council work with Caltrans to get a traffic monitor for PCH.
She wants to see legislation enacted for a formula retail ordinance, view preservation or what she calls tree ordinance, and sustainable city-wide green initiatives to promote water conservation and recycling grey water.
Conley Ulich also wants to explore the feasibility of purchasing “green” power for Malibu, looking at creating a “clean bus” that goes from Trancas to the Civic Center at peak hours and exploring the possibility of planning separate bike lanes up the coast from Trancas to Oxnard.
Other eco-goals set for the city include adopting and implementing a wastewater plan, banning “the worst stuff that pollutes our air and water,” adopting a strong green building code and offering green transportation programs.
Earlier in the evening, outgoing Mayor Jeff Jennings in his outgoing remarks thanked his many supporters, and then launched into what he called his “lecture.”
He said after serving on so many different councils, he believes the ninth council has been the most achieving one. He said there were a number of reasons that made the outgoing council different than others.
“We got good at setting priorities. We learned we can’t do everything. That was not always the case on previous councils. We adopted a protocol,” he said.
Jennings indicated council members learned to suppress their natural competitiveness that goes with most public figures. “There is no limit what you can do if you don’t care about who gets the credit. We developed a level of confidence to allow others to take ownership of issues. Andy took on LNG. Pam had the library and county and I was given the California Coastal Commission. Sharon and Ken took on Legacy Park,” said Jennings. “It always hasn’t been the case in each council.”
“It is a collegial body. But you still have to have three votes so nobody could get too far in front of the council,” he added.
Jennings said it was also important for the city to speak as one voice with other agencies. He said that had not always happened previously.
The outgoing mayor tried to dispel that notion of a council that was in lockstep. “You could say it was easy for you, because you all agreed. That is not true. We just did not allow our differences to become personal. I don’t think I ever voted against anybody to spite or for punishment. I don’t think anybody did that to me,” Jennings added.
Outgoing Councilmember Ken Kearsley, a former school teacher, said his final remarks would be his “last lecture” and talked briefly about his history in Malibu that led up to his term in office.
He said he has been asked if he has any regrets. “Not really, but I have had some disappointments. That would be hypocrisy.” He said he was “quoting from Billy Connolly, who said, ‘Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse.’”
With mild titters from the audience, Kearsley then went on to say, “I guess I should have quoted Euripides, who said, ‘A noble face hides filthy waste.’”
Kearsley said the biggest municipal accomplishment, he believed, was to what he did not do, but what the people of Malibu did when they came together to acquire Legacy Park and what that might mean for future generations. He said one day he hoped to sit under the shade of one of the trees planted in Legacy Park.
Due to the late hour, both new Councilmembers John Sibert and Jefferson Wagner made very brief incoming remarks.
“It is different sitting on this side of the wall. It is a great start,” said Wagner.
Sibert, echoing his own remarks on the campaign trail, said he wanted to spend time on legislation and not litigation, and he too thought the evening was off to a good start.

Meeting with County Fire Officials Fails to Resolve Concerns of Residents Who Lost Homes in Corral Fire

• Response and Resources Are Issues

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Addressing a sizable gathering at an Operation Recovery meeting in Malibu last Thursday, Los Angeles County Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said his primary reason for attending was to listen.
He had plenty of opportunity to do just that, as disgruntled victims of November’s Corral Fire voiced their criticism and concerns.
A PowerPoint presentation on the fire was followed by a barrage of public comment.
Concerns were raised about the Corral Canyon bridge, emergency response time, conflicting accounts of which fire companies arrived first and whether fire hydrants were utilized, and a perceived lack of firefighters in fire-threatened neighborhoods despite the number of engines that responded.
“Why couldn’t the fire department help us?” asked a woman who said her house on Barrymore Drive burned four hours after the fire started, and that no fire or police personnel ever arrived.“I would have to look at the address location and talk to the personnel there,” Freeman responded.
“There were no personnel there,” seemingly exasperated audience members shouted in reply. Someone then said, “There seems to be a pattern there, Freeman.”
“Putting your home back for your family is so important.” The woman continued, addressing the issue of whether she will rebuild. “But if you think, for God’s sake, [the firefighters] won’t be there again, then you’re being frivolous, you’re not being responsible parents. How do we look to the future and know that we’re going to make a good choice?”
“There are a number of factors,” Freeman replied. “Focusing on the fire department and response or a lack of response. [You’ve] got to also look at the location of the home, location of the fuel, topography, wind, all those other factors, and they all play a part in that.”
Freeman was interrupted by another Barrymore Drive fire victim who said, “Somebody made the decision, somebody told them that they were not going to Barrymore Drive,” the man said. “Because there were no police, no fire, none until the whole thing was over and all the damage was done. That was sinful.”
Appearing uncomfortable, the county fire chief replied, “We can certainly look into that, and see exactly what was going on at the time—what instructions and directions were given.”
When the questioning turned to fuel modification requirements for those who are beginning the rebuilding process, Freeman explained that flying brands were part of the problem. A home could have the recommended brush clearance and still be destroyed by wind-borne brands from as much as half a mile away.
Charlotte Ward, also of Barrymore Drive, asked about the possibility of a fire department-sponsored alarm system. Freeman replied that this was a very important issue and that both the City of Malibu and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents Malibu, were interested in it. “It’s a huge logistical challenge to try to warn everyone and get them to evacuate,” he said.
Another major issue involved air support. One man wanted to know “why isn’t there a helicopter that can come in at 3:30 a.m.” and put out a fire. During the PowerPoint presentation it was noted that a reconnaissance helicopter had been deployed shortly after the fire was reported to “pinpoint” the fire’s starting place.
The audience wanted to know why firefighting helicopters could not have been used. “[The fire department] does fly in darkness,” Freeman said. We fight fire in darkness...that fire in the bowl created a safety hazard for the pilots.”
“Kids are still going up there [to the cave] and having fires,” one man complained, bitterly.
“That’s right,” Freeman replied. “That is just beyond comprehension... Why isn’t there a gate put on the road?” His statement was met with applause.
There were also complaints about the road work on the canyon bridge, that narrowed the road to one lane, and the fact that the emergency easement through the neighboring RV park was not open.
“My house burned down. Burned before fire people arrived. Not one fire truck. [They were] just on PCH. At that time road was very narrow and it curved. I don’t know how a fire truck could get through there,” one woman complained.
“Your community is begging you to believe them that there was a breakdown of communication. All of them are begging you to believe them, because they were there.” There’s other information that has to be blended with your eyewitness account,” Freeman replied.
“We understand that... you’ve saved our homes so many times,” was the reply. “We’re so grateful, but we’re saying this time, it could have been preventable.”
“I’ve got the biggest ears that God’s ever given, Freeman said. “We are listening. We’re going to take that information and invite 10 members of your homeowners to come, sit down, look at our records [and] our reports, piece it together so...we’ll have a picture that takes your eyewitness accounts and other information blended together and from that we can move forward.”
But one of the meeting’s organizers implied he did not appear to be listening hard enough. Beverly Taki addressed Freeman response with, “At this point, I feel like a lot of heart, a lot of loss of homes. We aren’t getting any brokerage of peace. We are not getting an apology. We planned tonight to establish a Fire Safe Corral Council. We can’t have a council unless we can agree on some facts. And I’m not hearing any agreement on facts tonight. We need to settle some facts. This is not,” she said, “a help to solution making.”
Freeman was listening attentively, but his answers were not what some in the audience would have preferred them to be, leaving Corral residents and fire department representatives not much closer to resolution of burnouts’ concerns at the end of the meeting than they were at its start.

Firefighting Agencies Step Up Campaign Promoting ‘Defensible Space’

• Malibu Property Owners Urged to View Wildfire as a Year-Round Phenomenon

BY ANNE SOBLE

Now that wildfire is a year-round phenomenon in California, and resources are being utilized as never before, there is increased emphasis on public preparedness for what is seen as the inevitability of runaway conflagrations. The mantra for the role of citizens in firefighting readiness is “defensible space.”
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is spearheading the defensible space campaign, aided, even if the terminology differs, by county and city agencies that stress that firefighters are impeded in their efforts if property owners don’t fulfill their predetermined responsibilities.
CAL FIRE crews have already responded this year to several wildfires statewide that have destroyed homes. The heat wave two weeks ago has exacerbated dry conditions locally.
Although the public may become inured to annual public agency statements about being in ”the worst fire season ever,” CAL FIRE and the Los Angeles County Fire Department say residents should now keep a 100-foot zone of defensible space around their homes at all times.
“The devastating Southern California wildfires in 2007 highlighted the importance for homeowners to prepare their homes for a wildfire,” said Ruben Grijalva, the director of CAL FIRE.
“By simply removing dead vegetation 100 feet from homes and following a few simple steps, homeowners can drastically increase their homes’ chance of surviving a wildfire.”
As Corral Fire burnouts were told last week at a local meeting with top county fire officials, these practices also make it more likely that firefighters can make the kind of stand that saves homes.
This year’s fire season is arriving after a wetter winter than 2007. The downside to what would traditionally be good news is there is now more fuel to burn.
Add to that the National Weather Service is predicting higher-than-normal temperatures from May through September, just in time for the Santa Ana winds, which have also been occurring on more of a year-round basis.
Fire experts stress that these winds will be the key determinant of the severity of what is always the potential for a catastrophic fire season in Malibu.
CAL FIRE is in the process of hiring about 2000 seasonal employees for the summer. The U.S. Forest Service expects to have more than 4000 firefighters in the state as well.
CAL FIRE has issued some general tips to help make homes fire safe:
• Remove all flammable vegetation 30 feet from all structures.
• In an additional 70 feet create a reduced fuel zone by spacing trees and plants apart from each other.
• Clear all needles and leaves from roofs, eaves and rain gutters.
• Trim branches six feet from the ground.
• Remove branches 10 feet from all chimneys.
• Use trimming, mowing and power equipment before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m., not in the heat of the day.
• Landscape with fire resistant plants.
More information on defensible space and other fire-preparedness tips is available at the CAL FIRE website at www.fire.ca.gov.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

The Malibu Contract: Fighting Wildfires

BY ANNE SOBLE

It is no solace to those who lost their homes in the Corral Fire to hear that the county fire department regards it as one of the more successful firefights in Malibu’s history because “firefighters were able to save 98 percent of the threatened 2314 structures in those areas.” The fire claimed 4582 acres, and 55 homes were lost. Although one can quibble with some of the assertions in the 17-page report on the Corral Fire released by Fire Chief Freeman last week, especially that 10,000 Malibuites were evacuated (to where on a closed Pacific Coast Highway?), we must take ourselves firmly in hand and agree that the department did an extraordinary job of containment once the wind cooperated. At no time can any fire be held in check when hurricane-force winds blow. Part of an unwritten contract that we all sign when we move to Malibu is that we are at nature’s mercy. Whatever the technology, or the resources, we have no control. When I first arrived in Malibu, I was initiated into the rite of the wildfire story. I was told about the Newton-Hume-Sherwood fires of December 1956 in the Malibu hills that took more than five times the toll of Corral—35,000 acres and 250 structures were destroyed, including several of the buildings on the ranch I had purchased to be able to raise livestock. I heard about the Liberty Canyon Fire, one of three fires in December 1958, set by arsonists in the Malibu hills where 25,000 acres and 42 structures were destroyed. Then there were the Wright and Clampitt fires, Newhall to the Pacific Ocean over two mountain ranges, in September 1970. They claimed 135,000 acres, and 226 structures were destroyed (Chatsworth through the Malibu hills).
But those were just stories. I got my first real taste and smell of wilderness gone berserk in the Kanan Fire of October 1978, when 25,000 acres and 230 structures were destroyed. That fire raged from the Malibu hills to the ocean at Broad Beach in two-plus hours, and is an example of what the Corral Fire could have become but for the tremendous preparation of the firefighting forces on hand last Nov. 24. Next came the Dayton Fire in October 1982, going from Chatsworth to the Pacific, but this time at the Malibu Colony—42,000 acres and 85 homes were destroyed. Then there was the great loss of homes in the Old Topanga Fire of October 1993, with 16,500 acres and 385 homes burned on both sides of Malibu Canyon from Topanga to the ocean. If a wildfire starts and does not cause devastation in its first two to three hours, that is purely the result of chance. Fire crews need time to assess burn conditions and get equipment where it belongs. If the winds are raging out of control, crews cannot be dispatched on what could be suicide missions. Chief Freeman notes in the April 17 report that the Corral Fire burned in an area that has been tragic for firefighters twice in the last 50 years. In 1958 and 1996 firefighters were trapped and burned. No structure is worth the loss of lives—firefighters or civilians. In 1993, when flames licked at my barns and corrals, structures around the bend that were located in a box canyon burned out completely. The fire crews that were bivouacked on my ranch, successfully setting backfires, said there was no way to go into that box canyon and come out alive. I then asked myself what if there were circumstances when that might be said about my home? It would not be easy to accept, but the Malibu contract dictates that I would have to concur.

DA’s Office Kept Busy Overseeing Local DUI Dispositions

• Celebrity Names May Mean Additional Media Interest But that’s the Most Notable Difference

BY ANNE SOBLE

Yes, there is a lot more media interest in the disposition of cases involving celebrities, according to the hardworking spokespersons for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, but no, those calls aren’t handled any differently than all of the other calls for information on cases wending their way through the county’s labyrinthian legal system.
Barron Hilton, 18, scion to the Hilton family fortune and brother of self-perpetuated celebrity Paris of the same name, pleaded no contest in Malibu Municipal Court on April 9 to two misdemeanor counts from a drunk-driving incident last month.
Pleading no contest, or nolo contendere, is not an admission of guilt, but the charges are not contested. It was reported that Hilton had a .14 blood alcohol reading. In California, .08 is considered legal intoxication for drivers over 21. For drivers under 21, any blood alcohol level constitutes legal intoxication.
Hilton was given three years summary probation by Commissioner H. Jay Ford, and his driver license was suspended for a year.
The most recent Hilton offspring to attract the legal spotlight was not in court as his lawyer entered his pleas to drunken driving and possessing a false driver license, according to district attorney spokesperson Shiara Davila.
A third charge related to driving under the influence and a count of being an unlicensed driver were dismissed in the deal.
Hilton was ordered to pay $2000 in fines and penalties and participate in three alcohol education programs, including one run by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, one that requires a visit to a morgue, and a third run by Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Hilton was arrested in Malibu Feb. 12 behind the wheel of a 2008 Mercedes-Benz E350 registered to a Nevada corporation that was spotted weaving on Pacific Coast Highway.
At some point prior to 8 a.m., he may have struck another vehicle, a gas station pump and employee. Hilton faces a June 4 hearing to determine restitution on these allegations.
Witnesses’ testimony stated that a 19-year-old female passenger who was in the car with Hilton and may have assumed the wheel at some time during the erratic driving, was also responsible for a hit-and-run incident on Pacific Coast Highway.
The California Highway Patrol has kept that aspect of the investigation under wraps because it has not yet produced any charges.
REDMOND O’NEAL
The son of longtime local residents Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal has pleaded not guilty to drug charges stemming from a Malibu arrest, according the DA Office’s Davila.
Redmond James O’Neal, 23, entered pleas last Friday to two felony charges of possessing heroin and methamphetamine and two misdemeanor counts that include DUI.
Prosecutors said O’Neal was arrested after sheriff’s deputies spotted his car speeding on Pacific Coast Highway before dawn on Jan. 26. According to the official report, the younger O’Neal was released on bond from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on the day of his arrest.
He is set to appear in Malibu Superior Court on May 29 for a preliminary hearing scheduling to determine if he will stand trial.

Spotlight Focuses on State of Special Education in the SMMUSD

• Consultants’ Report Looks at All Facets of Programs that Have Come under Fire

BY NICOLE KLIEST

In a recent report by Lou Barber and Associates, an independent evaluation was conducted of the special education program operated by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
Major issues were evaluated in the report, such as placement options, collaboration with the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA), funding, personnel, confidentiality clauses, and written policies.
The study was conducted during the months of December 2007 through March 2008. After an initial interview with Superintendent Dianne Talarico, it was determined that a series of interviews with parents, teaching staff, principals, ancillary and district office staff would be held.
The findings of the report were reviewed with the superintendent and members of her staff. Recommendations the district were asked to consider were based on the information received and they dealt with maximizing resources and enhancing the provision of quality education services to students at cost effective levels.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District provides special education services in conjunction with SELPA in order to assure access to special education programs and services for those with exceptional needs.
The district is responsible for the provision of all special education programs and services as specified under the Individuals with Disability Education Act, (IDEA) and the California Master Plan for Special Education.
The report indicates that the district during the last two decades has, in essence, been stretched thin while trying to implement the state law (Master Plan for Special Education), avoid violating the federal law (P.L. 94-142 Disability Education Act) and at the same time attempting to provide a quality education program for all students, as well as those in special education.
The report provides a 27-item set of recommendations for the district’s consideration that relate to all the issues discussed within the report itself.
In regard to settlement agreements with confidentiality clauses, the report suggests a dramatic reduction. If in the case this type of settlement is utilized, it is suggested that communication to school staff of the education services provided to the student is pertinent. It also suggests this information be included in the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Another recommendation the authors make is that the district should consider how to present information to parents to showcase existing services and the quality of the services being provided by staff in meeting the needs of all students.
With staffing, it was suggested that since the district’s staffing levels appear higher than statewide averages, areas of employment, including psychologists, special education administrators, elementary SDC teachers, elementary RSP, and speech and language specialists, should be reviewed in detail.
The report indicates this should help to determine if reductions and/or merging of programs is possible in order to reduce the general fund contribution to special education.
Finally, a cost recommendation was made that stated the budget development process for the district is in need of incorporating a process whereby all existing resources are re-examined, including current student populations and staffing levels, rather than beginning the process at current levels.
Several other recommendations were made that dealt with issues previously discussed and were included in the report as an offer for consideration by the district.

Sierra Club Opposes Camp Bloomfield Expansion Plans

BY BILL KOENEKER

Plans for the expansion and remodeling of Camp Bloomfield, a facility located off Mulholland Highway and operated by the Junior Blind of America, have encountered opposition from the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club.
A resolution approved by the executive committee states the chapter’s opposition to the plans that they are convinced will require the “removal of 25 oaks and the encroachment on 56 more in an oak and riparian Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area.”
The environmental organization also opposes plans to “fill portions of a steelhead spawning stream in order to widen the road serving the camp.”
There were some concerns among club members that opposition to the Junior Blind plans could tarnish the image of the Sierra Club if it is seen as attacking a camp for blind children.
Another argument against the club taking an opposing view is that the road widening is required by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which insists the road widening is essential to enable the safe evacuation of children from the camp in the event of a wildfire.
However, those concerns were overshadowed by what club members were told concerning the spawning of steelhead in the Arroyo Sequit.
They were told the Arroyo Sequit still supports a spawning run of the “southern evolutionary unit” of the steelhead (Onorynchus Mykiss), which was declared an endangered species in 1999.
Streams accessible to steelhead west of Malibu Canyon, including Arroyo Sequit have been designated “crucial habitat.”
Some experts, according to the Sierra Club, believe it is the “southern evolutionary unit,” which is the original progenitor of all steelhead in the North Pacific. The fish is said to have the ability to tolerate warmer water temperatures than other steelhead, making it possibly the key to survival of the entire species in the face of global warming.
According to the Sierra Club, state and federal park officials have all verified the existence of spawning steelhead in the Arroyo Sequit above and below Camp Bloomfield.
One club member talked about walking the route of the proposed driveway a couple of years ago. “It was clear to me beyond any doubt that widening the driveway to 20 feet would necessitate removal of many oak trees, some of which shade the stream and keep the waters cool enough to support steelhead,” he said.
Club members were told the wider driveway would have to encroach into the 50-foot-wide ESHA established in 1986, requiring either a deep cut into the wooded bank on one side or the filling of the stream on the other to make room for the road. One section of the riparian forest had already been removed from a section of the Arroyo Sequit and that part of the stream had been lined with concrete, according to the Sierra Club account.
Several months ago, the California Coastal Commission issued a notice of violation citing unpermitted development, removal and pruning of chaparral and mature oaks and deposition of material in a riparian area.
Junior Blind officials have attempted to shrug off the difficulties they have encountered by continually alleging that a disgruntled neighbor, Joe Kronsberg, is the real culprit.
However, while Kronsberg makes no attempt to hide that he has tried to gain the ears of anyone or any agency that will listen to him, his allegations have apparently been taken seriously with ongoing investigations and orders from the various agencies for the Junior Blind to show them how their plans impact state and federal regulations.

City Mayoral Succession Crisis Averted at 11th Hour

• Compromise or Coup—It’s All Political Gamesmanship in the Council Chambers

BY BILL KOENEKER

While some called it a compromise and said it was self-sacrificing, others said it was politically savvy. Another insider called it a political retreat. Whatever the spin, there was no doubt that Councilmember Sharon Barovsky took the center stage at this week’s Malibu City Council reorganization meeting when a potentially tumultuous tug-of-war about who would be mayor was averted.
The largely ceremonial post went to the most recent top vote-getter, incumbent Pamela Conley Ulich. Just days earlier, Councilmember Andy Stern had said he thought he was going to be mayor.
Barovsky said she wanted “to offer an olive branch to what appears to be a divided community,” and proposed a scheme to allow every member of the council an equal time to serve as mayor, except herself.
“To accomplish this, I will move that each council member serve as mayor for 9.6 months, starting with Pam. Andy will succeed Pam, and I will then serve for only 4.8 months until my term ends. Shorting my term will put the council on a continuous 9 .6-month track, which can remain in effect for every succeeding council,” said Barovsky. “My proposal gives everyone an equal time to serve, except for my term, which will be shortened by almost five months. So I’m not asking anyone but myself to sacrifice time as mayor.”
Barovsky went on to say she realized speakers were primed to talk passionately on who should be sworn in as mayor, and she had received e-mails on the subject that ran almost 50-50 on who that person should be.
“Unfortunately, the anger that may be displayed tonight could set the tone for the future of this council, and that would be sad because good government can only be achieved through consensus and civic debate,” Barovsky said.
While rumors had blown across town, as well as e-mails about an ever-growing struggle over who would carry out mayoral duties, it was on Monday night when the outgoing council had assembled that it was apparent the struggle had spilled over into the public arena.
The giveaway was when outgoing Mayor Jeff Jennings was organizing speaker slips and he told the audience that those who wanted to speak “on the election matter” should say so, and he read out all of the names of those who were signed up to speak on the sensitive topic.
Before that could happen, Conley Ulich, who was sitting in the mayor’s seat when the tenth city council convened, said she had been asked by Barovsky to make her proposal.
Apparently the struggle began when there was some behind-the-scenes debate about how the succession of the largely ceremonial role would be handled this time around.
Barovsky’s words clearly indcated the fight over who would be mayor had escalated into a heated debate and there were many who came to the council chambers to take the fight public.
What remains unknown is if Barovsky had not stepped into the fray in the way that she did who would have had the three votes to carry out the nomination of either Conley Ulich or Stern.
After Barovsky’s remarks, Conley Ulich asked speakers to come forward and the tenor of their testimony appeared to have changed dramatically from what they were originally prepared to say.
Longtime resident David Kagon may have best summed up the sentiment. “What Sharon did tonight took all the steam I had for tonight. She removed what might have been a discordant note,” he said.
Planning Chair Regan Schaar, who was appointed to the panel by Conley Ulich, praised the outcome and said it was the “perfect compromise.”
Former Planning Commissioner Richard Carrigan thanked Barovsky. “I was concerned about an atmosphere of angryness and bitterness.”
Political activist and frequent council critic Steve Uhring said, “Pam, you have the right to be mayor. The compromise is a good one.”
Speaking as a citizen, former Councilmember Ken Kearsley downplayed the importance of the mayoral role. “It is a nothing job. You cut ribbons,” he said.
The new council members were next to make their thoughts known on the first action of the tenth council. “This is not the first time the council has taken the step and shorted the term. It makes a whole lot of sense. It is good idea,” said Councilmember John Sibert.
Councilmember Jefferson Wagner said he appreciated the leadership role Barovsky played in the matter. “Thank you Sharon. I have seen the olive branch of the future. I look forward to support you in your efforts, and I hope you support our efforts,” he added.
Conley Ulich was the last to comment, “The brilliant Sharon came up with a plan to save the day to unite the community, giving of yourself for others. You have brought love to the room. I’m feeling a lot of love in the room. I love, you, I love you, I love you, Sharon,” she said.
With that, Stern, who had said little, nominated Conley Ulich who was unanimously chosen and then Conley Ulich nominated Stern as mayor pro tem.
By this time, half the council chambers had emptied and the oath of office was given to the new mayor and mayor pro tem.

Coastal Commission OKs Key County Line Proposal

• Panel Decides Against Gating of Beach Route

BY BILL KOENEKER

The California Coastal Commission took action last week in Santa Barbara on Crown Pointe Estates’ County Line proposal that has generated controversy, in part, because of the proposed vacation of Ellice Street.
The commission stopped short of approving a gate that would close off the street.
At the same time, the commission, in approving the proposal, is requiring a nearly half-million mitigation fee to be used to build 11 new cabin units for overnight camping in Leo Carrillo State Park in order “to mitigate the loss of commercial designated use.”
The commission approved a request with modifications by Ventura County to amend its Local Coastal Program to change zoning to allow for Crown Pointe Estates’ current subdivision plans.
At the same time, coastal panelists also agreed there were substantive issues that warrant an appeal made by Commissioners Sara Wan and Patrick Kruer and Eloise Hall from the decision by Ventura County granting a permit to Crowne Point for subdivision of existing lot 10 of a tract into five lots, one commercial and four residential, and vacation of the western portion of the county’s right-of-way for Ellice Street.
The commission found that the portion of the site designated for residential development is not incompatible land use adjacent to the existing restaurant and the four residential building pads are located with an adequate horizontal and vertical buffer to ensure compatible land uses between residential and commercial development.
However, commissioners took exception to the gate blocking off Ellice Street. Coastal panelists overturned the staff recommendation for the gate after one commissioner questioned why in another case the panel was being asked to reject a gate, but not in this case.
The proposal had been wending its way through the approval process with Ventura County, but most recently got stalled at the Coastal Commission when questions arose over the developer wanting to eliminate the commercial land use designation.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Lethal Lessons from a Malibu Tragedy

BY ANNE SOBLE

Microscopic fragments of glass and plastic are embedded in the asphalt on a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway west of Trancas. They glisten in the sunlight in an area defaced by gouges where last week’s crash involving five 17-year-olds provided another grim reminder that inexperienced drivers, alcohol/drugs, speed and disregard of seat belt use are a formula for tragedy. The photo of the crushed remains of a car that seconds earlier was likely filled with the sounds of youthful exuberance powerfully illustrates the fact that every 15 minutes, a teen loses his or her life in a moving vehicle. No amount of careful parenting or driver education seems able to staunch the river of tragedy that flows from this lethal amalgam.
The five young people in the car that fateful Tuesday evening were students at the same high school—a school that ironically was slated to host a driver safety program in the next few weeks. That the school decided not to put on this program strikes me as the wrong response to the situation. The otherwise easy-to-ignore message of safe driving might have had a greater impact on the students under the circumstances. At least the school is considering putting the battered remains of the car on display at the campus. We would make the case that a similarly crushed vehicle should be placed on permanent exhibit in the student parking lot of every high school campus in the state, including Malibu’s. In time, the shock value of this life-as-art sculpture would diminish, but if the wreckage was cause for reflection by even a handful of students, it could save lives.
Still unclear from the investigations of the PCH accident, as well as last week’s freeway calamity that claimed four lives on a church outing, is whether any of the occupants were wearing seat belts. Despite the ridicule that has been heaped upon seat belt enforcement laws, belt use is a major factor in the reduction of fatalities, whether or not the accidents are alcohol or speed related. Teenagers cannot be reminded often enough that the odds are not in their favor. If as much attention was paid to high schoolers’ driving habits as to their sexual behavior, more of them might survive to their twenties. The statistical probability that we as parents, while our children are in their teens, might face the same agony as the dead youth’s parents when they arrived to claim their son’s body, cannot be dismissed. As frightening as the special effects in the film “Prom Night” may be, the worst teen horror story often begins with a telephone call that starts out, “We regret to inform you that your child has been in an accident...”

Opponents Stay Mobilized One Year after BHP Defeat

• Strategy that Felled World’s Largest Miner Being Readied for Next Project in Queue

BY HANS LAETZ

Last week, two dozen people celebrated the one-year anniversary of the defeat of the proposed BHP Billion natural gas factory ship that—when it was first proposed five years ago—seemed a lead-pipe cinch to be anchored off the coast of Malibu in just a few years.
The activists gathered at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, where plans for “Cabrillo Port” were scuttled after the State Lands Commission found the proposed LNG barge would have violated about two dozen sections of state and federal wildlife, air pollution, safety and ocean conservation laws.
In the year since then, the formal decision-making process for two other proposed liquefied natural gas terminals not far from Malibu has begun. Both projects would receive tankers full of icy-cold fossil fuel shipped from Qatar, Indonesia or Australia, and warm it up into the natural gas used for cooking and—increasingly—electrical generation.
A decision on the next floating LNG terminal, this one about halfway between Point Dume and Catalina Island, is expected after another lengthy battle that will probably end in two to three years, analysts said. That project, proposed by a subsidiary of the Australian firm Woodside, would be visible from Malibu’s higher elevations on clear days.
The other project, proposed for an oil-drilling platform 12 miles off Ventura by NorthernStar Natural Gas, would not be visible from Malibu. It also will get a Cabrillo-like environmental review in two to three years.
“I think opposition to both projects is way ahead of where we were at the start, because we learned of the [BHP] project when it was already almost approved,” said Susan Jordan, who led the fight against the Malibu terminal. “Of course, they have the advantage of coming in much earlier in the process than we did, and they have the ability to see how we fought BHP.”
Both companies, however, have said they also watched the BHP Billiton battle in Malibu, which culminated with celebrity-laden protests and an unprecedented Malibu-Oxnard joint effort that raised nearly $1 million to hire the Environmental Defense Center lawyers and scientists who found the evidence that Cabrillo Port was big trouble.
Woodside and NorthernStar promise not to make the same mistakes, and to meet the California air quality laws that BHP Billiton enlisted the White House to evade. The companies have also submitted proposals they say will avoid nearly all of the environmental objections to Cabrillo Port.
Environmentalists say those claims have yet to be analyzed by the federal and state government in the lengthy environmental impact report process, much less by the team of experts that found enough holes to sink Cabrillo Port.
Questions have already been raised about Woodside’s plan for high-pressure delivery pipes across South Los Angeles, which will be closer to 21 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses than allowed by federal safety rules.
The Ventura project is running into the Oxnard anti-LNG activists, who are still organized and meeting monthly. The NorthernStar LNG terminal would be stationed atop a 29-year-old oil rig in 310 feet of saltwater that coastal residents said they had thought was slated for dismantling.
The platform 12.6 miles off Ventura Harbor has some minor, repairable structural problems, the company acknowledged in its application, and suffered underwater structural damage in two construction mishaps decades ago.
In addition, there is still significant recoverable oil beneath the offshore platform, and federal energy law appears to prohibit the removal of an oil rig from production if oil can be profitably recovered.
The entire market assumptions for the profitable importation of LNG to California may have been upended, however, by the recent spike in oil prices, which has also pulled world LNG prices up. A recent LNG sales contract signed by Indonesia set prices four times greater than those in LNG studies assumed by those in Sacramento who said the state needs the gas, putting imported LNG way more expensive than domestic gas.
Three major pipeline expansions to bring natural gas to California from producing areas in the Rockies are being proposed, which could likely bring the West Coast gas at cheaper prices than from overseas, LNG opponents say.
In addition, the parent company of the Southern California Gas Company is about to inaugurate the LNG plant it rushed to completion in Baja California, where U.S. environmental review laws could not delay it. That $1 billion-plus plant, called Costa Azul, has capacity equal to one tenth of the natural gas used on the entire West Coast of Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
But the parent company, San Diego-based Sempra, can only recover its costs for building Costa Azul if LNG flows through it, critics note. The California Public Utilities Commission is currently considering Sempra’s request to shift 25 percent of the gas consumed by southern Californians to LNG imported via Costa Azul, and shield those long-term contract prices from the public for “competitive reasons.”
A coalition of environmental groups estimates that customers of Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas & Electric—monopolies that are both regulated Sempra subsidiaries—will pay $5.4 billion extra to Sempra’s unregulated LNG trading, LNG terminal and Mexican pipeline subsidiaries over the 20-year life of the secret LNG contracts.
In filings with the state, Sempra attorney William Rapp said “LNG supplies could significantly increase competition, lower prices and increase supply diversity.” But as to the alleged sweetheart deal for LNG, Sempra spokespersons refused to take calls from the Malibu Surfside News, and referred questions to the Washington LNG lobbying arm of the American Petroleum Institute, where a spokesperson said she was unable to address the issue.
Sempra said California’s government has already acknowledged that California needs additional natural gas and can get it cheaply from LNG. But opponents point out that those studies were done by three state officials who, soon after making that assessment, cashed out and went to work for LNG hopefuls.
Since Cabrillo Port was defeated, LNG terminals in Long Beach, New York state and New Jersey have been killed for varying legal reasons. Several have been approved in Texas and Louisiana, but U.S. LNG imports have dropped to record lows because of the high world price.
BHP Billiton never acknowledged its defeat in Malibu, and quietly closed its Oxnard office last summer. The executives campaigning for Cabrillo Port have left the company, and one of them agreed this week that BHP Billiton would have been smart to tow Cabrillo Port to China for use in a market that is much more willing to pay the price for LNG imports.

Nosing Around One of Our Outdoor Neighbors

• There’s More to Skunks than the Smell

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Every Malibuite knows it—a terrible combination of burnt rubber, rotten eggs and musk that can be smelled a mile downwind. It can wake a person from a sound sleep, and fills dog owners with a sense of dread. Skunks are active throughout the year in Malibu’s mild coastal climate, but they are more evident in spring, when mating and breeding activities bring them into closer contact with humans, cars and unfortunately, domestic animals. Familiar as the smell may be, the skunk itself is rarely seen, and is the subject of myths and misinformation.
There are actually two types of skunks in the Malibu area. The striped skunk is the common variety. About the size of a small cat, this skunk has the distinctive white stripe that it uses as a warning flag for predators. Residents of the Santa Monica Mountains may also encounter the spotted skunk. Shy, secretive and rarely seen, the spotted skunk is smaller, slighter and more agile than its striped cousin, with a spotted or splotched coat. Armed with the same sulfur-based protective spray, both animals used to be classed as mustelidae, members of the weasel family, but have recently been moved to their own family, mephitidae. Intelligent and resourceful, skunks are adapting to life in an increasingly urban environment.
According to Share Bond, an expert on skunk rescue and rehabilitation and the author of “Stinky Business: How to Rehabilitate Skunks,” skunks have an undeserved bad reputation mostly due to that powerful chemical weapon, but also due to the misconception that they carry rabies. Skunks, she says, like raccoons, bats and other wild animals, can be infected with rabies, but cases are rare in California, and skunks are no more likely to carry the disease than any other animal. She states that skunks are quiet, well behaved, and even beneficial neighbors, as long as humans are willing to take a few steps.
Crepuscular animals that prefer to be active at dawn and dusk, skunks will sometimes venture out during the day, especially when food is available. Orphaned skunks can also be out during the day, searching for their mother. Skunks are voracious omnivores and eat many types of garden pests, including slugs, snails, beetles, grasshoppers, wasps, bees, grubs and even small rodents such as mice. According to Bond, a hungry skunk will even eat a gopher or a young rattlesnake.
Unfortunately, skunks also have a taste for fruit, pet food and garbage. Bond states emphatically that the best way to minimize contact with skunks is to make sure they don’t have access to any of these things. She recommends feeding pets indoors, making sure that garbage containers are securely closed, and that fruit from garden trees isn’t allowed to rot on the ground. The other way to prevent skunk problems, she says, is to seal openings under houses and outbuildings—favorite skunk nesting places—after making sure skunks are being shut out, not in. “And don’t forget to secure the pet door at night.” She says that skunks are intelligent and can quickly figure out how to use a pet door. “Anything a human can push open with one hand a skunk can also manage to open,” she states.
Gregg Feingold of the California Wildlife Center in Malibu concurs with this advice. He says most of the calls the center receives about skunks involve the animals taking up residence under decks and houses. He adds the more draconian suggestion of special fencing that can be installed to extend six to eight inches underground, preventing skunks and other wild animals from ever even entering a yard, but he also stresses that skunks are generally beneficial animals. The staff at CWC can offer advice on skunks, however, they are not equipped to handle them, for that they turn to someone like Brenda Varvarigos.
Varvarigos is a licensed wild animal rehabilitator who is often called in to rescue skunks in the Malibu area. She is one of very few rehabilitators who will take injured adult skunks. She reiterates the advice about sealing access to spaces under buildings and decks to avoid conflict with skunks. All three wildlife experts are adamantly opposed to trapping skunks. They say it doesn’t solve the problem—more skunks will simply move in. Varvarigos also makes a special plea against using poison. Among the animals she rehabilitates are raptors who eat poisoned mammals. She has seen a tragic increase in poison fatalities in recent years. “I see it a lot. It’s very, very sad,” she says.
“Skunks don’t have many predators.” Varvarigos says. The great horned owl is an exception. The smell doesn’t bother the owl, and skunk is a favorite food. According to Varvarigos, other raptors like hawks will also sometimes prey on skunks, although they can be temporarily blinded and disoriented by the skunk’s spray. “Cars are really a skunk’s worst enemy. Skunks have very poor vision,” Varvarigos says. “They don’t see oncoming cars.”
Most predators, Varvarigos states, quickly learn to avoid that distinctive black and white tail, but dogs seem to find skunks utterly irresistible—as many of us know to our sorrow—although the skunk’s scent weapon causes excruciating pain to the dog’s sensitive nose and eyes. Bond recommends always taking dogs out on a leash after dark, even in the backyard, and not allowing them to poke their noses out of sight into shrubs or brush. Varvarigos suggests making plenty of noise to help warn off skunks. “They aren’t nasty, they won’t attack, their scent is their only defense.” She adds that skunks prefer to avoid confrontation.
“Skunks don’t spray for no reason,” Bond says. “What people fear, they create. Don’t scream if you see a skunk. Be quiet, slow, non-threatening and move away.” Bond has been rescuing skunks for 18 years and has never yet been sprayed. “It takes a lot to get them to spray,” confirms Varvarigos. “The skunk will stamp its feet and growl—it’s almost a kind of dance—before spraying.”
If the family dog ignores that warning, Bond recommends distilled vinegar rather than the traditional tomato juice to neutralize the skunk odor, followed by Dawn brand dish soap, and then shampoo and conditioner. Skunk spray, she says, is oily and can’t be washed off with plain water. She also recommends the use of a negative ion generating air filter to clean skunk-tainted air in the house.
Charles Darwin recorded catching a whiff of skunk in 1833 in “The Voyage of the Beagle.” He wrote, “Every animal most willingly makes room for the zorillo [skunk].” Every animal, maybe, except the dog. But with a little bit of work there really can be room for the skunk.
Brenda Varvarigos can be reached at 818.346.8247 or www.valleywildlifecare.org and will assist with Malibu area skunk rescues. Share Bond has an informative skunk site, www.stinkybusiness.org/, and a skunk hotline: 661.264.4400. The California Wildlife Center isn’t licensed to care for skunks, but can offer advice on how to coexist with them: www.californiawildlifecenter.org

Alcohol and Drugs Involved in Fatal Crash

By Hans Laetz

A 17-year-old Thousand Oaks girl remained in critical condition Thursday after the car she was riding in cartwheeled down Pacific Coast Highway above Broad Beach 36 hours earlier, killing its driver.
A large, empty bottle of Jägermeister, a potent 70-proof liqueur, and a marijuana bong and container were found in the wreckage of the Subaru SUV that sat overnight Tuesday on PCH just west of Broad Beach Road’s western end.
Cody James Murphy, a junior at Newbury Park High School, was behind the wheel of the vehicle as it spun out of control, went up an embankment, and then landed on its roof about a mile west of the traffic signal at Trancas.
Murphy’s devastated parents arrived at the crushed car at midnight to identify their son’s body. Deputies said they suspect the boy had been drunk, but are awaiting toxicology results.
Sgt. Philip Brooks said the unnamed female passenger, who was in the middle of the back seat, has severe head injuries. She was helicoptered to UCLA Medical Center from the Zuma Beach helipad following the 10:20 p.m. crash.
The two boys who were sitting on either side of the girl suffered broken hips, and were taken by ground ambulance to the same hospital.
A fourth male passenger sitting in the front right seat suffered only a slight cut to the head, and remained at the scene, alternately shrieking in anguish and calmly talking to deputies as friends and family arrived from the Thousand Oaks area.
Brooks said the five, all students at Newbury Park High School, went to see a rock music show in Hollywood but missed it.
“They went down to the Santa Monica Pier and drank their Jägermeister there,” Brooks said. The intact bottle with its cap on was found in the car after it was flipped over in the morning.
“Also, we found a marijuana smoking device, a large blue glass pipe thing about a foot long, with hooks and curves, as well as an empty marijuana canister from a medicinal marijuana dispensary,” Brooks said. “It had a blue label from a dispensary, but it was empty."
Murphy was at the wheel driving northwest from Trancas when the vehicle drifted to the right just past the western Broad Beach road intersection at 10:20 p.m., Brooks said.
“I could see where he got a good centrifugal spin, he went up the embankment. The car then flipped head over heels several times, went back on the highway on its roof and spun around on its roof before coming to a rest” in the left of the two northbound lanes.
The road was closed to northbound traffic until 8:20 a.m. Wednesday. Deputies were using laser beams, laptop computers and a sophisticated accident-reconstruction computer program to measure skid marks, points of impact and local survey points.
Damage to the front and rear ends of the car indicated that it had flipped over end-to-end several times. Numerous gouge marks were visible in the pavement, but the car was so badly smashed that its make and model were impossible to ascertain without registration records.
Strewn about the accident scene were backpacks, schoolbooks and a nearly new Dodgers cap.
Grief counselors were sent to the Newbury High campus Wednesday, and school officials there said they would cancel a planned assembly this month on the dangers of drunken driving.
Friends of the dead youth set up a makeshift shrine at the site on Wednesday. Residents in the area reported seeing what appeared to be clusters of high-school age boys and girls regularly stopping by the site to pay their respects.

Conley Ulich, Wagner and Sibert Win Malibu City Council Seats

• 35 Percent of Registered Voters Cast Ballots in Tuesday’s Election

BY ANNE SOBLE

With all but 17 of the 2901 ballots cast in Tuesday’s municipal election counted by 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the winners of the three seats on the Malibu City Council were unofficially declared to be Pamela Conley Ulich, Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner and John Sibert.
Conley Ulich, resoundingly demonstrating the power of incumbency and broad-based campaigning, was the top vote-getter with 2115 votes.
A self-described outsider, Wagner garnered a solid second place with 1686 votes, more than 260 votes ahead of establishment insider/planning commission member John Sibert who received 1419.
The 17 votes that still have to be counted are insufficient to alter the final vote order.
Barring a request for a recount by fourth place finisher Kathy Wisnicki—a school board member running what was seen as a quasi-slate campaign with Sibert—who received 1392 votes (27 fewer than Sibert), these results will be certified by the city clerk and deemed official.
Fifth-place finisher Susan Tellem received 1163 votes, despite an attempt to piggyback some of her campaign materials with Wagner’s candidacy.
Measure D, the utility tax that the city asked voters to support to add taxation on cell phones and other electronics, in addition to land lines, passed 1657 to 961.
Measure E, a non-binding advisory vote to ask voters if they would recommend that the city council consider implementing a view protection ordinance won by 1624 to 1068.

Malibu West Plans to Create Fire Safety Council

• Homeowners Take a Proactive Stance in an Area that Has Not Burned in 30 Years

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu West homeowners and their association indicate they are taking fire safety and disaster preparations to a new level given the three wildfires of 2007.
The neighborhood of tract homes located in Trancas Canyon is considered a close-knit community of 237 residences, but is nearly surrounded by undeveloped wildlands that become tinder in a wildfire.
Homes which were built in the 1960s are sited among old growth creekside trees and plants. There is one road in and the same one road out for the residents and firefighters in the box canyon.
The last fire burned in 1978 and many residents know only too well the rugged hillsides and wildlands above and behind them will once again explode into a fiery conflagration.
Designated as a community at risk and knowing a wildfire that engulfed the canyon bottom neighborhood could take out almost a half-billon dollars in real estate, many homeowners insist now is the time to take action.
The Malibu fires of 2007 are described as a “wake up call” for fire safety in the west end community.
First and foremost, residents believe they need to maintain a defensible space around Malibu West.
The goal emphasized in a position paper written about the neighborhood’s ambitions is “to reduce vulnerability of wildfire loss by organizing, training, and coordinating community-wide disaster preparedness and emergency response and implementing preventive fire measures. We will utilize many tools in the fire safety tool box; brush clearance in ways appropriate to the vegetation and terrain, including utilizing goats, promoting fire-smart building and landscaping, proactive equipping and educating homeowners in emergency preparedness including using gel and creating a community map for responding agencies and CERT teams to locate water sources and Go Kits stocked with emergency supplies and to know where there are home-bound residents or others who would need help in an emergency or evacuation.”
In addition to the major grant for funding that was announced by the group last week, the neighborhood has received a donation of a used truck that carries 2000 gallons of water. The group hopes to coordinate with the Los Angeles County Fire Department to use the truck as a mobile source of water for the area.
To get the word out and encourage homeowners, forum and educational workshops are planned and public information events are also being considered to attract widespread media exposure.
The HOA also pledged $50,000 from its budget for funding fire hazard reduction efforts.

MUST Amps Up Drive for Separate Malibu School District

• Signature Gathering Efforts Now Underway

BY ANNE SOBLE

A petition drive in support of study of the feasibility of Malibu terminating its half-century relationship with Santa Monica in a unified public school district is in full swing. The effort is being spearheaded by a group of parents and community members calling itself the Malibu Unified School Team, or MUST.
The first step in initiating a study of secession from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is obtaining the signatures of approximately 25 percent of the 8280 registered city voters and the 1989 voters in unincorporated Malibu (also part of the district) on a petition indicating “interest in exploring the creation of a Malibu Unified School District.”
After the signatures have been validated, the petition goes to the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Reorganization, an 11-member panel charged with reviewing district reorganizations.
The county has strict procedural guidelines and a set timetable for processing applications, including the assessment of the financial and educational impacts of the proposed reorganization on all of the schools in the system.
Public hearings are an important part of the feasibility process.
Whatever the county committee’s findings, the application proceeds to the State Board of Education where there are fewer guidelines and time constraints and where intensive political lobbying—pro and con—can occur.
The state board will conduct its own feasibility study, as well as do an environmental impact report before action might lead to a Malibu vote on separation.
Supporters hope that if they can collect the necessary signatures this month, the county might complete its work by the end of the year, and an application could go to the state at the beginning of 2009.

City Rules Stymie Another Try at a Farmers Market

• Market Chain Was Involved

BY BILL KOENEKER

Another effort to set up a farmers market in Malibu has apparently encountered roadblocks when the proponent of the project unveiled his plans for the new venture.
John Edwards, who is affiliated with California Certified Farmers Markets, was part of a pitch for a market that would be held where a Whole Foods Market is planned on undeveloped land next to the skate park in the Civic Center.
The pitch was made by Michael Besancon, the president of Whole Foods Southern Pacific Regional Office.
Writing to the mayor and city manager, Besancon confirmed that Whole Foods has entered into a lease with developer Gordon Eckstrand of Cross Creek Ventures for a market at that location.
“I am writing on behalf of California Certified Farmers Markets as they have asked permission to set up a farmers market there. Both Mr. Eckstrand and I have approved CCFM using the property on a limited and temporary basis before construction. Until Whole Foods Market can open we thought the Malibu residents would welcome and enjoy a farmer’s market. We hope that you will approve such an arrangement,” Besancon wrote.
Mayor Jeff Jennings acknowledged receiving the letter. “The short answer is anybody that wants to can apply. As far as I know, nobody has done that,” added the mayor.
However, Permits Services Manager Gail Sumpter said that changes made to the zoning laws for farmers markets now make a market at the commercially zoned site problematic.
The zoning law was changed last year to allow a market on land zoned Institutional.
Sumpter said it was the county parking lot at the library and court- house that is zoned Institutional where everyone wanted to have a farmers market that caused the law to be changed.
“The ZTA changed the uses in the Institutional zone,” said Sumpter, who added the Whole Foods site cannot have a farmers market because it is zoned Commercial.
The city official said there were three applicants for a farmers market but the applications have been “administratively withdrawn.”
The city and county during discussions tossed back and forth about whose jurisdiction should prevail for choosing an applicant. The city requires a Conditional Use Permit for operating a market. The permit requires the permission of the property owner as a condition for granting a CUP.
However, the county has indicated it would only give permission to the applicant who was successfully given a CUP.
The discussions, for a while, continued on the apparent Catch-22, but it appears that talks have come to a halt.
City Manager Jim Thorsen said it was not a matter of the negotiations coming to an end, but the priorities have changed in the discussions with the county on the site.
Those priorities changed when county officials announced they were entering into negotiations to sell a portion of the government complex to the college district. “If the county gave a long-term lease [for a farmers market] and continued negotiating a deal with the college, that could be a problem,” Thorsen added.
The city manager was referring to the discussions between the Santa Monica College District and county officials about the county selling the former sheriff’s station to the college district for a satellite campus.
All of the bureaucratic shuffle leaves Edwards frustrated.
“I just don’t understand. The city just doesn’t seem to want to allow a farmers market,” complained Edwards, whose group has been involved in dozens of markets across the Los Angeles region. He said he was not aware of the zoning issues and said it appeared the city has now made it more difficult for farmers market operators.
“I’ve heard so many people in Malibu want a farmers market, but it seems the city does not,” he said.

Pair Whose Bonfire Led to Corral Canyon Blaze Given More Time

• Culver Men Are Still Being Handled Separately from L.A. Trio Who Fueled Flames

BY HANS LAETZ

The two Culver City men charged with starting last November’s wildfire that claimed at least 53 Malibu houses made another brief court appearance last week, but their lawyers agreed with prosecutors to delay proceedings six weeks.
Dean Allen Lavorante and Eric Matthew Ullman stood silently as their lawyers won permission to have a formal arraignment and entry of pleas delayed to May 16.
That hearing will again happen before Judge Michael Kellogg. Lavorante and Ullman were 18 and 19 years old last fall, and are two of the five men accused of starting the fire Nov. 24 at a cave at the top of Corral Canyon Road, a notorious party spot for underage drinkers.
Prosecution of three other men accused in the same case is proceeding on a separate track, although no formal decision has been made yet on whether to actually try the two sets of defendants separately, court officials said.
Los Angeles residents Brian Allen Anderson, 22, William Thomas Coppock, 23, and Brian David Franks, 27, all face a preliminary hearing sometime this summer, with an exact date to be set at their next hearing on April 21. That hearing will be before a different judge, but will also be held at the Van Nuys courthouse.
All five are out of jail on bail pending trial.
The five defendants in the case are identically charged with recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure, and arson during a declared emergency. All three of those crimes are felonies; each carries a sentence of between 2-4 years in state prison.
Defense attorneys for the two Culver City men said their clients are less culpable than the three Los Angeles men because they started a small bonfire and were kicked out of the cave when the other men arrived that night. The Los Angeles trio reportedly added several bundles of wood stolen from the Ralph’s Market in Malibu to the original bonfire.
But prosecutors have said there is no legal difference between allowing a small fire to be started, or creating a large fire that destroys occupied structures. And California arson laws do not require intent by the fire-starters or fire-spreaders to burn houses.
Burned-out canyon residents have served notice they will file suit against the California State Parks Department for having allowed underaged drinking and illegal fires to occur at the caves despite frequent complaints from canyon residents alarmed at the fire danger caused by a lack of police patrols and gates on canyon roads that were supposedly off-limits at night.
The fire burned through Corral, Latigo and Escondido canyons in the predawn hours of Nov. 24, two days after Thanksgiving. No official damages total has been released for the blaze, but damages were estimated significantly above $100 million.
County fire officials said 53 houses were destroyed, but prosecutors put the count at 55. The fire burned to the Pacific Coast Highway, but a massive initial response of fire engines meant no houses were lost more than four hours after the fire was reported.
It was the third brushfire to hit Malibu in 2007. The Oct. 21 Canyon Fire burned 22 structures in the hills between Malibu Canyon and Carbon Mesa, and the Jan. 8 Bluffs Park fire took out six beachfront houses along Malibu Road.
The Canyon Fire was tentatively blamed on a snapped Malibu Canyon power pole, and no cause was ever determined for the Bluffs Fire.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Believing the City of Malibu’s PR

BY ANNE SOBLE

The newly configured Malibu City Council isn’t going to be able to catch its breath after the election. One issue that it will have to address quickly is whether it is going to keep believing its own press releases that Legacy Park is the answer to the wastewater pollution charges that have been hurled at Malibu and will continue to be reiterated in the media and in the courtroom. Current and outgoing council members keep patting themselves on the back for this project, but it does not mark the end of Malibu’s pollution concerns in the Civic Center area. Although Malibu is not to blame for all of the ills of Malibu Creek and Lagoon, the Legacy Park project, which this newspaper has questioned from the beginning, will not only not clean up the area, it could make matters worse when it fails during a major winter “water” event. Another issue that the 2008 council has to address is—despite its surfeit of self-praise for working with other public entities—that it once again is locked in confrontation with state agencies representing the public interest—that pesky concept that the city government appears loathe to acknowledge. Bridge-building is in order as Malibu’s name has become associated with irrational anti-public access policies that could ultimately result in the imposition of more intensive use than might have been the case if reason had prevailed.
Overriding even these concerns, however, is the notion that other communities in the state of California have been able to say that there are areas where development capacity has been reached. Malibu politicians refuse to do this. They allow themselves to be cowed not just by litigation, but by the threat of it. Until there is the local political courage, it is imperative that groups such as Baykeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Counsel serve as surrogate resource protectors and indirectly stand up to development interests, as well as be a voice for those in the community losing their quality of life. There is no denying that policy would be best made by local residents, but many residents will not run for office because of the local election dynamics. Time will tell whether the council now has at least one voice that will break the cycle of backroom brokering and bring greater transparency to city decision-making. If this does not happen, residents could increasingly be relegated to less importance in the municipal policy process. Even those who might never put a Malibu license plate frame on their cars will lament that it is no longer a “way of life,” but a “place to pass through.” Who wants PR like that?

Environmental Group Says Legacy Park Plans Won’t Work

• Baykeeper Contends Building Moratorium Should Be Implemented for Civic Center

BY BILL KOENEKER

A letter circulated by the Santa Monica Baykeeper might reveal some of the issues that are being haggled over in negotiations that are reportedly now under way between the City of Malibu and the environmental organization.
The Baykeeper, along with the Natural Resources Defense Council, has proposed filing a citizen enforcement action in federal court for purported violations of the Clean Water Act.
Baykeeper officials insist the plans for Legacy Park and the Civic Center to handle water quality objectives, including wastewater and stormwater runoff, simply will not work.
They also insist that a building moratorium should be established in the Civic Center, Colony and Serra Retreat areas until a wastewater plan is fully operational.
The Malibu City Council recently, without comment or discussion, rejected a claim served on the city that alleges violations of the federal Clean Water Act.
The letter that was obtained by the Malibu Surfside News outlined what the Baykeeper wants the city to do.
“We believe the proposed capacity for both the treatment plant and treatment wetland will not be adequate to meet existing and future water quality objectives,” states the letter.
The Baykeeper communication notes that the most important aspect of the plans for both stormwater and wastewater is the facilities provide enough on-site storage to deal with rain events that can occur during winter months.
Both of the systems’ storage should be large enough to ensure water reuse in the Civic Center so none of the recycled water finds its way into the Malibu lagoon or creek.
“During times of frequently recurring rain events, the treatment systems’ capacity will be severely diminished, necessitating both wastewater and stormwater to be held onsite. Additionally, we strongly urge the city to acquire more property to ensure adequate areas for dispersal of the wastewater and stormwater from the plant and wetland,” the letter goes on to state.
Some municipal officials expressed surprise when Baykeeper and the NRDC announced intentions to take the city to court over the issue, since the pair had been working with the city and, at times, had endorsed different aspects of the city’s plans.
Municipal officials during the recent media exposure about the lawsuit have taken pains to note that neither agency had actually served the city.
There has been some speculation that the disagreements between the city and the two environmental groups went public and with the threat of litigation is being used as a negotiating stick to force the city to into some agreement that would be more closely aligned with the groups’ vision.
The letter states the proposed wastewater treatment system for the Civic Center area is “significantly” undersized. “We believe this capacity is completely inadequate to meet existing and future water quality objectives in the Malibu creek and lagoon…it makes certain assumptions about the number of and types of water intensive uses that may or may not be true and it does not account for future expansion of commercial facilities,” the letter goes on to state.
The Baykeeper letter also points a finger at Serra Retreat and the Colony residential areas, saying they are “extremely concerned” that there would be any lack of requirement for those residents to connect their septic systems to a new treatment plant. “This is especially disconcerting in view of the identified water quality groundwater issues in Serra Retreat and the Colony area,” the letter notes.
The city must also acquire property, according to the groups, in the Civic Center area to ensure proper dispersal, at least 10 acres. The group did not mention the expense, however 10 acres in the Civic Center would cost the city anywhere from $20 to possibly $30 million.
Additionally, the city should rely heavily on recycled water, meaning the municipality should require double plumbing on all new and existing commercial properties in the area.
Baykeeper officials insist if all of those measures are not taken then discharges will occur, causing the possibility of additional flows into the lagoon, which could impact water quality standards at Surfrider Beach. “This highlights the need for additional dispersal area and increased storage capacity in the Civic Center,” the letter concludes.
Other concerns expressed by the letter include groundwater contamination because of the effluent being dispersed in the ground, which is just feet away from groundwater levels.
“This problem underscores the importance of creating enough extra capacity for storage and dispersal in the treatment plant and the need for dual plumbing to minimize the amounts of treated runoff that will be applied to the landscape and will in all likelihood infiltrate into shallow groundwater that connects to the lagoon/ocean,” the letter further asserts.

Termed-Out Council Members Take Forward Look at the Past

• Outgoing City Leaders Take Pride in Role Played in Development of Municipal Services

BY HANS LAETZ

With a combined 20 years on the Malibu City Council, Jeff Jennings and Ken Kearsley have a common assessment of what their legacies at Malibu City Hall will be like after they step down from office next Monday:
“My realistic suspicion is that two days after we’re gone, no one is going to remember our names,” said Jennings.
“Yeah, in two years people will be saying ‘I’ll never forget old Mister Whatshisname,’” Kearsley agreed.
The Malibu Surfside News sat the two departing council members down last week for iced tea and a critical self-assessment of their time on the council, which is coming to an end as a result of term limitations approved by voters at the urging of then Councilmember Tom Hasse in 2000.
Jennings won his first council term in 1994 and lost a reelection bid in 1998, before winning new terms in 2000 and 2004. Kearsley spent four years on the city planning commission before winning a council seat in 2000, and reelection in 2004.
That election back in 2000 may have marked a changing of the guard, in which two founders of the city left office as a new group of council members took over and changed direction. Supporters of the old guard said their emphasis had been on stopping growth and bringing control of the Malibu coast to the new little city. Jennings and Kearsley both said it was time for the city to grow up.
“When we took office, the city was dead in the water,” Kearsley said. “There was no momentum. We decided it was time to start things moving, time to take some chances.
Jennings concurred: “A lot of what the prior council had done was conflict-driven. Their motive was to shape the destiny of the city as a separate matter, and control our destiny. But the battling wasn’t getting us anywhere.”
With that, and with former Councilmember Harry Barovsky and—after his death—his widow Sharon Barovsky and Andy Stern, the council often voted as a bloc, something that some Malibuites have been uneasy with.
Both council members said their objectives had been to work out a consensus amongst council members on difficult issues before they came down to a vote, and then support whatever solution came out, even if it included unpalatable aspects. Opponents called that dealmaking, Jennings and Kearsley said they call it leadership.
“That’s the difference between winning an election, and governing a city,” Kearsley said. “The revolutionaries like Walt Keller were good at revolutions, but not so good at running things.”
His colleague agreed. “Among state agencies, Malibu had built up the reputation of being a maverick, of being very difficult to deal with. Other cities were telling the state: ‘Go pick on Malibu, they won’t deal with anyone.’”
“We had to get credibility with all the other agencies,” said Kearsley. “We worked on that. The proof of the pudding is in the number of lawsuits we were involved in. The first year I was on the council, I found us in the middle of 27 lawsuits. Right now we are down to four.”
Jennings said the collapse of Kanan-Dume Road just inside city limits in 1996, and the subsequent refusal by the pioneer city council to repair it for a year, was an example of the type of government he opposed. “The city council’s attitude was ‘we never agreed to take care of it,’ and the county said, ‘fix your road.’ We didn’t have the money to do it, and some members of the council were happy it was closed. I went for breakfast with [Los Angeles County Supervisor] Zev Yaroslavsky and told him if he lent us the money, we’d fix the road and repay them. That’s all it took.”
Kearsley said the difficult-to-deal-with city leadership was reflected in employee turnover. “We had 35 percent employee attrition every year when we started. Last year we lost two people, and they’re both on their way to better jobs.”
More than 70 employees now work for the city, a much larger staff than eight years ago. “When we started the city,” said Jennings, “the concept was we’d get volunteers to help run things. Well, the city is a service organization, not a business. The increase in personnel correlates with the increase in service.”
The men differed on what they thought were the biggest issues that they were unable to solve, with Jennings saying he worries most about the proposed ordinance to force some trees to be trimmed to preserve ocean views.
“The view ordinance must be addressed by the council no matter what the result of the advisory vote [in this week’s election],” Jennings said. “If it goes to an initiative, it will be written in stone and it may eat our budget alive in court costs, like it did in Rancho Palos Verdes.”
Kearsley said his biggest regret is that the city has not been able to build any additional baseball and soccer fields. “We bought Bluffs Park, but we bought something we already were using,” he said. “That is not enough.”
Jennings said Malibu has made tremendous strides on water quality issues, and is trotted out for publicity whenever environmental groups need to attract L.A. TV cameras to a news conference about problems that exist anywhere in the state: “The problem of water quality is a real problem, but it’s every city’s problem. The entire state hasn’t come to terms with runoff into the ocean, the state hasn’t even come up with a baseline level of regulations.”
Which leads both men to the subject of Legacy Park. “One of the huge problems Malibu has always had was Malibu Creek,” Kearsley said. “People here always said ‘blame Tapia’ or ‘blame Calabasas.’ They blamed us.
“We said, ‘OK, we’ll fix our 100 acres out of the hundred square miles of Malibu Creek drainage. We’ll step up and our city of 14,000 people will come up with $35-40 million so not one drop of our water will go into the creek period, and to build a central park in the deal.’ ”
Jennings said he is infuriated when people blithely say that Malibu has a septic tank problem. “Guess what: nearly all septic tanks work. [the public works director] Vic Peterson is absolutely deaf to any suggestion that the city cut slack for somebody with a sewer problem—if a house septic fails, it gets tagged. We’re going to make some Malibu people angry with that.”
The two council members said they never intended to run as a team, but are satisfied that concrete results like the new parks in Las Flores and Trancas canyons, improvements to Civic Center Way, city purchase of Bluffs Park, construction of surface runoff treatment plants, and $15 million in the undesignated city reserve fund, came from the consensus they helped to forge.
Jennings, 64, will continue to practice law, from a relocated office at Zuma Beach. Kearsley, 71, said he will continue operating an aerospace engineering firm in Santa Monica that he owns with a relative.

On the City of Malibu Campaign Trail: Issues Still Vie for Attention

• Even Candidates Rap Forums

BY BILL KOENEKER

There were some notable moments on the campaign trail during the past week when council hopefuls met during the last two forums before the April 8 election.
Candidate Kathy Wisnicki skipped both sessions indicating she had the flu on one day and told the Malibu Surfside News she ran a 102.5-degree fever the next.
The candidates have been campaigning long enough they have their talking points mastered and the lack of debate and rigorous rules of the forums kept most of the discussion on track with little chance of a misstep.
Incumbent Pamela Conley Ulich, who pronounced the so-called debate on Saturday “boring,” enlivened the session somewhat when she called for Malibu city officials “to take back” Zuma Beach, owned and operated by the county, at the Malibu Park Homeowners Association forum on Saturday afternoon.
Her response arose when candidates were asked if the city gets 10 percent of the parking fees from the beaches.
“We could take back Zuma Beach and get 100 percent. We are entitled under the law to do that,” added Conley Ulich, who has been spearheading efforts for the city to leave the county library system.
Council hopeful John Sibert agreed. “I kind of like taking back Zuma. I think we can do better battling with the county. We could do a much better job,” he said.
At the same forum, council hopeful Susan Tellem accused Sibert of being too closely aligned with the current council.
“The only real way to change the balance of the council is to vote for Jefferson [Wagner] and me. John and Kathy will be Sharon’s and Andy’s echo,” said Tellem, when candidates were discussing their position on eliminating parking on Morningview Drive.
“I take umbrage at Susan’s remarks that I am a pawn of Sharon. I am not a pawn of Sharon Barovsky or anybody else,” answered Sibert.
Tellem shot back, “I never said pawn.” Later at the meeting, Tellem insisted Conley Ulich will win a seat on the council. “She is a shoo-in,” Tellem said.
Wagner, who lived in the county and moved to the city to run for a council seat, said at an earlier forum sponsored by Corral Canyon homeowners on Thursday night that he did not see any difference between the city and the county.
The meeting was attended by about 20 individuals many who are not in the city and cannot vote but wanted to know the position of the candidates on how they will treat nearby neighbors and help fire victims.
“I have a vacation home in the canyon. I first moved to a home in Corral Canyon,” said Wagner, when council hopefuls were answering a question about what relationship council hopefuls would have with the county, if elected.
At the Thursday night forum a good deal of the discussion focused on fire and public safety. Sibert issued a white paper detailing his position on fire prevention and public safety.
Candidates were asked what they would do since the fire department changed its strategy in sending strike teams up to the houses. Candidates were told that is no longer done and the former policy offered better protection.
Wagner, who has a background in fire safety, acknowledged the strategy had changed. “Fuel loads have changed. That changes the strategy. The fuel determines where they go,” he said.
Tellem talked about her use of goats to clear property around her house and would be an advocate of such a solution city-wide. “Use more goats and have more volunteer firefighting,” she added.
Conley Ulich, who also supports a volunteer patrol, said it was air support that protected Malibu and more air support is needed. Conley Ulich, who said it is important to work with the governor’s office, also discussed about how the example of Matt Haynes could lead other folks to stay and protect their homes and cause problems. She said it is important for homeowners to have a town hall meeting.
Sibert said he did not think city officials were in a position to tell the fire department what is the best strategy. “I am afraid people will try to emulate what was done and will die,” he added.
Wagner said that Corral Canyon gets its water from the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and the reservoir serving Corral was full. “The supply was there. But there was no assessment. We need to have those resources identified from the air,” he said.
Sibert mentioned how the city could equip outside firefighters with GPS equipment instead of the small maps firefighters used.
The topic changed to traffic and council hopefuls were asked about traffic safety on Pacific Coast Highway.
To laughter, Conley Ulich said, “Go out of town,” but then acknowledged there should be some creative ways to curb motorists, such as requiring some kind of carbon footprint.
Wagner said he intends to call the radio station KNX and identify congestion on PCH. “Maybe the traffic will go the other way,” he said. “If you say PCH is blocked, they may turn around.”
Sibert talked about how Caltrans was supposed to have synchronized the lights, but did not get that done. “There are five jurisdictions along PCH. The sheriff does not understand traffic. We need to contact other cities to have a bigger voice,” he added.
Tellem said complaining to the sheriff about speeding could get results. “The traffic is getting progressively worse,” she said.
Tellem said more development in the Civic Center will add more parking which will bring more traffic. “We will have to walk to Santa Monica,” she quipped.
Candidates were given the opportunity to submit questions that were answered by all of the council hopefuls at the Malibu Park HOA forum. Three questions were selected and the candidates were given two minutes each to answer.
Council hopefuls asked each other about their views on Legacy Park. Wagner said he wanted to know if candidates are members of the Malibu Trails Association. Only Wagner is a member, yes, they all support trails. The third question was what four good things the city council had accomplished.
During the candidates’ introductions and concluding remarks it became clear the council hopefuls have developed their campaign speech and since they have been asked some of the same questions over and over again have stock answers to many of the questions.
What campaign observers have noted is that for the most part none of those talking points or stock answers have been challenged by the other candidates.
The candidates, apparently for better or worse, have decided to not conduct their campaigns in any kind of adversarial posture.
While the electorate, candidates and their handlers always talk publicly about how they want campaigning conducted on a positive note, the lack of debate and real challenge for the candidates’ positions may have left voters with a real dearth of information.

Malibu City Council Candidate Responses Affirm Lack of Major Differences

• Answers Reflect Strong Sense of Self-Confidence and Eagerness to Govern

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu Surfside News asked the candidates to respond to a questionnaire that queried city council candidates on nearly two dozen issues.
What may be most remarkable about the council hopefuls’ answers is that they agree on many of the issues.
Everybody is against overnight camping. It was listed as one of the top ten municipal issues when candidates were asked to rank such topics.
Planning issues, the environment, emergency preparedness, view protection and traffic all ranked among the top five of a top-10 list.
Candidates also agreed on the need for a Civic Center Specific Plan, opposed new taxes, wanted to study whether to withdraw from the library system and shop locally.
Candidates were also asked to use the six adjectives that best describe them.
John Sibert said, “Experienced, knowledgeable, rational, visionary, dedicated and mediator.”
Pamela Conley Ulich wrote, “Innovative, independent, intelligent, effective, caring, and courageous.”
Kathy Wisnicki put, “Intelligent, thoughtful, good listener, big picture thinker, excellent reasoning skills and experience.”
Susan Tellem used, “Smart, funny, passionate, dedicated, conscientious, and persuasive.”
Jefferson Wagner wrote, “Pragmatic, Calvinistic, succinct, effervescent, optimistic and to remember my father; a humanist.”
The council hopefuls were also asked to describe in past tense how they would like to be remembered after having served on the Malibu City Council.
Wagner wrote, “He tried to instill a lifestyle that reflected a past forgotten Malibu—a Malibu where the new walls and fences were not as high as the egos that built them. He tried to remind people that Malibu was once an island community, not a town of individual fortresses. A town where a person’s word meant more than their apparent wealth.”
Wisnicki wrote, “As someone who made a positive difference for the next generation and who was responsive to the needs of the residents.”
Tellem replied, “Tellem did exactly what she promised to do. She brought humor and intelligence to the council and returned Malibu to the citizens it serves. She was a woman of her word and a strong negotiator and consensus builder when it came to the city council and other agencies. She brought Malibu closer together as a community. She saved lives.”
Conley Ulich responded, “It has been said that it is not the dates on your tombstone that matter, but the dash in between the dates. I hope my dash represents me as a person who was respectful of others and willing to listen. I hope to be remembered as the leader who was capable of understanding our laws and balancing the interests of the public, whose focus was on what unites us, not what divides us. I hope I will be remembered as a forceful and effective advocate who helped inspire others to make Malibu, and the world, a bit better. Most importantly, I hope I am remembered as a loving wife and mother.”
Sibert replied, “As a person who made a difference in preserving Malibu’s unique character, while acting within the rule of law.”
Some council hopefuls had their own “pet” projects or issues they also listed on the top ten. Conley Ulich said she ranked art as one of the those issues, saying she supported the arts and as a result during her term the community now has murals at Bluffs Park and Civic Center, a summer outdoor movie program and a musical festival.
Tellem, who owns a PR firm, not surprisingly named public relations in her top ten. She said the city’s PR is in need of shoring up, citing how the community has an image of being inhabited by rich celebrities in the coastal town who are NIMBYs. She said that differs from 95 percent of the folks here in the city that are retired, on fixed incomes, or may live in mobile homes.
Wagner cited bond responsibilities for open space acqusition as a top priority.
However, differences did emerge when candidates were asked to assess the performance of the current city council and planning commission.
Sibert, who is on the planning commission, gave it high marks, saying as a whole the panelists do not promote a pro or anti-development agenda. He said the council earned a B-plus in his book and had achieved a number of positive accomplishments while putting the city on sound financial footing.
Conley Ulich agreed, indicating she thought the commission has done a good job, but she was disappointed they did not vet more of the issues relating to the La Paz shopping center hearing.
She also believed the city council had accomplished a great deal and cited such things as the acquisition of Bluffs Park and Legacy Park. She said the one challenge she saw facing the council is how to be civil and respectful of people who are often critical of the council.
Tellem disagreed, saying the council is not in touch with the residents and works in a “lockstep fashion, though Conley Ulich is the exception.”
Tellem was as critical of the planning commission, saying it has lost its way and approves almost every project that has come before it.
Wagner said the council is not as efficient as it could be with four members of the city council seeing things one way and one member having a different outlook.
He was more critical of the planning commission, saying they rubber stamp projects with ease and the continuous variances granted invite further litigation.
Wisnicki said the city council has done a great job of land acquisition and obtaining grants. She indicated the council needs to do a better job of coordinating different agencies responsible for wastewater clean up and stormwater. She said the planning commission works well together and tries to be responsive to the rules and guidelines.
Candidates were also asked about the three best and worst actions taken by the council.
Sibert said his top three picks were acquiring and planning Legacy Park, the acquisition of Bluffs Park and putting the city on sound financial footing. The three worst he described as the slow progress toward adopting clarifying ordinances and coordinating Civic Center development. Not enough outreach to other cities that share Malibu’s issues and not enough effort to communicate the positive image of Malibu.
Tellem said the best actions were working against the LNG port proposal, enacting a no smoking ban on the beach and buying a portion of Bluffs Park.
The worst actions, according to Tellem, were not paying enough attention to the will of the people when it came to overnight camping, approving $12.5 million in more bond debt or what are called certificates of participation and failure to enact a specific plan for the Civic Center.
Wisnicki said the best three council actions were acquisition of Bluff Park, the purchase of Legacy Park and obtaining grants for clean water.
The worst action cited by Wisnicki was closing Civic Center Way at Winter Canyon Road.
Conley Ulich noted the three best actions in the last four years were purchasing Legacy Park, acquiring Bluffs Park and completing a stormwater treatment plant at Cross Creek. The three worst council actions, according to Conley Ulich, was failure to complete a Civic Center Specific Plan, failure to adopt a formula retail ordinance and failure to adopt green ordinances that promote sustainable development.
Wagner noted the two best actions were opening the stormwater treatment plant in the Civic Center area, the realization that 500,000 square feet of potential buildout in the Civic Center is not feasible.
The three worst actions were a lack of a Specific Plan for the Civic Center, lack of an evacuation plan for Webster and Our Lady of Malibu schools and loss of state funding for central park acquisitions.
Council hopefuls were asked to state their position on the level of emergency preparedness in the city.
Wagner said that the first responders have done their best in catastrophic events. He ticked off what the city does have, such as CERT training and Arson Watch,
Sibert indicated the community learned from the October fire. He said a manual should be prepared for citizens and there should be alarms to alert residents to disasters. The reverse 911, Sibert said, has a number of other potential applications that could be explored.
Tellem said the city was “sadly lacking” in the 2007 fires. She recited a list of what went wrong. She said there needs to be an evacuation plan. She said some kind of CERT training for animal evacuation should be adopted.
Conley Ulich said the level of emergency preparedness has increased, but there is more work to be done. She cited numerous allocations made during her tenure for disaster preparation and then insisted that the city had more steps to take including holding a town hall meeting, prepare a disaster manual among other items.
Council hopefuls disagree on whether development agreements are a good tool. Wagner said they are only as good as the lawyers who write them. He said sometimes other concerns are shoved aside.
Tellem said that agreements could get city officials in trouble and contended Malibu has a history of litigation related to development agreements.
Sibert indicated development agreements are sometimes the best way for the city to get some of the services it needs.
Conley Ulich said it depends on the details of the actual agreement.
Wisnicki agreed, saying she would need to see the proposal. Candidates were also asked what impacts does the city have on traffic.
Conley Ulich noted any new commercial development has the potential of increasing traffic.
Tellem noted without a specific plan the city could cause tremendous traffic problems. She said the city needs to be more aggressive with Caltrans.
Wisnicki said better communications with Caltrans are needed to solve traffic issues. Wagner said the city does not own PCH, but does have 40 or 50 miles of city streets. Traffic has a direct effect on city planning, according to Wagner.
Sibert agreed that commercial development particularly in the Civic Center impacts traffic. He said “Z” traffic is the major cause of PCH traffic tie-ups. He said working with other jurisdictions is important for synchronizing signals and enforcing traffic laws on PCH, and a better circulation plan needs to be developed for the Civic Center.

Phone Tax on Ballot

• Advisory View Vote Also Up

BY BILL KOENEKER

Besides choosing from the five candidates vying for three Malibu City Council seats on the election ballot next Tuesday, voters will be asked to tax themselves on Measure D and in an advisory only initiative the electorate is also being asked to weigh in on view protection on Measure E.
The view protection measure asks the voters whether the city council should adopt an ordinance that would require the removal or trimming of landscaping in order to restore and maintain primary views from private homes.
Measure D is binding and is a utility users tax that would expand taxability to cell phones and other electronic devices.
Even the mayor described the measure as somewhat deceptive since it says, if it is adopted, it would reduce the tax rate from five percent to four and half percent, but it clearly makes known that it is casting a wider net by taxing “modern communication technologies.”
No one is saying, not even in the impartial analysis by the city attorney, but it would seem doubtful that users won’t be paying more taxes, certainly not less despite a somewhat lower rate. There are, somewhat surprisingly, no arguments against Measure D or for it.
The view protection issue has garnered much more attention. Many folks, especially on Point Dume and on the hillsides, have been clamoring for the city to establish some kind of law to preserve residents’ views of the ocean and mountains. The value of views in Malibu can be weighed in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Malibu Country Estates became the first neighborhood to obtain a view protection zoning law. The program was initially established as a pilot program to determine the benefits or drawbacks before any such zoning law was enacted citywide.
After the MCE law was enacted, several individuals came before the council and asked or demanded that some kind of zoning be applied across Malibu.
Council members decided it might be a good time to determine just how many folks would be in favor of the city continuing on.
No arguments for or against Measure E were filed by city leaders or the voters. There is an impartial analysis of the measure by the city attorney’s office.
A simple majority is needed either way to “advise” the council in the direction voters think is appropriate, but the most important aspect of Measure E, according to the city attorney, is that regardless of the vote, it does not bind the council to any action and would not legally require the city council to adopt such an ordinance.
Measure D actually proposes an ordinance that would replace the city’s existing telephone utility users tax with an updated version.
Currently folks are already paying a tax on their telephones. The city raked in over a million bucks last year.
The new tax, if approved by the voters, would tax all types of communication services except if precluded by federal law. So the feds now prohibit local taxation of Internet services, e-mail, and broadband providing service to the Internet. The tax would not be applied to digital downloads such as music, games and ringtones.
The proposed ordinance has no effect on the existing utility user tax applied to electrical, gas and water services, according to the city attorney.
View protection has been a hot topic on the city council campaign trail, with some voters asking candidates if they will support an ordinance. It was said that at the Point Dume forum, it was the most frequently asked question of the five candidates.
Currently, the city’s land use laws protect what the city calls primary views, the most impressive scenes viewed from one view point. Only under certain circumstances, such as when a new home is being built, the city may approve a landscape plan in which new vegetation must be sited so as not to block the primary views from the neighbors’ house.
The city, if urged on by the voters, could enact legislation that would restore views by requiring neighbors to remove or trim existing landscaping to restore or maintain their neighbors’ views.
Measure D, according to the city attorney, might be struck down by the courts as it is currently written. “Recent federal court decisions in other states have cast doubt on whether the ordinance, as currently written, can be imposed on long distance, celllular and bundled telephone services. If the California courts determine such ordinances inapplicable to those telephone services, the revenues collected from the current ordinance would be reduced substantially,” wrote City Attorney Christi Hogin. “Adoption of the proposed ordinance would protect the city from an adverse outcome in any such litigation.”

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Malibu Electoral Energy

BY ANNE SOBLE

If Election Day is on the calendar, exhortations for responsible citizenship dominate public communication prior to the ballot boxes being moved into place. But just because an election is held doesn’t always mean voters will take part. Malibu voter turnout has steadily declined with each municipal election, and when even the candidates proclaim that campaign forums are “boring,” how can one expect enthusiasm from the typical citizen whose schedule is already crammed beyond capacity? What may keep the downturn from becoming disastrous is that more and more local voters are casting absentee ballots. Indeed, some City Hall pundits contend that if the ABs that are now on hand are counted, they will forecast the final tally. Beyond systemic trends toward less participation in government, there may be some truth to the contention that the sheen has worn off the young city that 18 years ago fueled fantasies of creative governance that would serve as a beacon wherever the magic name of Malibu was intoned. Instead of innovation, the dominant local public policy forces are reactive rather than proactive. All too often, litigation, or the threat of it, dictates city responses.
The Malibu Surfside News does not endorse city council candidates, regarding endorsement as a throwback to an era when newspaper publishers imperiously thought they had the prerogative to dictate voter behavior based on their own self-interest. Even a cursory glance at Malibu demographics indicates that what local voters need is not direction, but candidates who engage their interest and encourage them to get involved in the political process. The 2008 council race was so prosaic that turnout at local campaign events was low, and outside area interest in the election was even lower. Perhaps that’s why a relatively apolitical, surfer-outdoors enthusiast, non-traditional type is the lone candidate who attracted any mainstream media attention. Charisma aside, when a Malibuite speaks out against pollution and mansionization, and defies the elitist and materialistic image with which the community is tagged, outsiders take notice. If the current campaign is any indication, it will be increasingly difficult to get local voters to attend to candidates and issues without infusing more energy into the process. The spark can come from personality or policy, but without it, the Malibu political process can short-circuit.

Malibu Singer’s Daughter Takes Part in New Reality Show

• 22-Year-Old Is Excited about Stretching Her Talents and Growing As a Performer

BY NICOLE KLIEST

Malibu may be home to more talented individuals than many other communities. The community may also offer more ways for that talent to find its way into the spotlight.
This Thursday, one of Malibu’s young talents will appear in a television show that she hopes is going to make the city’s residents proud to call her their own.
Chloe Rose Lattanzi, 22, daughter of longtime local resident Olivia Newton-John, will be featured as a possible up-and-coming musical talent on MTV’s new show, “Rock the Cradle.”
“I just want to have fun. I’m doing this more for me because I want to prove to myself that I can do it,” Lattanzi said. “[The show] is an amazing way to get your face out there and I think it will be an amazing growing experience as a person. Anything in life you’re afraid of, you should do.”
The new series that airs Thursday, April 3, at 10 p.m. selects nine children of rock icons to compete against each other to see who has what it takes to follow in their parents’ rockin’ footsteps. The competition is nine weeks long.
Having grown up in Malibu, Lattanzi is no stranger to public awareness of her musical heritage.
She will perform in front of a panel of judges live on the show that sends one contestant packing each week. Each rock star progeny hopes to win the ultimate prize: taking his or her first step toward becoming a superstar.
“This may sound strange but I really just want to be present and enjoy myself,” Lattanzi said. “I don’t have any expectations of stardom, That’s not why I’m doing it. The key to being happy in life is going for your passions because life is just too short. I’m trying to remain present, and I’m really learning a lot.”
The contestants include Landon Brown, son of Bobby Brown; Lucy Walsh, daughter of the Eagles’ Joe Walsh; MC Hammer's daughter, A’Keiba Burrell-Hammer; Lara Johnston, offspring of the Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston, Chloe Rose Lattanzi, Crosby Loggins, son of Kenny Loggins; Jesse Money, rocker Eddie Money’s daughter; Jesse Snider, son of heavy metal icon Dee Snider; and Lil Al B. Sure!, R&B singer Al B. Sure!’s son.
“[The other competitors] are all amazing talents,” Lattanzi added. “It’s cool because from what I gather none of us view it as a competition; we’re just trying to find our own way. We’'re very supportive of each other and I have a lot of respect for everybody.”
Lattanzi has been singing and writing music since she was 11 and her upcoming album can be considered a kind of alternative pop genre with an industrial influence, as well as some soul thrown in there. The album can soon be purchased on iTunes.
For more information about Lattanzi, visit her website, www.chloeroselattanzi.com and watch the series premiere of “Rock The Cradle” on MTV this Thursday.