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.