RWQCB Directs Staff to Renegotiate Malibu Wastewater MOU

• Board Uses Threat of Septic Tank Ban to Prod City into Resolving Pollution Issues

BY BILL KOENEKER

At a Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board hearing last week, members unanimously agreed to direct staff to renegotiate the memorandum of understanding between the City of Malibu and the state agency that gives the municipality authority to issue wastewater discharge permits.
The board could have terminated the agreement on Thursday, but didn’t. Instead the panel agreed to leave the current MOU in place for one year, while the two sides renegotiate its terms.
Revisions could include the state agency taking over all commercial discharge permits, which the staff has recommended, and seeking a legally binding commitment from the city to build a centralized wastewater treatment plant for the Civic Center.
Another staff recommendation adopted by the board is to direct its staff to study the possibility of a septic tank ban in the city.
However, executive officer Tracy Escogue made the staff’s intentions clear on the purpose of calling for a prohibition. “The prohibition is the stick,” she said, to prod city officials to accept the terms of the RWQCB staff renegotiating a new MOU.
A ban would be put into place so that no new septic systems would be given permits. The city would have to build a treatment plant, and a moratorium would be in place during the interim.
The board questioned the staff about the boundaries of any sort of prohibition. The discussion centered on whether the Civic Center area would be the focus of any such action, as opposed to the entire municipality.
RWQCB officials also talked about how they took septic prohibition action in Ventura County.
The board also heard from RWQCB staffers that the matter was before the board because of a dispute with the city over permitting for the Malibu Lumber Yard shopping center.
Some board members appeared displeased the matter had to be addressed at the board level. They told staff they wanted elements inserted into a new memo of understanding that would avoid a similar dispute rising to the level of board resolution.
RWQCB staffers told board members that the city had decided to issue the discharge permit despite calls from RWQCB staff that such action should be overseen by the state agency. In the RWCQB staff report, the state agency indicated it would consider the city as an illegal discharger if it continued to proceed with issuing a permit for its shopping center. The city has apparently relented and the matter has been scheduled to go before the board at a Dec. 11 hearing in Ventura County.
RWQCB staffers said the matter became complicated when the city indicated they would use portions of land at Legacy Park for spray irrigation of effluent from the shopping center.
The staff told board members there was not enough information from either the city or shopping center developers to evaluate such a proposal.
A contingent of Malibu city officials appeared before the panel and touted the city’s environmental credentials. There was very little discussion about the shopping center brouhaha.
“We are about the ocean, and we can make the ocean clean,” said Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich, who ticked off a laundry list of the environmental accomplishments of the city and vowed Malibu was making inroads on acquiring land and building a wastewater treatment facility.
Other municipal officials spoke, including Councilmember John Sibert, City Manager Jim Thorsen and City Attorney Christi Hogin, all said they did not oppose the staff recommendations.
Hogin was asked after the meeting why the city did not oppose the staff’s recommendations. She said the city welcomed an opportunity to renegotiate the MOU and did not want to put itself in a position of opposing a study of a prohibition. “We don’t want to oppose a study. We would not oppose the RWQCB studying something,” added Hogin.
At Monday night’s council meeting, Hogin took some time to comment about media reports of the Thursday morning hearing. “I read some wild press reports, not from the local press. I read crazy press that the board directed its own staff to ban septic tanks. There was no ban. There is no moratorium. There was no action taken,” said Hogin, in explaining how the board, she said, simply gave direction to the staff about the MOU and a study about a prohibition.
“The point I want to make is the possibility of a ban is as an incentive, or stick,” Hogin said, in prodding city officials.
However, that was not the outcome that some environmental groups sought. Mark Gold, the head of the watchdog group Heal the Bay, said it was not about the city’s environmental credentials, or accomplishments. “The problem is not solved. The lagoon and Surfrider Beach are still polluted,” he said.
Gold noted that commercial development is still pending in the Civic Center, and there is no firm commitment from the city that wastewater in that area will be treated by a facility. “There needs to be a legally binding contract from the city,” he said.
Gold and other environmentalists and some of the RWQCB staff have concluded from the preliminary results of a groundwater monitoring study—demanded by the state agency, and paid for and conducted by the city—that groundwater mounding has become such a problem in the Civic Center that no more discharges of effluent should be allowed until a centralized system is built.
Municipal officials, who did not argue the issue at the hearing last week, point to the unfinished study, as offering no certain conclusions. The principal researcher testifed at the hearing and said more data is needed before conclusions can be made. He emphasized that the Civic Center water table is not a bathtub that can be “filled up,” but has a lip and underground outlet to the sea and does not lend itself to easy conclusions.
Despite the connection between the lumberyard dispute and the issue before them, board members said they did not want to hear about it since it will be on their agenda next month for a discharge permit.
Likewise, they said they did not want to discuss La Paz, the shopping center office complex recently approved by the city that has, as part of a development agreement, set aside land for a sewage treatment plant.
La Paz consultants were on hand, nevertheless, to tell the board why their no-net-discharge wastewater treatment system planned for La Paz should be excluded from any septic prohibition.
The board asked extensive questions of the RWQCB staff, including whether there would be additional staff, or staff time, required to assume the duties of overseeing the current permitting system. Yes, they were told.
Staff was also asked how many more commercial systems may need to be permitted. When a RWQCB staffer told the board there were anywhere from 200 to 500 unregulated commercial properties, everyone from Malibu, including the municipal staff, laughed because of the large number cited.
None of the board members turned to city officials for answers to any of these questions, choosing to solely rely on their own staff.
Board member Madelyn Glickfeld, a Malibu resident, made the motion for the board to approve the staff recommendation. Glickfeld offered extensive comments on what she thinks should be in a future MOU.
Glickfeld, a former California Coastal Commissioner, said there is the potential for almost 150,000 square feet of commercial development in the Civic Center and it should not all be allowed to hook up to septic systems. She said there needs to be a time schedule for Malibu to work that out.
Glickfeld also briefly talked about Legacy Park. “I am really sad and disappointed about Legacy Park. That it has become a detention basin for stormwater. I would like to see the [wastewater] treatment capacity reconsidered,” she added.
Talking about the efficacy of septic systems in Malibu, Glickfeld noted, “There are so many commercial properties that don’t function properly.”
Privately some municipal officials expressed dismay that Glickfeld talked disapprovingly of the city’s plans for Legacy Park.
Gold and others, including the RWQCB staff, have expressed similar sentiments about how the city is focused exclusively on utilizing Legacy Park for stormwater treatment to the exclusion of utilizing it in some fashion for centralized wastewater usage, either for a plant site, dispersal or discharge.

Little Wind Helps Make Short Work of Five-Acre County Line Blaze

• Ventura and Los Angeles County Firefighting Personnel Demonstrated Their Readiness

BY ANNE SOBLE

Los Angeles and Ventura County firefighting resources were marshaled to the max in case a small brush fire in the 90265 zip code area of Ventura County tried to spread east into western Malibu.
What was tentatively dubbed the Yellow Fire was reported at 11:43 a.m. Friday in the 12800 block of Yellow Hill Road, according to the Ventura County Fire Department incident log.
Despite a relative lack of wind, by 12:14, the fire was over three acres in size. It burned about five acres before being brought under control by 3 p.m.
Flames took hold near a large house under construction on Yellow Hill Road. Initial reports were that the fire started when sparks from an electric saw ignited brush behind the structure.
Helicopters provided air support for ground crews. An Erickson Air-Crane was brought in, but not used. SuperScoopers were also available, if the fire started to get out of hand.
Ground crews said the blaze was a good practice exercise in an area that has not experienced a sizable burn in over a decade.

One Year Later—Corral Fire Victims Want Their Say at Suspects’ Hearings

• Letter-Writing Campaign Urges Conviction of Culprits

BY NICOLE KLIEST

After exactly one year, the consequences of the Corral Fire that destroyed 53 homes and burned 4650 acres of land are surfacing in a tangible manner. On Dec. 5, a preliminary hearing for Brian Anderson and William Coppock, two of the five men charged with causing the tragic fire, is slated to take place at Van Nuys Superior Court.
Defendant Brian Franks, originally included in the Anderson-Coppock action but who is now assisting the prosecution, will have a probation and sentencing hearing on Dec. 11, and defendants Eric Ullman and Dean Lavorante, being tried on the same charges separately, will face arraignment on that date as well.
In an effort to assure that what they consider to be justice will be served, a group of Corral Canyon residents who have been active in “Operation Recovery” are undertaking a letter-writing campaign to Judge Leslie Dunn that encourages that all five men be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“We’re working on a letter-writing campaign to the judge and mobilizing people to attend the preliminary hearing on Dec. 5,” Corral resident and Operation Recovery organizer Beverly Taki said. “The two deputy district attorneys came out to meet with us since we are considered a victims group. We need to write letters to the judge to express our feelings about the injustice here, and we need to get people to go to the Van Nuys courthouse.”
At the Dec. 5 preliminary hearing, the District Attorney’s Office will present testimony and evidence to show why the defendants should be held to answer for the crimes charged. Taki is advising Corral residents to send in letters, photographs, videos and any other information to bolster their case.
“It’s still very important to have a public presence in the courtroom,” Taki said. “The [defendants] are in the courtroom with their families, so we need to have an equal force. It will be nice to band together as a Malibu community that has suffered, primarily Corral Canyon.”
The court proceedings are but a small part of the many problems that Corral Canyon residents have been grappling with as a consequence of the devastating fire. Many who lost their homes are still daunted by the hurdles they encounter in rebuilding.
Jennifer Grossman lost her home in last year’s fire and recounts the difficulty of first-hand experience with the bureaucracy of building permits.
“I did get all of my permits but it’s been a long process,” Grossman said. “It took me close to a year. I feel that there are a couple of issues. First, it takes time, and second, there are issues that come up that are requirements to get the permits, which can be particularly hard.”
On top of the difficulty of rebuilding her home, Grossman said that time has become a major source of pressure as she has to pay rent every month, and that comes out of her building reserve. However, she is nonetheless thankful to have begun the rebuilding process last week.
“My experience has been long, painstaking and difficult,” Grossman said. “But, it’s possible to get through it when there are people who are willing to bend over backwards to help other people. You just need to step forward and communicate.”
The court appearances are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the Van Nuys Superior Court in Department 120 located at 14400 Erwin Street Mall.

City Council Stalls on Buying West End Land

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council, on a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Andy Stern dissenting, didn’t rule out acquiring a 9.8-acre site currently for sale near the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Heathercliff Road. but didn’t indicate it wants to take action on a possible purchase.
A majority of the council turned down a motion by Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich’s to move ahead with purchase of the Point Dume parcel on the market for $4.2 million.
Stern said he is adamantly opposed to studying, or talking about acquiring the vacant acreage, let alone considering its purchase. “It is the wrong place. It is zoned residential. Uses would light up the night sky. It would wreck it for Bonsall [Drive]. It would be a misplaced use of funds,” he said.
Councilmember Sharon Barovsky said she was unwilling to commit funds for the purchase unless the council could come up with a specific use for the land.
“I hear open space, I hear about library, I hear people say they don’t want anything built there,” she said. “I can’t support it in these economic times, especially if we don’t do anything about it.”
The mayor and Councilmember Jefferson Wagner urged the majority to think in terms of the future, with the most important thing being acquiring the land at a fair market, affordable price, and deciding what to do later.
At a previous meeting, the council created a 12-member blue ribbon committee, which conducted public hearings and decided to issue the council a spreadsheet listing the potential uses of the property. The committee rated the impacts in regard to the environment, lights, noise, septic, traffic and water and forwarded the spreadsheet to the council. The committee insisted the order of uses on the list did not reflect a committee recommendation.
Some council members expressed impatience with the blue ribbon committee’s work. “I am disappointed it did not come back with information from the committee. I talked to committee members. I am glad the city manager talked to committee members,” added Barovsky. “Six of the 12 recommended not buying it. The others wanted it as open space.”
Sibert had the same criticism of the committee and said he thought months ago he would have been more amenable, but the current economic woes have changed his viewpoint tremendously. Sibert said he was interested in going forward with negotiations, but not for a purchase.
A heated exchange erupted between the mayor and Barovsky when she insisted a determination of use was paramount.
The mayor said visitor serving would be welcomed by the California Coastal Commission, to which Barovsky replied, “Do you want a hotel there?”
Conley Ulich shot back, “For the record, I do not want a hotel there. Be cordial.”
The council never addressed the staff information about economic feasibility.
The staff reported about what seems feasible from a financial viewpoint, explaining the municipality has money saved up for a city hall, and that forgoing the lease payments it currently makes on city hall offices could be used to pay off building a new city hall.
The staff report also indicated there was additional funding that could be used for a library from money owed to the city from the county library system.
The other options, such as a teen center, emergency operations center, or a sheriff’s sub-station are packaged with no money, no set-aside funds, or no form of monthly revenue stream, making those options seem much less feasible.

‘Historic’ Malibu High Facade Won’t Escape Demolition

• EIR Requirements Are Part of the Preparation Process for BB Projects

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board approved an agreement with PBS & J, the company overseeing the Environmental Impact Report process at Malibu High School, to conduct an archeological survey of the project site for the City of Malibu Local Coastal Plan. The archeological survey is expected to cost $9166 and brings the total contract amount for PBS&J to $513,850.
The initial EIR states that the impact on archeological resources and the risk of “directly or indirectly destroying a unique paleontological resource” are estimated to be “less than significant with mitigation incorporation.” However, the risk of “substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource is listed as “potentially significant.”
An historic resources evaluation report that was prepared in July of 2008 for the Santa Monica–Malibu Unified School District previously identified the front facade of the high school, which is scheduled for demolition and reconstruction, as “potentially eligible for inclusion in the California Register of Historic Places pursuant to the Register’s Criteria, (i.e., associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history, or the cultural heritage of California or the United States) based on its association with both the history of the school district and the history and development of the City of Malibu.
The survey identified the front facade as “the primary character-defining architectural feature that ‘conveys the historical associations and significance of this individually eligible resource.’”
The preliminary EIR states that “Currently the City of Malibu has not included the MHS site on its map of culturally sensitive places or on any list of locally historic properties.
The board was also asked to approve an additional $25,144 to the firm of HMC Architects, to provide “architectural services for participation and support of the Environmental Impact Review (EIR) work and associated public meetings, in conjunction with the Measure “BB” construction program, in an amount not to exceed $25,144, for a total contract amount of $4,887,448” according to the district.
“The District will require assistance from HMC Architects to provide input, design documents, and participation in public meetings for the EIR process for Malibu HS. The scope of work was not included in their basic services of their original agreement from HMC did not include these support activities.”
This was the last board of education session for outgoing boardmember Kathy Wisnicki. Wisnicki’s departure leaves Malibu without a representative on the district board for the first time in decades.
The district continues to draw vociferous criticism from Malibu Park neighbors and community groups for its apparent failure to involve the community in the project.
The first of three promised community meetings is scheduled for Dec. 8 at the school.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Watery Permutations

BY ANNE SOBLE

No one wishes more adversity to those who live in the recent wildfire areas where denuded hillsides are vulnerable to further damage by heavy downpours, but the current rainfall is a cause for holiday thanks. Although it would take numerous, strong storms in rapid succession to make a dent in the state’s current drought conditions and reduce the areawide wildfire danger, that meteorological scenario might extract too high a price from areas that burned this year and last.
As we sit down to express Thanksgiving gratitude with family and friends, the rain is a reminder that, despite our exponentially expanding technological capability and our myth of human dominance of the universe, nature is the arbiter of all life. Members of our species appear reluctant to accept, despite one unsuccessful clash with the forces of nature after another, that they are not the ones who are in charge.
The potential for another year of drought is not just the concern of the farmer and the rancher. It affects everyone, as no part of California is immune to wildfire. Until the fire danger that is now a constant presence is reduced, thousands of lives will be upended with a frequency predicated on uncertainty. Humans have a responsibility to plan and prepare for the whatever happens, but nature always has the last word.
Yet water is not just a natural phenomenon, it’s also a political one, as last week’s Regional Water Quality Control Board demonstrated. It’s a toss-up whether this approach is Machiavellian or Swiftian, but it is tempting to ask whether the City of Malibu isn’t making a major policy blunder by not letting the RWQCB take over the Civic Center wastewater issue.
The board certainly couldn’t be able to apply a one-solution-fits-all approach, and try to sewer all of Malibu. If central Malibu requires a project, let the state propose it, and let the state defend it in court.
This strategy might temporarily slow some development, but a state-of-the-art system could support added density, as well as control its location. This might result in a superior wastewater solution to anything a city could afford, or should have to, as the pollution is a regional problem that calls for a regional solution. Everyone could then focus on whether the proposal accomplishes what we all want—the cleanup of Malibu Lagoon and adjacent beaches.

Firefighters Stood Watch as Santa Anas Strafed Malibu

• Local Visibility and Air Quality Took Major Hits

BY HANS LAETZ

The Los Angeles County Fire Department was able to maintain extra forces in the Malibu area last weekend despite the major fires that were bracketing the Los Angeles basin to the north and east, officials said.
Everyone was affected, however, by the thick pall of smoke that moved into Malibu from Sylmar late Friday night and Saturday morning. Dozens of worried residents called the local sheriff’s office, deputies said, as visibility and air quality dropped after the Sayre Fire broke out at the north end of the San Fernando Valley at 10:45 Friday night.
By daybreak, the areas generally west of Las Flores Canyon were cloaked in thick smoke. As the day developed, the smoke filled the entire Los Angeles air basin from the series of firestorms enveloping Yorba Linda and Anaheim Hills.
A huge cloud of smoke was seen looming over the eastern horizon late Saturday afternoon, courtesy of the fires that started at Corona and swept west into Orange County.
Satellite images Saturday showed plumes extending west from Corona, and southwest from Sylmar, mixing and swirling over the Santa Monica Bay and western Channel Islands.
Santa Ana wind gusts topped out at 48 miles per hour Saturday at a mountaintop wind gauge near Santiago Peak, the National Weather Service said. Similar gusts were experienced in some parts of the west Malibu coast, but other areas experienced mostly calm, if smoky, weather.
In the mountains of Malibu, the Los Angeles County Fire Department stationed three strike teams at the King Gillette Ranch, totaling 15 firefighters on five engines and three battalion chiefs. Equal additional forces were stationed at Agoura Hills and Calabasas.
Those engine companies, from Watts, Paramount, Ladera Heights, and Inglewood, were cruising through Malibu all weekend. Many of those firefighters were ordered redeployed here while heading home from fighting the Tea Fire Thursday night in the hills above Montecito and Santa Barbara.
Sheriff’s deputies from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station were pulling extra duty patrolling for looters to help out Los Angeles police in Sylmar, and watching the Santa Clarita Valley during the evacuations caused by the Sayre Fire.

Trancas Park Plans Get Commission Approval

• Opponents Say They Will Challenge

BY BILL KOENEKER

At a raucous meeting filled with shouting, much gavel pounding and a contingent of speakers hoping to cut back current design plans, the Malibu Planning Commission this week—with only three members present—unanimously approved plans for Trancas Canyon Park.
A rising tide of opposition pitted some neighbors against others over what kind of park they wanted, prompting local environmentalists and others to urge the planning panelists to not approve any plans, given what they said was massive grading and park design that would become an attractive nuisance.
“I read the Environmental Impact Report. I read the geology report. The landform alterations are unacceptable. The noise standards will be exceeded. It will be a daytime nuisance,” said Patt Healy.
Lucille Keller, representing the Malibu Township Council, said the proposed uses are too intense. “We support a pocket park without the negative uses of ball fields. Most of the uses should be accomplished without the grading and it would be more cost effective,” said Keller.
The plans approved by the commission—with Commissioners Ed Gillespie and Joan House once again absent—call for a seven-acre park, including a multi-use practice field, dog park, tot lot and 128,000 cubic yards of grading. The cost for the improvements is $3.4 million.
Former Councilmember Ken Kearsley said the criticisms were “worse than NIMBYism,” and brushed aside complaints about noise.“ That is the noise of the happiness of children.”
He said applying the restrictions sought by speakers would allow park use only by a leprechaun and a three-legged dog.
Park supporters called on the commissioners to approve the plans that they said had the consensus of the community after several dozen previous public meetings, four workshops, a city council hearing, several parks and recreation commission hearings workshops and a consensus.
When it was time for the commissioners to speak, time and again audience members interrupted them, causing Commissioner Jeff Jennings, who was chairing the meeting, to pound the gavel and call for quiet. “You know how this works. It is our turn to speak,” he said.
At one point, when Commissioner Regan Schaar was speaking, she stopped mid-sentence and said, “Excuse me, I’m speaking now.”
Commissioner John Mazza quizzed numerous individuals, consultants, staff members and experts in an attempt to get answers to some of the opponents’ allegations about park improvements, the grading, geology and numerous other aspects of the plans.
He asked if an alternative plan might have less grading, but keep the improvements proposed for the park.
A consultant said another plan might, but admitted they had not done any calculations other than those for the specific plan that was presented.
The city’s geologist was asked if the plan is safe and whether the grading posed any risks that would keep the project from rising to a proper safety level. Chris Dean replied that it would have the same safety level as a residence.
Mazza and the other panelists were also told that some of the grading that was planned would mitigate problems with some of the soil that was not recompacted.
Schaar said she did not understand why the park could not be developed for more intense use, complaining that the proposed practice field would only allow a few months of play and the field would remain unused during baseball and other sports seasons. “I think it is a shame we can’t have games here,” she said.
Schaar also sought advice from the city’s experts about how safe the grading and other building improvements would be considered.
Jennings wanted to know what was the appropriate way for the commission to act if they did not certify the EIR. Commissioners were told there would be substantial delays for the staff to make the necessary changes to the EIR to reflect another alternative plan to the one before them.
“I’m reluctant to put the park off,” Mazza said.
Schaar reiterated that the park should be larger and serve more sports teams. “Is this the fiscally correct thing to do?” she said. “The council has backed down to everyone.”
However, Jennings said that aspect of the park use issue was a matter for the council to take up, adding that when he was a member of the city council, he argued for a bigger field and more sports play, but he lost.
Jennings said it was time for the commission to vote on the agenda items before them, including the EIR. “I did not hear any facts, or evidence, that support that the EIR is inadequate,” he said.
The three panelists then quickly voted unanimously that the EIR was adequate and proceeded to certify it.
The commissioners then moved on to consider approval of the coastal permit, the conditional use permit and other entitlements related to the park project.
Mazza said he wanted to attach several restrictive conditions to the permits, including specific park hours, closure on red flag days, no use of night lighting after 9 p.m., no amplified music, and no large gatherings or groups at the site.
After discussing the matter with other commissioners and the staff and reaching some compromises, the planning panelists unanimously approved the coastal permit, the CUP and the other entitlements.
Prior to the meeting, the staff indicated it had received a letter stating that if the commission approved the permits, the matter would be appealed to the city council.

City Council to Consider Acquisition of Acreage on PCH near Point Dume

• Lively Debate Is Already in Progress on Possible Use

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council is poised to consider at its next meeting what, if anything, it might want to do, if it acquires a 9.8 acre parcel currently for sale near the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Heathercliff Road on the land side.
At a previous meeting, the council created a 12-member blue ribbon committee, which conducted public hearings and decided to prepare for the council a spreadsheet listing the potential uses of the property if it is acquired.
The committee rated the potential impacts of those uses with regard to the environment, lights, noise, septic, traffic and water and forwarded the spreadsheet to the council.
Committee members took great effort to indicate that the order of uses on the list did not reflect the panel’s recommendation.
Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich had brought the matter before the council after learning the undeveloped property, which is operated as a plant nursery, is for sale.
A west Malibu resident herself, she indicated that the site might become a potential City Hall, community center or any number of uses that could benefit the city and its residents, the majority of whom now live west of Pepperdine University. Western Malibu is also where most potential new residential development will take place as the eastern end is already infilled.
Even so, controversy ensued immediately between council members and some of the public, who suggested west Malibu was the wrong place to build any amenities and complained that any such endeavors would require more concrete and pavement in what is considered by many the rural element of Malibu.
East-end Malibuites, who still think Malibu’s population center is the Civic Center area, nixed the site for municipal offices. Proponents of a teen center, or some kind of building for a boys and girls club, also took a drubbing.
The mayor had talked about the feasibility of a sheriff’s station or library, but said she wanted to reserve judgment until she heard from the community.
Some of the public complained the city should rid itself of a building complex and think instead about leaving the land as open space.
The city’s staff had reported back to the council about what seemed feasible from a financial viewpoint, explaining the municipality had money saved up for a city hall, and that forgoing the lease payments it currently makes on city hall offices could be used to pay off building a new city hall. The staff report also indicated there was additional funding that could be used for a library from money owed to the city from the county library system.
Other options, such as a teen center, emergency operations center or a sheriff’s sub-station came with no money, no set-aside funds or some form of monthly revenue stream, making those options seem much less feasible.
If council members choose to do so, they could direct the staff to proceed with negotiations to purchase the land, direct the staff on proposed uses of the property if acquired and could begin entering a contract with a consultant to initiate environmental review, begin a Local Coastal Program amendment and zoning map.
The property is currently listed for $4.9 million.

Supervisors Approve Malibu and County Library MOU

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors last week formally approved a memorandum of understanding between the county library department and the City of Malibu. The Malibu City Council had already approved the MOU.
The agreement was negotiated at the same time city officials threatened to leave the county system.
The memo sets out how the Malibu Library will be refurbished and renovated and how “set-aside” monies that belong to the local library will be spent.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky considered the action important enough to issue a press release about the supervisors’ approval.
Announcing the board’s action, Yaroslavsky, whose district includes Malibu, said the memo would bring an important county library into the 21st century by modernizing by utilizing state-of-the-art technological upgrades to improve the existing local facility.
“We owe it to ourselves to ensure that libraries remain relevant and appealing places for young and old to congregate and continue the process of life-long learning,” said Yaroslavsky.
Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich, who spearheaded efforts for improved library service and was also instrumental in uncovering millions of dollars that was not being allocated to the Malibu Library, praised the efforts of municipal and county officials dubbing the new era, the library renewal project.
“The library renewal project will be a perfect complement to our new Legacy Park. We believe the library renewal project will result in a sanctuary in the heart of Malibu where people can gather to learn, meet old friends and make new ones,” the mayor added.
After Malibu was incorporated in 1991, city officials decided to remain in the county library system. County officials acceded to Malibu’s efforts during the last four years, as the city took the lead in advocating an equitable share of revenue set-asides for the community.
County officials said other new cities have also approached the library department to request that they be included in these so called set-asides, but city officials have contended that the dollars taken from property taxes are supposed to be spent in the town where the taxes are generated.
Still, the county continues to call its accounting method set-aside funds—monies “generated as excesses after operating costs are evaluated against property taxes collected for the area served.”
The MOU, among many other agreements, sets out to rectify those “set-aside funds.”

Education Forum Focuses on Governor’s Budget Cutting Efforts

• SMMUSD Forces Rally to Counter Proposed Midyear Deletion of $1.8 Billion for Grades K-12

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Doom and gloom were, unsurprisingly, the financial forecast for California public schools at a community forum on California education funding entitled “Why Sacramento Matters: How It Impacts Our Schools.” The forum, held in Santa Monica last week was sponsored by the Santa Monica-Malibu Council of PTAs and the League of Woman Voters.
Ted Lempert, president of the advocacy group Children Now, moderated the panel, which included Julia Brownley, the incoming chair of the Assembly Education Committee; L.A. County Superintendent of Schools Darlene Robles; Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Tim Cuneo; and California State PTA president Pam Brady.
The discussion was dominated by the news that on Nov. 6, Governor Schwarzenegger called a special session of the Legislature to address the general fund revenue shortfall of $11.2 billion, stating that the shortfall must be addressed by Nov. 30.
“The Governor is proposing $4.5 billion in cuts, with schools taking the biggest hit,” Brownley announced at the forum. “That’s a $2.2 billion cut in K-12. It takes back COLA (Cost of Living Adjustments). He’s proposing cuts of $1.8 billion in revenue midyear. I don’t know what he’s smoking.”
Brownley stated that the Legislative Analyst’s Office has a better understanding of education needs, and that it would be “devastating to make cuts midyear.”
The LAO proposal recommends that the Legislature modify the current K-12 COLA index to focus on projected compensation cost increases, rather than switch the index to a modified version of the California Consumer Price Index for wage-earners and clerical workers.
“I’m not sure how we are going to solve this problem. There’s no question we’re going to have cuts,” Brownley said. “How are we going to get out of this mess?”
“One of the things we have to be mindful of is budget reform and the lottery in 2009,” Brownley added, stating that the governor’s plan would temporarily divert lottery funds away from schools.
“I am not carrying to you good news. We have in essence a cut of $3 billion from schools with a potential of $5 billion,” Brownley announced.
Brownley, who was re-elected for a second term on Nov. 4, stated that the Democrats had a net gain of two seats in the Assembly but were still four seats short of a two-thirds majority that she sees as necessary to pass the tax reform she advocates.
“Our tax system has been cobbled together over 30 years,” she said, adding that she is currently working with the Speaker of the House “on how to commit ourselves to education as part of a California stimulus package.”
“California and the nation have to make the decision, do we want to import jobs from China and India or train people to do them?”
Robles agreed that taxes were the key to keeping state education solvent. “Voters are willing to be taxed to support public education,” the L.A. County Superintendent said. Robles stated that California is unusual because the state controls 80% of school funding and mandates the curriculum. “It’s not local control,” she said.
“Most voters are in favor of income tax rather than sales tax,” Robles said. “Children are an investment.”
“Every one of our kids is up against China’s top ten percent,” interjected Lempert.
The superintendent agreed. “Southeast Asia? They want our business,” Cuneo said, adding that he has lived in Asia and knows this firsthand. “It’s going to be incredibly competitive.”
Cuneo said that the Santa Monica-Malibu School District is not typical, because it receives 10 percent of its revenue locally, including $7.5 million from Malibu. In addition to what he described as the generosity of district voters, Cuneo credits the district’s board of directors with frugality and restraint.
“Our board of education has been prudent,” Cuneo said. “We have 21 million in unrestricted one-time dollars.” However, he cautioned that this reserve will not be enough to see the district through the current crisis.
“If we do not make a change, we are deficit-spending at [a rate of] $4 million per year,” Cuneo warned, stating that the district could see the loss of 50 teachers, 55 staff members and five administrators, leading to larger class sizes and reduced P.E., music, library and health service options.
“Even if we have midyear cuts we can’t make changes at this time.” Cuneo said.
The California PTA president echoed the view that a tax increase is the best way to fix the education budget deficit. “People are willing to pay,” Brady said. “We have to get to the point were we are all willing to share the burden. We need to get louder and clearer. We’re talking about an investment here.”
Brownley said that she is working on a plan to test whether there would be support for an attempt to challenge Proposition 13. “I would like to put something together, test where people are with that threshold. Our crisis is right in front of us.”
Prop. 13, passed by voters in 1978, limits the maximum amount of tax on real property to one percent of the full cash value of the property. Prop. 39, passed in 2000, lowered the threshold for electoral passage of local school bond acts from the two-thirds required by Prop. 13 to a majority of 55 percent, however efforts to repeal Prop 13 have failed.
A 1992 challenge led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the proposition was constitutional. Prop 13 is viewed by many as a “third rail,” or lethally charged issued. Taxpayer organizations have fought to protect the measure, which is viewed my many as the last line of defense against excessive taxation in a state that has one of the highest income tax rates in country.
Asked if providing quality public education was an unattainable goal, Brownley replied, “Unattainable? No. But it may require lawsuits. It galls me that as a state we aren’t figuring out a road map.”
Brownley was cautiously optimistic about the incoming administration in Washington. “We have to be in Washington. We need to take this opportunity to make sure California’s voice is heard,” she said.
“All Children Will Learn will replace ‘No Child Left Behind,’” Robles added.
The vehicle sales tax repeal was blamed in part for the current financial crisis. “People like to get rid of taxes,” Brownley said. She stated that she views the vehicle license fee as a better alternative to the governor’s proposed sales tax increase.
“I want to remain hopeful that the Republican side of the aisle will see the light,” Brownley said. “We all have to roll up our sleeves and work together.”
“We will continue the fight,” Brady agreed. “Where we were before, we can be there again.”
“What ‘then’ is she taking about?” a member of the audience was heard to say, as the forum ended. “I was there, and it wasn’t that great then either.”

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

One Wildfire Casualty of Many

BY ANNE SOBLE

As heartbreaking as the human losses to wildfire are, the impact on wildlife is so great that it can defy comprehension. Most of the time people try not to think about it. I’ve often covered local fires from helicopters. Images of deer running with their backs on fire, charred remains of coyotes, clusters of asphyxiated rabbits, and dead birds scattered everywhere are indelible. Then there is the loss of habitat in an animal world where habitat is already at a premium.
To me, right up there with the courageous firefighters and support personnel on the fire lines, are the people, volunteers for the most part, who try to aid the critters that didn’t perish but were unable to elude the flames. Wildlife rehabilitators tend to be an extraordinary and individualistic lot. As they do during all Southland infernos, many dropped their jobs and other responsibilities this week to aid fire victims with fur or feathers. They do this even though they know many of the injured will probably not survive.
But one great horned owl has a fighting chance because a firefighter reacted quickly, and an avian rehabber with Valley Wildlife Care took him in. A firefighter spotted the owl flying through roaring flames in the Sylmar fire and realized that it was acting erratically, disoriented by the smoke and heat. The firefighter instinctively sprayed water on the bird and eased it to the ground. The male owl’s eyes were singed. His eyelids were almost burned off.
There was so much ash in the owl’s feathers, eyes, nose and throat, it was astounding he was still alive. When the rehabber took over; the owl’s eyes were flushed, he was given IV fluids and allowed to rest. VWC says he is getting stronger, but still needs oxygen and cool compresses on his eyes. What the rehabber doesn’t know is whether the owl’s vision is permanently damaged. When the bird’s condition is stable, a veterinary ophthalmologist will do tests. If the owl is able to see, when he is strong enough, he will be returned to where he was found to take part in the natural renewal that will ultimately occur.

Diverse Documentaries Draw More Filmgoers Beyond the ‘World’s End’

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15-film short-list in the Documentary Feature category. 94 films qualified for the category this year, a record number. The selected films will advance in the voting process. Five of the 15 films will then be nominated for the award at the 81st Academy Awards, a press release stated.
Covering an amazingly diverse range of subjects, this year’s documentary feature short-list includes filmmaker James Marsh’s “Man on a Wire,” which looks at tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s illegal but incredible 1974 high-wire walk between the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City, and Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s “The Garden,” which tells the story of a 14-acre community garden in South Central L.A., and the residents fighting to save it from developers.
Werner Herzog, who previously chronicled the life of controversial Malibuite Timothy Treadwell in “The Grizzly Man,” turns his camera on the researchers who live in close quarters in Antarctica, in “Encounters at the World’s End.”
Errol Morris shines a spotlight on the national debt in “I.O.U.S.A.”; and Gini Reticker uses contemporary interviews, archival images, and scenes of present-day Liberia to tell the story of women fighting to reclaim their country from chaos.
Documentary features aren’t usually the films that grab the headlines or top the box office, and they can often be hard to catch, because they depend on the film festival circuit rather than theatrical release for exposure. This is too bad, because they often offer filmgoers a window into worlds unimagined. Award season provides film enthusiasts, and Academy members, a chance to take a closer look, and everyone’s life is richer because of it.
The films on the Academy’s Documentary Short-list (in alphabetical order) are: “At the Death House Door”; “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”; “Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh;” “Encounters at the End of the World”; “Fuel”; “The Garden”; “Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts”: “I.O.U.S.A”; “In a Dream”; “Made in America”; “Man on Wire”; “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”; “Standard Operating Procedure”; “They Killed Sister Dorothy”; and “Trouble the Water.”

Malibu Shark Snarks Authority Once Again—Sheds Data Tag Early

• Young White’s Behavior Supports Theory that Local Waters Are Great Place to Grow Up

BY ANNE SOBLE

Depending in part on one’s stance on wildlife captivity, the young great white shark that spent 11 days on display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium over the Labor Day holiday is either the luckiest or unluckiest shark to ever inhabit local waters.
When the white was reluctantly released in early September, after the shortest stay of any shark in MBA’s Outer Bay exhibit, the young female was fitted with a tracking device.
She was set free because she had eaten only once during her stay in captivity. The data tag was expected to provide information on her activities through winter and then pop off.
However, that tag popped free on the morning of Oct. 8, four months ahead of schedule. The device was recovered near San Miguel Island in the Santa Barbara Channel on Oct. 23.
According to Kasia Deuel at Monterey Bay Aquarium, the tag shows that “the shark remained in waters around the Channel Islands, where we released her on Sept. 7, and that she was doing well in the wild.”
The young shark was the fourth great white put on display at the aquarium. The 4 1/2-foot-long female weighed 55 1/2 pounds when she was originally caught in a seine net off Malibu by commercial fishers on Aug. 16.
Transported at a carefully guarded time from Malibu to MBA on Aug. 27, the prognosis for an at least several-month stay appeared positive when it was announced that the female shark had eaten on her third day in captivity.
That, however, turned out to be the only time the animal fed over the span of time she was on display. The aquarium’s animal care staff decided it “was best to return her to the ocean” immediately.
MBA had released the other three sharks that were formerly on display in the waters of Monterey Bay. But when this younger shark was set free, Ken Peterson, the chief spokesperson for the aquarium indicated, “This was the first shark released down south. Our animal care staff decided that since the latest shark was smaller and younger than the others, and hadn’t been eating regularly, it was best to release her closer to the warmer waters where young sharks are typically found. That spared her a long swim south on an empty stomach.”
But this shark was not about to follow any rules after release either. She was caught Sept. 11 by a commercial fisher working his nets in the area, and she was released the same day.
Described by the fisher as “very lively,” the shark was netted about 22 miles southeast from the point where she had been released four days earlier.
Although the aquarium did not issue an advance statement on the October tag drop, MBA subsequently indicated that the “data from the tag show normal swimming and diving patterns up to the moment of [the tag’s] release.”
When asked how the tag drop-off might have occurred, Deuel told the Malibu Surfside News that “we do not suspect a mortality.”
If the young white was not killed by a larger predator, or succumbed to illness, or other injury, it is likely that she is still in this area and will remain here until large enough to head south to warmer waters.
When the prior larger and older white shark that spent time at the aquarium was released, it swam south to Baja and the Sea of Cortez, where it stayed until its tag dropped off as scheduled.
After this year’s shark was set free in September, Peterson announced that renovations to the Outer Bay Exhibit slated for late 2009 will preclude another attempt to put a white on display until 2011.
In the interim, some shark watchers wonder if the young maverick will continue to stir the waters.

Malibu Voters Mirror State and National Political Momentum

• Local Preferences Differ on Prop 8 and 9, School Board and Judicial Candidates

BY ANNE SOBLE

It may be another week before the final vote tallies are in for all of the election precincts in Los Angeles County, including those in Malibu and Malibu Heights, but no one expects many changes, except on the few ballot measures that are too close to call.
According to the preliminary vote count, 71.2 percent of registered voters in incorporated and unincorporated Malibu went to the polls, a percentage expected to increase as the remaining provisional, dropped-off absentee and other ballots that require hand counting are added to the totals.
To no one’s great surprise, the 90265 zip code was Obamaland by almost two-to-one in the City of Malibu voting precincts, as well as in the precincts for the unincorporated area of Malibu, which is officially designated Malibu Heights by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office.
The unofficial presidential vote tallies for the city are Barack Obama, 3865, and John McCain, 1992; with 41 votes for Peace and Freedom candidate Ralph Nader, 40 votes for Libertarian Bob Barr; 14 votes for Greens Cynthia McKinney; and 12 votes for American Independent Alan Keyes.
In the unincorporated segment of Malibu, traditionally more conservative than the shoreline but no longer so, Obama received 832 votes to McCain’s 495; Barr tallied 12 votes; Nader, 8; Keyes, 6; and McKinney, 2.
With all of the media and campaign insider emphasis on the record-setting registration of black and Hispanic voters and their important role in Obama’s historic victory, some political scientists are starting to ask whether other major demographic shifts are not being accorded their political due.
When those numbers are factored into the victory equation, Malibu’s demographics mirror changes on the national level that may have been just as, or even more, important to the Obama win than the minority votes.
Campaign analysts are still digesting the numbers, but there are signs that the fastest growing group of voters in America are individuals who earn $100,000 or more. When added to those making over $75,000, they comprise a majority of what is the highest-income electorate in U. S. history.
Among voters in the $250,000-plus bracket, the group Obama says he plans to tax more, the candidate also appears to have fared well, although how much of that outcome was due to an anybody-but-a-Republican-candidate mindset is still subject to study.
This strong percentage of higher income voters usually among the GOP faithful may have voted Democratic when their normally secure financial status did not provide immunity from the miasma now gripping the economy.
That Obama received record vote counts from a greatly expanded minority voter base is undisputed. Yet, ironically, especially if gay marriage is viewed as a civil rights issue, three-fourths of all minority voters in California voted in favor of Prop 8, which Obama had said he opposed, then calculatedly shied away from throughout the campaign.
However, that was not the case with affluent non-minority voters who overwhelmingly backed Obama. They opposed the effort to ban same sex unions by solid margins throughout the state.
That also was the case with City of Malibu voters who were adamantly opposed to Prop 8, voting against it 4032 to 1775. Unincorporated voters were also no-on-8 voters by 808 to 526.
Running unopposed for another term in the 30th Congressional District, Democrat Henry Waxman’s numbers paralleled Obama’s, an indication of his popularity within the district and the powerful anti-GOP sentiment.
In the 23rd State Senate District race, similar patterns marked Democrat Fran Pavley’s solid win over the Republican and Libertarian candidates.
In the 41st State Assembly District race, incumbent Democrat Julia Brownley appeared to show somewhat more non-partisan support as she claimed victory with more than the party faithful in her political corner.
In the Superior Court race with the greatest local interest, candidate Cynthia Loo, who grew up in Malibu, lost overall, but won her hometown with 5131 votes of the total cast by the 7362 voters who went to the polls. Vote totals in other court races without a local component were much lower.
Malibuites supported Measures 2, 3, 1A, 11, 12, R and U.
Measure 9, named Marsy’s Law after a young Malibu woman who was murdered, won statewide, but may have lost by a small margin in Malibu, another reflection of strong party line voting.
Measure AA, which won handily overall, barely achieved the 55 percent vote it needed in Malibu and Malibu Heights precincts. The measure’s proponents waged a strong advertising campaign in Malibu, which overcame growing resistance to increased funding for Santa Monica College, which still has unspent monies from a previous measure.
In the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board race, localism trumped other issues, but not in the final outcome.
Local school product Ben Allen the top vote-getter won a seat, but Chris Bley. who also grew up in the district and was only 130 Malibu votes behind him, well ahead of the other winners, Maria Leon-Vazquez and Jose Escarce, didn’t. The three successful candidates had the support of powerful Santa Monica political organizations.
Malibuites, however, did agree with the final results for the three Santa Monica Community College board posts and gave Susan Aminoff, Robert Rader and Margaret Quinones-Perez their votes.
INAUGURATION TICKETS
Local Congressional representatives, Henry Waxman for the city, and Brad Sherman for mountain areas, as well as U. S. Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, indicate they expect a record number of requests for the limited number of bleacher seat tickets for Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Waxman has already posted an electronic application form on his Web site. Information about general public access to inaugural events is available at http://inaugural.senate.gov/index.cfm

Rancho La Paz Center Gets Council OK

• Pleas from Enviro Groups Don’t Deter Majority Action

BY BILL KOENEKE

Despite pleas from a number of environmental groups, the Malibu City Council this week approved two Rancho La Paz shopping center office space projects ensuring the Chicago-based equity firm owner of entitlements for the vacant Civic Center area property.
On a 4-1 vote, with Councilmember Jefferson Wagner dissenting, the council approved plans that call for increased density in exchange for a development agreement that “gives” the city a 2.3 acre parcel and $500,000.
The parcel could be developed as a wastewater treatment facility. The buildout of 132,000-plus square feet was called too big by Wagner. “It is a large project. It is as large as Ralph’s [shopping center]. It is a little too large for the space. The smaller project I can support,” he said.
At the same time, the council on a 4-1 vote, with Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich dissenting, voted for a smaller project of a little over 99,000 square feet that offers no development agreement or public benefits. The project with the development agreement requires California Coastal Commission approval because of the development agreement and Local Coastal Program amendment.
The mayor said she was reluctant to approve the smaller project and give the applicant entitlements because there would be less of an incentive if the larger project ran afoul of CCC disapproval. She said she was reluctant to vote for anything.
“I would personally like to tell [consultant] Don Schmitz and the Chicago developer to get out of town. But I took an oath of office. I can’t tell them to get out of town. I don’t want to personally approve it. Whether I like it or not, I have to uphold the law and work with the developer. It is something in the best interests of the community,” she said.
Members from Heal the Bay, the Malibu Surfing Association and Santa Monica Baykeeper had urged the city to not approve any of the projects until additional wastewater issues in the Civic Center are resolved.
Councilmember John Sibert contended that by approving the project with the development agreement that, in effect, was what the council was doing. “We need a centralized plant. The Regional Water Quality Control Board wants it. We can look at fast-tracking it, so Las Paz could hook up, if we do the wastewater on the 2.3 acres,” he said.
City Attorney Christi Hogin suggested that could happen. “We have heard the developer complain about the expense of a $5 million wastewater system. We are motivated to move forward with the Civic Center plant. There will come a time for La Paz to hook up to us. Their issue is they don’t want to wait for us. If we get ahead of this, they would be financially motivated,” she said.
That prompted Councilmember Sharon Barovsky to take aim at the environmental groups and their call for a building moratorium in the Civic Center. “I am mystified by the two speakers for the environmental groups. They said we don’t have stormwater treatment. We bought the Chili Cook-off [site] and we said we could put a wastewater plant on the site, and they said we don’t want it on the site. It is beginning to sound more like they just don’t want this development. I would think the environmental community would applaud this,” she said.
After the meeting, Mark Abramson of the Santa Monica Baykeeper said he thought a wastewater plant should be approved before any more development should take place.
The mayor said the enviro groups seem to go after Malibu and want development stopped in the coastal city, but don’t appear to pressure other cities to take the same tack. “Why not go after other cities with more development?” she said.
The council had previously considered the matter, heard from dozens of public speakers, then called for revisions to the development agreement and conducted another public hearing this week when they heard from more speakers. The matter now goes to the state Coastal Commission for action.
One council member also talked about another possible destination—the courtroom.
“Unfortunately it could be decided by a man or woman in a black robe,” Sibert said.

RWQCB Hearing on Ending City Discharge Permits Is Rescheduled

• Date Also Set for Hearing on Lumber Yard Complex

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Regional Water Quality Control Board hearing to consider terminating the memo of understanding that allows the City of Malibu to issue discharge permits has been postponed one week to Thursday, Nov 20. The meeting is set to take place in downtown Los Angeles.
An official hearing notice indicates the staff may be given direction to retain, delegate or rescind elements of the MOU.
The action item on the agenda is also described as an opportunity to allow the board to clarify a shared policy for wastewater disposal with the City of Malibu and future dischargers. “This action may include termination, suspension or renegotiation of the MOU for onsite waste treatment systems for the city,” the notice states.
At the same time, the RWQCB has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 11 in Ventura County to consider discharge permits for the Malibu lumber yard shopping center, which is owned by the city.
There is a 33-page tentative order mandating conditions that must be undertaken to obtain a discharge permit.
The city had originally indicated it would issue the permit, which led to the consideration for terminating the MOU. Municipal officiate now seem to be scrambling to comply with the terms of the RWQCB to avoid a showdown with the agency, which would be case if the state’s regulatory power is challenged.

New Pollution Hotspots Mar the Coast

• One Can Be Explained; the Other Remains a Mystery

BY BILL KOENEKER

While water experts said the so-called first flush of storm drains and creeks spilling polluted stormwater runoff into the ocean last week was not large-scale, there remain troubling questions about two hotspots of pollution along the Malibu coastline.
Solstice Creek, most of which is located on National Park Service land, is supposed to be a pristine creek that flows perennially into the Pacific Ocean, but that has not been the case for the past few months.
It is one of the few streams that run year-round even in drought years, but for the past two months when the water reaches the Pacific Ocean, it is polluted and so far experts are scratching their heads about the cause.
The results of Heal the Bay’s weekly beach report card have shown for about the last eight weeks when the creek water reaches the outlet at Dan Blocker Beach the water is so polluted, it is getting a flunking grade.
Water quality experts at Heal the Bay said they have noticed the poor water quality and have discussed the matter.
Using contacts at the Santa Monica Baykeeper, they hope to have input from an initial field survey sometime in the next couple of weeks. “We have raised the flag with the [Heal the Bay] stream team,” said a Baykeeper spokesperson. “We expect they will do some upstream water testing shortly.”
The National Park Service, which owns most of the canyon bottom and hundreds of acres of the canyon’s watershed north of Corral Canyon Road, indicated park officials have no regular water quality testing program in the canyon.
“We have not done any testing recently. We may have done water quality testing last spring,” said a Park Service official.
Equally troubling are the flunking grades still being posted on the weekly report card for the Marie Canyon storm drain outlet at a Malibu Road beach.
The outlet had been testing positive for poor water quality all summer long, but Los Angeles County officials explained that the stormwater treatment facility had been broken and untreated water was fouling the ocean at the testing location at the outlet.
A county public works official said weeks ago the stormwater treatment facility was online after major repairs. However, county officials now say new problems have developed with the water treatment system.
Last spring, the pumps of the facility became clogged with debris from the fire at Bluffs Park.
The pumps were replaced and with little fanfare the system went back online, but with little improvement for water quality showing up on the beach.
A spokesperson for the county department of public works, which oversees operations, said the latest problem is the ultra-violet light going off and on. The UV process is what kills infectious organisms.
The light apparently has malfunctioned for some time without detection.
The county spokesperson said they would begin to do closer monitoring of the plant and of the output of the treatment facility after being informed the beach downstream had been receiving flunking grades for the last two months.
These two hotspots of pollution are in stark contrast to the rest of the coastline where beaches, including Surfrider Beach, have been scoring A or A-plus grades.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

School Board Inclusiveness: Does Malibu Matter?

BY ANNE SOBLE

The candidates for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board in last week’s election made Malibuites think that their votes mattered. Now we will see whether those who were elected will act as if Malibu views matter on planning issues inside the classroom, as well as outside of it, in terms of school site improvement and development.
The issues regarding the design proposals for Malibu High School are already front and center. The debate is not just about physical improvements, but whether the district can be counted on to keep its word to school neighbors, and whether the district is going to take local concerns, such as traffic and public safety, into account when proposing changes.
One of the first things the new board should do if it really wants more Malibu awareness and involvement is to Webcast all of its meetings live, not just the ones held in the Santa Monica City Council chambers. Also, more meetings than the usual three to four per year should take place in Malibu.
While working on live transmission, given the often late schedules of Malibu commuting parents and others interested in public education, the district should ensure that videos of all meetings are posted on the district Web site by the next day, instead of the one-to-two-week delay that has been the norm.
The previous school district administration did not consider making district workings transparent to be an important priority. That is probably an understatement, in that the then administration appeared to regard the public as an impediment to being able to do things whichever way it wanted to do them.
The new board should state unequivocally that it values inclusive citizen participation, and a way to accomplish this is to make its meetings accessible in a timely manner to the Malibuite who lives as far away as Leo Carrillo Beach, as well as to the Santa Monican who dwells two blocks from the district offices.
Malibu does not require a representative with a 90265 zip code if the board truly wants all of the parents and other concerned individuals west of the McClure Tunnel to be able to see firsthand what it is doing for their children and all of the other children in the district. This transparency would be a major step toward healing wounds, real and perceived.

Measure AA Passes Handily; Most Local Races Offer No Surprises

• Malibu Vote Totals and Precinct Breakdowns Are Still Being Computed by County

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN and BILL KOENEKER

Santa Monica and Malibu voters approved Measure AA, a $295 million bond measure sought by the Santa Monica College district. The measure required 55 percent to pass and received 23,865 votes—slightly more than 62 percent. The funds will be allocated for repairs and construction, and will be used in part to build a new math and earth sciences building.
The three candidates who captured seats on the board of the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School district are top vote-getter and newcomer Ben Allen, who received 27.77 percent of the votes cast, or 20,842 votes; Maria Leon-Vazquez, who garnered 26.73 percent of the total count, or 20,059 votes; and Jose Escarce, who received 17,616 votes, or 22.04 percent.
Challenger Chris Bley, despite having an early lead over Escarce, came in a close fourth with 16,539 votes or 22.04 percent.
Bley raised more campaign money than the other three candidates combined, but the winning trio had all garnered endorsements from a variety of influential organizations, including Santa Monicans for Renters Rights.
In other local races, Assemblymember Julia Brownley easily recaptured a majority of the vote in the 41st District, which includes Malibu. She had 74,971 votes to Republican opponent Mark Bernsley’s 36,638 votes.
In the 23rd District State Senate race, Fran Pavley garnered nearly twice the votes of her two challengers combined, winning over 162,463 votes compared to Republican challenger Rick Montaine’s 64,146 votes, and Libertarian candidate Colin Goldman’s 13,828 votes.
All three incumbents in the race for the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees reclaimed their seats: Susan Aminoff with 19,495 votes, Robert Rader with 18,937 and Margaret Quinones-Perez with 18,195. Challenger Heidi Hoeck trailed with 11,983.
Former Malibu resident Cynthia Loo, who was seeking the Los Angeles Superior Court judgeship for Office No. 82, trailed opponent Thomas Rubinson 965,803 to 1,006,125.
The contest for L.A. Superior Court Office No. 84 was won by Pat Connolly, who received 1,183,835 votes, compared opponent Lori-Ann Jones, with 743,047. Michael Ogage won Office No. 94 with 1,199,429 over C. Edward Mack, who received 689,861 votes. Michael Jesic won the contest for Office No. 154 with 1,206,774 votes over Rocky Crabb with 706,450.
The L.A. Metro Transportation Authority’s Measure R, which required a two-thirds majority, passed with 67 percent of the vote. The measure will increase the county sales tax by half a cent on the dollar to pay for transportation infrastructure, including the controversial “Subway to the Sea” that will run from Santa Monica to the Miracle Mile, theoretically under Wilshire Blvd. Transportation authorities are, however, already cautioning that Measure R construction projects are still years away. They have said that the most immediate effect of Measure R will be a freeze on MTA fare increases.
The Malibu precinct vote breakdown for Tuesday’s election, as well as tallies on national offices, will be published as soon as the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office has completed its computations.

La Paz Plans Back for Another Round

• Council Set to Act on Revised Development Agreement

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council is scheduled next week to once again consider approval of the plans for the Malibu La Paz Ranch shopping center and office space complex after previously proposing changes to the terms of the development agreement.
In a move that could shore up the city’s credibility with the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the council could include a municipal benefit of a sewage plant on the 2.3 acres that would be dedicated to the municipality instead of using it for a city hall.
Council members at their last session talked about the difficulty of securing a site for a Civic Center area treatment plant. Though the proposed development agreement requires the approval of the California Coastal Commission, city officials would be able to tell RWQCB members at a crucial meeting on Nov. 13, that they are attempting to secure a site, despite the fact that they did not approve going forward with $2 million of wastewater studies because of affordability issues.
The council had previously heard the item and sent the matter back to the staff to revise the development agreement to include a wastewater facility instead of a city hall, as well as increase the length of time to complete the development process from five years to 10 years, and add other conditions.
The council, per protocol, sent the proposed agreement to the municipal planning commission, which narrowly approved recommending the revisions in the development agreement.
The council is now faced with the choice of approving the development agreement for the smaller project with no public benefits, or approving a larger 112,058-square-foot shopping center and office complex with the 2.3-acre dedication.
The staff had also been asked to explore whether it would be feasible to further alter the plans by switching the location of the offices to the back of the property to facilitate municipal use, and explore the possibility of future connection of the new Civic Center wastewater system to the site.
“Staff has reviewed the potential to switch the location of the offices on parcel B with the municipal use on parcel C. While the potential exists, it is essentially starting the entire project over with a redesign of all the proposed parcel lines and a completely different project description requiring all new environmental review,” wrote staff planner Stefanie Edmondson, who also indicated the owner does not support such a change.
The planner indicated without some kind of plan, it was difficult to review how a future connection of the proposed Civic Center wastewater system to the site could occur. “As there is no definite plan to address this concern, the project will be conditioned to provide for this future capability to connect when feasible,” Edmonson added.

Local Skate Park Agency Fund Gets OK from City

• Boarders Voice Need for New Site

BY BILL KOENEKER

Though Malibu City Council members had hinted last week at the outset of the hearing that they would support a resolution establishing an agency fund for donations for a skate park, that did not stop a contingent of supporters from lobbying members on the issue.
The skate park concern was brought to the attention of the council by Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich. She indicated she had spoken with residents who have expressed interest in raising funds for a new local skate park.
The mayor requested that a fund be established so that donations for the construction of a new park can be accounted for by municipal officials. By unanimous vote, with Councilmember Sharon Barovsky absent, the council agreed to the agency fund, but not before skaters and some moms had a few words for the council.
Skaters said they were concerned that Papa Jack’s Skate Park might be shut down. “If we have no skate park, we won’t have anything to do. We might have to skate [elsewhere in] Malibu,” lamented one skater.
Others complained, though they liked the skate park, it is not a first-class facility and its location is not the best that a park could offer, as opposed to one at Bluffs Park.
The current park is operated by the city and owned by a private property owner on a piece of vacant land earmarked for a Whole Foods/retail shopping complex.
Planning Commissioner Regan Schaar, who has two sons that skate, told council members that even if a development agreement allows the Papa Jack’s Skate Park to continue, she said a commercial facility with ramps, concrete and other temptations near the park is not a good mix.
“I don’t think we should go down that path,” she said.
The Malibu mom, who said she does not skate, indicated that what would be preferable is a new skate park that can accommodate all skill levels.That would require about an acre.
“The ideal site is Bluffs Park,” said Schaar, after naming other potential sites in the city.
Schaar said she could raise money by tapping into corporate sponsors and cited several other cities where such arrangements have been made. “If we get a skate park built, it goes hand in hand with our surfing culture,” she noted.
Longtime local surfer and skateboarder Skylar Peak led off a contingent of speakers, citing a history of the sport and also suggesting that the Bluffs Park site could be a good location. “You give us the land, and we will provide a park,” he said.
As supporters cheered while the council approved the agency fund that is operated by the city to track donations designated for the skate park, the mayor offered advice.
“This is the beginning. It needs a quick follow-up. We will come back to discuss the where. Now you have someplace to put the money. Where you have a park is going to be an issue,” said Conley Ulich.
While voting for approval of the resolution, Councilmember John Sibert said. “The reason I like skate parks. It is something that is done without a lot adults standing over you.”
The money held in an agency fund by the city is purely custodial and the resources are not available for government operations, according to municipal officials.

Two Malibu Men Plead Not Guilty to Battery Charge in Paparazzi Skirmish

• Pre-Trial Hearing Set for Jan. 14

BY ANNE SOBLE

Two longtime Point Dume residents pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges they attacked a paparazzo taking photos of neighbor and actor Matthew McConaughey on Little Dume Beach this summer.
Skylar Peak, 24, and Philip John Hildebrand, 30, are charged with misdemeanor battery in a June 21 melee between local beachgoers, described as “surfers” in the national and international media, against paparazzi.
Jan. 14 has been set as the date for a pre-trial hearing, and a trial date of Feb. 2 is tentatively slated for the Malibu court calendar.
The two men are accused of throwing Richid Altmbareckouhammou and his equipment into the surf. The French agency photographer was among a dozen paparazzi jostling to shoot McConaughey as he surfed when the locals attempted to dissuade them, and tensions escalated.
Discernibly edited video of the brawl, which supports the paparazzo’s contentions, dominated celebrity Web sites that purchase pap film and photos, and the story reverberated around the world.
Charges were not filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office until Sept. 2.
Peak’s attorney, Harland Braun, told the Malibu Surfside News that he is “surprised they even filed this case.” He notes that Peak “was injured, had a knife pulled on him, and a swinging pole [possibly, a tripod] is seen on the tape.”
Braun said a matter like this would normally “have been set for a hearing in the DA’s office, not gone to criminal court.”
The attorney added, “The paparazzi want confrontation and sensationalism.” He said that video that has been edited in that context should not qualify as evidence.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department issued a public call for unedited video immediately after the Little Dume altercation took place, but reportedly no other footage has been obtained.
James Garrison, the deputy in charge at the Malibu office of the district attorney, said he would not comment on the case until it is over. Courtroom argument for the prosecution is being handled by Deputy DA William Clark.
If convicted, Peak and Hildebrand face a possible maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $2000 fine.

Sentencing of Corral Fire Suspect Is Delayed So Victims Can Testify

• ‘Follower’ Turns State’s Evidence against Two Others

BY HANS LAETZ

Some Malibu residents who lost their homes in the Corral Canyon fire last year want their day in court before the first of five suspects is sentenced on a plea bargain on Dec. 11.
Brian David Franks, 28, was scheduled to accept a plea bargain and be sentenced to probation last Monday. But prosecutor Ann Ambrose asked for a delay “because of the number of Malibu residents who want to speak to the court before that happens.”
California allows crime victims to testify at sentencing hearings, and some of the occupants of the 53 homes that were lost Nov. 24 have invoked that right. The fire caused at least $513 million in damage to private property as it roared down Corral Canyon from the top of the Santa Monica Mountains toward the coast.
In late September, prosecutors announced that Franks had turned state’s evidence and would plead guilty to one felony charge of recklessly causing a fire. Ambrose said the county would ask Judge Leslie Dunn to give the Los Angeles man five years probation and require the performance of 300 hours of community service.
By delaying Franks’ sentencing until Dec. 11, prosecutors will also get a chance to see him testify against his two former buddies, allegedly involved in drunken fireplay with burning logs at a clifftop cave during a roaring Santa Ana windstorm, in a state park that was signed with “No Open Fire” warnings, and during a state of emergency declared by the governor due to fires elsewhere in California.
Franks was part of a trio of Los Angeles men who allegedly stole firewood and bought liquor at the Malibu Ralph’s Supermarket, then drove to the “rave cave” at the top of the winding canyon road. ATM receipts and surveillance video reportedly links them to the purchase of items found at the fire’s ignition point.
There, the three reportedly accosted two Culver City men and their girlfriends, and scared them away from a small bonfire that the men had built in a cave.
Arson investigators charge that Franks and his friends, Brian Alan Anderson and William Thomas Coppock, stoked the small bonfire into a roaring blaze in the face of hurricane-force Santa Ana winds. Anderson and Coppock are alleged to have gotten drunk and kicked burning logs over a cliff, where they had sent Franks down to stomp on the embers.
Prosecutors have said that Franks is less culpable than Anderson and Coppock, because he was “a follower” and acting at the direction of the two other men.
Anderson and Coppock have a preliminary hearing set for Dec. 5 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 102 at the Van Nuys Courthouse, and Franks has been ordered to testify against them at that time.
The two Culver City men, Eric Matthew Ullman and Dean Allen Lavorante, are scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 11 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 100 at Van Nuys, at the same time Franks is slated to be sentenced in Department 102.
All four remaining defendants are charged with three felonies: recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury, recklessly causing fire to an inhabited structure, and arson during a state of emergency. Each count carries a posible sentence of between two-to-four years.
Some property owners who lost houses and belongings in the blaze have sued the state of California for failing to police the area and prevent frequent alcohol-laden partying from taking place.
One firefighter was injured in the blaze, which resulted in moves to consider evacuation of up to a third of Malibu during last year’s Thanksgiving weekend.

Civic Center Commercial Landmarks on the Market

• Trend Continues for Properties to Change Hands

BY BILL KOENEKER

Two more Civic Center commercial properties are being marketed after a buying spree of commercial properties was undertaken in mid-Malibu during the past year.
The Malibu Inn, a well-known bar and restaurant for over forty years, is for sale for $10.5 million.
The other commercial property on the market is the former Chevron service station near the Malibu Colony, for sale for $4.6 million. The nearly half-acre parcel is being marketed as an excellent location for a “redevelopment opportunity.”
The Malibu Inn comprises 7500 square feet and is apparently being sold since the owner recently died. The property consists of two separate parcels and 400 feet of Pacific Coast Highway frontage.
A real estate listing indicates the property holds a full type liquor license, and live venue entertainment license. The occupancy is described as 299, with an outdoor patio and bar, which can serve 200 people.
A real estate listing on the service station for the triangular shaped property that fronts PCH and Malibu Road boasts a .54 acre lot that has more than 52,000 cars per day travel by or near it at the intersection of PCH and Webb Way.
The listing states, the property offers a “high identity site” adjacent to the “prestigious Malibu Colony residences.”
Some of the site advantages of the Malibu Inn, according to a real estate listing, are that the restaurant is across the street from Surfrider Beach. Two public parking lots sit also across the street from the property, which is described as just 50 yards away from David Geffen’s Malibu Beach Inn.
The properties add to the list of Civic Center real estate currently on the market, including several vacant parcels located near the Civic Center government complex such as the nine-acre Wave property, a 24-acre vacant parcel behind the government complex and the so-called Yamaguchi property located on the northwest corner of Webb Way and Stuart Ranch Road.
In the past couple of years, numerous commercial properties have changed hands, including several shopping centers, strip malls and vacant land in the Civic Center or nearby. Most of the acquisitions have been funded with big money from outside the area as investors see the small stock of retail and office coverage in Malibu offering an ultimate bargain as demand outstrips supply. Those winds of opportunity may have already shifted, at least in the short term, as the overall economy has ground to a halt and “for lease” signs are popping up in Malibu.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

The Voters Have the Last Word

BY ANNE SOBLE

We do not know who put up this sign on a fence in Malibu, or what their personal politics may be. It doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that the words capture the essence of what transpired on Tuesday when Americans went to the polls in record numbers to elect a new president, senators, representatives, governors, mayors and city council members, as well as voice their opinions on an array of public policies.
The November 2008 election produced many firsts, and whatever transpires, it has permanently transformed American government and politics. Ironically, those of us who voted absentee missed out on some of the magic to be found in going to the polls with more people than have ever voted before and experiencing their sense of hopefulness and enthusiasm.
After decades of civic leaders ineffectively exhorting citizens to cast ballots, the citizenry overwhelmingly responded to a combination of candidates and issues, especially the economy, and voted with its heart and mind to try to effect change that will make individuals’ lives and the state of the nation better.
To watch people wait for hours in lines that vividly reflected the rainbow demographics of the nation was exhilarating, all the more so when one was aware that most of the world was watching as well. A world that will continue to watch and, in most cases, join in America’s wish to come to grips with an economy in shambles and a foreign policy that has been marked by disconnect and fear-mongering.
We, the people, have decided. The election is not an end, but, as we have repeatedly said, a beginning. Everyone has a stake in the future. If the unprecedented turnout at the polls is to be meaningful, it has to translate into ongoing political participation. If that happens, America truly can do just about anything. Yes, it can.