Publisher’s Notebook

• Battle of the Buses (and Petitions) •

ANNE SOBLE

Although everyone, including this observer, was surprised at the sparse turnout when the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board held their recent workshop in Malibu, all the pundits say that Malibuites are likely to turn out in force for the Nov. 5 hearing on whether the panel should enact a prohibition of new septic tanks and stringent curbs on existing ones in the commercial hub of the City of Malibu.
Perhaps people decided that the deck was already so stacked that they wanted to preserve their firepower for the main event. Still, the city is paying for a bus to go downtown, but what if most of the riders are municipal staff and media?
Whether there is or isn’t a major Malibu presence next Thursday, groups—including Heal the Bay and Surfrider Foundation—are urging their ranks to attend, providing maps and public transportation directions to facilitate large turnouts.
These groups are using all forms of analog and digital media to encourage the signing of petitions that will be presented to the water quality board. These petitions ask the RWQCB to create an integrated wastewater and stormwater treatment plan for the Lower Malibu Creek Watershed to try to alleviate what are described as chronic pollution problems of longstanding duration.
These groups support the proposed moratorium on future development in the area until this integrated system is operational. They urge work on the system to begin by 2011, saying the health of 1.5 million recreational users at Malibu Creek and Lagoon is at stake. Proponents of these views are expected to pack the hearing room.
If the board decides to begin a process of reducing and ultimately eliminating the role of septic tanks in mid-Malibu wastewater management, it cannot dictate what the specific municipal response to this action will be.
However, if the city is faced with a finite time frame, the number of options may be limited by its ability to have a fix in place in time to avoid prohibitive fines that could quickly surpass the cost per property owner for a capital project.
This is a textbook example of a public policy issue that has cried out for resolution for too long. Because it was politically expedient to delay local action, the impact of any determination that occurs now will be greater than it had to be.Although everyone, including this observer, was surprised at the sparse turnout when the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board held their recent workshop in Malibu, all the pundits say that Malibuites are likely to turn out in force for the Nov. 5 hearing on whether the panel should enact a prohibition of new septic tanks and stringent curbs on existing ones in the commercial hub of the City of Malibu.
Perhaps people decided that the deck was already so stacked that they wanted to preserve their firepower for the main event. Still, the city is paying for a bus to go downtown, but what if most of the riders are municipal staff and media?
Whether there is or isn’t a major Malibu presence next Thursday, groups—including Heal the Bay and Surfrider Foundation—are urging their ranks to attend, providing maps and public transportation directions to facilitate large turnouts.
These groups are using all forms of analog and digital media to encourage the signing of petitions that will be presented to the water quality board. These petitions ask the RWQCB to create an integrated wastewater and stormwater treatment plan for the Lower Malibu Creek Watershed to try to alleviate what are described as chronic pollution problems of longstanding duration.
These groups support the proposed moratorium on future development in the area until this integrated system is operational. They urge work on the system to begin by 2011, saying the health of 1.5 million recreational users at Malibu Creek and Lagoon is at stake. Proponents of these views are expected to pack the hearing room.
If the board decides to begin a process of reducing and ultimately eliminating the role of septic tanks in mid-Malibu wastewater management, it cannot dictate what the specific municipal response to this action will be.
However, if the city is faced with a finite time frame, the number of options may be limited by its ability to have a fix in place in time to avoid prohibitive fines that could quickly surpass the cost per property owner for a capital project.
This is a textbook example of a public policy issue that has cried out for resolution for too long. Because it was politically expedient to delay local action, the impact of any determination that occurs now will be greater than it had to be.