Embroiled in a lawsuit filed over the installation of 70-foot field lights at Malibu High School, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District officials say they will ask a steering committee and a Malibu High fundraising group to help cover the rising litigation costs.
The lawsuit was filed last July by the Malibu Community Alliance (MCA), a group comprised primarily of disaffected Malibu Park property owners, against the school district and the City of Malibu. The MCA lawsuit alleges that approval and installation of the lights violated due process laws and state environmental laws. The suit also charges that the lights disrupt Malibu’s rural characteristics.
District Chief Financial Officer Jan Maez estimated the litigation could cost the district at least $100,000, but did not have an exact number. Negotiations are at a standstill between the legal parties, and Maez said the lawsuit could go to trial in coming months, meaning more legal bills.
“We didn’t anticipate this kind of costly litigation. We anticipated people that would maybe not be happy with [the lights] but we did not anticipate a lawsuit,” Maez said. “That wasn’t part of our conversation as we were making the plans.”
She plans on preparing a report on the costs for the Board of Education and presenting it at an upcoming closed session meeting. Maez said she plans on approaching both the Shark Fund and the steering committee to ask them to provide “what they can.”
The district must also cover nearly $40,000 in legal fees for the City of Malibu. City Attorney Christi Hogin has been present at negotiations and court proceedings pertaining to the lights lawsuit. Under an agreement between the city and the school district, Malibu is indemnified, or guaranteed compensation, for any legal challenges incurred by the lights.
Malibu Assistant City Manager Reva Feldman confirmed she plans on submitting an invoice of “about $39,000” later this month to the school district for the city’s legal fees.
At the center of the legal controversy is the $600,000 project to install four 70-foot light poles at Malibu High’s football field last year. The lights were approved by Malibu City Council in June and went up in October.
A steering committee chaired by Malibu High parent Pete Anthony led fundraising efforts for the lights, raising $480,000 for the cause. The money was channeled through the Shark Fund, a Malibu High fundraising group that collects money for MHS arts programs, technology and other general educational needs.
The Shark Fund purchased the lights directly for approximately $200,000, according to Maez, and also presented the district with a $250,000 check for administrative, installation and overhead costs. With that, $150,000 remains to be paid to the district.
“The Shark Fund has paid us $250,000 as kind of a first installment, but always the plan was that once the project is completed and all of the costs are in, then we would submit the balance to the Shark Fund for payment,” Maez said. “I have always made that very clear.”
Seth Jacobson, president of the Shark Fund, said the steering committee and Shark Fund are still raising funds for the lights project.
When asked whether the steering committee would pitch in for the district’s unforeseen legal fees, steering committee chair Pete Anthony said he did not want to speculate on a conversation that had yet to take place.
“We support the district and we expect the district to support us,” Anthony said.
At a Board of Education meeting on Jan. 17, MCA members accused the school district of wasting its resources by not settling the lawsuit. Those in favor of the lights say that is hypocritical.
“I hope the irony of this has not been lost,” Anthony said. “The same group that filed the lawsuit is asking the district how they’re going to pay for the lawsuit.”
Stan Lamport, the attorney representing the community group, said his clients have wished all along that this would not cost the district.
“What we’re saying is, ‘We understand that this is going to end up [being] a cost to you guys,” Lamport said in an interview with The Malibu Times. “We’ve been willing to settle from the beginning.”
Lamport and MCA member Cami Winikoff emphasized they are not “anti-lights” and said they are still willing to negotiate a settlement that would narrow down the number of nights for the lights to be up. The current agreement allows for lights to be used up to 61 nights per year.
“This community is just looking for a settlement of a number of nights that provides games for the kids but not that is this ever-moving target,” Winikoff said. “We want something that’s going to be long-term that’s going to ensure that our nights are protected.”
Maez said the district had no choice in spending on litigation filed by MCA.
“Does it concerns me that we have to spend this kind of money? Of course it does,” Maez said. “We could be using it for other educational purposes. But the reason we’re here is because someone else wants us to stop doing what we’ve been authorized to do by the City of Malibu.”