City proposes senior center in Civic Center area. Former mayor and president of senior citizens club seeks to block proposal.
By Arnold G. York/Publisher
The Malibu senior citizens facilities war has suddenly exploded into public view as the city considers a potential, expandable 1,200 square foot facility for a senior community center in the Civic Center area. An opposition group, led by the re-emergent former Malibu mayor Walt Keller, also the president of the Malibu Senior Citizens Club, voices it is against the center at that location.
The center would be located in a building along Stewart Ranch Road, just behind the Malibu Chamber of Commerce.
Keller said the board of the Senior Citizens Club felt the 1,200 square foot space is too small and club members could not carry on their usual activities there.
The board members feel there are better alternatives, which might involve putting a 4,000-plus square foot modular unit onto a piece of school district land.
One site being considered is at the Equestrian Center in the Malibu Park area.
Equestrian groups, which presently occupy the space, would share the space and parking area with the seniors. However, this has raised controversy among some equestrians. A number of them are less than enthusiastic about the plan, a position they’ve expressed to several city councilmembers.
The city has been negotiating for new space ever since officials were advised by the Sheriff’s Department the city would have to give back the old sheriff’s station it has been renting for a city hall. As part of that negotiation, city officials want some of that space to be used for a senior citizen center.
Federal monies from a community block grant program, administered through HUD and the county of Los Angeles, have been allocated for a senior citizen center in Malibu. The deadline to receive the monies was March 31 of this year, but the city was able to get an extension because it was in negotiation for a center for its senior citizens. Sources at City Hall indicate they were told by federal officials in regards to the grant funds, “Either use it or lose it.”
The city has tentatively negotiated a 15-year lease for the senior center, in three, 5-year increments and has sent a copy of the lease to the county and HUD for approval as a preliminary step in obtaining the grant funds.
Keller, who is opposed to the new lease, allegedly called the federal agency and threatened that the seniors would boycott the new center if it were put in that location.
Keller told The Malibu Times that it is not so. The club just wants a bigger space and there were better options available.
He has some opposition within the club to his plan to house the facility near the Equestrian Center. One opposition group, led by longtime senior club president Jo Fogg, who was ousted in a vituperous contested election for the club presidency, is vigorously opposed to Keller’s plan and his attempt to block the Civic Center location.
The first of what promises to be many showdowns takes place this Thursday, April 18, at 6 p.m. at the Michael Landon Center at Bluffs Park. There is a scheduled meeting of the city Parks and Recreation Commission, which will hear a presentation by Councilmember Ken Kearsley and Mayor Joan House about the negotiation for the center. It is rumored that Keller and his supporters, as well as the opposition senior citizen group led by Jo Fogg, will be there to say their piece.
On the larger question of a new city hall, the city hopes to be out of the present hall by August 1 of this year, and plans to bring the matter up on a May council agenda. The Sheriff’s Department plans on reclaiming its old space and re-establishing a Malibu Sheriff’s Station.