No teachers contract, financial solution from school district
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Dianne Talarico said at last Thursday’s Board of Education meeting that a report from the district’s consultant on a financial plan to pay for a teacher salary raise and finalize the tentative contract would be delayed. The report was supposed to take place at that meeting, but Talarico said it was recently discovered that a shift of financial funds from one district account to another in 2005 had not been factored, and would affect the consultant’s analysis. Talarico said she did not know when the new analysis with the additional information would be completed.
The school district hired the firm Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team late last year after the Los Angeles County Office of Education said it needed to come up with a plan to pay for a proposed 5 percent teacher raise while making sure the district maintains the state-required 3 percent budget reserve. The raise, which has been unofficially endorsed by the Board of Education, is included in the tentative contract negotiated by district staff and teachers union officials. The superintendent supports the contract. However, all but one member of the district’s Financial Oversight Committee has expressed concern about it, as did the district’s former chief financial officer, who resigned shortly after expressing his displeasure. He did not officially say he quit his job for that reason.
Harry Keiley, president of the Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Association, said Talarico attended the union’s board meeting Friday and explained the process. He said the union remains patient and understanding, but he said the members are also frustrated.
“We would like to put this matter behind us so that we can attend to other pressing issues in the district,” said Keiley, who said he has no fear the contract won’t eventually be approved.
As of Tuesday, the district had still not hired an interim chief financial officer. Keiley said he believed the district’s lack of a financial head is likely the reason for the delay in getting the contract approved.
Firefighting plane
lives on
Last week, state officials met with representatives of 10 Tanker Air Carrier, owners of Tanker 910, which is a 12,000-gallon supertanker that has been fighting wildfires for the California Department of Forestry. The topic of discussion was the aircraft’s future in California. Recently Tanker 910’s owners informed the CDF that the supertanker would not be returning in 2007 unless a seasonal contract could be negotiated. The aircraft has been operating at a loss with a CDF Call When Needed contract, which began in July 2006.
Because CDF’s 2007-08 budget has no supertanker funding, the concept of a consortium was proposed to fund a seasonal contract. An agreement was discussed to establish a consortium that would include the CDF, as controlling entity, with funding supplied by neighboring states, California counties and possibly some cities. In 2006, CDF’s Aviation Management arranged for Tanker 910 and a CDF plane to be used by Washington State during a wildfire emergency.
A seasonal contract for Tanker 910 would include $5 million for the supertanker to be available at all times throughout the 2007 wildfire season, with $5,000 for every firefighting flight hour, including jet fuel and fire retardant. In 2006, the CDF spent $1.1 million for Tanker 910’s services.
Should there be a wildfire emergency in the Santa Monica Mountains, the Los Angeles County Fire Department could request the use of Tanker 910 under a mutual-aid agreement. The supertanker would fly from its home base at Victorville and be ready to drop 12,000 gallons of water within 35 minutes. The supertanker’s massive capacity can be dropped on the head of a wildfire or it can be used to lay down a line of retardant half a mile in length.
Tanker 910 and Evergreen Aviation’s 747 supertanker, with 12,000 and 20,500 gallons capacity respectively, are the largest capacity air tankers in the U.S.
During the 2007 wildfire season, Evergreen’s 747 is expected to fight wildfires under a 30-day evaluation contract for the U.S. Forest Service. Tanker 910’s owners are awaiting approval of the supertanker’s Operational Service Life data before a contract can be negotiated with the Forest Service. OSL data provides details regarding the safe operating life of an aircraft.
Information requested on Malibu fire
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators are requesting the public’s assistance with any information on the Jan. 8 fire. If anyone has any information regarding the fire or saw anything that might be relevant, the person is encouraged to call the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at 310.456.6652 or contact Detective Jim Gonzales at 323.881.7517
Whale watching at
the Malibu Pier
Whale watching voyages will sail from the Malibu Pier on the 55-foot boat Aquarius beginning this weekend.
The boat will leave the pier at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.
The whale watching trips last approximately two and a half hours. Snack service and beverages will be available on-board. The cost is $15 for children, $20 for seniors and $25 for adults.
The Malibu Pier is located at 23000 Pacific Coast Highway. For more information, call 310.456.8037
Texas court rules horse slaughter illegal
A federal appeals court last Friday ruled that horse slaughter is illegal in Texas, where two of the nation’s three equine slaughterhouses exist.
The decision cited a 1949 Texas law that banned the killing of horses for the purpose of selling the meat for food. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling overturned a federal district court judge’s decision last year that the 1949 law was no longer valid.
Separate bills were simultaneously introduced last week in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives calling for the ban of horse slaughter and the shipment of horses to foreign nations for the purpose of slaughter.
Horse slaughter is illegal In California.
Stormwater treatment facility ready for operation
On Feb. 2 at 10:00 a.m. there will be a grand opening event for the recently completed Civic Center Stormwater Treatment Facility, located at the corner of Civic Center Way and Cross Creek Road.
Tours of the facility will be provided immediately following the ceremony. For more information, call City Hall at 310.456.2489.
Wild night planned
for Shark Fund
The Shark Fund, the money-raising nonprofit group for Malibu High School, has scheduled its second annual Texas Hold ‘Em & Texas Hoe Down event for March 2 at Calamigos Ranch. The event will include Texas Hold ‘Em poker, craps, Western-style barbecue, mechanical bull, live DJ and dancing, silent and live auction and raffle prizes.
For more information, contact Mary Hughes O’Leary at dailingerdesigns@malibuonline.com or go to www.thesharkfund.org.
Kuehl appearance rescheduled
The scheduled appearance of Sen. Sheila Kuehl at the Malibu Democratic Club on Saturday has been postponed. She will appear Feb. 24, 11:30 a.m., at the Point Dume Clubhouse.
-Jonathan Friedman