City council hires new manager, approves Portshead project

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One councilmember objects to hiring of the city manager, citing insufficient experience and high salary. Malibu’s bus service may improve.

Starting out with a packed house, which dwindled to almost no one after the council continued a controversial road extension project to a future meeting, the council swiftly moved to hire a city manager on Monday, but not without some fuss.

Katie Lichtig, who has been acting as the interim city manager since last summer, was hired as city manager to almost unanimous approval.

Councilmember Tom Hasse, who has only a few weeks left to serve, opposed the idea.

He voted against hiring Lichtig because he disagreed with the $108,000 salary offered.

“Though Lichtig may be good at her job, she is not an experienced city manager,” he said.

Comparatively, prior city manager Marilyn Leuck earned $119,000; some even earned more depending on their experience.

Hasse also questioned the timing to appoint one of the three top city positions two weeks prior to City Council elections.

“So, for those reasons and others, which I am not stating tonight, I vote no,” said Hasse.

“She is a good, fair and an honest administrator,” said Councilmember Ken Kearsley, pointing out that, compared to other applicants, she is the best choice.

There were 10 other applicants for the position. Many of them worked as city managers for other cities and currently are out of work. But the council decided to get a person on their way up, not down, explained Kearsley in a later interview.

“When a person is without a job, there is a reason for it usually,” he said.

Before the meeting began on Monday, about three-quarters of the public at the HRL Auditorium stood up and left when House announced the council would continue an appeal for an application to extend Sweet Water Mesa Road.

The council put off the appeal, which would provide access to five properties in Los Angeles County owned by developer Brian Sweeney, because information regarding this matter was not ready.

Neighbors are concerned the road would extend to Piuma Road and create an unwanted thoroughfare to Pacific Coast Highway.

In other matters, the council unanimously turned down an appeal by the Point Dume Community Association regarding an office-building project on Portshead Road, after traffic mitigation measures were considered.

Architect Ed Niles had applied to build his project on Portshead Road, near Pacific Coast Highway. The neighbors were concerned that additional commercial traffic would spill over into their neighborhood and wanted to be assured the issue was resolved in a satisfactory manner.

Earlier this year the Public Safety Commission made recommendations to forbid left turns from Portshead Road onto Pacific Coast Highway, and to install a dedicated U-turn traffic signal at Kanan Dume Road and PCH.

But Niles believes the traffic issue was unjustifiably focused on his project.

“All the problems with Point Dume traffic do not originate from this one specific project,” he said to the council.

As they reviewed the matter, councilmembers evaluated the cost of adding the U-turn signal and reasoned the estimated cost, between $1,000 and $3,000, was not enough to warrant any further delays in approving the project.

As the council debated over a deceleration lane on PCH for traffic that wants to make a right turn on Portshead, some councilmembers suggested the developer pay for that.

“Commercial developments should help mitigate traffic issues,” noted Kearsley. “That’s the cost of doing business in Malibu.”

MTA reps talk bus service

Representatives from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority came to get some feedback about Malibu’s bus service. They indicated the MTA is reorganizing into sectors that will look at individual areas more closely.

Councilmembers highlighted the need for a bus service between the 101 Freeway corridor and Malibu, and talked about bus timing because some important routes appear to run late. They pointed out there is no bus service connecting to Ventura County and that Malibu is unique because it has seasonal ridership needs, which should be considered by the MTA since that would help clear some traffic off PCH in the summer.

General Fund Grant disbursed

The council gave the go-ahead to distribute $90,000 in grant community development funds to local nonprofit community organizations for the fiscal year 2002/2003. But it delayed giving $10,000 to the Malibu Film Foundation until more information is obtained about the organization because some councilmembers were not familiar with it.

High priority should be given to human need organizations, said councilmembers Sharon Barovsky and Kearsley.

The recipients are: Friends of the Malibu Urgent Care Center, $15,000; California Wildlife Center, $3,500; Santa Monica School counseling programs, $15,000; Malibu Labor Exchange, $12,000; Meals on Wheels, $5,000; Malibu Foundation for Youth and Families, $12,500; Charmlee Nature Preserve Foundation, $ 3,000; Children’s Creative Workshop, $4,000; Malibu Pet Companions, $ 4,000; Esperance Center, $ 8,000; Malibu Ballet & Performing Arts Society, $ 4,000; Malibu Mountain Rescue Team, $4,000