The city council welcomed the announcement of a combination substation and satellite college campus, which comes seven years after voters approved a $135 million bond measure in 2004 that included $25 million for an instructional facility in Malibu.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky announced last week a preliminary agreement between the county Board of Supervisors and Santa Monica College to build a 20,000 square foot combination satellite campus and county Sheriff’s Department substation in the Civic Center area. Yaroslavsky said at the April 27 State of the City breakfast that SMC officials had agreed to lease the county-owned property for 95 years, with a $4.4 million up-front payment for the first 25 years.
Approximately 5,700 square feet of the structure would be utilized by the Sheriff’s Department as a substation, which would likely include lockers for deputies and a refueling station for patrol cars. In addition, the substation could be used as a location to temporarily hold people who are detained or arrested. The new facility will be built at the site of the old Sheriff’s substation near the courthouse, which closed more than eight years ago due to budgetary reasons and will be torn down.
Members of the Malibu City Council welcomed the announcement, which comes seven years after Santa Monica and Malibu voters approved a $135 million bond measure in 2004 that included $25 million for an instructional facility in Malibu.
“I’m very excited after [seven] years and other bond measures that we’re finally moving forward,” Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rosenthal said. “It’s been frustrating over the years to not see that money being used in Malibu.”
Rosenthal said she looked forward to the educational opportunities the satellite campus would provide to Malibu residents of all ages. She said students at Malibu High School could get a head start on college-level courses, while adults interested in taking art or history classes would not have to drive all the way into Santa Monica.
Rosenthal said students who are not ready to go away to a four-year college after graduating from high school would benefit from the option to take some classes.
Aside from the educational benefits, Rosenthal said SMC’s Malibu campus would cut down traffic from Malibu residents who currently drive into Santa Monica for classes. Fewer cars on Pacific Coast Highway would both help the environment and reduce the number of accidents, Rosenthal said.
Councilmember Jefferson Wagner said the Sheriff’s substation will increase the amount of time deputies actually spend in Malibu. Services provided to Malibu by the Sheriff’s Department are currently based out of the Malibu/Lost Hills station, more than 10 miles away, via Malibu Canyon Road.
“You have a place now where a deputy can start operations from; they’ll have a locker, a place to put their own personally owned vehicle,” he said.
Deputies at the end of their shift could also do their paperwork at the substation, Wagner said, further increasing their time in Malibu.
“During that half hour to hour of turnaround time, [a deputy] can be redeployed in the city if [an emergency] comes up,” Wagner said.
Wagner also said the substation will improve the city’s communication during disasters. Brad Davis, the city’s emergency planning coordinator, will operate out of the substation, facilitating better communication for Malibu residents.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has been campaigning for a substation in Malibu since the old one closed. Steve Whitmore, senior media advisor for Baca, hailed the announcement in a telephone interview with The Malibu Times Monday.
Whitmore said Baca “has wanted to do this for a significant amount of time because he’s aware of the geographic uniqueness of Malibu. And he wants to connect both sides of the hill and this does that in an effective way.”
Supervisor Yaroslavsky has clashed with Baca in the past over the future of the facility, with Yaroslavsky wanting the site to be used by SMC and Baca claiming it for his department. Whitmore downplayed the notion that Yaroslavsky and Baca had been at odds.
“There really is no conflict,” Whitmore said. “There are discussions absolutely, [about] what do they think this should be used for or that be used for, where’s the best location for it, what will it cost us and all those matters.”
Don Girard, senior director of Government Relations for SMC, told The Malibu Times in a telephone interview Friday that the specifics of the lease are still being developed and may not be finalized until later this summer. Once the lease is finalized, SMC will present the county Board of Supervisors, the Sheriff’s Department and the Malibu community with a timeline for construction of the facility.