A forum of candidates for Malibu City Council last week featured sharp disagreements over the Malibu Lagoon and one claim that heroin use was a problem at Malibu High School.
By Homaira Shifa / Special to The Malibu Times
The seven candidates for Malibu City Council spoke about several issues last week at a candidate forum about questions relating to the local business community, a potential Malibu school district and property values. But things got heated when the controversial project to reshape the Malibu Lagoon was broached.
After answering a question about education, former City Councilmember Joan House said she wanted to “clarify wrong accusations” about the Lagoon issue.
“People are saying a lot of things that aren’t true [about the lagoon project],” House said.
House held two letters the City of Malibu wrote to state agencies with concerns about the project. One was written to the California Coastal Commission in 2010 and the other to California State Parks earlier this year.
“People say we aren’t [expressing concerns], well we are,” House said. “I will gladly reproduce this for anyone that’s interested. Getting facts from fiction is very critical.”
This prompted a chain effect, with candidates targeting back at House and the current city council.
“That letter is 70 days before the bulldozers roll,” Andy Lyon said. “A letter at the 11th hour is supposed to impress me? I don’t think so.”
John Sibert, the only incumbent running for office, responded back at Lyon.
“That letter going to the State Parks is an important one,” Sibert said. “I still believe we make decisions based on facts, not hyperbole.”
Lyon said a letter sent to State Parks 70 days before the project is scheduled to begin on June 1 would have no effect, and that to claim otherwise was “a big misinformation.”
Missy Zeitsoff, a member of the original city council who lost a bid for a second term in a brutal 1992 campaign season to House, among others, also got into the debate.
“I totally disagree with Ms. House,” Zeitsoff said. “The city has been spineless on this entire issue of state parks taking over our lagoon for millions and millions of wasted resources. It’s going to hurt our tourism, it’s going to hurt our businesses in Cross Creek area. It’s a bad idea in its current form.”
“I am not spineless Missy!” House said. “I am not for the lagoon as it is currently proposed.”
The candidates were each given two minutes to introduce themselves, which was followed by six questions formulated by the board of directors of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce and the Malibu Association of Realtors. The questions were answered in random order chosen by the moderator of the evening, Don Schmitz, president of the Chamber of Commerce.
One of the prepared questions focused on business priorities.
Hans Laetz stood up with a large picture of a bus advertisement he saw in Los Angeles that invited people to shop at Sephora, a clothing store that opened in the Malibu Village shopping center last Friday. Laetz said the ad symbolized the way commercial development in Malibu was being catered toward tourists, and blamed the current city council for encouraging that.
“What’s next?” Laetz said. “How about a Costco so the Z commuters could pick up a chicken at the end of the day. Or a Home Depot?”
Laetz said a retail diversification ordinance, which the City Council will discuss Monday, was reasonable and needed.
Skylar Peak said he is a local business owner and that he supports an ordinance to increase permitting requirements, costs and time to open up a new business in Malibu.
“What are we going to do, ensure in 20 years that Malibu doesn’t look like anywhere else in the world?” Peak said.
Sibert and House said they supported analyzing the permitting process for new homes and businesses to improve and streamline the process.
Hamish Patterson, who enjoyed support from the audience several times during the forum, made waves when discussion turned to the possibility of Malibu forming its own school district.
Zeitsoff and House both said an independent Malibu school district was a natural, necessary step to take as a community, while Lyon said funding for the schools would be a big issue that would have to be addressed.
But Patterson suggested there were major problems already at Malibu High School that needed to be resolved first.
“There’s a giant drug problem in our high school,” Patterson said. “How is a kid able to shoot heroin in the bathroom? And it’s not just one kid; it’s groups of kids. We need to be active within our schools and give our kids the leadership they need.”