The 60-year-old local political organization was the voice of Malibu before cityhood. Now, it files lawsuits against the city, and its unknown funding sources as well as the status of its members, are raising questions.
By Olivia Damavandi / Staff Writer
After filing a lawsuit against the city last month over the construction of Trancas Canyon Park, the nonprofit Malibu Township Council has drawn the attention of some who question its mission, political affiliation and funding sources.
The Malibu Township Council, or MTC, was formed 62 years ago as a local political organization to “preserve, protect and promote Malibu’s community, culture and environment,” as stated on its Web site. However, since cityhood 19 years ago, the MTC has often battled with the local government over land issues, including the city’s Local Coastal Program and development of the Civic Center area.
The MTC is listed on the state Office of Attorney’s Web site as public benefit charity organization. However, its registration status is delinquent as of 2003. Its total assets in 2002, the MTC’s most recent reporting period, were $38,608.
A number of current city officials are or have been members of the MTC, including City Councilmember Jefferson Wagner, Planning Commissioner John Mazza, Councilmember Sharon Barovsky and Public Safety Commissioner Carol Randall.
Graeme Clifford, current MTC president, is on the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission. Wagner, who served as MTC’s president five years ago, appointed both him and Mazza to their municipal positions.
On its Web site, the MTC states that its board of directors is comprised of individuals from 13 different geographical areas, or “districts,” within the city who are elected by MTC members within their geographic area. The members join the township voluntarily and pay a $35 annual membership fee.
Some residents question the MTC’s adherence to its own rules after learning that its president, Clifford, is not a Malibu resident, and that Marshall Thompson, a Malibu Park resident and a MTC board member, is a Malibu West MTC district representative.
The MTC filed the Trancas Park lawsuit against the city, after the Malibu West Homeowners Association had announced it was filing one, but then rescinded the decision to file.
“Who elected them?” resident Julia Goldberg wrote Monday in an e-mail to The Malibu Times “As far as I know, none of my neighbors have ever been asked by MTC for their opinion. If they really are representative of the Malibu community, who are their members?
“All I know is they are suing the city, which cost me my tax dollars to defend, and all because they don’t want a park that most of my friends want,” Goldberg wrote.
Randall, a former MTC board member, said Monday in a telephone interview she recently renewed her membership because she is “interested in how district number three, or the eastern part of the city, is being represented in their normal operations.”
Neither Thompson nor MTC board member Steve Uhring on Monday could comment on the total number of its members. Thompson said he “couldn’t address” how the lawsuit against the city is being funded, but Uhring said the lawsuit is “being paid for by friends of the Malibu Township Council.”
The lawsuit claims the city’s approval of the environmental impact report for Trancas Canyon Park, a public, seven-acre park to be built on a 13.5-acre site approximately a half mile north of the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Trancas Canyon Road, violated the California Environmental Quality Act, the California Coastal Act of 1976, the Malibu Local Coastal Program, and the city’s general plan and zoning ordinance.
Clifford, at the time of publication, was in Canada and declined to comment for this story. Calls to MTC board member and secretary Lucille Keller were not returned.
Thompson on Monday acknowledged that there are nonresident board members, but said some of the nonresidents, such as those who lost their homes in the 2007 Corral Canyon Fire, live very close to city boundaries.
“It [the MTC] predates the city, and the city drew a border and left some people in and some out,” Thompson said Monday in a telephone interview. “The way I see it, the city’s boundaries don’t reflect the people who consider themselves Malibuites.
MTC board member Uhring agreed with Thompson, and said, “I don’t think it makes a whole lot of difference [whether or not the district representatives are non-residents]. The bottom line is you have a group of individuals who are trying to help maintain Malibu’s character and what we do is respond to the needs to the community.”
“This is a voluntary organization,” Thompson said. “We have the same rights as everyone else, we can define our footprint any way we want. I’ll weigh in on something regardless of whether I live here or there. Their [other people’s] complaints are irrelevant.”
Frank Angel, attorney for MTC, affirmed last month that the Trancas lawsuit is accompanied by a standstill agreement, which allows the lawsuit to sit still for 90 days to help facilitate a settlement with the city. During this time, the city would not have to defend itself or pay attorney fees.
Angel said the lawsuit going forward is dependent on whether the city council on May 26 decides to acquiesce to residents’ requests to change the parks development plans.