SMC campus in Malibu

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one step closer to reality

The satellite campus would be built on county-owned land in the Civic Center.

By Olivia Damavandi / Assistant Editor

The long-awaited plan to implement a Santa Monica College satellite campus in Malibu may soon come to fruition, as the Malibu Public Facilities Authority last week authorized Santa Monica College to negotiate an agreement with Los Angeles County to build the campus on county-owned land in the Civic Center.

The agreement would also allow for the construction of a new Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department substation as part of the building improvements. Both the SMC Board of Trustees and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors must sign off on the completed agreement.

“This is great news for Malibu residents,” Mayor Sharon Barovsky said in a written statement. “The Santa Monica College satellite campus will provide new educational opportunities for the community, and the Sheriff’s substation will expand law enforcement’s capacity to serve Malibu, especially during emergencies. Residents have long sought both of these projects, and we are so pleased to see they are moving forward.”

Santa Monica and Malibu voters approved a $135 million bond measure in 2004 that included $25 million for an instructional facility in Malibu. Santa Monica College has been in negotiations to find a site for this facility and has been working with Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to secure county-owned land in the Civic Center as a location for a 20,000-square-foot college satellite and an approximately 5,700-square-foot Sheriff’s substation.

The anticipated cost of the lease has not yet been released, nor have the terms of the provisional agreement. But the college is expected to agree to a long-term lease of the county land.

“I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to craft an agreement that’s a win-win for everyone,” Yaroslavsky said in a written statement. “The Malibu community will doubly benefit from expanded educational opportunities and enhanced public safety and emergency services, while Santa Monica College and our Sheriff’s Department will be able to advance their policy and public service missions as partners and joint tenants.”

The Malibu Public Facilities Authority, or MPFA, established through a Joint Powers Authority between the City of Malibu and Santa Monica College, includes two Malibu City Council members and two members of the college’s Board of Trustees.

“We appreciate the support of the Malibu community and look forward to enhancing the local educational opportunities,” Trustee Nancy Greenstein said in a written statement. “It is especially gratifying that the outcome of these efforts will include a location for the county Sheriff, further ensuring the safety and security of the Malibu community.”

Trustee Rob Rader, in a written statement, said, “We are thrilled to move forward on our long-planned Malibu Education Center to serve our many Malibu students and to enrich the community, as well as to work with our partners in the City of Malibu, Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. This truly is an example of inter-governmental cooperation to maximize benefits and to save the taxpayers’ money.”

In the meantime, Santa Monica College is offering credit classes this year, its first offerings of this type in Malibu in two decades.

The college reported that nearly 130 students enrolled in one or more of the six classes it is offering this semester in Malibu. The classes are taking place at Webster Elementary School in the Civic Center area and offer general education in art, English, geography, photography and psychology. Classes have been scheduled Tuesdays through Thursdays, late afternoons and evenings.