2017 in Review: June

June

• The 2017 Malibu Times’ Citizenship Awards, where exemplary students at local schools are nominated for their dedication to others, honored seven local kids this year. 

• Jerry Perenchio, owner of the Malibu Bay Company, one of Malibu’s largest property owners and a longtime resident, passed away at age 86. Perenchio had a long career, beginning as student a UCLA booking bands, later as a pilot in the Air Force, then as an agent, and finally an entertainment and sports impresario. He sold Legacy Park in the center of Malibu to the city for at a very reasonable price—provided that the city agreed to keep it green. 

• A sheriff’s helicopter flying over Kanan Dume Road noticed a minivan wreck 150 feet deep in the canyon just north of the city limits. When the rescuers got down to the van, they found a relatively undamaged Kia minivan on its wheels with human remains in and around the vehicle. The canyon is home to coyotes, cougars and wildcats who know how to scavenge human remains. The coroner is investigating.

• Measure R, the controversial city ordinance first passed by the voters in November 2014, which was designed to limit chain stores in Malibu’s Civic Center area, and which blocked the development of a Whole Foods store, once again lost in court. Initially held to be illegal by an LA Superior Court judge, it was appealed to the Court of Appeals which unanimously struck down the measure, clearing the way for the Whole Foods project.

• Once again, Malibu is finding that trying to decide to do anything is more complicated then it appears, because, like it or not, Malibu has a lot of partners who have a say in Malibu affairs. When Malibu considered cutting back on 675 parking places, because they were deemed too dangerous, the California Coastal Commission and the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority gave it  quick thumbs down. When the city was balking about building new fields on Malibu Bluffs Park, Joe Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, stepped in and suggested perhaps the city might want to undo the swap of Bluffs Park for Charmlee Park, since it’s not yet final. 

Jerry Perenchio