When it comes to bans, the City of Malibu has been painting with a wide brush—smoking on the beach, plastic bags, polystyrene (styrofoam), plastic straws, stirrers and cutlery—all of it has gone the way of the dodo bird. But despite standing by a ban on balloons (except for 100 percent-biodegradable inflatables), council did not vote to enact the “100 percent Tier Option for Clean Power Alliance customers within the city” at its meeting on Monday, and stopped short of pushing for eco-friendly pest control at City Hall.
Green Energy Considered Too Costly for Default
Council had the option in October to institute a “default” level of 100 percent renewable energy sources for Clean Power Alliance members in the city. In other words, council could have made it so residents would have to opt out of choosing to have their power come from all-green sources. Why wouldn’t the city want to enact a fully green energy structure? The cost.
The price of having 100 percent renewable energy was projected to total about seven to nine percent more than the price of having Edison’s base rate of 36 percent renewable energy sources.
“The thing about opting in or opting out is there is a much higher percentage of people that stay with it and do it when you are automatically opted in,” Council Member Laura Rosenthal argued during the discussion of the item Monday.
“These little eight percents add up, and there are a lot of people out there that are having a hard time paying their bills, and for us to just kind of ‘opt them up’ to eight percent and say, ‘Oh, you can opt out if you want to,’” Mayor Rick Mullen countered, adding that it is more important to educate people and allow them to opt into the program themselves.
Council members Peak and Rosenthal voted in favor of the automatic 100-percent opt-in, with Mullen, Mayor Pro Tem Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner and Council Member Lou La Monte voting “No.”
‘All Weapons on the Table’ for Pest Control at City Hall
Council voted unanimously to allow city staff to decide how best to eradicate an ongoing pest control problem at Malibu City Hall which, as City Manager Reva Feldman explicitly ensured, could include the tenting of the entire building.
After Feldman described various methods that could be used to fight a termite infestation and rodent problem in the building, council members expressed their approval for, in the words of Mullen, “all weapons on the table.”
“This is the mothership. This is where everybody works. And I would put all weapons on the table,” Mullen said. “Our primary concern, unlike out in the fields—our primary concern should be the health and welfare of all the workers who are here. Consider all the environmental options but give heavy consideration to what’s most effective.”
The decision came at the tail end of a council meeting that had already lasted more than five hours, before a near-empty council chambers.
“Are you authorizing staff to make the final decision, whether we’re using orange oil or standard fumigation, or would you like that to come back after we talk to different companies?” Feldman asked.
“I’m comfortable with you and your staff making the final determination,” Mullen replied.
“You understand that could include tenting the entire building?” Feldman asked.
“I’m comfortable,” Mullen answered.
Library Looks to Spend $8.5 million
The city is tasked with determining how best to spend approximately $8.5 million in funds accrued by the Malibu Library, and council voted Monday to follow the recommendations of a needs assessment prepared over the past year. The assessment was completed with community input from a variety of sources including an online survey, outreach to various groups and stakeholders and a town hall meeting.
As long-term goals, the assessment recommends working toward:
-Relocating the entrance of the current library and redesigning the interior and exterior space to better accommodate current and future use
-Creation of a Malibu historical archive
-Expansion of library services offered in the west end of Malibu
On Monday, council authorized the city to work with the LA County Library to begin the process by:
-developing conceptual plans to relocate the main entrance of the Malibu Library,
-analyzing the feasibility of expanding library services on the west side of Malibu and
-analyzing the resources needed to develop a Malibu historical archive
Southern California Edison Describes Power Problems
Representatives from Malibu’s local power company, Southern California Edison, spoke Monday night to describe the issues that occurred with power interruptions in Malibu last week—where, at its peak, about 5,500 customers in Malibu were without power.
SCE Government Relations Manager Diane Forte insisted, despite local rumors, that “despite very high winds… SCE did not depower,” in Malibu—in other words, there was no so-called “public safety power shut-off,” following a warning that such shut-offs were being considered.
John Abbott, operations manager for SCE, explained why it took hours to get power restored.
“We have to make sure everything is right before we re-energize lines,” Abbott said, adding, “I don’t want to say, ‘Oh, manpower,’ but manpower is an issue.”