In other action, a committee is formed to oversee Measure S money issues.
By Jonathan Friedman/Assistant Editor
Beginning in 2006, city council members will have the option to receive health benefits from the city. The council voted 3-2 on Monday for city staff to come back with a proposed ordinance that would put the health benefits offer into law.
Mayor Sharon Barovsky and council members Pamela Conley Ulich and Ken Kearsley voted in favor, while the dissenting votes came from Mayor Pro Tem Andy Stern and Councilmember Jeff Jennings. Conley Ulich proposed offering benefits to council members earlier this year as a way to entice more people to run for council, saying that more candidates might have run in the last election if council members were better compensated for the long hours they work. She restated her opinion at Monday’s meeting.
“I think we’re excluding a whole demographic of citizens that are capable but may not run for office based on benefits, because they need benefits,” Conley Ulich said.
But Jennings said he had difficulty with granting health insurance because he said it would be a benefit that would be of different value for different people. As an example, he said, some people might be better off not going with the city’s plan, therefore getting no benefit from it. He said he also disagreed with the proposal because council members were not full-time employees.
“We do give entering clerks these benefits, but we don’t give it to part-time employees,” Jennings said. “And I think that’s what we are, part-time employees. I have a little trouble giving that perk [health benefits] for that reason.”
According to city staff, the cost of providing health insurance for council members will range from $374 for a single person to $1,076 per month for a family of three or more. Council members earn approximately $300 per month for their services.
The council will be presented with the health benefits ordinance sometime next year. The law will not go into effect until after the April 2006 City Council election.
Committee formed to oversee $25 million S money
Also at the meeting, the council selected Barovsky and Stern to be the city’s representatives on the Joint Powers Financing Authority, a committee composed of city and Santa Monica College representatives assigned to issues involving Measure S money. According to an agreement between the city and the college prior to the Measure S election, $25 million of the $135 million generated from the bond will be used for capital projects in Malibu. This must include a new educational facility in the city and possibly some ball fields. There are currently three landowners who have offered to sell their Civic Center properties to Malibu. The Crummer property, located next to Malibu Bluffs Park, has also been put on the market, although no known direct offer has been made to the city.
Conley Ulich said she wanted a nongovernmental body formed that would advise the Malibu representatives on the financing authority. A staff report was drafted at her request with a proposal to form the committee, but Conley Ulich asked for staff to come back with a new one next month that will specify that the committee will not be a governmental body restricted by open meeting laws. Jennings said he believed the City Council was the proper entity to be advising the financing authority members and he would not support creating Conley Ulich’s committee.
City to pay for ball fields
maintenance
The council Monday night approved a request by Malibu Little League to complete maintenance work at the ball fields at Malibu Bluffs Park. According to Little League officials, the work will ensure safety on the fields. The city will pay for $104,160 worth of repairs. An additional $115,000 will come from the city’s proposition money. The city has $176,000 of proposition money left in its fund. Malibu Little League and Malibu Pony League will also be contributing $10,000 to the effort. The work will be done in time for the start of the 2005 season in March.
Film permitting issue addressed
Additionally, the council discussed making changes to the city’s film permitting policies, including extending the number of days allowed for still photo shots from 14 days to 20 days within a 12-month period, limiting the number of filming locations allowed under one permit, limiting the duration of a permit to 30 days, eliminating overnight filming in residential neighborhoods and creating a harsher penalty for noncompliance of permit provisions.
The discussion caused a great deal of debate among council members, film professionals and residents. The council asked for city staff to come back with a proposal for an ordinance regarding film permitting that would be placed in the city code, as opposed to just a city policy, which the council was being asked to approve.
Lastly, Conley Ulich announced she and City Manager Katie Lichtig were meeting with county library officials and a possible consultant later this week to further discuss the issues involving the Malibu Library. Following the discovery that the city was paying more for its library services than it was receiving, the county agreed to hire a consultant to examine how Malibu’s money can be best used for library programs.