Controversy from Washington washes up in Malibu … should the city declare itself a sanctuary city?
80 schoolchildren in Malibu … in our city … face the deportation of one or more family members … or themselves.
And KBUU News learns …. the proposed Malibu cemetery may have just been dealt a fatal blow.
——
This is Malibu’s only local daily news.
It’s the Monday edition … from Radio Malibu …. 97 point 5 K B U.
——
Good morning Malibu!
——
The wave of controversy in Washington washes up at Malibu City Hall.
The proposal to bring Malibu in line with many other California cities … as a sanctuary city for persons in the United States without legal authority … is before the council tonight.
The matter … divisive … but the local stakes are high.
Malibu resident Martin Sheen appeared before the city council two months ago … and thanked the city council for passing a message of support to the Standing Rock Reservation in the battle against the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
MARTIN SHEEN: 16 QQQ THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
“In lieu of that heroic resolution and the heightened level of fear of dripping so much of our nation since November eight . .. we urge the council to adopt a resolution declaring the city of Malibu …a sanctuary city.”
Martin Sheen last December.
Five members on the city council … and one of them has written in opposition.
Rick Mullen has written a 25-hundred word essay on the topic … posted in “The Local.”
He says declaring Malibu a sanctuary city would … in his words … “corrode our rule of law.”
Quote … “We would be better off to uphold and support the integrity of our “system,” which has given our relatively young country one of the oldest and most durable forms of government on planet Earth.”
Unquote.
Rick Mullen bolsters his arguments by quoting from Edward Abbey … a writer of eco-themed novels in the mid 20th century.
Mullen calls Edward Abbey a noted environmentalist.
But Edward Abbey was rejected by the mainstream environmentalist community.
Abbey was an outspoken racist in his hometown … my hometown … of Tucson Arizona in the 1970s.
His writings on immigration back then were peppered with obscene and sexual vulgarities.
sexist and racist views.
Nonetheless … Malibu’s new city council member quoted extensively from Edward Abbey as some sort of preeminent … mainstream environmentalist and expert on immigration…. which he was not.
It is not known if Mullen was aware of Abbey’s record … when he wrote the essay.
——
There are those who call the sanctuary issue esoteric …
Commentator Sam Hall Kaplan on KBUU Saturday said declaring Malibu a sanctuary city he believes to be “at best … a pretentious conceit. “
Others say it is just one small city.
Up the coast … Oxnard is grappling with the exact same issue.
In fact …. cities across the nation are discussing this right now.
Then … over the weekend … the Malibu Boys and Girls Club revealed this:
There are 35 families at Malibu High School …. whose parents have no legal immigration status.
There are 30 children at Malibu High and junior high who do not have legal status.
There are 15 more children at Malibu’s junior and senior high school… who are registered DACA kids .. Dreamers …. and whose parents are targeted for deportation.
At the elementary schools … 25 elementary kids not legal.
10 more elementary schools in DACA.
That’s 80 children here in Malibu whose families are targeted for deportation, for whom this is not a conceit.
80 children who are terrified right now and looking for any scintilla of
support and hope.
Malibu’s city council will discuss the sanctuary motion tonight at 6:30.
——
Also on the agenda … discussions on priorities for where the city should build parks facilities.
Malibu residents whose kids play organized sports are late getting to the table at City Hall.
There has already been one potential park site … at Trancas Fields … that has essentially been removed from consideration as a developed park.
Now … places for organized sports may be evaporating from the proposal to expand Bluffs Park.
Plans to build a community swimming pool at Bluffs have been dropped by the city … after open space advocates and the Coastal Commission raised objections.
Like Little League, adult softball, kids t-ball and soccer … swim teams do not have a proper place to train or compete in Malibu.
Parents of kids in the Malibu Seawolves swim team are most unhappy that plans for the pool at Bluffs have been dropped.
They say a public pool is greatly needed in Malibu for the citizens of Malibu and the region. There is not a public pool in western LA County.
A swimming pool could serve far more as a regional park than a local serving park.
They note that a pool at the Bluffs Parkland could host age group swim competitions … water polo tournaments …. training sites for teams … a facility that is open year around to teach swimming lessons and water safety to our youth, and coastal visitors.
The existing pool at Malibu High is constantly overbooked … they say.
The complaints about swimming echo the problems faced by other sports …. who have found themselves drowned out by residents who prefer open space near their homes.
Many Malibu residents say parks … with fields … fences … parking lights and crowds … are suburban attractions that violate the city’s mission statement …
They say Malibu is a special place of mountains and ocean … not suburban features like parks.
The lack of parks facilities in Malibu …. also on the agenda at City Hall tonight.
——
You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … 97.5 K B U. ((( time ))))
——
KBUU News has learned that the proposed cemetery at Malibu may be on life support.
You may recall two years ago … Malibu developer Richard Weintraub was rebuffed in his plans to build a luxury spa and gigantic resort on the hilltop … towering over the Civic Center at Malibu Canyon Road at PCH.
That project ground to an unofficial halt at city hall when it became apparent that the traffic and scenic impact of the large hotel would never make it .
Weintraub suspended the giant hotel … and instead moved forward with plans for a cemetery on the hilltop site.
Several years ago … the city quietly … and without any meaningful traffic analysis … added cemeteries to the land uses permitted in the Coastal Visitor 2 zoning areas.
Not so fast … says the M-R-C-A.
The regional parks agency notes that the property at Malibu Canyon and P C H is the only place left in Malibu where a motel for coastal visitors can be built.
And the Coastal Commission is already on record … as urging a low-cost motel for beach visitors at PCH at Malibu Canyon.
They say Malibu has the fewest motel rooms per mile of beach of any city on Southern California.
And with the proposal to eliminate MRCA’s proposed group camping at Bluffs Park … the supply of vacant land to accommodate coastal visitors is gone.
The M R C A staff wants to oppose the Malibu cemetery.
They say it violates the Coastal Commission’s L C P for Malibu … which calls for coastal visitor serving businesses there.
A cemetery … they say … does not serve coastal visitors.
And the M R C A says the City of Malibu does not have the right to unilaterally add cemeteries to the list of business types that serve coastal visitors.
Right now … the cemetery plans are in environmental review before they go to the planning commission and then the city council.
The M R C A does not have a vote on the matter.
But the MRCA opposition could likely scuttle the cemetery proposal … when it goes before the Coastal Commission on the inevitable appeal in several years.
——
Traffic …
——
Weather for the Malibu ….
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 10am. Partly sunny, with a high near 56 degrees today on the beach … (((( 59 )))) inland.
Winds will be strong …. out of the east this morning then switching around to the west …. 20 mph downcoast winds this afternoon.
Sunset tonight is at (((( 5:48 )))).
After that … expect it to be ((( partly cloudy )))) tonight … a low of (((( 47 )))) on the beach … down to (((( 39 )))) in the canyons.
Tomorrow should be (((( mostly sunny …. and it will be hot by the end of the week. )))).
Right now … it’s (((( 51 )))) at Trancas.
(((( 43 )))) in upper Malibu Canyon.
And it’s (((( 53 ))) at Civic center Los Angeles.
In the ocean … it’s (((( 53 )))) degrees in the water at Zuma Beach.
The lifeguards say the waves today are 2-3’ high.
WNW-NW swell peaks late.
Shorter period WSW windswell mix joins in.
Those are (((( poor to fair )))) surfing conditions …. according to the lifeguards.
((((( High tide is at 9:33 … 5 and a half feet.
Low tide is at 4:07.
A smaller high tide arrives at 10:22 tonight. ))))
——
Our KBU Newswire is posted at midmorning at the Malibu Times dot com.
Remember… you can always get breaking news ….follow us on Twitter @975KBU.
We post breaking stories … on Facebook … search for Radio Malibu.
And we always cover breaking news … on the radio … at 97-5 FM in western Malibu.
Our web player is simple …. you can hear Radio Malibu in your phone or stream it to your car.
Navigate to k-b-u dot f-m. … press two buttons …. and we’re in your ear anywhere in the world.