With unknown members and no disclosure of where its funding comes from, the Taxpayers for Livable Communities group continues to litigate against the city for policies it doesn’t agree with.
By Judy-Anne Goldman/Special to The Malibu Times
For the fourth time in two years, the Taxpayers For Livable Communities (TLC) has filed a lawsuit against the City of Malibu. This time, it is to stop the city from issuing coastal permits under the California Coastal Commission’s imposed Local Coastal Program (LCP) while at the same time appealing a recent decision that declared the LCP is not subject to a local citizen’s referendum.
And while the city continues working to find a way to implement a viable acceptable coastal plan acceptable to its citizens, TLC states through its attorney, Corin L. Kahn, that it is trying to stop the city from wasting taxpayers’ dollars.
Kahn said TLC wants Malibu to draft its own LCP for “local control, including maximum accountability to the citizens, and fiscal responsibility. We want to promote citizen planning and protection of the environment that Malibu has been committed to preserving since its incorporation,” he explained.
“We ask why they’re wasting taxpayers’ money on a referendum that does nothing for the city. And still there’s no locally drafted LCP for Malibu. That’s criminal,” he added.
From the city’s perspective, the onslaught of TLC lawsuits has been unproductive and a drain to the city’s financial resources.
“The TLC has cost Malibu taxpayers a lot of money,” Mayor Ken Kearsley said. “Last year, we spent $800,000 in defense costs from TLC lawsuits. This year we’re approaching $1 million.
“We could have kids playing in a funded Las Flores Park, if we hadn’t had to deal with TLC litigation.”
Although Kahn said TCL is fighting for the citizens of Malibu, the group’s membership remains virtually anonymous.
“The TLC was started a couple of years ago by a group of citizens who were concerned about the City Council’s decisions of zoning,” Kahn explained.
The lawyer said he didn’t know how many people made up the group’s membership and commented, “I wouldn’t tell you if I did know. We’re not a political group. We’re not campaigning for members.”
When probed further about being under informed about TLC’s participants, Kahn said he was not authorized to discuss membership.
The only TLC affiliate named in the latest petition was Jay Liebig, who Kahn said was the organization’s president and a founding member. A past Malibu resident, Liebig moved his main residence to New York two years ago, according to Malibu Mayor Ken Kearsley. Liebig did not return repeated phone calls.
Though recognizing their legal right to privacy and acknowledging attorney-client privilege, TLC’s policy of secrecy and hidden membership concerned Mayor Kearsley.
“I think whoever’s behind it should stand up and say, ‘This is what I believe,’ instead of hiding behind an attorney,’ ” Kearsley said.
Kahn, who claimed he was not a member of TLC, said the group feels its lawsuits against the city will serve to push the City Council to action.
“Why does the city continue to fight instead of taking the bull by the horns and assuming a lead position?” Kahn questioned.
“As a lawyer, if Malibu’s LCP is legally viable, I think it would be hard for the Coastal Commission to reject it as a replacement for the Coastal Commission’s LCP, if it complied with the Coastal Act,” he added. “The civic leadership is not being responsible.”
Kearsley contradicted Kahn’s claim that Malibu is without a feasible, locally written LCP.
“We have an LCP that the Coastal Commission blew right past,” Kearsley said. “We feel we have been good stewards of the land. We feel our LCP meets the California Coastal Act. Many towns and counties along the coast have the same kind of LCP as we’ve drawn up. We didn’t do anything new. Why is Malibu being singled out?”
The mayor contended that TLC’s actions also impeded the will of the majority.
“We have a mandate from 2,600 voters to get our right to a referendum,” Kearsley said. “The commission gave us 30 days to get 1,200 signatures, but 2,600 signed up in 10 days time.”
The TLC’s challenge was further frustrating, the mayor held, because the group hadn’t won any claim brought against the city.
“If it had won one of the lawsuits, I’d say we should reassess the situation,” Kearsley said. “But it hasn’t.”
Kearsley reported that the TLC case also could result in suspending more than 70 currently held city permits. “These people have been awarded city permits that were unable to be implemented and were automatically stayed for the coastal permits because of this situation. The CCC did not object to us going ahead and issuing coastal permits that would compromise the city’s appeal for the referendum. Now, with the TLC’s lawsuit, everything’s at a standstill and these current permit holders are jammed in the pipeline. The TLC is putting these people on the cross and leaving them there. It’s not fair for these residents to get caught in a dogfight.”
With two years of litigation production under its belt, and a voice that insists on being heard, TLC is not represented by a publicly available charter, Kahn indicated.
Asked whether the TLC had a written statement defining its goals, the attorney responded, “I don’t know the answer to that question at this point. However, I’m articulating the essence of the current issue.”