City Council approval is required for the Malibu marathon organizer before Caltrans will consider a permit to close down a portion of Pacific Coast Highway for the race.
By Jonathan Friedman/Assistant Editor
With the event scheduled to take place in less than three months, the Malibu Marathon is still without a necessary California Department of Transportation permit to close down a portion of Pacific Coast Highway. A Caltrans official said the department would only grant the permit if a City Council resolution were made in support of the event. Event organizer Glen Steele sent a letter to the city this week asking for a resolution proposal to be placed on the agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting. Mayor Sharon Barovsky has also asked that the item be placed on the agenda.
The Malibu Marathon is scheduled to take place on Dec. 5 and include a full marathon and half-marathon as part of a weekend of community activities. Steele would not say how many people have signed up to participate in either race, although he said he does know the number. When asked if he has a refund policy if the event does not take place, which would likely be the case if he were unable to obtain a Caltrans permit, Steele said he did have one, but declined to discuss it.
“I don’t need to go through our refund policy with you [The Malibu Times,]” said Steele, who added that press coverage of his event has been negative, which he said was his reason for not being upfront. “The people who have signed up for the event know what it is.”
According to a city staff report from July, Steele has been having trouble obtaining a permit from Caltrans because “concerns have been raised by Caltrans in relation to this event meeting their criteria for issuance of a special event permit.” Caltrans Permit Official Alan Davis said in a Tuesday interview that the concern had been that Malibu Marathon LLC, which is the company formed to produce the marathon, was not a nonprofit organization. Davis said that issue has since been taken care of, because there is now a nonprofit organization requesting the permit on behalf of Malibu Marathon LLC. Steele declined to confirm whether that was true.
Although Steele’s company is for profit, he said he would donate 10 percent to 12.5 percent of the net revenue to five local charities: the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Heal the Bay, The Wellness Community, the Malibu High School Shark Fund and a special fund dedicated to city land acquisition for parks. However, Steele told the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission at a July meeting that the chance of making a profit on the marathon was low. But he said charities could still make money if the competitors sought sponsors.
Steele approached the City Council about city sponsorship for the marathon in May. The council declined to vote on it before receiving a recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Commission, which later voted 3-0 that city sponsorship be approved. City sponsorship would have provided Steele with a city staff liaison and assistance in securing the necessary state permits. But Parks and Recreation Director Paul Adams said Steele is no longer seeking city sponsorship.
Prior to requesting city sponsorship, Steele had already listed the city as a sponsor on the marathon’s Web site. That listing has since been removed. Steele told the Parks and Recreation Commission in July that the Web site listing was due to a misunderstanding.