Malibu resident Jeffrey Asfour, with the help of his wife and daughter, has created a 2006 calendar of Malibu landmarks in hopes of raising $100,000 for a Sheriff’s station in Malibu. The city has been without its own station since 1991.
By Kevin Connelly / Special to The Malibu Times
Malibu has been without a local Sheriff’s station for the past 14 years. Its absence has been felt by community members and Sheriff’s deputies alike. A concerned Sheriff Leroy Baca made an effort on Malibu’s behalf by campaigning earlier this year to raise money to reopen a station here. Apparently heeding the Sheriff’s call was Malibu resident Jeffery Asfour, who, along with his wife and daughter, has created a 2006 calendar entitled “Malibu Impressions” to support the endeavor.
The calendar features a series of 14 paintings of various Malibu landmarks ranging from the Malibu Pier to the Malibu Castle Kashan. While the original photographs for the paintings were all taken by Asfour’s daughter, Amber, 32, the paintings themselves were done by his wife, Rita. All the paintings in the calendar come with brief historical captions, which were reviewed for accuracy by W. David Baird, dean of Seaver College at Pepperdine University.
While the Asfours put much of their own time and money (Asfour estimates the cost of the calendar, including equipment, at $23,000) into the project, all calendar sales proceeds will go to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, earmarked for a new station in Malibu.
“This is not about me [and my family],” said Asfour, 70, a retired aerospace engineer who worked on the first moon landing in 1969. “What I set out to do was raise the word for the new station in Malibu. I would like for the community to take note and donate.”
Asfour said he might create a calendar for the local Fire Department next year if this calendar does well. His goal this year is to raise $100,000 for the Sheriff’s station.
Captain Tom Martin of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station (whose jurisdiction currently includes Malibu) commended Asfour’s efforts and explained the benefits of a Malibu station in a telephone interview. “Right now, the Lost Hills Station serves Malibu very well,” Martin said, “but it would be nice to have a counter in Malibu where residents could go. It would give [the Sheriff’s Department] more of a presence in the community. [Sheriff’s deputies] would also gain a half-hour each way, no longer having to drive from the Lost Hills Station to Malibu.
“Malibu has a huge commuter population,” Martin continued. “It is a major tourist destination. [A station in Malibu] would serve more than just Malibu residents.”
Martin said the Sheriff’s Department would look at a whole range of options if it acquired the necessary funding for a station in Malibu. He said a station in Malibu would be a particularly valuable location for detectives as well as a mechanics bay for Sheriff’s vehicles, while he indicated that the Lost Hills Station could continue to operate the jail as well as receive and dispatch calls.
“[Asfour’s calendar] will provide the seed money for a station in Malibu,” Martin said, adding that, in addition to funding of the station itself, it would cost significant taxpayer money to staff. “I have watched [Sheriff Baca] do miraculous things and I know he has a fervent desire to open a station in Malibu. If [Sheriff Baca] wants [the station], he’ll get it.”
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich spoke in support of the calendar, saying a Sheriff’s station in Malibu would greatly benefit the city.
“The community [of Malibu] would love a Sheriff’s station here 24-7,” Ulich said. “Currently, the accessibility [to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station] is not great … it is an ongoing complaint.”
Ulich said the City Council has not yet talked about the possibility of a station in Malibu, but she indicated that she is open to the idea.
Mayor Andy Stern, however, was not as optimistic about the station, pointing out that the financing may not be realistic. “I would love to see a station in Malibu,” he said, “but it is a matter of money.”
Stern said the Malibu station was closed in the first place over a lack of funding and that the city is already devoting much of its money to the purchase of Bluffs Park and the Chili Cook-Off site. Stern said there was no timetable for a possible station in Malibu, but Mayor Pro Tem Ken Kearsley said the City Council may begin discussing the idea as early as next year.
The calendar as well as canvas reprints of the 14 Malibu landmarks featured in it are available for purchase at www.ritaasfour.com for $10 and $120 plus tax, respectively. All proceeds from these purchases will be donated to the Sheriff’s Department for the new station. According to the artist’s Web site, Rita Asfour was tutored at the Leonardo Da Vinci Italian Academy of Arts, where she graduated with a degree in fine arts. The Asfours moved to Malibu in 1982, where they currently reside.