Surrealism, Malibu style. Watching the March 24 council meeting agenda item regarding the city manager’s proposal to reorganize and integrate the planning, building, and permit departments, including the mind-boggling recommendation to select one or two “elder” council members to “conduct staff training to provide historical insights on the Vision and Mission statement of the General Plan,” was such a bizarre and unreal experience I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or just go get drunk.
First, although I must applaud the city manager for her efforts to unscramble the chaos in the planning department and attempt to reorganize the administrative structure of the different departments to facilitate communication, I would ask her to review the historical records. This pyramid-type structural reorganization, recommended by Dr. Peter Warshall in September of 1992, has already been adopted by the council, but has never been implemented. Warshall’s proposal maintained the individual departments as divisions of a new environmental and community services section, but placed them all under one administrator to ensure good communication and interface.
Secondly, I was absolutely dumb-struck by the statement of one council member who said, “…since we have the…elder authors of the Vision Statement here … I know they both voted in favor of it and worked long and hard on it … I’d like to suggest that the authors of the Vision Statement serve … elder House and elder Jennings,” when, in fact, neither of them were even on the General Plan Task Force when the Vision and Mission Statement was drafted, according to my records. They had both resigned to run for City Council prior to the time the Vision and Mission statement was drafted. Hello…?
To make matters more unreal, I found myself agreeing with Jeff Jennings (oddly, reluctantly, but he was right) regarding Mr. Winogrand’s perplexing reported statement that “staff has problems … and feels that council is not speaking with one voice, ” when he said, “I don’t know where you’re getting the multiple voices, because we speak through our ordinances.”
So, what’s really the problem? Sure, there’s conflicts between the General Plan and Zoning Code. Why? Because the General Plan has not been implemented in seven years, and even though it has the force of law behind it, it has been egregiously ignored and its policies not followed. As for the Zoning Code, the 9-year-old “Interim” Zoning Ordinance was never amended to comply with the General Plan, so, of course, there’s inconsistencies. There was a draft prepared by city consultant Paul Crawford, but it was dumped in the trashcan by the council and never brought forward for hearings or discussion. So, taking the “I” off IZO does not make the Zoning Code comply with the General Plan.
As to, what’s wrong with the General Plan? Nothing. It is very clear, all one has to do is sit down and read it, as John Mazza testified. It should be required homework for all new planners. It was adopted after more than 100 public hearings, with input from all the residents of Malibu. The same goes for the Vision and Mission Statement, which very clearly states what the residents of Malibu want for this city, and which are reflected in the Goals, Objectives, and Policies and Implementation Measures of the General Plan. No one needs to “train the staff and give historical insights.” It’s right there in black and white.
With regard to what’s wrong with the Planning Department, that’s easy. The city has hired “inexperienced” planners to save money. When the city had “contract planners” (Wildan & Associates), the city had seasoned planners with 12-15 years experience, who were familiar with the area, with Coastal Act requirements, and who followed the code to the letter of the law, and everyone was on the same page. There was no fudging, no improper land uses allowed, no forgotten CUPs, no incorrect measurements and calculations, no personal attachments or agendas. Everyone was treated equally.
Watching our City Council meetings has become a very Kafkaesque experience. Rather than cry, I will pray.
Jo Ruggles, former Planning Commissioner, former member of General Plan Task Force