Following a long tradition of positivity in Malibu State of the City addresses, Mayor Laura Rosenthal last Friday, April 22, delivered an upbeat speech describing how the city is “in great shape.”
“One of the things we all share in Malibu is the drive to make sure we all keep our city in great shape — not just looking great, but working great,” Rosenthal said near the beginning of her 20-minute speech.
Strong community spirit in Malibu was a central theme in Rosenthal’s address. She touched on the subject again and again, even when going over some of the more controversial topics the city has faced in the last 12 months.
Rosenthal gave a brief history of Measure R and Measure W, asking those gathered to “stay tuned” since city council would be meeting in May to discuss a possible appeal of the superior court decision to strike down the ordinance. However, she made sure to highlight a silver lining in the sometimes nasty debate over formula retail and development in the Malibu Civic Center.
“While these have been highly contentious issues, they really showed just how passionate people are in Malibu about protecting our way of life and preserving our town,” Rosenthal said, later adding, “what was really nice was seeing so many people in Malibu talking about such an important issue and really the high levels of interest and participation.”
When it came to another volatile subject — Malibu public schools — Rosenthal said despite the “very disturbing” issue of PCBs at Malibu High and Juan Cabrillo Elementary schools, things are moving in a good direction because of a communitywide common interest in creating an independent district.
Rosenthal’s confidence came despite district negotiations being paused due to a walk-out of Santa Monica-based district separation committee members last week. The reason for the boycott was described as a lawsuit filed against the City of Santa Monica by groups including AMPS, Advocates for Malibu Public Schools.
“AMPS remains strong, even with our latest blip, and we are all confident that Santa Monica will be coming back to the negotiation committee to forge an agreement to separate the school districts and finally create Malibu’s own independent Malibu Unified School District — which I know everyone in Malibu is really striving for,” Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal then discussed disaster preparedness and Pacific Coast Highway safety.
“We live in paradise, but it’s also disaster central,” Rosenthal remarked. “We seem to always be on the verge of a wildfire, an earthquake, a flood or a mudslide. We even have to think about tsunamis, but we are constantly vigilant, and Malibu’s disaster preparedness is so well regarded that other cities are now copying what we do.”
The mayor also discussed common interests of public safety and PCH safety. “Ensuring public safety is always our top priority,” Rosenthal said.
In addition to the synchronization of traffic signals on eastern PCH this year — the first recommendation from the much-lauded PCH Safety Study — Rosenthal announced a PCH Parking Study would be underway this year.
Rosenthal then ran down a list of accomplishments in the Parks and Recreation Department, Cultural Arts Commission and Planning Department.
Finally, Rosenthal bid farewell to City Manager Jim Thorsen.
“One of the biggest changes we have on the horizon, is we will be welcoming a new city manager, Reva Feldman,” Rosenthal said. “We look forward to a seamless transition as Jim Thorsen rides off into the sunset.”
“On a personal note, I can never thank him enough for his friendship, leadership, wit and support of everyone on the council,” Rosenthal added, saying she was “very excited” to see Feldman “take the reins.”
The address, hosted by the Malibu Chamber of Commerce and the City of Malibu, was heard by a gathering of about 75 guests over continental breakfast and coffee. The primary sponsors for the event were Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Company, each of which sent representatives to give speeches updating the audience on utilities in Malibu.
Tickets to the breakfast event cost $25 each.
