New director has direct experience with wastewater treatment facilities, as well as building defenses against land erosion from the sea.
By Jonathan Friedman/Special to the Malibu Times
After nearly a year without one, the city has announced the hiring of a new public works director. Yugall K. Lall, 45, will officially take the post on Oct. 13. He comes from the city of Simi Valley, where his latest project was the construction of a wastewater treatment facility, something he says will make him an asset to Malibu if the city goes through on plans to build one of its own at the Chili Cook-Off site.
Malibu has been without an official public works director since Chuck Bergson resigned shortly after the Public Works Department and the Department of Engineering Services combined in July 2002. City Engineer Rick Morgan then took over on an interim basis,
and was said to be the leading candidate for the job. However, he quit under unexplained circumstances in February. Since then, Acting City Engineer Claudio Sanchez has played the role of public works head.
Lall spent the past 14 years working for Simi Valley in various departments. His current position was senior engineer. He has worked on many capital and sanitation projects, the latest one being a $60 million water quality control plant, which is currently under construction. It will take out most of the ammonia from the wastewater before it hits a nearby stream.
An element of the Malibu Bay Company Development Agreement, which voters will decide on in November, includes the possible construction of a wastewater and stormwater treatment facility on the Chili Cook-Off property. Lall said he is quickly familiarizing himself with Malibu’s wastewater situation, and its detrimental effects on the creek, lagoon and beach.
Other projects Lall has worked on in Simi Valley include the creation of a regional detention basin, which retains water in case there is a flood in the city, and as the project engineer for the reconstruction of major streets and retaining walls that were damaged in the 1994 earthquake.
Lall is a native of Guyana, a South American nation located on the northern coast of the continent, just east of Venezuela. At the University of Guyana, Lall earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Following graduation, he worked for the government for a year on various projects, including the construction of bridges, streets and highways, as well as drainage and irrigation systems. Lall also took part in developing a sea defense system against erosion of the land from the ocean, another problem Malibu beachfront homeowners face.
Lall moved to the United States in 1983 to further his career. He got his master’s degree in public administration at California State-Northridge and then took a job with the Ventura County Flood Control District. He worked there for three years on the building of flood control facilities.
Lall, an avid outdoorsman and sports fan, lives in Moorpark with his wife and two daughters.