Each year, The Malibu Times asks the community to help choose and recognize the outstanding efforts of individual Malibu citizens or groups and, by acknowledging and publicizing their contributions, inspire others to do the same.
By Melonie Magruder and Nora Fleming / Special to The Malibu Times
Judi Devin
The submissions written by Malibu residents who nominated Judi Devin for a Dolphin Award runs several pages. After the January 2007 Malibu Road fire, Devin organized a comprehensive neighborhood emergency preparedness program. Consulting with emergency supply companies, the Fire Department and governmental agencies, she created an emergency plan for Latigo Cove and Cove Colony, reaching out to residents of other neighborhoods as well.
Her efforts paid off with better-organized neighborhood responses to the fires of last fall, with brush-free, prepared communities springing into action.
Local resident Leslie Schwartz said of Devin, “Last fall, she spent her own evacuation time working the phone tree, making sure the older and bed-ridden people back in Latigo Cove were awakened. She’s a great leader and her team really responded!”
Barry Haldeman wrote of Devin, “Judi has set the bar for selflessness and we all owe a great debt of gratitude to her.”
Devin attributes her organizational “skill sets” to a multifaceted career in media and public relations.
“I watched neighbors panicking in last January’s fire and panicked people cause trouble. I knew we had to do something,” she said.
She recalled the tense moments of November’s fire, calling neighbors and waking them up just as the fire hit their back yard.
“Malibu people must be a little more self-sufficient and, as a community, we all have a responsibility to make our area safer,” Devin said. “We are very lucky to have Brad Davis as head of our City Emergency Preparedness Department. Phone trees save lives and neighborhood organization is the key to surviving our next round of disaster.”
Susie Duff
“You don’t often meet someone who is doing exactly what they were born to do,” Ann Buxie said in referring to Dolphin Award recipient, Susie Duff. “Most people just live their lives without ever hitting the sweet spot. Not Susie.”
A longtime Malibu resident, actor and director, Duff heads “Locked Up in Malibu,” a program offered to juvenile offenders serving time at Probation Department Camps David Gonzales and Vernon Kilpatrick.
Basically an improvisational performing class, the youth learn through the program to “think on their feet” in a cooperative fashion. As Duff said, “You can’t deny with improv. They become walking conflict resolution experts.”
The youth participating in Locked Up in Malibu have performed at the Malibu Methodist Church, the Malibu Stage Company and other Los Angeles venues to packed audiences, and take an irreverent view of it. “Like you,” performers in one show said, “We are residents of an exclusive gated community here in Malibu.”
Local documentary filmmaker Tom Jennings said of Duff’s work, “These are tough kids who’ve had extraordinarily tough lives. It’s not easy to try and make a difference for others in trouble, but in this case, Susie does. She’s a force of nature.”
Duff ‘s passionate advocacy has sometimes left her at loggerheads with others. “I’m so honored to receive this award,” she said. “But it’s funny, people who I’ve battled in the past have gone out of their way to congratulate me.”
Francine Greene
Growing up in Los Angeles, Francine Greene, a Yaqui Indian, kept her Native American identity “a secret,” she said.
Now, through her efforts with the Native American Cultural Resources Advisory Committee in creating the first city-sponsored and recognized Native American holiday, Greene works to make Native American identity public.
“I feel really responsible for bringing Native American culture to the city,” she said.
After joining the Native American Study Group in Malibu in 1994, Greene petitioned the City Council and lobbied for the creation of the Native American Cultural Resources Advisory Committee. She was also responsible for the council proclaiming an official Chumash Day to honor the indigenous people of the area.
Susan Nelson, who with her husband Norman, nominated Greene for the Dolphin Award, said she was originally skeptical that Greene and the committee could take on the “daunting task” of executing the celebration, but due to “single-handed promotion,” Greene was able to successfully put on an event that has “grown over the last nine years to a world class powwow attended by thousands.”
A volunteer-run event that takes place at Bluffs Park, it will now be officially city-sponsored.
In addition to planning and organizing the annual Chumash Day and Powwow, Greene has helped bring awareness of Native American culture to local schools by sharing stories, flute playing and dancing. She is also working on establishing a library for the schools on Native American art and history.
Her enthusiasm to bring Native American culture to a younger generation has not only led her to the school district, Greene is also working to showcase young Native American musicians who perform rock or rap music. She hopes to “share a new Native American art with the city,” she said, in a forum outside of the traditional and religious Chumash Day.
Matt Haines
The fires of last fall yielded many community heroes, but one particularly stubborn soul stood out for his refusal to see his neighborhood go up in flames.
Matt Haines headed the “El Nido Gladiators,” so named by neighbor Charles Marowitz, who lauded Haines’ work with several like-minded citizen firefighters, including John and Austin Embleton, Ken and Marguerite Wherry, Kai Chan, Kane Sickner, Bill Raffin and Bill Parks. They protected their communal pocket during the Corral Canyon fire in November, employing a 31-year-old retired fire truck Haines picked up from the Merced County Fire Department.
“Matt is the archetypal good neighbor,” Marowitz said. “Our homes were right in the line of fire. He ignored orders to evacuate and used an old pumper truck he bought himself to put out the flames on our houses. After that, he helped us sandbag during the recent rains. He’s a vanishing phenomenon-the good neighbor.”
Marowitz said that no one was likely to hear from Haines himself about his efforts.
“Matt’s kind of shy. He doesn’t trumpet his good deeds. He’s sort of the anti-celebrity celebrity in Malibu.”
In fact, Haines only spoke reluctantly about his Dolphin honor. “You know, I had a premonition about fire after hearing there were red flag warnings,” he said. “So I recharged the battery on the pumper truck (he also has an aging water tender) and parked it right in front of the house. The fire started next morning.”
Haines isn’t too worried that he’ll have to use his trucks again for a couple of years. “There’s nothing left to burn right now. But I’ve lent my pumper truck to a neighbor who is replanting some seedlings after all his trees burned. He’s using it to water them.”
Ken Kearsley
City Councilmember Ken Kearsley is in the final months of his eight-year career as an elected city leader. And when he steps down in April, he will have many accomplishments to look upon.
Among the major success stories during Kearsley’s time on the council are the purchase of the Chili Cook-Off site, the portion of Bluffs Park containing the ball fields and an improved relationship with other government agencies.
“By the year 2000, the city was dead-stopped in the water,” Kearsley said. “The only thing we had done up to that time for the citizens of Malibu was to get bus benches. We were in a tong war with the state and the county. We were stalemated. We had to get this city moving.”
City Councilmember Sharon Barovsky said Kearsley is one of the main reasons for the city’s accomplishments because he is a good communicator. She said he has tirelessly met with state officials and granting agencies, and has been responsive to the residents.
“I have never heard Ken say ‘no’ to anybody,” Barovsky said. “He gets back immediately when people contact him and tries to help as best he can.”
Barovsky said she will miss Kearsley, not only for his leadership, but also because of his history lessons. A former history teacher at Santa Monica High School for 30 years, Kearsley often inserts stories from the past into deliberations.
“We joke about his never-ending lessons in history,” Barovsky said. “But in spite of ourselves, we always learn something from it.”
A resident of Malibu since 1961, Kearsley is married to his high school sweetheart, Barbara. And even though he won’t be an official city leader after April, Barbara Kearsley said she knows her husband isn’t going to just sit back.
“There’s never a retirement when you live with Ken Kearsley,” she said. “He always has something going on. Life is never dull with him. I met Ken when I was 14, and I’ve never been bored.”
KNX Radio News Team
During the fires of last fall, when most telecommunication systems broke down in Malibu, KNX Radio (1070AM) broadcast commercial-free (four days in a row during the November fire), with updates on conditions every 15 minutes. Many locals said KNX was their only source of information during this panicky time, helping them to know when and how to evacuate.
David Hall, vice president of programming for the station, said, “The only way we could keep everything straight was to go commercial-free. We had teams at all the fire locations with someone at the command center, a reporter close to the fire and a reporter with the evacuees. Sometimes our reporters would help them evacuate in the news vans.”
News Director Julie Chin said, “We just kicked in. Our reporters were out there round the clock and kind of got themselves in harm’s way. I even pulled a friend visiting from San Francisco onto duty. Our reporters worked tirelessly.”
Reporter John Baird said, “When I drove past Pepperdine in the October fire, a wall of flame came across the road right in front of me. I’ve never seen such wind and I thought, uh-oh, this is bad. It was exhausting, but gratifying. I was amazed how people were so immediately affected by the reports we put out.”
Another reporter, 40 years in the business, Ron Kilgore, has broadcast on scene through hurricanes. “The winds [in Malibu] last fall were even stronger,” he said. “I was on air for 26 hours straight in Malibu. Residents would contact me with updates-I’ve never seen this kind of response. And I’m really proud of our station that no one complained about losing commercial revenue.”
Aaron Landworth
“I’ve been a gardener since I was six years old,” said Aaron Landworth, landscape architect and an active volunteer at Webster Elementary School.
“Throughout the 14 years that Aaron’s children attended Webster, he continually donated his time and expertise, along with hundreds of plants, flowers and trees and his employees’ labor,” said Webster Principal Phil Cott.
Though Landworth’s children now attend other schools, he is still instrumental in expanding and maintaining its landscape.
“I always joke that Phil wouldn’t let me graduate,” Landworth said.
In addition to other projects at the school, including building a 40-foot to 50-foot tall teepee made out of bamboo stalks, Landworth and his cousin designed Poet’s Park in the center of the school’s grounds. This large-scale collaborative effort was organized by Landworth and the Malibu Association of Contractors. The end result featured theme gardens and an amphitheater and was incorporated by many of the classes over the years into their school curriculum.
After the October fire, which burnt Webster’s landscape, Landworth developed landscape plans and put Cott in direct contact with his own wholesale retailers to order new plants and supplies.
“He’s been there through the whole process with his tools, his people and his expertise,” Cott said. “I don’t know how this process would have gone without him.”
On Jan. 12, Webster hosted a day of replanting. Roughly 50 volunteers started a rebuilding process, which Landworth hopes will be finished by June. Another replanting is scheduled for April 12.
“Our school is a completely different place because of this one person,” Cott said. “What Aaron has done over time is so dramatic. He turned [Webster] into a place of beauty.”
In addition to Webster, Landworth, who founded and operates the Santa Monica-based landscaping business LanDesign West, has worked on side service projects for Malibu High School and his children’s former Boy and Girl Scout troops.
“It’s been fun to share my passion,” he said.
Optimist Club of Malibu
“What do the Optimists do? Stand around and smile?” Anne Payne, president of the Malibu Optimists Club asks jokingly, about what outsiders may think when they hear the name of the club.
The local chapter of the Optimists Club does have reason to smile, however.
With a motto of “Friend of Youth,” the club, founded in 1960, actively works to reach out to community youth from Little League players to a sponsored youth home in local Eagle Rock. The home, states the club, “presents a station of stability away from gangs and violence for many young teens transitioning from lock ups back into society.”
Payne estimates each club member, who range in age from 19 to 91, reaches out to roughly 13 to 20 youth per year through their involvement.
Activities include annual essay and oratorical contests, and partnership with the high school’s Junior Optimist’s Club, or JOOI, on a number of community activities. The club also gives up to $14,000 worth of scholarships annually to local students.
Kathy Wisnicki, Optimist Club member and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board member, said the club is “important in what it gives [to] students … and their self-esteem.”
“So many students have been impacted not just writing an essay or giving a speech. This club goes a long way in bettering the lives of our students,” she added.
The annual upcoming oratorical contest, featuring middle and high school contestants, and community judges will take place on March 3 at 6 p.m. in Raitt Auditorium at Pepperdine University.
Raquel Ravaglioli
Anne Payne, president of the Malibu Chapter of the Optimists Club, believes Ravaglioli probably attended her first meeting in utero, as both Ravaglioli’s parents have been longtime Optimist Club members.
The Malibu High School senior was responsible for starting the high school’s junior chapter of the Optimist Club and, after rising in rank among local and regional offices, now serves as the organization’s international president.
“My mom suggested after I got over the ‘ninth grade hump’ I should start a club at my school,” Ravaglioli explained.
With around 20 friends she organized the first club during her 10th grade year and served as the club’s first president. She worked to get the club involved in hands-on community service, including bake sales, helping the homeless, the Junior Blind Olympics and the Malibu Arts Festival.
“She helped the club evolve into a strong service club for both boys and girls,” Payne said.
In the 11th grade, Ravaglioli said she “wanted to give someone else a chance” at leadership and so became the club’s treasurer. She then ran and was elected the Lt. governor, then governor for the regional chapter of the club.
She was sent to the international conference and encouraged to run for international president, an office she now holds.
Ravaglioli has set this year’s international theme as “enthusiasm and communication,” and fulfills large-scale networking tasks to communicate with members throughout the world, in addition to meeting quarterly in St. Louis. She estimates international membership at 18,500.
In addition to work with the Optimists, Ravaglioli manages roles as a varsity swimmer and an accomplished musician, playing in her school’s orchestra and in a Malibu funk band.
“I know how to set priorities,” she said of her ability to handle so many activities.
Ravaglioli is currently applying and waiting for an upcoming college decision. She hopes to double major in psychology and music.
In terms of future Optimist involvement in college, she said, “If my school doesn’t have a club, I’ll start one.”
First Responders
The fires of early January last year and of October and November would have been much more devastating if not for the efforts of local and statewide governmental and emergency services. The first responders include local and Los Angeles County Fire Departments; other fire departments from throughout the state and from out of state, as well as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection who “lived” in Malibu for days in order to save and protect the life and property of residents; the Sheriff’s Department; the Lifeguards; the state Office of Emergency Services; the City of Malibu’s Emergency Services Division; and the local volunteer organizations Arson Watch, the Sheriff’s Disaster Communications Service and the city’s Community Emergency Response Team.
Locally, planning and working together with residents who set up telephone trees and evacuation routes helped tremendously, Brad Davis, Malibu’s Emergency Services Coordinator, said in retrospect after the fires.
“During an emergency it is vital that all responders, regardless of agency, work together in a coordinated manner,” Davis said. “Despite the many challenges presented by the October/November wildfires, the ‘first responder’ agencies in Malibu (including the professional responders, the City of Malibu staff and the volunteers), demonstrated that their planning and preparation paid off, averting a disaster that could easily have been so much worse.”
Malibu residents expressed gratitude to firefighters who came from all areas of California and out of state to battle the fires. As Rich Davis wrote regarding the October fire in a letter: “If it were not for the great air coverage and the ground crews, who knows how many homes might have been lost on Carbon and in La Costa and Las Flores. This was the L.A. County’s and other Fire Department’s finest hour.”
And a letter from resident Kim Ledoux expressed: ” … during these fires we get to see who the real celebrities are, the real heroes, men and women who risk their lives to save our homes and lives, who do not get paid nearly enough money for such risks, who deserve to be on the cover of magazines and are the people we hope our children idolize and strive to be.”