Marni Kamins, who lost part of her family’s home in the Franklin Fire, replaces Hill on Planning Commission
Kraig Hill was appointed to the Malibu Planning Commission five and a half years ago by Mikke Pierson, former Malibu City Councilmember. He was re-appointed to the position by Malibu Councilmember Bruce Silverstein after he was elected.
Hill recently resigned and Silverstein has appointed Marni Kamins, who recently sustained damage to part of her family’s home in the Franklin Fire. A psychotherapist by profession and a dedicated mom who is actively involved in her daughter Fredi’s schooling and extracurricular activities, Kamins will bring a layperson’s perspective to matters considered by the commission.
“Marni does not have planning experience, and I wanted to appoint someone who does not have that experience to the commission so as to bring a fresh set of eyes to review matters before the commission,” Silverstein explained, adding that he is very confident that Kamins will come up to speed concerning the provisions of the applicable code and other matters relating to serving on the commission.
“I want to make sure that every fire victim who wants to appear before the Commission feels heard and understood,” Kamins said. “Even if a fire victim cannot rebuild his or her home for some reason, we on the commission should hear their story about their loss.”
For his part, Hill appeared during public comments at the City Council’s meeting on March 10, remarking about his service on the commission.
“Looking back over my years of service, I’ve made some positive contributions to the community over the years — the most recent may have been lobbying the City Council to open the rebuilding ordinance process to more public participation through interactive workshops, which is turning out to be a good move,” he said. “I want to thank the council and city staff for appreciating that the community can play a direct and helpful role in its own governance.”
Chatting with The Malibu Times about his years of service, Hill stated that he thinks he has “helped the commission to better appreciate how some issues are black and white in the applicable code, while some have shades of gray.”
Through discussions and deliberations centering on the exact role of the commission, he feels that he has helped to clarify “the process of the commission regarding its ‘quasi-judicial’ role.”
Elaborating, he opined. that many people may misunderstand the proper role of the commission.
“Our role is not as a political body — it’s not a junior varsity City Council,” he said. “To be able to treat everyone fairly, commissioners must read the language of the codes closely, following what their words actually mean and should only resort to ‘interpretation’ when it’s a situation that is not covered by the code.”
He also noted that as “quasi-judicial officials, where commissioners do have a limited scope of interpretation, they must respect precedent consisting of decisions that have been made previously concerning projects that are similar to one another.”
Hill emphasized that it is of paramount importance to be fair and to try to be consistent. He stated that he will contribute to the community when his skills will be helpful and noted that he himself is facing the daunting task of rebuilding his family home of 55 years in Big Rock that burned in the Palisades Fire.
For her part, Kamins looks forward to serving on the commission and to helping however she can as Malibu rebuilds.