Council waives fees for MHS’s Christmas tree lot; city manager gives update on the Broad Fire

The Malibu City Council held its meeting last week on Tuesday, Nov. 12, and received an update on the school separation, waived the fees for the Malibu High School’s Christmas Tree lot, and honored the Malibu Outreach Team.

“It cannot begin to honor the work that you do, so we thank you very much for it,” Mayor Doug Stewart said while honoring the Malibu Outreach Team.

“I just want to say a special thank you, you really humanize everything, you make sure your know everyone who is living out there and I think that’s great that you take such a personal interest and care for everyone involved,” Mayor Pro Tem Marianne Riggins said.

In a separate interview with The Malibu Times, Public Safety Director Susan Dueñas acknowledged the team’s hard work after being recognized. 

“I have so much admiration for what they do, it’s very hard and you have to have so much patience and empathy andthey have what it takes and it shows,” she said. “It’s very effective, and every month when I get the report of the people that have moved into temporary or permanent housing — they’re just amazing.” 

City Manager Steve McClary provided updates on city events and the recent Broad Fire that occurred on Wednesday, Nov. 6. 

McClary said one of the issues they experienced during that fire was cellular service.

“This is an issue that we raised, especially in the past, directly with the companies, they are required to bring out generators to power up those sites, but we have not been able to get any real indication as to when they will bring those out or any schedule on that, and that remains a real frustration for us because that obviously impacts communities throughout town,” McClary said. 

McClary said there were five structures that were damaged in the fire and one severely damaged. 

“I have not heard any information as to the cause, it appears that it started near Pacific Coast Highway, next to Bluffs Park,” he said. “We did have some damage to some of the city’s recreational equipment, and some of our fields got singed, but we don’t have any report of damage to the facility, but we are cleaning it out because of the smoke, that will remain closed until we can ensure that it is ready for the public.” 

McClary also said that the city met with supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Caltrans to receive an update on PCH improvements and safety.

“It was a good meeting, we were able to outline a number of areas that were working together with Caltrans and of course the supervisor expressed her support for all that she can do,” he said.

McClary said they’ll be receiving an update from Caltrans by next month. 

After a break, the City Council gave updates and Councilmember Bruce Silverstein acknowledged the fire department for their efficient efforts in clearing the fire that occurred on Nov. 6.

“It was extremely efficient and effective,” he said. “It was just very impressive to watch; it was completely under control, so we owe a debt of gratitude to the fire department for that one.” 

Silverstein gave a few suggestions on what the city can do to support the community, such as creating an ad hoc committee during an emergency or power outage. Silverstein also suggests to create a community food storage center, provide dry ice for residents and generators for commercial establishments.

“I think the circuits need to be reconfigured, and I spoke about this to the SCE representative who was here at the last meeting,” he said. “The power shutoffs are a reality — we are not going to be able to stop the power shutoffs — so andwe have to find a way to live with the power shutoffs or minimize their occurrence in the city, and I think it needs to be looked at by the city.” 

The council also mentioned the Veterans Day event that occured the day before, but Silverstein was disappointed with the comment made by one of the speakers about the presidential election.

“Unfortunately, there were multiple references about the election, which I found disrespectful to the many attendees who were dismayed by the election results,” he said. “I’m hopeful that the organizer of this event will see that this isn’trepeated in the future.” 

Riggins thanked Councilmember Paul Grisanti for his service to the community.

As of Sunday, Nov. 10, Bruce Lee Silverstein led with 24.57% of the vote, totaling 2,701 votes; Steve Uhring followed closely with 23.00%, securing 2,508 votes; Haylynn Conrad earned 20.55% of the votes, totaling 2,243 votes; Paul Grisanti came in fourth with 19.46%, receiving 2,131 votes; and Dr. C. Channing Frykman rounded out the results with 12.47%, totaling 1,365 votes.

“I have enjoyed working with him these last two years on the council,” she said.

The last item on the agenda was the request from the Malibu Education Foundation to waive the facility use fees for the Ioki Property for the Annual Community Christmas Tree Lot. This year, the Malibu Education Foundation (Foundation) has taken over the Tree Lot operation and will use it as a fundraiser for all Malibu Public Schools. The council waved the fees. The Christmas tree lot will be running from Nov. 20 to Dec. 22. 

The next City Council meeting is on Monday, Nov. 25.

Bobbi Bennett’s Stoked Malibu Gallery at Third Space opens exhibit featuring rock stars, actors and fashion icons

“Wow!” one attendee exclaimed as she entered Stoked Malibu Gallery’s October 19 reception at Third Space celebrating the opening of “Rockstar” — featuring the images of iconic photographer Guy Webster, an exhibit showcasing the famed album cover photographer’s stunning works capturing what Henri Cartier-Bresson called “le moment qui se sauve” — the unrehearsed reality — of emerging rockstars, actors and fashion icons in the transformative and tumultuous ’60s and ’70s and beyond. 

“Look! Bob Dylan! Cher! The Mamas and the Papas! The Stones!”  attendees said, enjoying convivial colloquy about the album covers and the songs they remember by those iconic artists. 

An exhibit featuring Webster’s work is, as Galen Cruz De La Cruz quipped, not to be missed.

“I had to come see Guy Webster! Period! I’m in music and he is The Man!” he said, leaning intently to view various works, and then adding reverently, “Look at those images of Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison — they are magnetic!”

Webster brilliantly captured images seen on album covers like the Doors’ 1967 eponymous LP, Simon & Garfunkel’s”Sounds of Silence” and the Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn!” “His photos served as a gateway to the sounds of the ’60s and early ’70s,” The Los Angeles Times said in its obituarial article honoring him. He lived in Ojai for much of his life and passed away there in 2019. 

Collector Andre Nikolas and his companion, Lisa Henley, carefully examined several of the photographs, exploring all their features in detail. Features such as the composition, the time of day the image was shot, and the venues where Webster beautifully captured the essence of each of his often mercurial subjects. 

“I own several pieces of Webster’s work. I’m so delighted to see the image of Bob Dylan!” Nikolas said, remarking about a candid portrait of Dylan that Harvey Kubernik, Webster’s biographer, aptly stated,“caught the singer in his early success, enveloped in a nimbus of joy before the weight of his genius would seal him off from the reach of the public, and captured the lightness of such a guarded being that borders on the extraordinary.”

In the ’60s and ’70s, album covers were an integral part of an album. “You’d cradle the cover, read the notes on the sleeve, and listen to the music,” Kuberik said. “Webster’s images captured the music — they were part of the music.”

In his laudatory forward for “Big Shots — The Photography of Guy Webster,” written by Kubernik and his brother Kenneth, Brian Wilson wrote about Webster’s uncanny ability to be omnipresent as the band practiced and played.  Yet, Webster emphasized, Webster was never intrusive. “Guy knew about the creative “moment” and knew when to snap,” Wilson said. “I am so glad Guy was there to document our making of history.”

Reception attendees delighted in the details of images of Janis Joplin, looking, as Webster described her, quite tentative and shy; The Doors’ Jim Morrison; and a color photograph of the Rolling Stones at Griffith Park from the Rolling Stones’ Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) photo shoot. Many giggled at Webster’s image of all the Mamas & the Papas frolicking in a swimming pool in a photo that became the album cover shot for their third album, “Deliver.” 

Webster’s daughter, Merry Webster, gazed around the well attended reception and chatted with The Malibu Times about her dad, providing a few details about how he gained access to some special moments experienced by his subjects — moments he brilliantly captured.

“He was staying with the Mamas and the Papas when he captured the image of them in the pool,” Merry said.  “They were all just having fun. He stayed with the Beach Boys for a time also.” 

Bridging the years — how Bennett helped Webster’s “last hurrah”

Merry also discussed how her dad mentored Malibuite Bobbi Bennett, the gallerist who curated the exhibit.

“Bobbi’s hanging of the exhibit is beautiful,” Merry exclaimed. ”She really helped my Dad in his later years and helped to encourage him to show his work as a last hurrah — she helped draw him out so he could talk with people about his photographs, which he loved to do.” 

When asked about whether her dad shared any funny stories about some of the images he shot, his life in the wild times in the rock era, and his remarks concerning photographic techniques, Merry discreetly began responding by noting, “I know given the era that when he shot many of the images, there was a lot of drug use and that did paint some of his experiences!” 

With regard to her dad’s favorite photographic techniques, she said, “He liked to work with the lighting of the photograph — he said that his greatest influences included Caravaggio.”

Glancing around the exhibit one observes that such influences are palpable, as Webster’s photographs often evoke chiaroscuro-like effects that portray depth through slow gradations of light and shadow, an effect Webster once noted was very tricky in the world of black and white photography. 

“I never meant to be a commercial photographer; I was going to be a fine-art photographer,” Webster once said. “And then life intervened. My old friend Terry Melcher called. He was a record producer at that point and his act, The Rip Chords, needed an album cover for their ‘Three Window Coupe’ LP. I was still in school, but suddenly the future came crashing into me. Shooting album covers brought together my two loves: music and photography. It was serendipity …and the ’60s were calling.”

Webster’s intriguing images are calling all who were fans, and they can be viewed through Nov. 17 at Stoked Malibu Gallery located in Third Space Malibu at 23357 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu Village.