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City Council stunned by state’s LCP
Coastal Commission plan for Malibu coast ignores city’s draft.
Ken Gale/Special to The Malibu Times
The State Coastal Commission draft of a local coastal plan (LCP) for Malibu released last Friday aroused anger and indignation among city councilmembers Monday night. But most hadn’t had a chance to absorb the thick document over the weekend, so the council took no action.
“From what I’ve read, it’s pretty draconian,” Councilmember Sharon Barovsky said. “It looks like you’d have to have a permit just to have a birthday party for your child on the beach.”
“What this draft LCP does is restore Los Angeles County’s plan for our city, which Malibu citizens rejected,” said Councilmember Tom Hasse. “It’s why we became a city, so we could control our own destiny.
That [LCP] means turning Malibu into Coney Island West, with hotels on every corner,” he added.
Hasse pointed his finger directly at Peter Douglas, executive director of the Coastal Commission. “Peter Douglas has always had an ideological ax to grind against Malibu,” he said, and he called on Malibu voters not to vote for any candidate running for governor or the state Legislature who does not condemn the Coastal Commission LCP.
An LCP basically spells out how local communities along the California coastline will use beaches and adjacent lands. State laws mandate certain regulations designed to maintain natural coastal beauty, while at the same time guaranteeing such things as public beach access to beaches and visitor services, such as lodging, restaurants and public facilities. The Coastal Commission is one of the enforcers of those regulations.
Malibu had submitted its own draft version of an LCP last year that would have severely restricted commercial development in favor of open space and limited visitor amenities. The Coastal Commission rejected that plan and was then mandated by state law to write its own plan for Malibu.
The city then drew up another draft that it submitted to the Coastal Commission last month. City Hall sources say there has been no communication from the commission since then, despite earlier assurances from officials there that they would consult with Malibu planners in the process of drafting their LCP.
Here are some of the items in the Coastal LCP that councilmembers objected to, based on their preliminary readings:
- The 24-acre Crummer property on Malibu Bluffs would be rezoned from “rural residential” to “visitor-serving commercial,” which would allow a hotel or motel to be built there.
“Which means effectively ending the chance for an agreement to relocate the ballfields from Bluffs Park,” Barovsky said.
- Civic Center property would be rezoned. According to Hasse, “They have taken the Chili Cook-Off site, which we have zoned general commercial, and changed it to commercial visitor serving, meaning instead of small business and office buildings, we will have hotels and restaurants there.”
- According to Barovsky, the Coastal LCP would open up residential streets Cliffside and Birdview Drives in Point Dume to public parking.
- It also requires public access to beaches every 1,000 feet.
The Malibu Township Council (MTC), a longtime land preservationist organization, came under fire from councilmembers for its lawsuit against the city enjoining it from pursuing its own LCP. Councilmember Ken Kearsley noted that a letter from MTC to the city last May stated clearly that the “Coastal Commission, not the city” should write the Malibu LCP.
“They got what they asked for,” Kearsley said.
“Congratulations, MTC, you won,” said Barovsky. “Now you should explain to the people why you wanted the Coastal Commission to write our own LCP.”
Hasse called on the MTC to “stop these ridiculous law suits, unless they really want this for the city, which I don’t believe they do.”
Mayor Joan House noted there will be many hearings on the LCP coming up over the next two months and said, “It’s going to be a very heavy load.”
The council postponed some of the other weighty items on the agenda Monday night. These included several proposals from the Planning Department to change the city’s slope/density ordinances, making them more flexible for property owners. Slope/density is a formula for determining the allowable size of a building on a given lot, according to the steepness of a slope on the property. Changes proposed by the Planning Department would ease many of the current restrictions. Action on most of these proposed changes was postponed until the Oct. 22 council meeting because the Planning Commission had not been given them in time for discussion by this week’s council meeting.
Also postponed was discussion on a proposed Waste Water Management Plan drawn up by the city building department. Overall, this plan seeks to upgrade wastewater treatment and runoff facilities as now defined in the city’s 1995 general plan. It looks at newer technologies to replace current methods and to be used in new construction developments. It also would establish a wastewater inspection program for current and replacement systems. Because Building and Safety official Vic Peterson was out sick with the flu Monday, discussion was postponed until Oct. 8.
Making dreams come true
I am the director of the Malibu Community Center on Point Dume. Its 19-year history has been one of great success. In its prime, of just four years ago, there were numerous classes, art lessons, a dedicated room for the seniors, summer day camp programs. Even the City of Malibu conducted various commission meetings here.
Even the establishment and growth of the Point Dume Marine Science School has been bitter sweet. As they grew, we diminished and many programs had to seek new locations or dissolve altogether. I would love to see a new community center built. Yes, I realize that $2,250,000 is not enough to build a community center, ball fields, playgrounds, trails and all the amenities we wish for, but we can increase our purchasing power with matching funds and grants once we have committed to this ballot measure.
I’m willing to concede that Malibu does need the open spaces, and buying land is the best way to avoid the consequences of overbuilding. I believe a large majority of Malibu is ready to do the same and after we have passed this bond in November, we will be able to turn many of our community dreams into reality and work together to achieve our goals.
Nidra Winger Maus
False to a fault
After reading the latest vitriolic attack on most of our City Council, especially aimed so viciously at Councilmember Sharon Barovsky, it seems clear that the naysayers who oppose the upcoming Bond Measure must have little support since they are reduced to using phony names of non-existent individuals who neither live in Malibu, pay taxes in Malibu, nor vote in Malibu!
It is also obvious that the Malibu Times does not bother to check out the true identities of those who submit letters under fictitious (and often ludicrous) names. I recently had a letter printed in the Los Angeles Times, but before it was published, a staffer called me to confirm my name and phone number to ensure that this was a legitimate submission. I suggest the Malibu Times does the same in future. Of course, it is true that the chair of the so-called (and self-appointed) “Lily’s Cafe Sneering Committee” is named Tom FAKEhany (emphasis added)!
And that’s all I have to say.
Leslie Moss
Local clergy seek to comfort, recommend restraint
As shell-shocked Americans witnessed the sobering site of a diminished Manhattan skyline this week, two words came to mind: “What next?” Talk of smoking out those responsible for attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had many Malibu residents wondering about war-and turning to religious leaders for direction.
“We are holding in pain, and fear and terror,” said Rabbi Judith HaLevy of the Malibu Jewish Community Center, “but faith is what sustains us and we need to be there for one another.”
At Our Lady of Malibu, Monsignor John Sheridan maintains that “people want to feel the presence of God and we need to respond to their loneliness and confusion.”
But in addition to words of comfort, these spiritual leaders recommend restraint, especially when it comes to striking back at terrorists like Osama bin Laden and countries like Afghanistan.
“Vengeance alone is not enough of a motive,” said HaLevy. “At the same time, there does need to be a response because we can’t allow this kind of evil to exist.”
What kind of response? “If I had the answer, I would be Colin Powell or George Bush or Ariel Sharon, but I am only the rabbi. I can only hope that the people in power will use their highest judgment.”
Sheridan, who lost a young relative in the World Trade Center attacks, echoed her view. Even from his clerical point of view, a response is warranted.
“If we could identify Osama bin Laden, where he is and surgically strike, you would be justified. But if it meant just bombing, we would be as bad as they are.”
When it comes to words of war, they also want to remind followers that pain and despair should not lead to rage, retaliation and vengeance.
“You are angry, you are searching for a gun, an immediate target,” said Sheridan. “We cannot do that.”
“Yes, we need a measured response,” HaLevy maintains. “But we don’t bomb Afghanistan into the Stone Age. My job is to remind people that these are human beings.”
Another concern is a backlash of intolerance, such as in the recent publicized statement by Rev. Jerry Falwell.
“I am deeply disturbed by Jerry Falwell,” said HaLevy, “who said it was all due to the ACLU, gays and lesbians. I don’t care if it’s Falwell or bin Laden. It’s the same kind of rigid thinking that says we are right and everyone else is wrong.” Falwell has since apologized for his comments.
Both Sheridan and HaLevy hope that good will emerge from this tragedy. In the words of Sheridan, “I believe in my heart that for the first time in the history of the human family, we have a chance to come together as a whole.”
“It is a time for people to come home, to be rooted,” said HaLevy. “It is clear that everyone is part of the same web.”
But as the clergy seeks to comfort, they find themselves in the position of searching for answers themselves. As Sheridan simply but eloquently admits, “I’d say sometimes it’s really hard to figure out what God’s plan is in all of this.”
We can tell kids it’s okay, if they don’t see the pictures
In the days following the terrorist attacks, children here struggled with the horror of TV images: planes crashing, buildings burning, bloody survivors running from falling concrete, empty gurneys swathed in white waiting for victims that would never be found.
Parents wonder how much to let their children see, how much to tell them, how much to share the fear. They wonder if it’s better to talk about fear or just to reassure them: Mommy’s not afraid. The bad guys can’t get us here.
My grandson had not seen those terrifying images on TV. He knew there had been some sort of calamity but didn’t understand what it meant. So he was doing okay until his 2nd-grade class had to perform a “lock-down drill,” which told him maybe the bad guys could get us here.
In 3rd grade, his friend had to watch people jumping out of the burning World Trade Center. After that, Devon said he didn’t want to go to soccer practice, that maybe he would quit the team. Then he got sick and didn’t want to go to school. He told his mother he wasn’t afraid, but everything he did said otherwise.
While we were nursing his cough, Devon said he wanted to watch cartoons. He ordinarily does a lot of channel surfing, so I was afraid he would see more disturbing scenes from New York. But for a week he never touched the remote, he knew those pictures were in there. It was Nickelodeon or nothing. So I kept all the newspapers and magazines in my room, emblazoned as they were with images he didn’t want to see, images that even made me cry.
And what of all this talk about war? How does a 7-year-old relate to that? At that age, war is Power Rangers. They worry only how it’s going to change their lives.
I was about Devon’s age when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Of course, there were no TV images, so we sat by the radio to hear President Roosevelt rally us to the cause of freedom. I wasn’t sure what it meant that we were going to “Crush the Axis.” And my parents had to be careful what they said around Ellen, my German nanny. I was told Daddy would not have to go to war because younger men, those without children, would go first. His unmarried brother was drafted.
What I remember most is that the war brought our far-flung family close. My Aunt Betty came to live with us and got a job at Hughes Aircraft, not as Rosie the Riveter, but as a comptometer operator. Then her daughter, Shirley, arrived on a rainy night with her 2-week-old baby. She had driven her old Plymouth coupe from Seattle after her husband had been shipped over to fly missions out of London. At some point I wondered if he was dropping bombs on Ellen’s mother in Hamburg. After the Japanese gardener disappeared, my grandfather started coming over twice a week to tend the lawn. Sometimes he brought Uncle Bill’s letters from somewhere in the South Pacific. I know now Grampa was afraid for him but he never said so.
We all had stuff to do (and stuff to do without) “for the war effort.” Even my mother went to the Red Cross and rolled bandages or something. And I planted my very own “Victory Garden” because the man who delivered fresh fruits and vegetables on our street had also disappeared.
We had ration books with stamps for everything from meat to gasoline. Dad put the Cadillac in the garage and bought a dinky little car called a Bantam. I know the seeds of vegetarianism were born in me when I saw a store advertising “horse meat for human consumption.”
Having seen no graphic war images, I remember only a twinge of fear when we heard the air raid sirens and had to put black drapes at the windows and turn out all the lights “so bomber pilots couldn’t see us.”
I’m glad there was no TV to show us the real war. We saw newsreels when we went to the movies, but they were just shots of ships and planes, soldiers marching, bands playing and flags waving. And slogans: “Bye Bye, Buy Bonds” and “A careless lip can sink a ship.” I had no idea what that meant.
And now our kids are hearing about terrorists and bombs and hijackers, and feeling a fear they don’t want to own. Devon carries around an old plastic sword left over from a Halloween costume. He hides the portable phone in his bed, rearranges his things, anything to feel a small measure of control. Helplessness (the very goal of terrorism) sparks angry outbursts. He always apologizes but still doesn’t want to go to school. I can’t even imagine what misinformation the kids exchange there.
So he stays close to his parents, who reassure him everything will be okay and shield him from the intolerant, self-righteous rhetoric of those who would shift the blame to us (our own fundamentalists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson). A 7-year-old should not share this guilt.
We can only listen when he’s able to talk, give him constructive things to do. And try to keep him from seeing those horrible pictures until he’s old enough to understand.
Malibu celebs help raise millions for America’s heroes
Hollywood’s entertainment industry came together like never before in an unprecedented, last-minute, two-hour telethon to raise money for the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. “America: A Tribute to Heroes” was carried live by 30 television networks including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN and WB, drawing an audience of 89 million viewers.
Malibu’s entertainment community was well-represented. Sting dedicated “Fragile” to a friend killed in the attack, David Foster backed Celine Dion in “God Bless America,” Tom Hanks presented and Adam Sandler manned the phones, as did Whoopi Goldberg, Kelsey Grammer and Goldie Hawn.
The event, originating in Los Angeles and New York, brought together the heaviest of heavyweights-Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Tom Cruise and Robert De Niro. There were performances by Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, U2 and Mariah Carey, among others.
The presentation was uncharacteristically understated and reflected the somberness of the occasion. There were no glitzy slit-up-to here breast-baring Versace numbers, no applauding studio audiences, no splashy stage sets–just the flickering of candles against a shadowy backdrop and the sound of music.
Media coordinator Leslie Clark of Topanga worked behind the scenes after getting a surprise phone call just last week.
“One of my good friends called me and said all the heads of the networks were putting this on, and would I volunteer? We all did it for free.”
Response was overwhelming. “Everyone was clamoring to participate, the phones were ringing off the hook. Michael Jackson wanted to get in. Meg Ryan wanted to be a presenter, but there was no room.”
The star power was blinding even for Clark, an entertainment industry vet. “Julia Roberts would come in, Brad Pitt, Dennis Franz, Cameron Diaz–they were all up in our offices. I’d go down to the stage and see Neil (Young) or get in the elevator with Kelsey (Grammer).”
For Clark, the highlight was watching Neil Young perform a haunting rendition of John Lennon’s
“Imagine”–just one of a handful of people on an otherwise silent soundstage. And although Clark had slept less than 8 hours in 48, she says it was the most worthwhile project she’s ever done. “It was awesome. I was enormously proud. I got e-mail from people who said thank you for doing that. It felt really good.”
Some of the most stirring words came from Kelsey Grammer. The “Fraiser” star suffered a stunning personal loss when the creator and producer of his successful television show died on board one of the flights that crashed into the World Trade Center. Clearly moved, he quoted the late President John F. Kennedy who said, “Let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”
Some say celebrities and superstars embody a world of gossip and hype and shameless self-promotion. But on this one night, things were different. On this one night, the message was deeper. In the wake of national grief and tragedy, on this one night, united they stood–in brotherhood–from sea to shining sea.
Oversight committee seeks alternative funding for schools
Committee says local tax base needs to increase, and local business should contribute to schools.
By Sylvie Belmond/Staff Writer
Fifty percent of California’s public schools run in the red financially every year. These schools, including the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, are primarily funded with state money; however, these funds are stretched thin, even as the state’s population continues to increase.
A financial oversight committee has been working on possible solutions for the SM-MUSD, making recommendations to the school board last month. Walter Rosenthal, the only Malibu representative on this seven-member committee, highlights some of these suggestions.
As it currently exists, the SM-MUSD school budget is primarily spent on salaries and benefits, and rightly so, said Rosenthal, a former CEO and father of two school-aged children. Rosenthal believes high-quality teachers are the primary component for a good education. But teachers need affordable housing, which is not available in Malibu. This is one area where the city could help, said Rosenthal.
Councilmember Ken Kearsley concurred. Kearsley has taught in the SM-MUSD for 30 years and, ironically, he said he moved to Malibu in 1961 because this was the least expensive place to live he could find.
Kearsley added that the current City Council is sympathetic to the school district’s financial plight. Councilmember Jeff Jennings has three children and his wife teaches for the district, Councilmember Sharon Barovsky was a high school teacher, and Mayor Joan House is a former teacher. However, the financial dilemma remains.
“Malibuites have money and they are ambitious,” said Rosenthal, “but they don’t understand that schools don’t have money for basic things like copy paper, and the PTAs take on the job of raising money for these supplies already.”
The city is also in a bind fiscally, said Kearsley. While Malibu has one of the richest income tax brackets in Southern California, “we have one of the lowest per capita revenue streams,” said Kearsley. There is no tax base to support the city, he said.
Cities get one-eighth of the state sales tax generally, “so that’s going to be an issue in this city,” he said. If funds are to come from the city, “do the people in Malibu support more development, which will create more revenue that can support the schools more?” he asked.
Meanwhile, the school district is left with little discretionary spending money. Fiscally, alternatives must be found if Malibu schools are to be able to provide the quality of education desired by the community, said Rosenthal. “Malibu needs to step up to the plate or they will be unhappy with the results.
“We are going to have to take a lot more responsibility for the education of our children,” said Rosenthal. “We can’t assume that it’s going to be handled by Sacramento or Santa Monica.”
Rosenthal suggests upscale hotels might fill in some of the gap in funding.
Hotels would be more profitable than all the other development plans, he said. “With hotels, we get to keep all the money because of the transient occupancy tax.”
Residential tax increases are not the solution, said Rosenthal, but another bond issue is practically inevitable. The committee agreed a new bond issue should be implemented in the future.
The oversight committee wants the district to ask itself, “How should our children be educated in the future as opposed to how will the children be educated,” explained Rosenthal.
Kearsley agreed. “We have common areas of interest and the city can’t operate in a vacuum,” he said. “We are two governmental bodies that have a common constituency, children.”
To try and work on solutions, a quarterly meeting with the board of education to go over issues common to the district will be set up, said Kearsley, who will be on the ad-hoc committee with Jennings.
According to Rosenthal, the schools’ needs can be met in a variety of ways. Ten percent of the schools’ population is on an inter-district permit, said Rosenthal. “We issue permits to Pepperdine and city employees’ children who go to Webster,” he cited as an example. “But no reciprocity has been asked by the schools for this benefit to show an appreciation.”
However, schools receive approximately $7,000 per inter-district child enrolled, as with all enrolled children.
Rosenthal suggests the university could help out financially as well as materially.
“Pepperdine could endow Malibu schools with a million dollars and share some facilities,” he said. “It’s a very undeveloped relationship.”
Pepperdine officials, however, do not agree with this point of view. Pepperdine representatives say the relationship between the university and Malibu schools is well-developed. Graduate and undergraduate students are placed in local schools to observe and participate as part of their university curriculum.
Betty Glass, who is a former principal of Juan Cabrillo and the Santa Monica Alternative School House and is also a 25-year teaching veteran currently working as a professor at Seaver College in Malibu, believes both entities work hand-in-hand.
“We place our beginning teacher candidates in the district for observation and participation,” she said. These students participate in the school activities with no monetary compensation; it is part of their curriculum.
Students have contributed more than 2,000 hours of student teaching services during the past year, she said.
Lou Drobnick, assistant vice-chancellor for Pepperdine, also said the university provides an Artreach Program sponsored by the Center for the Arts Guild, which serves 10,000 children annually.
Moreover, “We do allow a number of students from the high school that are qualified to attend some advanced classes,” he said.
Pepperdine also provided a pool for the Malibu High School water polo team before it had its own, and let students train on the university track.
“We’ve always had a good relationship, but it’s not a financial relationship,” said Drobnick.
In the interim, until a financial solution is found at the district level, PTAs will continue to play a crucial role for individual schools in the SM-MUSD district and statewide. The funds the organization raises pay for enrichment programs that could not exist without them. “I don’t know what we would do without the PTA,” said Mike Matthews, Malibu High principal.
In order to fully understand the Financial Oversight Committee’s suggestions, Rosenthal strongly recommends readers visit the malibutimes.com Web site to view the committee’s letter to the district in full. The letter will follow this story on the home page.
A moveable feast
I have just returned from being treated to a birthday dinner at Nobu, in Malibu by my friends. Making the dinner reservation was not unlike a scene from L.A. Story.
We are not celebrities nor are we high profile. This apparently makes a difference at this particular restaurant. We were asked not once, but twice to vacate our table before we were finished with our meal, as the party waiting for our table had arrived.
NEVER, has this ever occurred at other various places we frequent in Malibu (Taverna Tony, Tra Di Noi, Allegria) and dinner at these places is what dinner is supposed to be, a pleasant and leisurely experience.
If ever I am nominated for an Oscar, I shall perhaps return to Nobu for a “leisurely” dinner. On second thought, I’ll go to Allegria..
Carole Corio
Nikki Watkinson
Janis Campillo