Here comes the barge

Each year on the Fourth of July we invite a bunch of friends to the house, confident in the belief that someone, somewhere here in Malibu, is going to cough up a whole bunch of dough to pay for a tug, towing a barge filled with fireworks, to entertain our guests.

For more than a quarter of a century that we’ve lived here, we have rested serene in the belief that someone, typically someone in show biz, had a very good year and is going to be this year’s great public benefactor.

However, as we begin to scan the horizon for those tugs pulling barges, by 3 p.m. on the afternoon of the 4th I always start to get nervous.

Maybe Danny DeVito is away on location. Maybe this is the year the studios decided to cut back on spending. Maybe Malibu is no longer the venue of choice for the 4th and they’re all off in the Hamptons, Tahiti, or wherever is this year’s hot spot.

But then we see that smudge on the horizon, and as it gets closer and turns into a tug we know we’re going to be entertained for another year.

Well, we decided to do some investigative journalism this year, and we have it from some very reliable and highly placed but unnamed sources that there are going to be at least five barges in the Malibu area off Malibu Colony, Zumirez, Broad Beach, Encinal off PCH, and a fifth unnamed location.

For a moment I was going to complain that no one on La Costa Beach or Carbon Beach had seen fit to get a barge closer to my home, but I decided against it for fear that next year they’ll ask me to kick in.

So, to our unnamed benefactors, we all say a collective “Thank you,” and our best wishes that your pics do big box office or your TV show gets picked up, or whatever. May the show biz gods smile on you for your generosity.

A river runs through it

Karen and I just came back from a weekend in Reno and there is something to be learned and perhaps copied from our experience there.

No, I’m not suggesting that Malibu needs a small tasteful casino, although I will admit I’ve often wondered how it is that the Chumash seemed to have been left out of the great Casino Giveaway and other tribes have become the designees of government largess.

What I am suggesting is that Reno has a lovely river running through the center of town, and they’ve developed little pocket parks and walks alongside it.

People sit along the river and picnic. They walk their dogs by it. And the geese and ducks appear to coexist very comfortably with man.

We have our own body of water–Malibu Creek–that flows most of the year.

I’ve never understood why we don’t try to take advantage of this lovely site and use it. It doesn’t have to be anything big and elaborate, just something a little bit pleasant and usable, perhaps a walking path, perhaps some shaded picnic benches. We spend a lot of time plotting to get additional recreational land but very little energy in trying to use what we already have in the inventory.

Malibu Chamber of Commerce Arts Festival

At the end of this month, on July 28 and 29, the city is holding the annual Chamber of Commerce Arts Festival in the city hall parking lot.

Over the years the festival has become both a favorite of the public, festival artists and vendors. In fact, the Malibu festival is considered among the top 10 of arts festivals.

The chamber intentionally limits the size of the event and has a waiting list, often turning away scores of artists. An artist can’t just sign up for the festival. There is a screening process and a jury.

The Art Festival is the major Chamber of Commerce fundraiser of the year, and it needs your support, so mark that weekend on your calendar.

Almost all of the businesses in Malibu lend year-round support to many Malibu charities and they use the Art Festival as an opportunity to refill the chamber’s coffers. Go there and buy something. It’s an easy way to give community support and there are always some very interesting things to buy.

Does Malibu have a Heart and Soul? I believe, as do many of the people with whom I have talked, that it does, and a very strong one though unexpressed, in story, symbol and style throughout the public spaces of the city.

The purpose of story, symbol and style encapsulated in public places is to express in tangible form the struggle of this city’s people.

Of course as you know, the city has no publicly owned land. The struggle from the Chumash Indians, who called this land sacred to the present citizens, is how to live in harmony with this beautiful, unique yet fragile land where the mountains reach down to touch the ocean.

To struggle with that is to try to answer the question, what does sustainable development mean in this time of increased urbanization? The fragility of this land demands some answers from all of us who love it.

One question is how long can we continue to pump more wastewater into the land, than the land can hold? Another is how do we assure that every public and private septic system is like Caesar’s wife, above reproach? And how much of our own energy can we supply, in the form of solar, or a small regional energy plant? Another occurs to me in the form of how much extra traffic do we wish to encourage?

If that begins to hold some of the struggle, then what is our story? What are our symbols? What is our style? How do we convey these things to everyone who visits here, as well as reminding ourselves who we are and what we are about.

This message has to be present in the Civic Center, in any new Community Center, in every park and ballpark we are able to build.

For those of you who, like myself, hoped there would never be anything built in the Civic Center, forget it. The time of just say no is past. We’ve run out of all the valid “no” excuses. There will be development there. To think otherwise is to live in an illusion.

But to question whether what is being built is sustainable development in terms of the whole area and whether it holds the Malibu story, symbols and style is appropriate. The guidelines that the City Council are considering cover the nuts and bolts of construction. In other words, the how of building specifications. This doesn’t yet deal with making the Heart and Soul of Malibu visible in a tangible design.

I believe the time is right for the council to set up three major meetings as it did for the development agreement, to obtain from citizens their insights into not only the guidelines, but into the crucial part; that is, the story, symbols and style of the Malibu struggle. When all the insights are in we may need the help of a design producer to bring these insights together into our city’s plan for undeveloped commercial land.

The advantage of that kind of comprehensive planning is that it gives the City Council and citizens some control over what goes where in relation to the city’s design plan for the few undeveloped properties. It also puts us in a better position to get matching public funds.

What will it take besides a plan? We don’t own any land. We are, as a city, going to have the opportunity to vote for a bond issue in November to have money with which to buy land. We don’t have a design behind which our citizens can rally.

The time has come for all the disparate segments of our city to come together and work together once again under the banner of proclaiming the Heart and Soul of Malibu and passing the bond issue.

And what do I hope will happen in the future? While living in Southeast Asia, I heard various groups of monks chanting the great OM, which I was told was the voice of the earth. My hope is that someday, people will hear the sound of the Malibu earth and the music of humans joined together in a whole New Harmony of sustainable development for our time.

Georgianna McBurney

We would like to thank Sara Wan and members of the Coastal Commission for their efforts in further enhancing the natural beauty of Point Dume Preserve. The turnabout and shuttle bus in front of a magnificent view creates a dimension of exquisite taste. The surfers especially would like to extend their appreciation for offering them parking availability and special consideration for “handicapped” surfers of which they take advantage.

Eating and drinking is now so common on the Point that we expect a catering truck to appear and park in one of the spaces on a semi-permanent basis. We’re sure the Coastal Commission will give their approval. When can we expect the portable toilets to appear?

Rumor has it that this “beautification project” is the result of a parking ticket received by a member of the Commission when she visited the Point before parking was permitted.

Ron and Polly Stackler

It happens every spring,–no, not baseball–the annual ballet school recital. Well, this one was actually on the weekend after the summer solstice, but they must have needed time to polish this production. Ballet, tap, modern, jazz, funk and hip-hop in 30 numbers with about a hundred dancers, from tiny tots to very well schooled teens. Three performances–for all but the littlest kids, who did just the two matinees–filled Pepperdine’s Smothers Theatre with parents, grandparents and friends supporting students of Ciara Dance Studio in Woodland Hills.

I went because my friend’s just-turned-5-year-old granddaughter was making her debut. Having been through this routine with my own granddaughter at about the same age–different studio, same routine–I figured it would be all pink tutus and scuffed slippers, tights with runs up the back and artlessly applied makeup on tykes who hadn’t quite mastered the steps. I figured wrong.

This was a class act. Start to finish. Costumes were smashing, not made by loving hands at home, but happily paid for by moms who hadn’t touched the old Singer in years. The designer must have known the dancers, their strengths and weaknesses, because the effect was perfect. One group, with a few given to preteen pudginess, sported shiny yellow overalls with green tops that stopped just below where the bust line would soon be and a fringe just long enough to cover the poochy tummies.

A show stopper early in Act One was “Broadway Baby,” performed by 10 little girls from the Pre-Ballet and Tap II classes, who were escorted onstage while the lights were dimmed so they would all be on their marks when the lights came up. Well, the last little doll at stage left wasn’t quite sure she wanted to be left out there and started to exit just as the lights came up and the music started. Slightly bewildered but trapped in the spotlight, she looked at the next dancer in line and made valiant attempts to follow the steps, inevitably turning the wrong way.

It was hilarious. The applause was deafening. She was obviously relieved to have survived without falling or bumping into anyone, oblivious to the laughter and to the fact she had successfully upstaged the others. She was a big hit.

I always go to these things knowing I will at least enjoy the music: Classical for ballet, show tunes for tap and jazz for modern. I cringed when I first saw the program included several hip-hop numbers. Not my beat, so to speak.

Wrong again. The hip-hop numbers were fantastic, the energy palpable, and the joy infectious. Youngsters who lacked the finesse, the lithe bodies, the rigorous training to do ballet, poured their enthusiasm into this most modern of dance forms. Forget the pirouettes, the tour jetes, Tchaikovsky, the swans. They were jivin’ and loving every minute of it.

Every troupe has a star, and this was no exception. From the opening jazz number, “Lean on Me,” one girl stood out. Not because her tan was a shade darker, her legs a bit longer, her arms the most graceful, but because she was so focused, so part of the music, so completely in the moment. It was no surprise when she returned with the advanced ballet dancers, her leg lifts the highest, her leaps the longest, and all with effortless grace.

We learned at intermission that she is Cara Lynn McGee, daughter of the school’s guiding light, Cindy McGee, who directed and produced the show and choreographed most of the ballet. Cara has been accepted on a full scholarship at the Dance Theatre of Harlem and will be a freshman at Columbia in the fall.

I remembered seeing the movie, “Billy Elliot,” about the son of a coal miner discovering ballet when he was supposed to be taking prize-fighting lessons. How he loved to dance to popular music, tried to learn to play his dead mother’s piano. How the ballet teacher recognized his gift, coached him for nothing and fought his father to allow him to audition for the Royal Ballet Academy. After his audition, one of the judges asked him what he felt when he danced. He said it was like electricity moving through him. No wonder he didn’t want to box, he just had to dance.

For every 5,000 kids learning the time-step and the waltz clog, maybe one will be a Gene Kelly or a Fred Astaire. Maybe only one who hoists a leg up on the barre will become a Baryshnikov or a Nureyev. Still, the urge to move to the music, to be transported by the movement, maybe to feel the electricity, is too strong to resist. Some may wind up in the chorus; a few may become principal dancers with major companies. But as long as there are dance programs in schools and dedicated teachers at local studios, a few will find their bliss. Cara McGee is definitely on her way.

With all the vitriol that is directed towards the Los Angeles law enforcement community, I would like to describe a very positive experience that I encountered.

I live in the Las Flores Canyon area and was considering installing electric gate motors on my entry gates. A local worker who was known around the neighborhood, happened to meet two iron workers while hitch-hiking up the hill. Knowing that I might consider hiring them to do my gate motors, he brought them by to meet me. They came in a truck with a welding machine on the back and a logo on the door panel. They gave me a quick bid which was very low, but when I described in fuller detail what I needed I was told that they would need to consult their catalogue at the office before giving me a firm bid.

The next day they called back with a bid of $3,000, a very reasonable bid, and if I would have been thinking, too reasonable. I told them I would like to go forward and they came out the next day with a contract on company stationary and my wife gave them a deposit of $1,500 to begin. This was on a Saturday, and they told me they would begin work the following Wednesday.

On Tuesday they called to tell me the motors had not come in and they would be delayed to Friday. That was the last I heard from them. I tried calling the numbers on the invoice, only to find them disconnected, and despite leaving messages on the pager number that I had been given, I got no response. I called information to try and track down the company but could find nothing listed.

I honestly thought that the money was gone and had little hope that the police would give such a small matter much attention. I was totally wrong!

My only lead was the check that had been written to them in the company’s name. My bank supplied me a copy of the check and I took it to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station to file a fraud complaint. The officer at the station told me that they would send someone to my home to take the report. A few hours later, a female deputy arrived and took the report. She told me someone would contact me in a few days.

Two days later, a Detective Stindler called and told me he had traced the company’s address through the bank records, and had gone to the location and confronted the owner regarding the situation. He told me that they would be dropping a check by my home the next day. Still skeptical, I was surprised when the man who had given me the bid came by in the early evening with a check from the company making me whole. Unfortunately, the check never cleared the bank. A valid phone number was on the check and I called the company, getting assurances that the check would clear the next day. Ten days later it still had not cleared.

I called Detective Stindler to update him on the situation. He told me that it was ridiculous that I should have to keep calling the bank to see if the check would clear and that he would contact the company again and insist on them delivering a cash refund. A week later the worker showed up with the cash.

I can’t say enough to express how appreciative I was of the work done by all involved in the Sheriff’s Department and the courtesy that I was afforded in dealing with this matter.

Howard Ziehm

Despite his great insights into the human mind, Sigmund Freud died at the age of 83, a bitter and disillusioned old man who proved unable to sustain his friendships. He wrote, “I have found little that is good about the human beings on the whole.” Sigmund never spent a weekend at Malibu Bluffs Park or he would have found camaraderie.

The Malibu/Lost Hills Disaster Communications Service of the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department spent the weekend of June 23-24th engaged in a yearly 24-hour disaster drill simulating emergency communications during a major crisis. I had the opportunity, as a supervisor during this exercise, to talk to numerous Bluffs Park visitors over a two-day period and was pleasantly stunned with their openness, friendliness and sharing regarding their interest in the disaster drill, emergency radio equipment and the Malibu Bluffs Park in general. Few, if any of the individuals I talked with were from Malibu. Malibuites, it seems, seldom venture past the ball fields and the Michael Landon building.

I ascertained that the recreational area visitors felt that the Malibu Bluffs Park was well maintained (no trash here) and abounded with friendly folks and a family atmosphere. Their favorite spot is the Whale and Dolphin Watching Station and the visitors were shocked at the prospect of losing the Malibu Bluffs Park in its current format.

Chatting with a disabled wheel chair bound man viewing the ocean at the Whale Watching Point in the park, I observed tears build up in his eyes when I informed him that he would be loosing his favorite weekend haven from his city apartment. I regretted breaking the news to him as he made it clear to me what an important part of his life this ocean lookout was. Did I know, he asked me, that this was the only purposely designed disabled and handicap accessible whale watching and ocean monitoring spot in the entire Southern California area and, he went on, maybe the entire state of California? He knew, from experience, what a significant position the Malibu Bluffs Park plays in people’s lives.

He asked if California State Parks Director Rusty Areias knew how much this park means to the populace and stated, “Is Rusty wearing blinders?” Maybe Mr. Areias is unaware that the disabled regularly use the park.

Another park visitor, when told of the park’s eventual fate declared, “that the elimination of the park in its current form ensures that Malibu and its ocean beauty only belong to the rich.” Maybe he should have added, and the “able bodied.”

And that is all I have to say.

Tom Fakehany

An ebullient Malibu City Council came bouncing out of Monday night’s council meeting after taking only 90 minutes to unanimously adopt a budget, which for this town, is historic.

But the devil may be in the details. It’s typically easy to do the budget job after a good revenue year–and this has been a good year because it’s based on last year’s revenues and wonderful weather. The next year may not be quite as bright as the economy slows or the weather cycle turns.

Next time, if the economy heads down and the tax revenues drop, the city may have to make some hard choices, and there may be some big ones on the horizon.

A community center is probably going to set us back $5 million plus for the building alone, unless we make a deal, and then you add in the cost of the land. The city hall will probably cost easily that much plus the cost of the land. We need a slew of ball fields, which means we have to buy or trade for the land and build and maintain the fields. And there’s some momentum building for the city to help bail out the schools.

The City of Santa Monica, which has roughly 80 percent of the students in our district, puts in $3 million to the schools. If Malibu puts in an equivalent amount, the city’s share would be $750,000. But Malibu has only put in a fraction of that, and I’ve heard grumbling from our neighbors in Santa Monica about what they view as our rather puny contribution.

I’ve even heard talk of a local education initiative here in Malibu to set aside a certain percentage of the annual budget for the schools. San Francisco does it, so why not us? There is an open space/wetlands/animal rights contingent, which also wants a chunk of the money.

These kinds of demands are not unusual. Malibu is maturing as a city and its demographics are changing, with more children, and it now has municipal needs.

On the other side of the ledger, the city is just beginning to look at how it spends its dollars. Some institutions, which receive city subsidies, may come under closer scrutiny, especially ones with major expense items like the sheriff’s budget.

Residents can look forward to a bunch of claims against what may be a diminishing pot of dollars in the near future and some knock down battles over what could be a scarcity unless the city is willing to make deals, pass bonds, allow commercial revenue generators–like hotels or B&Bs–or find lots of grant money or a combination of all of the above.

So I guess it’s OK for the council members to pat themselves on the back, but I wouldn’t get too comfortable if I were them.

The Civic Center guidelines

Several years ago a previous council appointed a blue ribbon committee to design a master plan for the Civic Center area. Some very good people spent a couple of years, endless meetings, and several hundred thousand dollars on consultants’ time to design what is called a Civic Center specific plan. They ceremoniously delivered it to the council and the council did what councils usually do with those kinds of blue ribbon reports–they put it on the shelf and promptly forget about it.

Well now, there are a bunch of separate developers who have come to the city, each with plans for their piece of the Civic Center. The city can only stall for so long, but, ultimately, it has to decide something.

City staff, at the behest of the council, said, “This is crazy and chaotic and we need some rules.” The idea was to give developers a general idea of what the city wanted, or at least would accept, so the Civic Center would have some sort of overall plan or look. The problem is that some people have a totally different idea of what they want for the Civic Center. Some want to see the Civic Center underwater, so they figure that any planning will move it toward development, which they oppose pretty much in its entirety. So they’re doing everything they can to thwart any serious planning in hopes they can make it a hot political issue and elect a new council that will then use public monies to oppose everything.

The council has sent the hot potato–the guidelines–back to the land-use subcommittee of Jeff Jennings and Joan House with instructions, I believe, to perform a miracle that makes everyone happy. It isn’t going to happen. So, ultimately, we the voters are going to have to decide if we want to dig in and try and avoid all Civic Center development, or if we want to work out a compromise.

The danger, of course, is that if we can’t agree on a compromise, it’s all going to court.

And, ultimately, a judge is going to get to design our Civic Center, just the way the Coastal Commission is drawing up our Local Coastal Plan.