Thank you for your fabulous fireworks. A full moon, spectacular night and two barges of fireworks made a truly magical 4th of July in “Paradise” Cove.
Marian Hall
Fatality, numerous alcohol citations on July 4 holiday
Fourth of July was marked with one death at a party in Latigo Canyon and numerous alcohol citations on beaches in Malibu, but otherwise, the holiday was fairly peaceful.
A man died at a Fourth of July party of about 700 people at an estate in Latigo Canyon.
The 25-year-old male, who was attending the party, was found at the bottom of a pool at 10:30 a.m. on July 5, well after festivities had ended. Paramedics were called and pronounced the man dead at the scene. The death is under investigation by Los Angeles Homicide Division.
Lt. Don Bear of L.A. Homicide said that witnesses said the victim allegedly had been drinking heavily during the party. An autopsy was performed, but the lab results from drug testing have yet to come in, so the official cause of death is still undetermined.
From Big Rock to Leo Carrillo, about 185,000 beachgoers were packed side by side on Malibu beaches on July 4. However, illegal fireworks and huge crowds proved to be less of a problem than alcohol, which is prohibited on the beaches.
“We had a lot of alcohol citations,” said Lt. Thom Bradstock of the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station. “Probably about 60 on the beach during the day–the busiest day we’ve had so far this year. Crowd control was not a problem. We had a very busy day. We had a lot of people down there. I was surprised because it was midweek, when normally it’s not quite that busy.”
Bradstock said that one person who was watching fireworks at Paradise Cove was arrested for drunk driving on Pacific Coast Highway after the show.
Travel along PCH was slow but not intolerable. Foot traffic along the shore was much more congested. “Mainly, nobody could get anywhere because the crowds were so big,” said Lifeguard Capt. Steve Page, laughing.
Bradstock said he’d never seen Malibu as busy as it was at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. midweek on a holiday. But he observed that by 7 p.m., the horde of beachgoers had been replaced by about 5,000 people who came for the fireworks displays over the ocean.
Five fireworks permits were issued to private parties, according to the Fire Prevention office. Several black barges, which could be seen from PCH, floated a few hundred feet offshore. Cars were parked bumper-to-bumper along one section of the highway where one of the shows was taking place.
“They had several private parties along PCH, and it caused minor delays, but the traffic flow was actually pretty good,” said Bradstock. One person who attempted to launch his own fireworks on the beach without a permit was cited. Two others had their illegal fireworks confiscated by sheriff’s deputies.
Seeing with the heart
An eight-year-old boy runs to the finish line in a 25-yard relay race to the cheers and applause of onlookers. He and his partner finish in first place. The boy is Ernest Lee and he is visually impaired, as are half the children in this unique “Olympics.”
The Foundation for the Junior Blind hosted their sixth annual summer games at Camp Bloomfield in Malibu on July 1. More than 50 visually impaired or blind youngsters, ages 5 through 12, were paired with sighted “buddies” and competed in relay and aquatics races and an archery competition. The event kicked off the 2001 summer camp season.
With a 100-watt smile from his victory, Lee said of the camp, “The best thing about it is winning medals.”
His buddy, Zev Tauelieb, 8, said he was also having fun. After taking first place in the 25-yard relay, the boys ran the 50-yard relay and won third place. They posed proudly for photographers, wearing both their gold and bronze metals.
A parade began the festivities, followed by speeches by supporters, including Jim Baker, fifth ranked blind golfer in the United States, who spoke about the foundation and its efforts to provide programs, services and education for blind and visually impaired children, young adults and their families.
Congressman Brad Sherman and Gregory Evangelatos, a double paralympion in 1992, spoke during the closing ceremony.
Baker, 44, has been blind for 14 years due to complications from diabetes. He said parents do a disservice to their blind children by being overly protective, and advocated letting them exercise their wings.
“The important thing is to go out and try different things,” he said. “You’re going to fail–everyone does when they first start, or at least has some setbacks. But getting to the point where you’re successful brings confidence. It’s going to help in anything you do.”
Camp Bloomfield is a 40-acre site within a tree-lined, lush canyon above Leo Carrillo Beach that includes a stream, horses, a small-animal petting area, pool, archery and a meadow for track and field events. It’s the largest residential camp for blind or visually impaired children in the nation.
Mirani Nichols watched the games with her two young sons, one of whom is blind. Of the day’s activities, she said, “It’s great because they provide for both sighted and blind kids. Both my kids are enjoying the event.”
Joshua Epport-Footlik, 9, a “buddy” and a fourth generation family member to be involved in the camp, had a message of encouragement for anyone with a handicap. To the crowd of campers, their family and friends, he said, “This is my third summer at the foundation’s summer games … I have learned that when you’re blind, you can still do a lot of things…
“In our world, it should not be about who’s the best looker, who has the most money or has won the most. It should not be about ‘me’ or ‘I.’ It should be about the heart…
“We are a family, whether black or white, boy or girl, blind or sighted…
“You are a part of this world in every way. So what I’d like to say to you is reach for your goals, have fun and enjoy being you!”
Review of land use plan
The following information is offered in order to inform the public as to how the March 2000 draft Malibu LCP Land Use Plan was developed.
The Malibu Local Coastal Plan Committee was established by the Malibu City Council August 8, 1994. It was formed to serve as an advisory committee to provide technical assistance in the development of the City of Malibu LCP Land Use Plan.
The Committee had ten members, two appointed by each of the five City Council members. Since the process spanned five years and several elections, the individual members changed as the Council changed, so many diverse philosophies were incorporated . Altogether, 18 persons were members of the Committee at various times. All meetings were public noticed and held at the City Office. The Committee met regularly twice a month and completed a series of tasks required for development of the LUP. In the fall of 1996 consultant Paul Crawford was hired to prepare the Local Coastal Plan. He worked with the Committee but did not attend all the meetings.
On March 21, 2000, the Committee unanimously approved an administrative draft LCP Land Use Plan, which was based on an updated version of the L.A. Co. 1986 approved LUP, for submittal to the Coastal Staff, the Malibu Env. Review Bd. and other appropriate agencies for review and comment. None of the various interations of the draft LUPs were distributed to the public, nor were public hearings held. The Planning Director felt to do so would be premature until responses from Coastal staff were received because the draft LUP could change. He didn’t want various iterations of the draft LUP circulating among the public. In March of 2000 the interim Planning Director officially submitted the Administrative draft LUP to Coastal Staff for review. No response or comments were received from Coastal Staff. After the April election 2000, the City Council disbanded the LCP Committee. A phone conversation several months later with Coastal staff confirmed that they were not reviewing the March 2000 draft.
The current City Staff draft LUP may contain portions of the March 2000 draft LUP, but is by no means the draft LUP prepared by the consultant and committee.
The 2001 draft LUP was prepared exclusively by city staff without public input, and until members of the community objected, staff expected the City Council to accept and approve that Draft LUP.
Dr. Werner Koenig
Chairman, former Local Coastal Plan Committee
Sky-high praise for fireworks
I would just like to say “Thank You” to the anonymous donor(s) who were good enough to provide fireworks for the Malibu community this past July 4th. We are fortunate to have individuals within our community who not only can afford a professional fireworks display, but also share it with all of us. Lying on the beach with my two young children watching the display was such a pleasure. The only thing more enjoyable than the fireworks was watching their expressions of joy and the reflections in their eyes. As hundreds of my friends and neighbors left the beach, there was a real sense of community from the wonderful experience we had all shared.
Thank you again and we all certainly appreciated your contribution to Malibu.
Corinne Cox, Gary, Nina and Mia Green
Not to worry about access
In a recent letter to the editor, Tom Fakehany recounted a conversation he had with a disabled wheelchair bound man at the Whale Watching Point at Malibu Bluffs Park. According to Mr. Fakehany “I observed tears build up in his eyes when I informed him that he would be losing his favorite weekend haven from his city apartment.”
In his letter Mr. Fakehany says he was at the park in the role of a supervisor with the Sheriff’s Disaster Communications Service. It also appears that he was telling park visitors what the future configurations of the park would be, including frightening a disabled wheelchair bound person into believing that there would no longer be disabled access or a whale watching point.
Was Mr. Fakehany speaking on behalf of the Sheriff’s Department when talking about the future of Bluffs Park? I don’t think so. State Parks has a very good working relationship with the Sheriff’s Department. We do not attempt to speak for each other unless we are working in an agreed upon format, such as a joint project or an Incident Command situation. Has Mr. Fakehany discussed the future of the park with my staff? I am not aware that he has. If he had, he would certainly have been assured that disabled access would be a key element of any future plans for that location.
It appears then that Mr. Fakehany has taken it upon himself to use fear tactics and spread misinformation about the future of Bluffs Park. Why would someone want to do this? And why would they do it at a time when the City of Malibu and California State Parks are working very closely with an adjacent landowner to address all issues of mutual concern at Bluffs Park?
Of course State Parks Director Rusty Areias is aware that disabled people regularly use the park. He will insure that any future plans include that use as a priority. After all, he is the person who brought the City and the Coastal Commission together to solve their differences at Point Dume, which resulted in disabled access where there had been none before. The future of Bluffs Park is bright and will include access for all people. Let’s move toward that goal and away from fear and misinformation.
Russ Guiney
Angeles District Superintendent
The name of Malibu
I have always been fascinated by the fact of how often the name Malibu is used in the daily life–in this country and around the world. For example, the Chevy Malibu vehicles have been on the market for a number of years, and just about every home improvement store offers low voltage “Malibu Lights.”
It did not occur to me to take a closer look at the issue until after one evening, when I discussed it with Brenda–a friend of mine, and a fellow Malibuite. She told me that during one of her visits to Africa, while dining at a restaurant, she was offered a dish called “Malibu Chicken!” I was really intrigued. Yes, ladies and gentlemen–“Malibu Chicken,” routinely served in Botswana in 1991!
Speaking of international exposure, I would like to mention another name–Malibu Rum. It is not just the local Sav-On where it can be found. During my visit to the UK last spring, I was surprised to see it available everywhere. It was prominently displayed in every bar and restaurant I visited in England and in Scotland. From Sussex to Invernessia, along the Loch Ness shores, even in small villages such as Lockerbie, and the ones around Althorp in Northamptonshire. A quick look at the label informs me that Malibu Rum is a registered mark, and is a product of Canada, made under license from Twelve Islands Shipping Co., Brighton, Black Rock, Barbados, Caribbean. I’ve always thought that geographical names could not be registered or trademarked. I bet that those foreign, profiting businessmen did not think twice, when using the name of an old Chumash settlement to benefit themselves internationally.
There are 135 entries beginning with “Malibu” in my copy of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce Business Directory 2001. I can recall many names, because I have used their services and I have been happy with their quality, speed, convenience and reasonable prices. Here, I would like to mention Malibu Glass, Malibu Lumber, and thanks God for having Malibu Tow, when you need them in the middle of the night. It is a pleasure to “shop locally” from them.
It seems that from Coastline to County Line, and beyond, the name Malibu is out there to be used, perused or abused by international businessmen, advantage takers and cheap trick lovers alike. I think that the Malibu Chamber of Commerce should exercise some form of control, when it comes to unscrupulous city name use by its members.
Ian Popov
Construction on Malibu High School, as well as at several elementary schools, is delayed because of budget overruns.
Outraged community members attended a Proposition X Oversight Committee meeting Monday afternoon to express their frustration as to why the sole bidder on construction for Malibu High School exceeded the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s budget by $6.2 million.
Construction on the high school’s auditorium and gym, as well as work on some elementary schools, has been delayed because of budget overruns. The main focus of the discussion was determining a way to get a bid on the work that would be a “true cost” instead if an inflated one, coping with the realization that the cost will exceed the funding, and deciding how much the district wants to put into Prop X construction.
So far, current estimates of the cost of the project from Jacobs Facilities Inc., the company hired to manage construction for the school district and the source of all estimates on the project since Prop X passed, are far more than the original budget presented a few years ago. Only one construction company, ICE Builders, bid the project on June 29.
Art Cohen, assistant superintendent for Fiscal and Business Services, said, “If we were to accept the ICE bids in total we would have to increase the MHS budget by $ 6.2 million, bringing the total budget for the high school up to $12 million.”
This increase was considered unacceptable and the committee rejected the ICE bid. It was decided that the total project would be redesigned, broken into three parts, and rebid, hopefully with more contractors participating.
Jacobs Facilities suggested four options for dealing with the present problem, but basically agreed with the Oversight Committee that breaking the project up into three components was the best plan.
At present, ADA (American Disabilities Act) and site improvements on projects such as the MHS classroom building, which fits within the budget, will proceed as soon as contractors are hired, and the auditorium remodel and the new gymnasium will be treated as separate projects.
Laure Stern was the first member of the public to speak, setting the tone.
“I’m slightly mortified that I was head of the Prop X Committee,” she said. “I realize that building always goes awry, but why are the estimates so far off? ICE Builders, who are they? Why has no other person bid against them?
“When the ramifications of the work are clear, people want to work for you,” she added, implying this was not the case for the MHS project.
Bill Sampson, who described himself as a historically generous school parent but presently “an outraged taxpayer,” expressed similar concerns.
“Sixty-two percent over budget is shocking. I can’t imagine that type of discrepancy!” Sampson fumed. “My kid will be in a construction zone for four years and this still won’t be done.”
Attempts to assign blame for the disappointing progress and increased costs provoked Jacobs Facilities, Inc. representative Ken Brazzel to assert that the reason there was only one construction company, ICE, which actually completed the bidding process out of an original group of 15, was that contractors do not like dealing with school district bureaucracy and, given the opportunities they have in today’s busy construction market, prefer to work for private industry. Just completing a bid for the school district costs the contractor about $30,000-$40,000, he said.
Committee member Ardeshir Nozari wanted to further explore the reason so many contractors who were originally interested in competing for the project lost interest. He suggested that Jacobs had either not allowed enough time for the bids to be completed (two weeks) or that the fault was with the management practices of Jacobs Facilities.
“Somewhere down the line you are missing that relationship [with the contractors], which we should look at,” he told Brazzel.
He made a motion, which passed at the end of the meeting, that an investigative committee be formed to find out why the bidding was so unsuccessful, in order to ensure the same problem did not occur again.
Mark Benjamin, former chairperson of the committee, Malibu parent and CEO of Morley Builders, explained that Jacobs was hired to provide project management and design services and to work with district staff, principals, and the governance committees to develop and manage the projects.
The district decided to use a single company with the hope of achieving better budget control and monitoring, and because Jacobs offered “a unique contractual arrangement and fees,” according to Benjamin. Jacobs pays for changes in plans and for completion overruns once the project is started.
However, Benjamin admits, “Jacobs has consistently had difficulty estimating costs,” always underestimating the market price in their estimates for projects.
Benjamin also concurred, that, “We need to get a better handle on why we are not getting more bidders. Contractors know exactly how many of them are bidding on the same project because contractors talk. You learn quickly if you’re the only bidder–it’s not a secret that can be kept. As soon as you get more than one bid, you start getting accuracy. The spread between builders’ bids grows.”
So far, at Malibu High, a new track and field facility and parking lot are nearly completed. Lights have not been installed in the parking lot, and fill from the parking lot that was incorrectly used on the track had to be removed. A new 12-room classroom building will be ready for construction as soon as the state architect approves the drawings. It is supposed to be completed by January.
Remodeling is “99 percent” complete at Webster Elementary. Work at Point Dume Marine Science Elementary, which was contracted at the same time, was done in a faulty manner and the contractors have been fired, the committee reported.
Jacobs is looking for new subcontractors to complete the job and make corrections, hopefully before the start of school. Work at Juan Cabrillo has not started but is supposed to be completed by the end of January.
Benjamin recommended that the district staff and school board agree to proceed with the rebidding of the American Disabilities Act improvements and classroom site work as it already exists, but to review plans for the auditorium and put it out for rebid. He also suggested that they relook at the gym site because its location on “the cusp” of a hill is expensive construction.
He suggested that other modifications might be necessary in order to make the gym more affordable and “turn back the clock on the total overrun.” He recommended acting quickly so that there would not be excessive delays in the project.
The committee and public attendees also expressed concern that a great deal of misunderstanding existed about the facts surrounding the building project, which was becoming “a big P.R. issue for Malibu,” said Deidre Rooney.
On this note, a motion was made for another committee for public relations to be formed, but Superintendent John Deasy who has only been on the job for a few weeks objected, saying, “Give me a few months, the superintendent will do his job!”
He said he plans to open an office in Malibu in order to have closer community contact.
Lower Topanga residents threatened
Last Thursday, June 28, State Park officials met with all the [Lower Topanga] tenants at Topanga Elementary School. In a shocking display of force, Mark Schrader, Warren Westrup, et al. showed up with almost 20 armed park rangers. They told tenants that they had about 12 months to get out.
They also talked about relocation benefits. But, when asked why they were in such a hurry to evict everybody and bulldoze their houses, their answers were evasive at best.
From looking at past DPR land acquisitions, we know that it may take them years to come up with a new land use plan, then years more to get it approved by all agencies and then some more years to get funding for the work. Why they want to kick us out before any of this gets underway is a mystery to us.
DPR treats us every bit as squatters, but you know that we are artists, filmmakers, actors, kids in grade school, teachers, carpenters, retired people, newborn babies. We have protected and maintained this land better than anyone through floods and fires. All we have asked for from the beginning is to openly discuss the terms of our departure. But what we got so far from our state government is threats and intimidation.
Please come to the hearing and see for yourself on Monday, July 9, 7 p.m. at Topanga Elementary School.
Bernt Capra
