Supporters of a $15 million bond measure that would allow the city to buy open land for the public met once again, Thursday night, at a public meeting in Serra Retreat to discuss legal language in the bond and to further organize.

The coalition, composed of people who come from a variety of backgrounds, hopes the city will buy vacant properties with the bond money. But what the land will be used for is still in debate and they have placed that issue on the side for now, say supporters.

“They [the group] are beginning to think about the whole plan rather than just pieces of it,” said Georgianna McBurney , a Malibu resident who has been involved in local politics for a long time.

It appears that everyone agreed the priority should be placed on purchasing open land and obtaining funds to match possible grants, she said.

However, since the meeting, the group has had to face another front because the Planning Commission is looking at a draft guidelines for a Civic Center Village that may inflate the value of parcels in Malibu, thereby decreasing the bond’s land-purchasing power.

The group has decided to put up a united front in an attempt to get community support for the bond measure. They also adamantly fought the concept proposed in the Civic Center guidelines at the Planning Commission meeting on Monday.

Also, two weeks ago, while the group discussed the logistics of the measure with the City Council, the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy, which is part of the measure’s core coalition, was in Long Beach before the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project attempting to get funding to purchase two parcels in the Civic Center area.

They stated to the recovery project that both the State Department of Parks and Recreation and the City of Malibu (potentially) supported their effort to acquire open space in the vicinity of the Malibu Lagoon, but a state parks official quickly responded in a letter to Mayor Tom Hasse that the California State Parks is not an official sponsor or participant in this proposal.

In an interview pertaining to the meeting on Thursday, supporters said they are working with a bond expert who will help them draft the best possible bond wording. They also want to place a cap on spending for anything that is not for purchasing land when the money does come in.

The coalition established a steering committee that will learn more about what each group wants. Various committees will be formed.

“Everybody realizes that if any part of the coalition fails, they can lose the bond measure,” said McBurney. “We need a 66 2/3 percent vote, which is hard to get, and that’s where the main effort will have to go.”

At this point in time, the coalition works independently from the council, said Mayor Hasse. The measure is due in front of the council by early July, he said.

The coalition’s next organizational meeting will take place on March 22, at Serra Retreat at 7 p.m.

Controversy raged over the draft design guidelines for the Malibu Civic Center, the 100 or so undeveloped acres in the center of the city, that were introduced to the public at a recent Monday night Planning Commission meeting. Malibu city staff has been working on the design guidelines at the direction of the Malibu City Council.

According to a staff report, the draft guidelines were intended to provide “a mix of uses that are permitted by right” in the Civic Center as they were created in the Malibu General Plan that was adopted in 1995.

Many in the audience saw it quite differently.

There appeared to be three separate groups of opposition at this initial stage. Some were “no-growthers”– simply opposed to any development in the Civic Center whatsoever, some were members from communities that surround the Civic Center area and, lastly, some were from the “bond” group, who are pushing for a $15 million bond issue on the November ballot to buy some of the Civic Center land.

Many who spoke at the meeting complained of inadequate notification (the 20-page staff guidelines only became available Friday before the Monday meeting), bad infrastructure planning (primarily transportation and wastewater) and that the plan would inflate land prices in the Civic Center area, making it difficult for a recently proposed open-land bond measure to succeed.

Proponents of the $15 million bond measure, who are working to get it on the November ballot, were in full force at the meeting. In addition to the above complaints, members of this recently formed bond measure coalition expressed a general overall uneasiness with the idea of any development at all in the Civic Center area.

Also among the opposition was longtime anti-growth activist Patt Healy, with the Malibu Coalition for Slow Growth, who came to the meeting with her own seven-page memorandum, outlining reasons why the guidelines should not go forward.

She maintained that the community does not want and does not need this development, and opposing such development is why Malibu became an incorporated city in the first place.

Barry Hogan, Malibu planning director, said the Civic Center draft guidelines are the city staff’s effort to execute the vision of the City Council set forth in the General Plan. The General Plan had been approved in 1995 and permits a certain level of development in the Civic Center. The guidelines represent an attempt to bring some uniformity to that growth, according to the planners.

The Civic Center guidelines propose:

• A mixed use of office, retail, civic, research space and visitor serving. (Staff thought if it was entirely built-out, it might be about 750,000 square feet and opponents thought it might go as high as 1.3 million square feet.)

• Closing and vacating Civic Center Drive near Webster Elementary School

• Removal of Webb Way

• Realigning Pacific Coast Highway and installing a signal by the Ralphs shopping center

• Realigning of Pacific Coast Highway and installing a new signal and left-turn pockets by Malibu Road and Malibu Colony Road

• Public spaces with wetlands

Many Malibu Residents at the meeting called for the Civic Center guidelines to go back to the drawing board.

A lack of adequate notice from city staff was a comment echoed by most of the residents who spoke at the meeting. Planning Commissioner David Fox acknowledged the lack of time for public comment and said, “If there are this many residents raising this issue here at the meeting, I am sure there are a lot more people that feel the same way and would like to take a look at these Civic Center guidelines.”

Some charged that the treatment and disposal of wastewater was not adequately addressed in the guidelines considering the high water table and the wetlands around the proposed development area.

Safety was another concern of some. The draft guidelines calls for some roads to be completely shut down, new signals to be installed on Pacific Coast Highway and road realignments which some residents charged was done to accommodate developers and not the residents of Malibu.

Residents also called the Civic Center guidelines full of holes, and said they did not comply with the General Plan of the City. Interim City Manager Christi Hogin was at the meeting and tried to address some of the residents’ concerns.

“The Civic Center draft guidelines do not change the General Plan nor any city law, and in the agreements the city could potentially make with the developers, a public benefit will come in the form of a City Hall, a Community Center and ball parks,” said Hogin.

Drew Purvis, senior planner, said the Civic Center design guidelines bridge the gap between the General Plan and current development proposals. He described the guidelines as a tool to guide the planning department throughout the development process.

Planning Director Hogan and Purvis presented the Civic Center design and guidelines. City staff stressed that Malibu is only now taking the first step in the Civic Center, and extensive Environmental Impact Reports (EIR) must be done and all potential development must go through the Planning Commission and the City Council before there is any type of groundbreaking.

After extensive comments and Planning Commissioner Andy Stern objecting to the way the Civic Center design and guidelines were being presented to the City Council, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to have city staff include all public comments about the Civic Center design and guidelines in the summary of what they give to the City Council.

The commission also added in their motion to look at the staff write-up of public comments by this Friday, so they could comment on the public comments if necessary before the March 12 City Council meeting when the guidelines will be on the agenda.

Guideline opposition from several groups

By Arnold G. York

Several of Malibu’s political old-timers spoke against the draft guidelines proposed at Monday night’s Planning Commission meeting. From the old “no growth” group came former Planning Commission Chair Jo Ruggles, who was formerly involved in the planning process but has not been active since Walt Keller and Carolyn Van Horn were defeated for City Council. Ruggles said that the guidelines are “an affront to the community.” Also in opposition was Patt Healy from the Malibu Slow Growth Coalition. From the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy, Gil Segal, Steve Uhring and Ozzie Silna also objected to the draft guidelines. Georgianna McBurney from the Civic Center, said, “It’s like handcuffing ourselves.” Frank Basso and Efrom Fader of western Malibu also opposed the draft guidelines. Several of those speaking had been involved earlier in opposing various plans that had been proposed over the years for the Civic Center, including the L.A. County Plan, the Calthorpe Plan and the Civic Center Specific Plan, all of which were defeated.

In the aftermath of last week’s Santa Barbara tragedy, where a deranged student ran down four students and seriously injured another with his car, and the more recent Santee, Calif. high school shooting of 15 people by a troubled student, the question is: Can local school administrators spot a kid who’s in trouble?

The following interviews with administrators cover four levels of education — elementary, middle and high school, and university — and the administrators thoughts on how to spot and deal with troubled students.

Webster Elementary

Phil Cott, principal of Webster Elementary for the last 11 years, said, “At the age we have them, it’s difficult to predict future problems.

“There’s a few names of kids that pop into my head as leading candidates, but a lot could happen between now and the time they reach college age.”

Cott does say there are areas parents should look at for signs of problems. Among them: lack of impulse control, emotional outbursts and an inability to cope with institutions.

“Then there’s what I call ‘Big Anger,’ ” he said , “which would be an outsized amount of anger over something that’s relatively insignificant.”

The lack of impulse control can be seen when the child does inappropriate things. “There’s no little voice inside saying ‘don’t do that,’ ” observed Cott.

He said he would be concerned about children who “never seem to fit, don’t make or keep friends, or are rejected.”

The UC Santa Barbara student who mowed down the students was reportedly such a student, desperate for friends but rejected by everyone in the dorm.

“Kids never have these problems for no reason,” said Cott. “There’s something amiss in the first place if they develop these problems. Other kids — even at the primary school ages — are going to be wary of you if you are a kid who they can’t predict the behavior of. If they don’t feel safe around you, they steer clear of you. Maybe it’s because a kid is espousing ideas that they know are wrong.”

“Then what you’ve got,” says Cott, “is a cycle going of rejection, alienation, and more rejection.

“It’s difficult for us to interview students like this because our school doesn’t have the necessary experts, but, fortunately, the Jewish Family Service sends volunteer workers and we have interns from a Pepperdine program, and with that volunteer help we are able to consult students with problems.”

Much of Cott’s time is taken up meeting with teachers who describe students with problems. “We try to devise whatever we can to help the children get in a better state of mind,” he said.

Cott wouldn’t go along with any generalization that children from a single-parent home are more susceptible to be becoming problem children than those in a home where there are two parents. “I would rather have one parent from a loving home than a kid from a two-parent home where they neglect the child,” he said.

When there is a problem with a student, the teachers contact the parents, and a meeting with some type of advisor is scheduled. Usually, the first level is with the school nurse.

One favorable influence on Webster students is the Star Program run with the Sheriff’s Department, where Sheriff’s deputies come and lecture the children about resisting peer pressure to take drugs. “We like to get them saying the right things in 4th and 5th grade,” said Cott.

Malibu Middle/High School

“We do our best to examine the lives of students who are experiencing any kind of difficulty in school,” said Michael Matthews, principal of Malibu High School. “It is something we discuss as a staff quite often. Our Student Study Team meets twice a month. This team is composed of our counselors, our school psychologist, our nurse, teachers and our two assistant principals. We look at students who are experiencing difficulties and find ways to try to help them.

“That could include getting parents informed of what is going on, finding extra tutoring, testing for emotional or academic disabilities or getting additional counseling,” added Matthews.

Malibu High has several counseling options — two full-time counselors, and they have a request pending for a third.

Like Webster Elementary, outside service clubs provide help. In the case of Malibu High, that includes financial support from the Kiwanis Club and counseling from the Jewish Family Service, which can handle long-term counseling.

“We also have a program called ‘Council’ that has 9th and 10th graders meeting once a week to talk and listen to each other about important issues,” said Matthews.

He points out the Boys and Girls Club, which has a new teen center, “is a good after-school safe haven staffed by people who love and care for kids. This club shows what can happen when a community unites to help its children.”

In response to questions about how school authorities can spot a troubled student who could be a danger to others, Matthews said: “The biggest thing that we look for is change. If a student changes the clothes they wear, the friends they hang out with, or if their grades drop significantly, they quit a sports team, or if a teacher notices an attitude change, we start asking questions.”

The most obvious sign is a student breaking school rules. As far as appearance, Malibu does not have any rules forbidding piercings or tattoos. However, not allowed are hats or any clothing that send messages of hate or disrespect, or messages that include drugs or alcohol.

Malibu High has no drug testing program because a Supreme Court ruling forbids it. But they do have “drug dogs” that come onto campus frequently, sniffing for drugs in lockers.

Matthews addressed the contention that children coming from single-parent homes are more likely to have emotional difficulties. “That doesn’t mean that they will be more emotionally fragile,” he said. “Rather, it is the quality of the home from which they come. Children who live in homes with parents who are angry with each other, whether they are divorced or married, are much more likely to be emotionally fragile. Children who come from homes of disinterested parents, who are too busy or too detached to give their children the love and time they need, are more likely to be emotionally fragile.

“The quality of life and the amount of love and care in the home are far more important than the structure of the home. Parenting is more difficult than ever. It is difficult for parents to compete against the media. We have to try harder than ever before.”

Matthews addressed the hard question of students knowing a fellow student is voicing dangerous thoughts, such as the school shooter in San Diego where several students heard his plans, but no one came forward to warn school authorities.

“We hope that all students will have the courage to come forward when they see signs of potential danger,” said Matthews. “We have had a lot of success with this at Malibu High School. It takes the entire school community, the students, the parents, the staff and the teachers, to keep a school safe.”

University level

At Pepperdine University, Jim “J.B.” Brock is the director of Residential Life and associate dean of students. The school’s Residential Life staff is “thoroughly trained to identity potential problems early and to respond to situations in appropriate ways,” said Brock. “At Pepperdine, there hopefully is a sense of belonging with a supporting and caring environment.”

Brock views “the training and preparation of the staff as key to reinforcing a healthy environment.”

In identifying students with emotional problems, Brock said: “Some students may exhibit abuse of drinking or drugs or violence against people or property, but others may show they have a problem by withdrawing and choosing not to participate in things they previously enjoyed.”

The biggest sign to look for is a “dramatic shift in behavior,” said Brock.

The Santa Barbara student’s behavior had grown radically worse during his first few weeks in the dorm at Isla Vista. A freshman, it was his first time living away from home.

As far as spotting a “bad attitude” by clothing, Brock said that Pepperdine students tend to follow popular trends in appearance. Pepperdine does not forbid tattoos or unusual clothing.

The university has drug testing only for students choosing to participate in sports, and since there are many sports teams, this covers a large part of the student body.

Pepperdine has a judicial process through which students are disciplined for breaking the student code. Sanctions can range from a warning all the way through to dismissal.

Also at hand is a large number of professionals to help students cope with problems. “The Pepperdine Counseling Center is made of 10 part-time and full-time therapists and counselors who promote the good mental and emotional health of our students through individual and group counseling and psychotherapeutic services,” said Brock.

Out of the large student body, only an average of four to five students are sent home each year for failure to adhere to the student code governing behavior.

Brock could not confirm the often-heard suggestion that a student from a single-parent home is headed for trouble (the UCSB student came from a two-parent home).

“Statistically, we keep no data comparing the behavior of students from a single-parent home vs. a two-parent home,” said Brock.

While the U.S. National soccer team played against Brazil this weekend, one of the top teams in the world, Malibu High was doing its share to put the United States on the soccer map.

Malibu High School’s fourth-seeded Sharks (15-4-4) won the California Interscholastic Federation Division V championship on Saturday, 5-0, against the unseeded Ontario Christian Knights in Cerritos.

The team won the first CIF championship in the history of the school, making it the top team for the Southern Division, which covers half of the high schools in Southern California.

And to top it off, this was the biggest margin of victory in the CIF championships since 1964.

“Nobody ever won this way in any division,” said Mike Doyle, one of three assistant coaches for the team. “They really played solid.”

The championship was not a sure shot. In a semi-final championship match against Pasadena Poly on Feb. 28, the Sharks were down for most of the game, until they made up for lost time at the very end of the second half.

To win the CIF semi-final, the team had to play for an extended period of time in heavy rain.

The Sharks were down 2-0, with about five minutes left in the game, when they scored a goal at the three minute mark and another one soon after, which tied the score. The game went into overtime and Malibu won with the penalty kicks, said head soccer Coach Frank Page.

“The game the other night was the most exiting game I’ve ever been involved in,” said Doyle of the Feb. 28 match.

“To come back and score two goals in the last three minutes and play two overtime sessions of 15 minutes and two more of 10 minutes over and above the regular game and then take the penalty game is quite a feat,” said the British soccer enthusiast who grew up playing soccer in Liverpool.

“Considering the conditions, there weren’t that many mistakes, it was a really well played game. The standard of soccer was excellent.”

And the Sharks outdid themselves on Saturday at Gar High school in Cerritos in the final championship match.

“The team was built from the back and you could see it in the results,” said Malibu City Councilmember Jeff Jennings, whose son, Miles, 17, plays on the team.

The team did not give up many goals during the season and they gave up none at all during the finals because all the players were in place and each knew exactly what to do, he said.

“We were very fortunate,” said Page, as he spoke about this year’s team. “I have a number of club players on the team and these kids play year round and at a high level.

“They not only have experience and talent but they also know how to play the game well,” added Page.

High school soccer is composed of teams blended with players who have varying skill levels and the team has to function as a whole.

While this year’s 16-member team includes three sets of brothers, as well as eight players who took part in club soccer before, and four who are on the Olympic Development Team, it also includes players who have not had as much experience.

But this is not an impairment for the team because every player does his part. The team trains every day for an hour and a half, allowing each player to gain as much experience as possible.

The season started after Thanksgiving and the dedicated team had to struggle through injuries to fight their way up to the championship, as they played against much larger schools.

Compared to most other schools who take part in the CIF, Malibu has a small population of students and this makes it difficult at times to find enough players for the team.

Last year, the Junior Varsity team folded because there were not enough kids on the team. This year the JV program made it through the season, but they had a tough year.

However, the Sharks do benefit from the support of parents and other adults who spend time assisting the boys as they work on their game.

Rob King, Walter Mehring and Doyle assist Page with coaching. They help with the tactical part of the game, said Page, who multifunctions as he works at Malibu High.

Aside from coaching the soccer team, Page is the bookkeeper for student body funds and the athletic secretary. He is also the track coach. This is his first year as head coach of the soccer team.

Malibu High sports under the gun

By Chris Wallace/Special to The Malibu Times

In the now fiercely competitive world of high school athletics, smaller schools like Malibu High, which have always had trouble fielding broad based sports programs, find it a grueling road toward success.

Facing those odds, the binds of short financial means and sparse community support, Malibu High School’s sports programs, nevertheless, fight on. The Sharks soccer team’s recent championship win in the California Interscholastic Federation, Southern Section, Div. 5, shows that hanging in there is worth it in the long run.

Malibu, with its 600 students, is the second smallest high school competing in the Frontier League, where in the bigger sports they sometimes don’t stand a chance. The Sharks football team runs with less than 40 players every year, while competing against championship squads, 65 players or so deep. Head football coach Rich Lawson saw a nightmare one Friday evening last fall when MHS went to play a colossal opponent: “They came out with over 60 players, I had 22. You know what happened.”

Principal Mike Matthews said they’re getting close in baseball. But in basketball, he said, “Well, we don’t do well.”

The Junior Varsity soccer team folded last year because of too few players, but is back on track this year, though it was a tough one.

It is also a real challenge for the coaches to operate their programs on limited budgets. Malibu High has an unique situation, in that they have only a single booster club that raises most of the money for all the sports teams. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District only pays for the coaches and half of the bussing fees, which usually amounts to about $50,000 per year.

“Our booster club is critical,” said Matthews. “If the booster club didn’t exist, sports couldn’t exist here. They take care of equipment, uniforms, everything.”

And in this day and age of dog-eat-dog athletics (even at the high school level), even Malibu High coaches face pressure to win.

However, it may be a saving grace that Malibu is such a small, young school. “It isn’t as tremendous as it is in other schools that are more established,” said Matthews. “I’ve been there, I’ve seen that pressure.”

Even with the added sense of urgency and the watchful eyes, coaches get what they pay for. Mike Mulligan, the seven-years-straight league champion water-polo head coach, said that money creates a positive aura around a program and inspires a sense of pride in the athletes.

Coach Lawson agreed: “I think there is definitely a correlation. Money has got to equal wins on a certain level. And it also creates a pride.”

Sharks Athletic Director Brian Banducci said he sees it as definitely a case of the more the merrier in respect to numbers of players on the teams, and the money in programs’ budgets. Yet, Coach Mulligan could only realistically point out that, “right now, it’s the few doing the work of the many.”

However, Mulligan sees a window of opportunity for Malibu sports. “All it takes is hard work. Hard work equals wins.”

All the coaches said hard work and especially commitment, from players and the community, are key. Commitment could create a positive cycle, set traditions, and establish winning as a habit.

Even if “success doesn’t mean winning league championships,” as Matthews said, “success is putting a well-prepared team on the field ready to play.”

Banducci adds, “We’re building character here, and if we can do that we’ve done our job.”