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The toy banker

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Malibuite Nancy Butner is banking on friends in the community to help her continue her efforts to bring smiles to the faces of children around the world. Through the International Toy Bank, which Butner founded a year ago, she gathers toys and educational materials to distribute to children in need and victims of war and disaster.

One friend who has withdrawn from Butner’s “bank” is a person who travels extensively himself to help bring joy to children everywhere.

Patch Adams, whose story is featured in the Robin William’s film “Patch,” said he is a “client” of Butner’s. On a trip to Africa to serve refugees, “I called up my toy banker and she sent toys,” said Adams.

Adams will attend a fundraising dinner on May 21 at Granitas restaurant in Malibu, with chef Jennifer Naylor donating her cooking skills, The Reel Inn providing fish, and Stone Creek Wines serving up refreshments to benefit the International Toy Bank.

The toy bank is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization.

“I’ve worked for other foundations and I realized as a fundraiser and director of other foundations that they squander a lot of money,” said Butner, explaining why she founded the toy bank. “Not enough gets to the children.”

Butner delivers the supplies herself, traveling all over the world to such places as Nepal, Haiti, Brazil and Romania. Shipping a million toys a year and the operational costs of running the warehouse in Ventura where she stores the toys is an expensive undertaking, which is why Butner is having the fundraiser.

“Her project is a beautiful project,” said Adams. “That’s why I’m coming out there [to Malibu], I just love what she does.

“She puts her heart and soul [into the bank] that she has mostly funded herself,” he said. “I’m trying to help her so she has a greater capability.”

To help gather other supplies for her trips, Butner trades toys with other foundations for blankets, clothing and medical supplies. She also goes on missions with other foundations to help out. In June, Butner was planning to go with Adams on a trip to Poland, but the trip is postponed for now as the woman who organized the trip is ill.

Local resident Anne Hoffman met Butner a couple of years ago at a Toys for Tots charity event.

“I’m incredibly amazed at her selflessness,” said Hoffman. “She’s literally given out millions of toys all over the world. She’s very quiet about it and does it out of a true conviction to help all these people.

“It’s a cause worth supporting,” continued Hoffman. “She’s very frugal. All the money goes to the toys and the kids.”

Butner is already on her next trip; she left on April 24 for Katmandu, taking school supplies, clothing, shoes, blankets and medical supplies to clinics in the Himalayas. She also plans to take on a much more personal responsibility–Butner will adopt an 8-year-old girl, Chanda, who lives in an orphanage in Katmandu.

“We just connected,” said Butner, about Chanda. “She’s a great kid. I would love to give her a chance.”

Butner, who has worked as a professional photographer, has done foundation work for many years. The International Toy Bank is now a full-time venture for her.

“I just wanted to make a difference,” said Butner, as to why she does what she does.

The dinner at Granitas is from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Products from Osea skincare have been donated for goodie bags, and paintings from local artists and other items will be auctioned.

City settles with Kissel Co. New mayor installed

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In a changing of the guard ritual, which has been followed since Malibu became a city, Joan House became the new mayor of Malibu and Councilmember Jeff Jennings the mayor pro tem at Monday night’s City Council meeting.

Also, in what has been another ritual to attempt to preserve the civility of the council, outgoing mayor Tom Hasse read his remarks covering the events and accomplishments of his year as mayor, and the incoming mayor spoke of her plans as mayor.

Several other members of the community came to praise Hasse, but a jarring element to the evening’s event were comments made by Bob Purvey of the Surfrider Foundation attacking newly-installed House. House did not appear perturbed by Purvey’s comments. In other action:

  • The council announced, that in a closed session immediately preceeding Monday’s meeting, it discussed two litigation matters between the Kissel Co. and the City of Malibu. A settlement agreement has been reached and is on the agenda for Wednesday’s quarterly council meeting.
  • The hiring of environmental consulting team Envicom Corp., to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) for the Malibu Bay Co.’s development agreement, was approved in a 5-0 vote by the council.

According to the city’s staff report, Envicom’s proposal “demonstrated a thorough understanding of the project and accurately identified possible areas of environmental concern.”

Dermot Stoker, parks and recreation commission chair, said about Envicom: “They’re the most expensive. I think they’re the Michael Jordan of companies that are going to be able to handle this for the City of Malibu.” The company is chosen by the city, but Malibu Bay Co will pay the cost.

  • Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Jennings said he would like the city to avoid two key development problems when considering the development agreement — the concentration of square footage instead of what the square footage provides, and the cumulative impacts of commercial space in the proposed Civic Center project.
  • After some recent problems with a traffic jam related to filming near Geoffrey’s restaurant on PCH, the City Council reiterated its position that it wants lane closures on PCH limited in summer from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays and from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekends and holidays. Caltrans, which controls PCH, has been considering expanding allowable filming hours, had indicated earlier it would go along with the city’s desire.
  • In another vote, the council approved, 4-0, with Councilmember Tom Hasse absent, a landscape and irrigation plan for the Malibu Canyon Road Landscaping Triangle. Councilmember Jeff Jennings requested that no invasive species or exotic plants be used for the project.
  • And, a $132,768 two-year contract was awarded to Malibu Shuttle Service to provide shuttle service from Westward Beach to the Headlands Natural Preserve on Cliffside Drive. The service will launch on May 24.

Celebrating Malibu’s heritage on Earth Day

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Suzanne Marcus Fletcher/Special to The Malibu Times

Hundreds of Malibu residents, coupled with a significant influx of Southern California visitors, descended on Bluff’s Park Sunday to take part in the third annual “Chumash Day,” in celebration of Malibu’s indigenous heritage and to honor the planet in an annual event gaining greater public attention, called Earth Day.

In brilliant traditional attire, Native American artists, singers and dancers from diverse cultural backgrounds participated in ancient ceremonies, dance, music and a collective sharing of oral traditions in appreciation of Malibu’s earliest inhabitants, the Chumash, a tribe still referred to by some, as “the Western gatekeepers.”

“When we honor the Chumash spirit, we honor the earth and ourselves,” said one participant.

On a day made to order, the organized if not seamless event, hosted by The City of Malibu and The Native American Cultural Resources Advisory, was initiated to educate the public about Malibu’s strong Native American ancestry.

“I am very pleased with how the event turned out,” said Francine Greene, co-director of Chumash Day, who appeared delighted that everyone scheduled to appear was in attendance.

Michael Reifel, from the San Carlos Apache tribe of southern Arizona, was the event’s master of ceremonies. He said that pow-wows and events such “Chumash Day” “are incredibly effective and necessary for the public’s understanding of other cultures. This is how we break down prejudice,” he said, “and how we build support.”

That sentiment was further echoed by Lomita visitor, George Broadstone, 48. “A lot of us are urban Indians, disconnected from the reservation and a connection to our culture,” he said. “My father was Chumash from Santa Barbara. As you grow older, you meet people [at these events] and interact with them. You get more connected to your spiritual side.”

As to the remaining influence of the Chumash, “You can’t turn over a stone in Malibu or a building without finding some sign that my ancestors were here,” said Red Star, a descendent of the Chumash and core participant in the event’s ceremonial activities. “We keep learning little bits about our history,” he said. “As people start learning about who they are from a little tid-bit their grandma or grandfather told them, we find these hundreds of tid-bits have made a foundation. We have a place in this society. We belong here.”

Native American diversity was in evidence as artists, performers and vendors from Los Angeles, New Mexico’s Aztec community as well as Polynesian dancers who call themselves “Na Hoaloha O’ Polynesia,” came to contribute the flavor and nuance of their particular clan, tribe or group. A notable dancer named Ocelot, from the Aztec dance group called “Nallhi-Ollin,” says he became involved in traditional dancing “when a friend invited me to practice one day. It was a feeling inside my heart. I enjoyed it.”

Chumash Day proved an ideal setting for families to gather and bring their children to witness and participate in the dances and rituals, ride ponies, and to simply have fun. Former Malibu resident, Davis Alexander, who attended with her husband Justin Marcus and two children, said it was her first time at the event and that she plans to return next year. Alexander taught English as a second language and math on the Navajo reservation years earlier, but had not the opportunity to connect with Malibu’s Chumash community prior to this event.

“My children love ceremony and ritual, so this is very meaningful to them,” said Alexander, who added that her children attend a school whose curriculum facilitates “an understanding of our ties to the earth and to indigenous people everywhere. Children understand being connected to the earth, because they haven’t forgotten what’s taken us so many years to forget.”

Malibu Canyon resident, Marlon Hoffman, 48, learned about Chumash Day by happenstance. “I have friends who meet here every Sunday morning. We couldn’t meet [today] and I found out this event was here. I am really glad, because I would like to honor the people whose land we live on.”

Cecilia Garcia, who has a wild, infectious laugh and propensity for dancing, is a no-nonsense medicine woman who says her specific calling is to “teach joy. I am the Chumash clown,” she said, “the reflection in the mirror.” Garcia has a blanket laid out on the park grass with a wide assortment of plants and objects that she uses to teach people about Native American medicine, and ultimately, about themselves. True to her mirror-image statement, Garcia is at turns laughing one minute and deadly serious the next, as she looks one young woman squarely in the eye and says, “You worry too much about others. You take on everyone’s problems. Honor yourself. Be kind, but not stupid.”

Nodding in agreement, the young woman does not appear shaken. Instead, she grows glassy-eyed and seems to appreciate Garcia’s candor. “There’s no mystery to our lives,” offered Garcia, “It’s about common sense and good manners.”

Spiritual side of dogs

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In response to Mr. Birenbaum’s letter to the editor. I can see why Mr. Birenbaum’s neighbors find Mr. Birenbaum to be so unlikable. I found his letter to be childish, vindictive, and very poorly written. In reading between the lines of Mr. Birenbaum’s letter, I found that the real issue with him seems to lie with a deep hatred toward dogs (and probably for his neighbors too!). It seems that he is just using the “no dogs on the beach issue” as an outlet for his anger towards his neighbors and their dogs.

If he has such a deep concern for the ecological impact that a few dogs have on the beach with their feces, why doesn’t he fix his antiquated septic system. It is now quite legendary throughout Malibu that the Birenbaums have been using “the ocean tide–the best flush in town,” to dispense their own excrement into the ocean. Talk about yuck! I’ve got a better idea than making it illegal for dogs to be on the beach. How about making it illegal for people to use the beach. Every year my wife brings home many garbage bags full of trash that she collects from our beach – which consists of everything from cigarette butts to dirty diapers. This seems like a far greater health risk than a few dog poops. If we are going to cite health risk as the rationale for keeping dogs off the beach, it seems to me that people are a far greater health risk to themselves and the marine environment. Oh, I forgot, we are more arrogant higher beings which gives us the right to defecate into and pollute our beaches and oceans – sorry!

By the way, I am not even a Malibu Road resident but I have been a Malibuite for many years and I really feel horrible for what the residents on Malibu Road are going through right now. I am a dog owner and lover of all of God’s creatures.

William Showalter

Developer gets permits for parking, removal of gates on Lechuza Beach property

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The battle between residents and a local developer over underdeveloped beachfront land on Sea Level Drive has ratcheted up a notch in the developer’s favor.

At its April 10 meeting in Santa Barbara, the California Coastal Commission granted Norm Haynie, owner of Lechuza Villas West LP, a coastal development permit allowing him to remove five metal access-gates and signage along Sea Level Drive and Broad Beach Road, pave 37 public parking spaces, place informational signs along Sea Level Drive and intersperse landscape and grading areas. Five handicap spaces are included in the 37 parking spaces.

Haynie purchased the property — defined as the tract along Broad Beach Road and East and West Sea Level Road — for $2 million in 1990. He has been trying for the past decade to build homes on several of the 21 lots he owns, but has been denied building permits by the Coastal Commission and has been battling with the Malibu-Encinal Homeowners Association (MEHOA) over development of the lots.

Failing to build homes on the lots, Haynie is now attempting to sell the land to the California Coastal Conservancy for $12.5 million.

In March of last year, California voters approved a $2 billion-plus parks and recreation bond, with much of it allocated to the California Coastal Commission for securing properties for public access.

“It is the people of California that voted to purchase properties that are on the priority list for acquisition where there is a willing seller,” said Haynie. “Personally, I am delighted that this beach can be preserved and for public enjoyment.”

While the beach has had pedestrian access since 1991, it lacks vehicular access to make it a public-access beach.

Haynie has charged in the past that the homeowners do not want the public to have access to the beach.

Five gates — three along East and West Sea Level Drive and two on a 10-foot-wide strip of land descending from Broad Beach Road to the end of East Sea Level Drive — were erected on the property by the Malibu-Encinal Homeowners Association (MEHOA) in 1977 without a California Coastal Commission permit, said Sara Wan, commission chair.

The California Coastal Act mandates public access to public beaches, said Wan, and reflects the state of California’s constitution.

With the exception of Zuma and Surfrider beaches, there are essentially no public beaches in Malibu, said Wan. “There’s definitely a need in Malibu for a number of public-access beaches,” she said.

“I believe there is a strong need for public beaches and for the public to go to the beaches and recreate,” said Haynie.

He said he told the commission that if the state were willing to purchase his property he would be “a willing seller.”

Now, Haynie said, “My plans are to transfer the property to a state agency and to do those things that are necessary for public access.”

Terrence Sternberg, the lawyer representing MEHOA, said three lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court regarding the matter.

In the latest court action on March 5, the Superior Court dismissed MEHOA’s claims against Lechuza Villas LP concerning “homeowners rights.”

“While we respect the judge who made the decision, we do believe he was clearly wrong and we are very confident we will win an appeal,” said Sternberg, adding that the appeal will be filed within 60 days.

“The homeowners support the idea of a public acquisition. We’re working with the Coastal Conservancy to try and work out a management plan,” he added.

Major slow-growth player not out of political arena

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Malibu resident Gil Segel has temporarily relocated to the Pacific Palisades after he reportedly sold his home on Pacific Coast Highway to actor Courtney Cox and her actor husband David Arquette for about $10 million.

But Segel, a pillar of Malibu’s slow growth movement, is not moving out of town for long. He is only gone temporarily and plans to come back to Malibu as soon as he can.

“We will still be in Malibu,” said Segel. “We definitely will not leave, we have too much of our hearts here.

“It’s too much a part of us,” he added.

As he spoke about his involvement in Malibu’s political arena, especially in the slow growth area, Segel said, “It’s a world consciousness. There is an environmental consciousness that is necessary to try and protect our lives.”

Public records do indicate that the home on PCH, which was formerly owned by this active Malibu political figure, transferred on March 29 to trustees Richard Shepard and James Stein, of Bring It Trust, which was established on Feb 14, 1996.

Compared to other beachside homes in Malibu, the $10 million property could be considered a bargain.

Recently, a Pacific Ocean beachfront property, which belonged to Mark Hughes, founder of Herbalife International, was on the market for $31 million.

Reasonable growth

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The controversy over the future of the Malibu Civic Center has always been portrayed as a dispute between “no growthers” and the rest of us normal people. I believed this portrayal until a look at the facts proved it unfair and that indeed, Malibu is facing a crisis. I’m amazed that the City Council we elected is not correcting a hideous legacy that our town inherited from L.A. County that will completely destroy the quality of life in Malibu.

In 1980, before cityhood, L.A. County projected there would be 385,000 residents in Malibu. To serve this population, the county zoned over 100 acres of commercial land in downtown Malibu – enough for a major metropolitan city. There are over 94 acres of vacant commercial land left (Mayor’s Report 3/01). If the landowners are given variances for their projects or do amenity swaps, this land will be improved with over 1,150,000 square feet of new buildings.

To give you a visual, this is roughly equal to 10 new Malibu Colony Plazas. (Ralphs shop-ping center is 120,000 from end to end.) The commercially developed acreage in the Civic Center will be larger than three South Bay Gallerias, one of the largest regional malls in L.A. County. Add to this the 5,000 parking spaces required for all this development and we will have so much traffic, noise and pollution that none of us will want to live in Malibu and the property values of houses within blocks of PCH will decrease significantly.

As a property rights activist, I am a strong defender of these property owners’ rights to build the projects allowed by the zoning code and reflected in the purchase prices they paid. But these developers do not have any right to ruin my quality of life and my property values by getting variances, increased density and crass development standards as proposed in the Civic Center Guidelines. (Zero lot setbacks, increase in building heights of 25 percent up to 30 feet, etc.)

The residents who are concerned about the scope of development have spent the time that City officials should be spending studying the matter. Far from being “no growth,” they are simply paying attention and are advocating smart growth – like every other small, beautiful and wealthy town in America. This is why they’re asking the City Council to make every effort to purchase as much open space in the Civic Center as possible, to avoid the commercial megatropolis that the County Planners from whom we seceded had envisioned.

Anne Hoffman

The old way and the new way

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It isn’t often that within the space of one week you find two perfect examples of the contrast of the old way of doing business in Malibu and the new way of doing business in Malibu.

The old way:

The gathering of the opposition to any realistic Civic Center plan made its pitch at the Malibu Township Council meeting Saturday for a large undeveloped central park type of a plan for almost the entire undeveloped Civic Center area.

It’s not that there is anything wrong with their plan, it’s just that the only way to make it a go is to buy the 80 Civic Center acres. This means, for starters, spending roughly $95 million to buy it, then another $20 million or so to build it out, plus another $5 million or so to build a city hall, and another $5 million or so for the community center. Then there is the cost of unknown millions for the creek and wetlands element, and it’s now up to around $150 million, plus or minus.

Now I suspect they know they’re never going to raise that kind of money, so really what they’re proposing is a scorched earth policy. Fight any Civic Center development at every turn, block it, slow it down, and, in time, you may wear the other side out and ultimately they’ll sell cheap. It actually could work, but most likely it will end up in court and that gets very risky, as the next example will show.

The old City Council followed the old way of not looking for a reasonable middle ground when the city put in an extreme rent control ordinance for the mobile home parks, particularly Paradise Cove Mobile Home Park, almost 10 years ago. The mobile coach owners at that time were militant and had the ear of the City Council. The city fought every request for a raise in rents. The coach owners were constantly going to the district attorney, asking for criminal charges to be filed against the Kissels, owners of the Paradise Cove Park, for failure to maintain the park. It was a continuous battleground of charges and countercharges. People hated each other. Resale on the coaches was terrible because of the battle. Few wanted to live in a war zone and the battle went on for years. The mobile home park owners finally beat the city in court and the city ending up shelling out almost $2.5 million in damages, costs and attorney’s fees. Everyone lost and, after a while, many of the militants moved away.

At Bluffs Park, where the ball fields are located, the old way was to go to war with the state and the Coastal Commission and refuse to budge and give up the ball fields. The city practically sat on their hands, did nothing to find sites for new ball fields and virtually dared the state to kick the kids off the fields, which the state was of course loath to do. The relationship between the city and the state was horrible, antagonistic and perpetually angry.

The new way :

The voters got tired of all the negativity, kicked out the old guard and a new group took over and the first thing they did was to start talking to everyone. That meant the State Department of Parks, the Coastal Commission and to Roy Crummer, who owns a bunch of land up next to Bluffs Park. The new council actually talked to the Kissels, the owners of the Paradise Cove Mobile Home Park, who have two pending lawsuits against the city. The new guard worked on getting the coach owners to sit down with the Kissels and let them try and hammer out a deal everyone could live with.

Well, at the Monday council meeting it was announced a settlement has been reached with the Kissels. Actually, most of the deal was reached between the coach owners and the Kissels. The coach owners already voted on it and, I understand, by a vote of 104 yeas and 40 noes, they approved the new deal.

The deal is that the Kissels get a sizable but preset rent raise for the next seven years and they will fix the septic systems at a cost of about $2.2 million without passing the costs on to the coach owners. And there is a special escape clause to protect low and elderly moderate-income owners. Additionally, there are no more lawsuits, no more uncertainty, and no more potential swords hanging over everyone’s head. It happened because the coach owners and the Kissels were reasonable and the city was fair and didn’t try to stick it to one side to protect political allies, as often has happened in the past.

The same thing is happening on Bluffs Park. They’re very close to a deal, a land swap where Roy Crummer is going to give up a hunk of land on the Bluffs for new ball fields, so the ball fields can be moved.

The state then gets its land back, and Crummer gets to build his eight single-family residences. It’s not quite a done deal, but it’s very close. It’s complicated because it involves the state, the city, a private developer, the Coastal Commission and probably some other agencies to make it work, but everyone is trying.

I suspect we’re facing the same choice in the Civic Center. We can negotiate some realistic choices and tradeoffs or just bury our heads in the sand and pretend we can have it all. If we take the latter course, it probably means more years of warfare.

California’s history through a ceramic scope

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It’s not easy being green

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As Kermit the Frog whimsically sang, “It’s not easy being green.” Our President George W. is finding that out this week as he offers environmentalists a few bones in honor of Earth Week. It’s not easy displeasing your conservative political base and having the real Greens question your motives. And Dubya isn’t even a frog. If you kiss him, you will not get a prince.

Nonetheless, I empathize with his predicament. I’ve been trying to be green for years, but my best green plans always seem to hit snags. Oh, the whole world isn’t calling me names because I’ve reneged on promises to cut CO2 emissions. And I’m not pushing to despoil the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and the Gulf of Mexico with drilling rigs (and seriously ticking off my brother, who worries about getting reelected). All I’m trying to do is get rid of some really old telephone poles.

This is not as easy as it might seem. PG&E had no trouble when it replaced them with new ones several decades back. They simply asked us to allow them to park their rigs on our property while they were doing the work and in return they would give us all the used poles. Of course, some of them had been hit by 18-wheelers, but we needed a whole bunch of fence posts, so it seemed like a good deal at the time. What did we know?

The power companies were smart back then, and they had lots better PR when they were trying to sell as much electricity as possible. They talked people into building Gold Medallion All Electric Homes, so they wouldn’t have to share any revenue with the propane vendors. As recently as 1995, when we asked them to extend our power line a half-mile farther to serve our new house, they said they would charge $500 less if we installed air conditioning. And they would rebate part of the cost if we could talk the guy at the back of our canyon into hooking up to the grid. We tried, but he said he’s getting on just fine with his diesel generator. Yuck. Now they don’t want us to turn on the air conditioner or anything else before 7 p.m. since they can’t buy any power because they can’t or won’t pay their bills.

Anyway, 30 years ago we took the pre-owned poles and built fences and used a few of them to shore up the sagging roof on the old hay barn, circa 1947, which continued to sag but remained upright until a few weeks ago, when it met its demise amid terrific wind and rain.

So we called the local guy who takes care of cleaning up decrepit buildings, broken trees and the like. For a whopping fee, he knocks it down and carts off the remains. Well, almost all the remains. The 10-foot poles he won’t touch.

The local dump/transfer station won’t take telephone poles or railroad ties or anything else that’s been treated with creosote. I don’t blame them, but what are we supposed to do with the darned things? We’re told (with a wink) maybe we could just bury them. Well, no, I don’t think so. If the landfill is worried that creosote will leech into the groundwater, then I’m worried about that too. Oh, well, who would know, he says. I would know. Our wells are pumped from that groundwater. It’s bad enough the guy with the diesel generator might be letting diesel fuel seep into the aquifer, and he’s upstream, so to speak, from our wells. Besides, it’s just not the green thing to do.

So the old hay barn gets knocked apart and carried off and we’re left with a pile of very used poles, their tops pitted and splintery and their bottoms shiny black with smelly creosote. These things are going to be harder to lose than old tires. They’re never going to decompose. And you can’t burn them because it would foul the air with enough acrid, black smoke to choke a diesel engine. The AQMD folks would have us arrested.

So guess what? This morning I get a notice from PG&E that our power will be turned off for a few hours April 26 so they can upgrade the lines, weather permitting. This is ironic because every time we have any significant weather the power goes out anyway. Also, when semi drivers veer off course and crash into the poles, which they do with alarming frequency.

What if I could talk the PG&E guys into taking back the poles? Maybe they could convince the bankruptcy court that these are valuable assets and could be used to help pay off their creditors. Maybe the PG&E officials are going to be looking for work soon or trying to get elected to something. Maybe they can improve their image if they do the green thing and take responsibility for their polluted poles.

What I need is a hotshot political consultant to make my case with the power company. Maybe I can borrow one from George W. After all, I’m just trying to do the right thing here. Nobody said it was easy being green.

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