One of the few things the Code Enforcement Task Force managed to agree on at Monday evening’s meeting, without debate, is the city should complete a Local Coastal Plan to get the Coastal Commission out of the city’s business.

But ironically, the decision is late-coming, given the recent signing of Assembly Bill (AB) 988 by Gov. Gray Davis, giving the California Coastal Commission authority to develop a Local Coastal Plan for the City of Malibu.

Otherwise, the meeting went on in the usual manner, except for the fact that city officials were absent for the first time.

As task force members attempted to diplomatically agree on ways to improve code enforcement policies, one member handed out copies of the Commissions and Boards and Committees Handbook with a section highlighted in pink.

The highlighted section states: “It is not appropriate for individual members to present their personal views or recommendations as representing the commission unless such body has voted to approved such action.”

Some members did not agree with the highlighted statement.

“I don’t think it’s right to gag people from speaking out their own opinion,” said task force member Judy Decker, who believes members should be able to express opinions individually, as long as they don’t say their opinions are representative of the entire task force.

In prior meetings, the group has grown increasingly frustrated with dead ends encountered on issues, and some had expressed their personal opinions on possible solutions. After passing its targeted September deadline to bring finalized recommendations to the council, some members of the group seem to feel the issues are dragging on uselessly once more.

“We could be here for months,” said a task force member.

Debating on code enforcement policy and procedures, the task force tried to minimize additional costs incurred by residents when the city requires additional testing as an applicant attempts to obtain permits for additions and unpermitted structures.

A third and last recommendation packet the group is working on includes policy and procedure recommendations which touch on geology requirements.

To minimize costs, some suggested the city keep a database of areas that have already been surveyed geologically.

But others contended this would not be feasible since homeowners, who initially paid for a report, own it, and may not want to let the city have it.

The city is trying to protect itself from litigation by requiring property owners to provide geology reports, but the task force is attempting to minimize the necessity of these requirements to reduce costs to applicants.

Geology issues are like a “big can of worms,” said a task force member.

“The idea is to tell council to leave small projects alone,” said Dusty Peak, task force member.

The task force also re-affirmed the city should not make a profit on planning costs. Since residents were complaining about the cost of obtaining permits, the task force wants to send a message to the City Council about their concerns in that regard.

No cost imposed by the city should exceed 10 percent of the total cost of the proposed project, the members said.

As members talked about the lengthy application process still in existence, Marissa Coughlan reminded the group the city already has a pre-application process in place.

For a fee of $250, homeowners can sit down with a planner and review their plans ahead of time to avoid costly expenses. The planner steers them in the right direction. Once the applicant actually begins the process, the cost of the consultation fee is applied toward the cost of the permit application.

In the end, the task force reviewed a few more items, agreeing an easy and quick method in working on anything with the city does not exist.

Task force members did agree that acceptance of already existing studies and reports for the database should be the first priority.

Are Malibu moms and dads in genuine peril?

If we are to believe the results of recent congressional hearings, those driving Ford Explorers with Firestone ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires are in danger.

Congress caught wind of the tire delamination (peeling off of outer casing) problem only months after Ford quietly replaced tires in Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Hearings then took place to find out why the American public wasn’t warned of the tire failures.

More than 103 deaths have been attributed to failures of those specific Firestone tires on Ford Explorers, with more than 400 people injured.

Complaints are still pouring in.

Firestone voluntarily recalled 6.5 million tires on Aug. 9, all size P235/75R-15 ATX and ATX II tires and size P235/75RT25 Wilderness AT tires.

Apparently, the problem has surfaced mostly in warm weather states like Arizona, Florida, Nevada and California, where Explorer owners drive at steady speeds of at least 70 mph in a fully loaded vehicle for several hours.

Despite the widely publicized recall, during a casual inspection of Malibu parking lots recently, 75 percent of SUVs seen were equipped with the recalled tires.

One Malibu owner of an Explorer said he is on a waiting list for replacement tires — the supply being insufficient to do the changeover nationwide quickly.

Several weeks ago, Ford voluntarily cut down on the number of Explorers they produce each week in order to make more replacement tires available, and Bridgestone / Firestone began flying in tires from Japan.

Meanwhile, that same Malibu owner of the Explorer has changed his driving habits, no longer doing long distance driving and car pooling in a friend’s car.

Another Malibu resident said he owns a ’95 Explorer and has been unable to find replacement tires.

“I will never buy another Firestone tire,” he said.

He did say he would buy a Ford again. He, too, is driving his Explorer differently since the problem came to light.

Explorer owner C. Erb said he has Wilderness AT tires manufactured in Canada on his Explorer, pointing out the suspect tires are only from the Decatur plant.

But he feels, “Firestone has a tarnished reputation and has damaged their credibility.”

He also points out that Explorers have suffered a decline in their value. This, he said, “Is far greater than the direct cash cost to Firestone.”

“The days of the high-center-of-gravity SUV are over,” he said.

Erb said he would not buy Firestones again.

The hearings saw a lot of finger-pointing by the two industry giants over the issue of recommended tire pressures. Ford is being accused of recommending to Explorer owners they inflate their tires at 26 pounds per square inch of pressure, while Firestone recommended 30 pounds per square inch.

Ford is being accused of recommending the lower pressures because, in late testing of the Explorer prior to its release, it was discovered the SUV, like all vehicles with a high center of gravity, showed a tendency to roll over during hard cornering.

Ironically, the Explorer had been developed to replace the Bronco II, which had the same tendency. Ford’s quick fix was to recommend lower tire pressures to give it a better grip on the road. However, lower pressures result in more heat build-up in the tires, causing the delamination.

Ordinarily, running 4 pounds lower than recommended is not regarded as significant, as statistics show that most Americans never check their tires’ inflation levels. But, somehow, these two particular models of Firestones become dangerous when the Explorer using them is running at high speeds (70 mph) and if heavily loaded.

Ford has recommended that owners of Mercury Mountaineers and Mazda Navajos should also check to see if their SUVs are equipped with these tires. The Navajo and the Mountaineer are “badge-engineered” Fords — basically, Explorers sold under other names to cash in on the SUV bonanza.

Federal investigators are now expanding the probe into other models of Firestone tires, some of which were sold under different brand names, such as Gilette Force 4, Sieberling Trailrider A/S and Triumph Ferrain LT.

After documentation was received from Ford about tire failures, it came to light that Ford recently became aware there was a problem with the 16-inch Continental General tires offered as standard equipment on Lincoln Navigator SUVs in ’98 and ’99 — 140,000 of the tires now being used on public roads.

But a spokesman said the tire maker “knows exactly what the problem is and has corrected it,” and will be able to replace the tires on Navigators in a few weeks.

Only 62 of the tires equipped on Navigators have lost sections of tread, and there have been no rollovers as in the case of Explorers equipped with the problem Firestones.

The tire recall has been a bonanza for sellers of replacement tires.

Hamlet Abramian, of Malibu UNOCAL at 21216 Pacific Coast Highway, said, ever since the story broke in the media, the station has been selling Explorer owners sets of five replacement tires, usually Goodyears or Dunlops, for roughly $95 a tire, plus $12 each for balancing.

“We have sold 20 to 30 sets of replacement tires,” said Abramian.

Explorer owners are then free to take their recalled tires to Firestone dealers for a rebate, he explained. Apparently, the rebate is not paid in cash, but will be mailed later to owners turning in tires.

Can flaws in recalled Firestone tires be spotted in an inspection? Out of all Firestone tires he inspected, Abramian said, only one showed signs of cracking.

“All the others looked good,” he said. “But we changed them anyway.”

Bill Dean, working at the UNOCAL 76 Station on Pacific Coast Highway at Corral Canyon, said he has sold only two sets of replacement tires. He carries some Remington 235-75-15s as recommended replacements at $102 each, installed.

“If people would inflate their Firestone tires up to 30 psi, they wouldn’t have to worry about tread separation,” he said. “You learn that in high school.”

Former Malibu Pepperdine student, Dain Blanton, brought back some Olympic gold from the recent 2000 Olympics in Australia.

Blanton teamed with Eric Fonoimoana to capture the beach volleyball gold medal. They upset the team of third-seeded Ze Marco de Melo and Ricardo Santos of Brazil by a 12-11, 12-9 count on Sept. 26.

Blanton and Fonoimoana rallied from 4-1, 10-7 and 11-8 deficits in the first set. The Americans had not beat the Brazilians in their four previous matches.

The Brazilians were an especially tough team to beat. One team member towered more than 6 feet 8 inches, and had a reach as high as 11 feet.

Blanton, a native of Laguna Beach, was a member of the 1992 national championship team with Pepperdine. Their win in Sydney ensured the Olympic beach volleyball gold remained with the United States, as Americans won the inaugural men’s competition in the sport in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Pepperdine’s indoor volleyball coach, Marv Dunphy, 52, was in Sydney serving as an assistant coach to the indoor U.S. Olympic volleyball team. He is a ’74 graduate of Pepperdine and has been a coach for 17 seasons.

This was Dunphy’s second tour of duty as an Olympic coach, having previously served as a coach at the ’88 games in South Korea, where there were three Pepperdiners on the team.

On his return from Sydney, Decker Canyon resident Dunphy reminisced with The Malibu Times about his former star student.

“Blanton was real tough,” he said. “In fact, he was the toughest guy I ever coached.”

Dunphy defines “tough” as follows: “No matter what the score was, Blanton would keep on trying, always fighting for every point. He wasn’t the biggest guy, maybe 6, 2, or the strongest guy, but he had that quality of elite athletes that, if there is even the slightest chance, they keep on fighting.

“A good player doesn’t make mistakes,” said Dunphy. “And he doesn’t beat up on himself.”

Olympic beach volleyball rules have two men per team, unlike recreational beach volleyball in the United States where there may be four on a team.

“It’s very competitive,” observes Dunphy. “If you play beach volleyball casually here at the beach and decided to go up against an Olympian, it would be over real fast.”

Dunphy wishes his whole indoor team could aim for the next Olympics, but names two he has the most hopes for — Scott Wong and Brad Keenan.

“I’d like to see them aim for it,” he said. “But the problem is that you have to almost be a professional athlete to keep in shape for the Olympics, which means putting off life in the meantime. You’d have to love it.”

Blanton became a professional athlete after leaving Pepperdine, competing in circuits in the United States, which offer prize money. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he is signing some endorsement deals as we speak,” said Dunphy.

Dunphy was flat bowled over by Olympics coverage on Australian TV.

“There were 36 channels devoted to it and 24-hour a day coverage,” he said, surprised at the lack of interest he heard U.S. viewers gave the competition.

Dunphy had three Pepperdiners–George Roumain, Kevin Barnett and Chip McCaw on his indoor team.

Real estate agent and columnist Rick Wallace returns with his perspective on Malibu history and happenings. This is his 15th edition of “Along The PCH” since it originated in 1995.

My new theory is when I use a handicapped parking space to make an eight second drop off at Blockbuster, I am watching out for cops first! But if I get caught, I ain’t sayin nothin.

Same with the public library where dozens of good old movie videos are available, by the way, free for one week.

The only eateries in Malibu that have kept the same name and location for 25 years or more are: The Charthouse, Moonshadows, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Jack In The Box, Malibu Seafood and Neptune’s Net. Two of each: medium-priced steak/seafood on the water, fast food, and funky local seafood hangouts across from the beach.

Are you looking for a new place to jog or walk? Is your dog looking? The Bluffs Park is almost exactly a half mile around, including the street, back sidewalk and the perimeter of the parking lot. Sometimes the poop bags are in stock.

I don’t think you’ll ever get the drunk drivers to call 911 voluntarily.

The local Rotarians used to give out awards for local officers who displayed heroism on the job. On one occasion, in 1980, a near tragedy was averted at Kanan/PCH, before the runaway truck sand ramp was installed, thanks to a CHP officer. The story goes the officer had just turned onto Kanan off PCH and saw a truck with smoke and flames coming out of its wheelwell, barreling down the hill toward the highway. The officer immediately made a U-turn and drove into the middle of the intersection against the red light. With sirens and lights flashing, he stopped traffic from both directions just before the out-of-control truck swerved into the intersection and came to a rest, partly on fire. There were no collisions as a result of the officer’s quick response.

It is remarkable that, as of this writing, there are about 175 regular, active real estate agents in Malibu — for 210 homes for sale! Indeed, since many agents have several homes listed, it is true about half the agents in Malibu do not have a home listed currently. This is not a commentary on too many agents — the number has hardly changed through the years. It is a warning of so few homes available.

Two hundred ten homes for sale is an extraordinarily low number. Throughout the ’90s, the winter saw an average of about 290 homes listed and the inventory rose to about 350 during the summer. A high of only 286 homes as listed in July, 1999, dropping to the seasonal low of 246 last December. This year, the inventory has dropped each month. The gradual decline throughout 2000 is a good sign for prices and a horrible sign for buyers.

Ten years ago, the new City of Malibu, not yet incorporated, was fighting the county to move up the incorporation date to as soon as possible. The county delayed the incorporation to allow for more time for a sewer system to be approved. Ultimately, March 28, 1991 was designated as incorporation date and … the day laborer site at Zuma Beach was closed and re-opened against neighborhood protest … the large condominium complex at Cavalleri/PCH was under new construction … debate raged over the possible development of 48 homes in the Corral/Puerco Canyons … Helen Pepperdine died. She was a frequent visitor to the Malibu campus named after her husband, who originally founded George Pepperdine College in central Los Angeles in 1937, 35 years before the Malibu campus opened. George Pepperdine was the founder of Western Auto Supply and used part of his fortune to establish the small Church of Christ College. George died in 1962.

The Malibu Right to Vote on Development Initiative is a new, intriguing and unfortunate addition to the local political landscape. It is promoted by a relatively small band of environmentally conscious locals deeply passionate about the future of Malibu. Though small in number, they are vocal and determined.

At their core, however, their wish is for political control. Initiative backers want to make decisions for other people (or campaign the electorate to make decisions for other people), under the guise that they know best what Malibu should be. They believe in more government control over individual actions, particularly pertaining to property use. Unfortunately, their fight to keep out hotels and office buildings extended, under their government control, to a virtual ban on new fences and bathroom remodels. The people finally revolted last April. With their leaders out of office, our environmentalist friends are trying a new tact to gain control of the wildly unconstitutional idea of having popular local votes determine individual property planning. The idea is to have majority votes determine “big development” and reduce the traffic on PCH. Since their idea of big development has historically equated hotels with bedroom additions, and since they have no notion of compromise, what can we expect next?

If the no-growth gang is so concerned about traffic along PCH and the environment, perhaps they should support a popular vote to determine how many house guests they are allowed. Let’s vote for a tonnage limit on their garbage output. Those would be good, majority-vote ways to reduce traffic on PCH and harm the environment less. Don’t count on their support. For the 20-30 extremist, no-growth environmentalists we have in Malibu, control over others is a one- way street.

The fields just west of the Ralphs parking lot once had six homes, in what is now the backyard of Malibu Towing.

Whew! Another summer with practically no humidity!

It must confuse a lot of visitors to Malibu when they are driving south to Santa Monica and their car directional gauge reads NE.

Those little cameras are so darn cute! Have you seen them? They are perched on all the stoplight poles at Webb Way and Malibu Canyon, and other places. Pray tell, what could they be for?

The answer is not what you think. It is not for catching red light runners. The cameras are mounted by Caltrans to view traffic back-ups, and not for any Big Brother purpose. (And here I’ve been afraid to check my mail.

Hardly any fog either! It was an ideal summer for weather.

Homes in the Malibu Colony, as a general rule, are now selling for more than $10,000 per inch of sand frontage.

I am curious about these taxis that show up at local schools in the morning. Are those kids getting expensive rides, or is it just that their folks are on their way to work?

Twenty years ago, it was announced at a meeting of the Malibu Recreation Council that land acquired by the state at the bluffs of PCH/Malibu Canyon would become a park. The original edict called for no buildings to be permitted on the grounds … also, 20 years ago, Carl Randall was leading a charge to form a Malibu School District separate from Santa Monica … Caltrans approved a permanent ban of trucks with four or more axles on PCH … a 50-acre brush fire burned two homes in Malibu Park … L. A. County adopted an urgency ordinance to clean up the nudity at Pirate’s Cove on the beach below Point Dume.

Also, in 1980, you could subscribe to The Malibu Times for a whole year for just $4.50. (Hint: not that the quality has gone down, but you can get by on less than that these days.