Hard on the heels of the discovery it will be even $1 million deeper in debt than it thought, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District was told to work out its budget problems by greater partnering with the cities of Santa Monica and Malibu.

As the cities are grappling with bailing out the district from the worst budget crisis in decades, District Superintendent Neil Schmidt announced last week that next year’s budget shortfall would be $2.5 million instead of $1.5 million calculated in January.

To make matters worse, the $1 million error arising out of projected attendance data had been discovered by a parent, not a district staffer.

“It’s a mess,” said Pepperdine University Professor Michael Jordan, a candidate for the district’s Board of Education. “This is the first time that Malibu will make a financial commitment to the school district, and the district has lost a measure of credibility. Parents, teachers, and the community are angry, and they are saying, ‘Form a partnership and start taking care of our kids.'”

Explaining the miscalculation, Schmidt said, “We are asked to make budget projections years in advance, and we are providing information on a monthly basis. Every time we communicate these changes, the public perceives that things are unstable. The budget is fluid, always changing. We still don’t know what we will get this year. There’s not much in school finance that’s ever final.”

Assistant Superintendent Art Cohen used a spreadsheet to show, with information received in the last 10 days, including new revenue, the budget shortfall at the worst would be $1.4 million. Part of the increased revenue is coming from the district lease of facilities at Big Rock and Malibu Canyon to Malibu, Cohen said.

Santa Monica council staff has been very understanding of the “financial challenges,” Schmidt noted, and there has been a discussion of accountability.

The board is considering bringing in the county Office of Education, the state School Services advisory group or the California School Board Association to review the board’s budget practices and enrollment projections. “We believe we should do that to show we are on the right track,” Schmidt said.

Reportedly, the Santa Monica City Council is considering funding an independent investigation.

The district is also considering creating a permanent budget advisory committee that would liaise between the community and district staff, Schmidt said. The current advisory Financial Task Force, created by Schmidt in September, has been meeting in closed session.

On hearing Financial Task Force Member Neil Carrey say the board should give the cities “a strong message” the board will do what the cities ask, Malibu Board Member Todd Hess said, “I have to think this is the opportunity for the agencies to come together.”

Jordan noted, “There will be significant and positive change. We will survive this financial crisis and, in the long term, the partnership will remain and help us all.”

Joan House

A former secondary school teacher, Joan House worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi, and with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, designing a curriculum for Navajo Indians on reservations. Awarded the National Defense Education Act grant, she led a study on minorities conducted at Cal State Northridge.

In Malibu, where she and her husband, Ken, built their house 25 years ago, she served on the Malibu Committee for Incorporation, helping raise more than $80,000 for cityhood.

She was elected to the City Council in 1992 and 1996.

She was vice chair of the General Plan Task Force, coordinating efforts to draft a comprehensive land use proposal, served on the Early Development Educational Program at Point Dume School and was a parent liaison for a Malibu Little League team.

She has served on the Administration/Finance, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety and Land Use committees. She also served on the school liaison committee that brought in the shared use agreement with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Last month, she and Councilman Tom Hasse presented a proposed long-term development agreement with the Malibu Bay Company that took nearly a year to negotiate.

House skis and plays tennis, and is learning to play golf.

The Houses have two adult children: David, an attorney in Northern California, serves Native American Indians; and Nicole, a resident in pediatrics at Harvard and Boston universities.

Jeff Jennings

Jeff Jennings, a 28-year resident, is again running for Malibu City Council. He served on the council from 1994-98 and was mayor from 1997-98. He is a strong believer in building consensus and feels progress can only be made through teamwork.

He supports retention of the Bluff Park playing fields and the creation of a community center for all ages. He seeks to effect strategies that will limit high-density development

He is a homeowner and horse owner and is dedicated to retaining open spaces.

Jennings has a long record of service to the community and in 1992 received The Malibu Times Dolphin Award.

He was chair of the SMMUSD advisory committee to create Malibu High School and now chairs the Malibu High School Governance Council. He served on the Los Angeles County Beach Commission and was on the board of the Malibu American Youth Soccer Organization. A past vice president of the Malibu Little League, he received the Distinguished Service Award of the California PTA.

A Vietnam veteran, he served in the 101st Airborne Division and earned a Bronze Star.

Jennings is a graduate of Yale University and Stanford Law School, and he now specializes in estate planning, business and trust litigation.

Kris, his wife of 19 years, is a teacher at Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School. They have three sons: Tyler, a freshman at UC Santa Barbara; Miles, a junior at Malibu High School; and Austin, a freshman at the same school.

Ken Kearsley

The current chair of Malibu’s Planning Commission, Ken Kearsley says his work on behalf of Malibu began when he helped form Malibu Citizens for Good Community Planning, in 1963, to fight the first sewer bond issue, defeating it with $85 bucks by knocking on every Malibu door.

He fought the second sewer, in 1968-1969, and formed a committee that gained passage of a law barring a freeway through Malibu. He fought the proposed Corral Canyon nuclear plant, “with a little help from God because the Baldwin Hills dam broke at that time.” He also served on the Malibu Committee For Incorporation.

Born in Chicago and raised in Santa Monica, he attended Samohi, earned a bachelor’s degree in urban geography from Cal State Northridge and a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Chicago.

He returned to teach geography at Samohi, where he remained for 30 years, elected for 20 years as chair of the department of social studies. He also taught anthropology and archeology, digging in Malibu and finding stone fishhooks.

He retired and began working in computer-assisted design for aerospace in his brother’s company, where Kearsley still works.

He moved to Malibu in 1961, paying $38,500 for his home at Escondido. There, he and his wife, Barbara, raised 4 children.

Kearsley is an Optimist and a board member of Save Our Coast, who also runs, swims and hikes “as much as possible,” having hiked every trail in Malibu.

Walt Keller

Walt Keller will forever be known as Malibu’s first mayor, sworn in on May 28, 1991. He has thrice served as mayor. He currently serves on the Malibu City Council.

In the 1970s, he represented Malibu on the L.A. Countywide Citizens’ Planning Council, serving one year as its president. Currently, he represents Malibu on, and is president of, the L.A. County West Vector Control District Board of Trustees.

He was raised in New Jersey and earned a B.E. in engineering from Yale. He also holds a master’s degree in engineering and a Ph.D. in transportation systems engineering from UCLA. He retired in 1987 from Northrop Corporation after 35 years as an aerospace engineer. He is a registered Professional Engineer and a former UCLA lecturer in transportation systems. He has published research on public participation in public services.

Keller and his wife, Lucile, met while Keller was in the service in Ohio. They celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary this year.

They have lived in Malibu for nearly 40 years, raising two children. They built their home in Encinal Canyon in 1961 and rebuilt in 1979 after being burned out.

Keller is a member of Malibu Presbyterian Church, Optimists, Malibu Senior Citizens Club (past president), Malibu Township Council (past president), American Legion, Friends of the Library and Friends of Charmlee, among others.

His favorite hobbies are hiking and running. He competes in, and wins, 10K races.

Keller believes in the preservation of Malibu, and he is committed to a city government that serves the community.

Carolyn Van Horn

It’s not surprising current Mayor Carolyn Van Horn, a council member since incorporation, got into public life. Her father, Marshall F. McComb, served on the California Supreme Court, and her mother was one of the first female attorneys in California.

Still, the catalyst for her entrance into public life was the 1988 hearing on alternative sewer sources at Pepperdine University. She was asked to join an effort to bring 1,000 people to a Board of Supervisors meeting on the Montgomery Co. sewer project, which would have greatly expanded the region’s capacity to develop.

Lucile Keller handed Van Horn a box of papers documenting 40 years efforts to stop projects such as freeways and a nuclear power plant. “I felt it was my turn to continue their dedication to the community” says Van Horn.

A teacher, she co-founded two alternative schools and a nonprofit neighborhood improvement group near USC, where she received a lifetime teaching credential.

Then the mother of three and teaching the youngest at home, Van Horn thought the county hearing would be an excellent civics lesson, so she invited junior high students. They asked the best questions, she said.

She works with the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station in developing its Juvenile Intervention Team. She serves on USC’s Community Advisory Board.

Her oldest son graduated from UC Davis and is an organic fruit farmer, her middle son is an office manager and her youngest is a deputy sheriff in Contra Costa County. She has four grandchildren.

John Wall

John Wall, a resident of Malibu since 1963, currently serves on the Public Works Commission, Economic Plan Advisory Committee, and as an alternate on the city’s Building Appeals Board. He formerly served on the Transportation Study Group, General Plan Task Force and Zoning Ordinance Advisory Committee.

He has served on the boards of the Malibu Township Council, Friends of Arson Watch, Malibu Park Homeowners Association and as technical advisor to the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy.

He has coached YMCA youth basketball and football, and was Tribal Chief to the YMCA Indian Guides.

With a Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering and theoretical physics (Cornell 1957), his positions with Douglas/McDonnell-Douglas (now Boeing) included director of the System Development Center, chief of Aerodynamics and Preliminary Design, and deputy manager of Advanced Space Technology. He was also U.S. representative on the NATO Industrial Advisory Group.

Wall enjoys the outdoors — hiking and backpacking and mountain climbing, when he was younger — was a member of the Sierra Club Political Committee and grows avocados for the commercial market.

This is reflected in his positions on Malibu’s future and his priorities for the City Council: to keep the city a residential community with little additional commercial development.

He and his wife, Joyce, have four children and three grandchildren.

The Calabasas/Agoura Hills Community Center overflowed with more than 500 residents from Malibu, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks and San Fernando Valley who joined protesters, elected officials, lawyers, scientists, and environmentalists Saturday to insist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers perform an independent Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Ahmanson Ranch Development.

The 2,800-acre Ventura County project has been approved by the county but awaits approval by the Army Corps of Engineers. Meanwhile, politicians and environmentalists are pushing for a federal Environmental Impact Statement, including studies on its potential impacts to Malibu Creek and Malibu traffic, as well as noise and air pollution.

The Ahmanson Ranch Development, owned by Washington Mutual, will result in creation of a “new town,” with two 18-hole golf courses and a clubhouse, 3,050 residential units, 400,000 square feet of commercial/office space, a 22,000-square-foot town-hall complex, a 300-room hotel and three schools. Mass grading will result in moving 40 million to 45 million cubic yards of dirt — about 50 times the volume of the Rose Bowl.

The project will be accessible only from Calabasas, Los Angeles and L.A. County. This will add 46,260 average vehicle trips daily, with 37,540 of those trips on the streets of Calabasas and Los Angeles. L.A. County would shoulder many associated infrastructure costs for roads, sewers and drains. In addition, project developers have requested L.A. County sheriff, fire and emergency services.

Elected officials, including Rep. Brad Sherman, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl, as well as mayors and City Council members from Calabasas and Agoura Hills, urged the Corps to complete a projectwide Environmental Impact Statement and to withhold “404” permit for the first phase of construction until this study is done.

Once issued, the 404 permit will allow the developers to dump 51,000 cubic tons of dirt into the waters of East Las Virgenes Creek and its tributaries. Expert, science-based testimony described numerous adverse environmental impacts of accelerated erosion and downstream sedimentation on water quality, sensitive habitats, plant species, and fish and animal populations, including several endangered species in Malibu Creek and surrounding canyons.

Kuehl stated a new “EIS process will give communities access to information they need and create a vehicle for making sure their voices are heard.”

Comments will be accepted through March 9: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District; Regulatory Branch; Attn: CESPL-CO-R-98-50287-BAH; 2151 Alessandro Drive, Suite 255, Ventura, CA 93001.

While the city of Malibu currently struggles to maintain ball fields for little league and keep its once-proud pier from falling into the Pacific, California voters may bestow a windfall on Malibu and nearly every other California city that could make such problems vanish.

Proposition 12, the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act, calls for the issue of $2.1 billion in bonds to fund recreational and environmental projects at the state, county and municipal levels.

Though opponents, including State Sen. Ray Haynes, claim Proposition 12 calls for irresponsible deficit spending, the measure commands wide support from groups interested in preserving outdoor space in both wilderness and urban areas.

“It represents the biggest opportunity in 10 years, and it’s the largest park bond in U.S. history,” said Hayden Sohm, State Parks superintendent for the Malibu sector. “It enjoys bi-partisan support, and it is an opportunity to invest in local and state parks. If it doesn’t pass, we’re going to lose the opportunity [for a long time].”

Supporters include the California Chamber of Commerce, the League of Women Voters and the Malibu City Council, which recently endorsed the bill, according to City Manager Harry Peacock. Proposition 12 funds may augment the budgets of a diverse array of public and private agencies, and they would directly impact Malibu’s parks and recreation budget.

“The city would get a block grant of $170,000 to use for parks development and acquisition,” said Peacock. “Spending of the $170,000 would depend on our priorities under the parks master plan.”

But the eventual contribution may amount to much more. Peacock said there is a “major category for competitive grants for applications for projects,” and successful grant applications could generate millions of dollars for specific projects, ranging from park construction to land acquisition and open-space preservation.

Malibu may have a good chance at winning competitive grants because “people at the state level say they’d be willing to help us put grant proposals together,” said Peacock.

Projects that could garner extra funds include the restoration of Malibu Pier and the historic Adamson House, both of which fall under state parks jurisdiction. “We hope to work with the city to get some of that competitive grant money,” said Sohm. “We’ve been asked to establish priorities. The first priority is $4 million for the pier. Restoration of the pier would have a tangible economic benefit to the city through concessions.” Sohm is also “particularly interested in property that surrounds Leo Carrillo and Malibu Creek. We’re trying to provide protection for watershed, viewshed and to buffer urban impacts.”

Furthermore, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy would receive $35 million for acquisition and maintenance of land in the Santa Monica Mountains surrounding Malibu. And Heal the Bay executive director Mark Gold said $25 million has also been earmarked for protecting the Santa Monica Bay.

“Obviously [Proposition 12] is something that a lot of folks, including Heal the Bay, are very, very supportive about,” said Gold. Gold and the Malibu City Council also support Proposition 13, the Safe Drinking Water, Watershed Protection and Flood Protection Bond Act. Though Haynes claims passage of Proposition 12 would result in nothing but a $3.7 billion debt and a “boondoggle” dedicated to “rats, weeds and insects,” Sohm said, “It needs to be looked at as an investment. People who come to parks are going to spend money in the local economy. Parks in general in California represent about $2 billion in business annually.” Sohm expects passage of Proposition 12 will create even more revenue.

The champagne flowed, the hors d’oeuvres were out and the buzz was all Oscar. DGA members Elaine Perkins and Robin Groth agreed on one thing, “American Beauty” would most likely walk away the winner for Best Picture.

Other categories were trickier. Annette Bening or Hilary Swank? And what about Best Supporting Actor? Would the academy go for “Sixth Sense” scene-stealer Haley Joel Osment because “kids make great Oscar TV” or “sentimental favorite” Michael Caine?

Like many Malibu residents — those who weren’t actually at the Shrine or on their way to one of the many posh post show bashes — the two took their seats in front of the tube. First the fashion front. “That gal from Alley McBeal looks absolutely stunning,” crowed Perkins as she watched Charlie’s latest angel grace the red carpet. “Tyra Banks looks like she’s wearing a lampshade,” quipped Groth. The highlight, of course, was South Park creator Matt Stone who came dressed as Gwyneth Paltrow in drag.

Between sips of Rhoderer, they raced to mark their ballots. “I don’t know what to pick for Live Action Short,” complained Perkins. “But I am picking “One Day in September” — that was one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.”

The two were also split on the way to vote — Perkins went with those she thought would win, Groth with those she thought should win. They laughed out loud at Billy Crystal’s opening antics and burst into applause at Caine’s win for “The Cider House Rules.” “I love clapping,” giggled Groth. “It makes me feel like I’m there.”

From Visual Effects to Screenplay Adaptation, they tallied their ballots and counted up their categories. At the end of the four-hour telecast, Perkins, who went with what she thought the academy would pick, seemed to have the better strategy. She got 12 of 25 categories correct on the Oscar scorecard. Groth’s determination to stand by the deserving resulted in just three.

But both were right on one thing. When it came to best picture, “American Beauty” had the competition beat — by a rose.