There’s nothing like threatened school budget cuts to get parents’ attention. When the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District announced it must excise more than $3 million in nonessential spending, parents marshaled a huge effort to save the district’s celebrated music program.

Since the teaching of vocal and instrumental music — or even music appreciation — is not mandated by the state, it is considered expendable. Students and parents, however, feel music is an essential part of education and a huge asset to the school curriculum. Scientific studies have shown that listening to certain classical music improves IQ levels in young children, and learning to read music improves everything from reading and math skills to eye/hand coordination. What music does for the spirit is generally acknowledged but not scientifically proven.

Santa Monica High’s symphony orchestra has graduated many professional musicians, including internationally renowned conductor David Robertson, who began his career playing horn at Juan Cabrillo and Malibu Park schools. It is the only (in at least the last 50 years) California public school orchestra to be invited to perform at Chicago’s prestigious Midwest Clinic (this year). The students regularly perform on a European tour in summer.

Facing its worst budget shortfall in decades, Superintendent Neal Schmidt presented a list of programs, positions and items being considered for cuts at the board of education meeting last week.

A full range of classes and part-time staff positions were mentioned, but trimming the Elementary Music Program seemed to bring the most response. The board has been deluged with letters, faxes, e-mails and telephone calls voicing impassioned pleas not to gut the much-honored program. The board had already postponed hiring two new full-time elementary music teachers for which it had budgeted $125,000.

When presenting the list of options to the board, Schmidt said he didn’t want to make any of the cuts, that the programs were all worthwhile and that he personally knew all the employees whose positions were threatened. In the past, Schmidt said the district’s music program was one of the reasons he accepted the job, and that he takes personal pride in strengthening it.

Classical music deejay Rich Capparella spoke against cutting the music program, saying if it weren’t for his music education, “I would be on the streets carrying a cardboard sign.”

Part of the budget crunch is attributed to anticipated enrollment for the coming year at levels below expectations. Actual enrollment for the year is up by 120 students, but the district was expecting an increase of 400 to 500 students. Since schools are funded based on average daily attendance, this would reflect a significant loss of revenue.

The board was already grappling with trimming its budget by $2 million over the next two years in order to fund an increase in teachers’ salaries. The Classroom Teachers’ Association negotiated an agreement for a 6 percent salary increase, more than three times the state-funded 1.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment expected for the 2000/2001 academic year.

Upcoming board of education meetings will devote time for further discussion of the options available to help bring the district’s budget in line with projected funding. The next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 6 at the district offices in Santa Monica.

Three pioneers in Malibu real estate were honored last week by the Malibu Board of Realtors at the organization’s installation dinner. Receiving a 1999 Director’s Award, traditionally bestowed upon a member of the association who has made a significant contribution to the betterment of the real estate community, were Louis T. Busch, Jerry Pritchett and Charles Willson.

Busch was born in Santa Monica. After serving in the Navy, he moved to Malibu in 1946 to begin his career in the real estate business. By 1950 he was elected to serve as president of the Malibu Board of Realtors.

“Regardless of the day of the week, you can see this recipient’s car parked outside his office proudly displaying the American Flag,” said the board’s President-Elect Beverly Taki in her presentation speech. “He welcomes people with a cup of Starbucks coffee to visit his office. Nearly everyday someone stops by to seek his advice and perspective regarding Malibu real estate idiosyncrasies and to reflect back on the history of Malibu. The slogan that his office boasts is “We Know the Malibu,” and this truly applies to this award winner. He knows not only the roads, the curves, the hidden parcels of paradise in Malibu, he knows the people who live here, because he has lived here over 50 years!”

Pritchett began his real estate career in 1947 in Westwood after serving as a fighter pilot in World War II. He moved to Malibu in the early ’60s and began his own company in the back room of his Broad Beach home. He served as president of the association in 1971. He is the head of a Realtor family, his son served as board president in 1978. Pritchett served for many years as a state director, and in the early ’70s, he was a leader in organizing the Malibu Multiple Listing service.

“When our association lost a substantial amount of income due to changes in the multiple listing service, he generously offered us prime office space in his commercial building that he had built in 1978 on Pacific Coast Highway, keeping us visible to our members at a very affordable rate. His generosity contributed to keeping us financially stable,” said Taki.

Willson has been the owner/broker of his own company for 34 years, also serving as the charter president of the Malibu Rotary Club. “This Realtor devoted 52 years to this industry and I am pleased to say that he is now able to enjoy life at the beach while his prominent family members carry on his legend,” Taki said.

“This recipient hosts a Holiday Party every year, the third Friday of December. It’s a legendary event. He generously invites the entire real estate community to share in this holiday cheer. There is one thing that comes to my mind when I hear this Realtor’s name. It’s his Thursday Broker Caravan that always says ‘Big Lunch.’ Since Realtors are known to be hungry, they can expect to be well fed if they visit his listing on caravan day.”

The Year 2000 Board of Directors of the Malibu Association of Realtors are: Terry Lucoff — president; Beverly Taki — president-elect; Kathryn Yarnell — vice president; Ani Dermenjian — secretary/treasurer; Casey Kelley — past president; and Judy Van Schoyck, Paul Randall, Viki Darbonne, Wendy Jensen, Diane Everett, Bill Mason, Lea Johnson, Paul Grisanti, Lee LaPlante, Karen Dannebaum.

The City Council Monday also took the following action:

• Reported it will appeal the decision of The Kissel Company v. The city of Malibu, in which the Superior Court voided the city’s denial of a rent increase to Paradise Cove mobilehome park owner Kissel.

• Reported it will continue to pursue action against the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy over the use of the Streisand Center on Ramirez Canyon Road for weddings, fund-raisers and business retreats.

• Reported it has authorized a defense of the city’s campaign finance ordinance. Last month, Malibu political activist Remy O’Neill threatened to seek an injunction barring enforcement of the campaign contribution limit of $100 per candidate. O’Neill’s attorney, Bradley Hertz, told the Council Monday that, in a Dec. 16 letter to Interim City Attorney Richard Terzian, he drafted a new ordinance allowing up to $500 per candidate per election, and he would “work with the council” before deciding whether to file suit.

• Reported it has authorized a lawsuit against the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for a prior contract regarding Birdview Avenue property.

• Heard from Councilman Tom Hasse that he has appointed Hans Laetz to the Telecommunications Commission, to replace Nidia Birenbaum, and Patti Lee to the Mobilehome Park Rent Stabilization Commission.

• Heard recommendations from former City Councilman Jeffrey Kramer of the City Attorney Selection Screening Committee. The committee recommended interviewing:

Steve Amerikaner, of the Santa Barbara firm Hatch & Ban;

Edward Lee and Charles Vose of the Los Angeles firm Oliver, Vose, Sandifer, Murphy & Lee, which represents the city of Calabasas;

J. Roger Myers of the Ventura firm Myers, Widders, Gibson & Long;

Steven Skolnik, a sole practitioner in Santa Monica; and

Michele Vadon of the Los Angeles firm Burke, Williams & Sorenson.

Environmentalists and surfers claimed at least a partial victory last week when the Regional Water Quality Control Board placed further restrictions on Tapia Water Reclamation Facility’s discharge permit.

The board took testimony at a public hearing Dec. 9 from representatives of Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, Natural Resources Defense Council, Santa Monica BayKeeper and the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which operates Tapia.

Although the environmental groups sought the extension of Tapia’s discharge prohibition period to March 1 through November, the board voted to increase the period by only two weeks in spring and two weeks in the fall.

The district, meanwhile, had hoped to reduce the restrictions to its permit. Instead, the new “dry-season” period was extended to April 15 through Nov. 15. The previous prohibition covered the period from May 1 through Oct. 31, but was flexible to allow discharge when the sand berm separating Malibu Lagoon and Surfrider Beach is “naturally” breached, either by high tides or rain-swollen creek flows.

The berm serves as a sand filter that screens out bacteria and other pollutants found in the lagoon, preventing contamination of Malibu’s famed Surfrider Beach. When the berm is closed, the water quality in the surf zone is generally graded A. When the berm is open, the ratings drop to F.

The regional board also imposed stricter nutrient limits for Tapia’s discharge, as recommended by the state board. Existing 13 mg per liter for nitrates was reduced to 8 mg/L. High nutrient levels cause excessive algae blooms that deplete oxygen levels in the lagoon. The board also instructed staff to come back in six months with recommendations for appropriate standards for phosphate levels.

“It was an absolute surprise to us,” said Norm Buering, the district’s resource conservation director, in a telephone interview Tuesday. “The regional board staff said keeping district water out of the creek for that 6-month period negates concern about nitrates. We came prepared to support the staff recommendation.

“It’s an extremely difficult process for us and it will be difficult for us to comply,” Buering said. “The current plant performance level is 13 mg/L. By 2002 we were to reach 10 mg/L. To meet that goal we did a pilot study, built temporary baffles out of wood. We wanted to get it below 8 mg/L because we have a current permit to allow discharge into the L.A. River during certain times of year. After about four months of trying, we were able to reach 8 mg, but with colder weather and higher volume, the biological process might not be as effective.”

The district faces another problem in that the pilot plant was temporary and not designed to operate 24 hours a day. “There appears to be no time allowed to meet this standard. To have to instantly get to eight, we don’t think that’s reasonable. It would probably take two years to build a permanent facility that would give the reliability required for the permit.”

Tapia’s permit was updated in 1998 when the board agreed to certain exemptions to the fixed prohibition on discharge into the creek during dry season months, allowing discharge when the sand berm is breached.

Environmentalists complain Tapia can force the berm to remain open by releasing more effluent to maintain high water levels in the creek.

“They have maintained such unnaturally high water levels in the creek, it would seem to be impossible to determine what would constitute a ‘natural’ breaching. When the berm was closed, and they could not discharge, they over-irrigate upstream, allowing gravity and runoff to do the work for them,” said Jeff Duclos, co-chair of Surfrider’s Malibu Chapter, at the hearing.

During the dry season, the water district sells Tapia’s reclaimed water for irrigation.

Duclos asked the board to officially reprimand the district for its actions “on or near the early morning hours of Veterans Day when it released 10 million gallons of effluent down the creek, breaching the berm and releasing a stew of dangerous pollutants into the surf zone.”

“That simply is not true,” Buering said. “Although we had a right to discharge on Nov. 1, we continued to avoid discharge into creek. But when rain caused our irrigation customers to shut off their systems, we had only the ability to use 75 percent within the watershed. Two or three days after the rain, we had to release about 2.5 million gallons per day for four days. That was not a massive release.”

Malibu physician Jeff Harris called for the board to extend the prohibition from March 1 to Nov. 30, when swimmers and surfers use the beach consistently. “Allowing the sand berm to form naturally as soon as possible protects the public’s health. When water flows without natural filtration through the breached berm, it has repeatedly been shown to be polluted with high bacteria, parasite and viral germs,” he wrote. “You can and should make a significant difference to ensure the public’s health at this beach.” Harris’ testimony was read into the record by Bill Parr.

Under terms of the new ruling, exemptions to the prohibition are restricted to storm events and must be authorized by the regional board’s executive officer.

Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission seeking to overturn its decision allowing Pepperdine University to expand its graduate school. The decision, made at the coastal panel’s October meeting in Oceanside, would allow more than 4-1/2 million cubic yards of grading, one of the largest cuts ever into the Santa Monica Mountains.

Commissioner Sara Wan, a resident of Malibu, and Commissioner Trent Orr were the only two opposing votes on a panel generally considered to be more environmentally friendly than previous commissions. Several other commissioners were absent from the controversial hearing. Wan and Orr voted to support the staff’s recommendation to deny the amendment to Pepperdine’s plan.

Commission staff biologist John Dixon testified on the recent discovery of eight acres of a rare and threatened California Needlegrass habitat, an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA). Dixon stated only a little more than 700 acres of the rare plant community still exist. An ecologist, who surveyed the site, reported spotting 35 different species of birds during only a half-hour of observation.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 13 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Sierra Club bases part of its case on an earlier decision concerning protection of ESHAs. The club was part of a winning lawsuit at Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach in which a Superior Court appellate panel ruled earlier this year that an ESHA can not be mitigated offsite but must be protected. Thus, club officials say, the Needlegrass habitat must remain intact.

“The university staff is trying to find ways to use the Needlegrass,” said Talmage Campbell, Pepperdine’s director of Public Information. “Richard Stevens, a visiting botany professor from Hawaii, worked on a program of gathering native seed from the siteand using it on areas that are to be planted. We are trying.”

Besides the Needlegrass community, geologic instability of the area is another concern raised in the lawsuit. Coastal Commission staff found the approval of Pepperdine’s permit amendment request would violate two Public Resources Codes requiring the commission to “minimize risks to life and property in areas of high geologic hazard and to assure stability and structural integrity and prevent erosion” and “to minimize alteration to natural land forms.”

“The additional grading was a requirement of the Regional Planning Commission,” Campbell said. “Adjustments for where they want things to go and for stability of the slopes required extra grading.” The original plan included a little more than 3 million cubic feet. “All the graded earth stays on the site to make stable pads for the buildings. There would be no scarring.”

But environmentalists worry about changes to natural terrain adjacent to park land.

“Pepperdine is already clearly not in harmony with its surrounding natural environment,” said Marcia Hanscom, executive committee member of Sierra Club Angeles Chapter. “The campus is sited within a national recreation area directly across the street from a state park property, and natural surroundings must be respected. There are other ways to expand their campus without creating such harm to the environment.”

The lawsuit is supported by the Malibu Township Council and several Malibu homeowners associations, who have expressed concerns about the impact the project could bring to the neighboring community. It is projected that when the expansion is complete, the campus would have enrolled more students than the entire population of Malibu. Current enrollment is about 8,000 students.

While the Pepperdine campus borders the city of Malibu, it does not come under the jurisdiction of the city. When Malibu obtained cityhood 10 years ago, Pepperdine lobbied successfully to remain part of unincorporated Los Angeles County. Some say this was a strategic move to facilitate future expansion plans without the close scrutiny of Malibu’s city government.

The writ of mandate was filed by Joseph J. Brecher of Brecher & Volker in Oakland; Rachel Sater, also of Brecher & Volker; and Michelle Sypert, Esq., of Los Angeles. Brecher has represented Sierra Club and EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund in other cases.