One of the first things you notice in the Worth Magazine June rankings of the “250 Richest Towns,” in which Malibu ranks 54th, is not the median home prices but rather the population figures. While Malibu’s median home price is listed at $655,000, there are only four towns in all the nation with a higher median home average and more people than Malibu.

Beverly Hills (No. 18) is one of them, as are the neighboring Silicon Valley-area cities of Saratoga (No. 27) and Los Altos (No. 36). That Jupiter Island, north of West Palm Beach, Fla., ranks No. 1 in the nation with only 601 residents indicates that wealth is relative to size. Statistically, at least.

Worth lists Malibu’s population at 18,944, which includes the entire postal area of 90265, taking in homes outside city limits to the mountain top. One other element is critical to the study: Condominium/ townhouse prices are apparently added to the mix.

Jupiter Island surely doesn’t have many condos in its small population. Nor does Rolling Hills (No. 7) or Hidden Hills (No. 16), the two top-ranked towns in Southern California. Both locales have populations under 1900, one-tenth the size of Malibu. Several towns on the list ranked ahead of Malibu cannot boast a population over 1000.

That begs the questions: Where does Malibu rank if condos are excluded? Other than small enclaves, what cities are truly more expensive?

Through careful research, 321 single family home sales in Malibu can be traced during 1998 (by far the most in history, which coincides with the national achievement). The median average of those sale prices was $825,000. That is, 160 homes sold for less money and an equal number brought more.

Malibu moves into a tie for 23rd place at the $825,000 median plateau, tied with Greenwich, Conn., the only other top 50 city that claims more population than Malibu, besides those noted.

Malibu and No. 1 Jupiter Island are both coastal towns. The article doesn’t list how many homes in Jupiter Island sold in the last two years, but with only 601 residents, the sampling must be scanty (the survey adds sales from both 1997 and 1998 to determine averages). The $1.7 million average likely represents only waterfront estates, particularly along the Intracoastal Waterway. How does that compare to Malibu’s beachfront?

Twenty-seven beach homes sold in Malibu last year alone for more than $2 million! Malibu’s beachfront generated nearly $160 million in sales. A majority of the sales were above the $1.7 million benchmark. The average of Malibu’s 56 beach sales was a whopping $2.7 million.

While Malibu’s overall average, counting small homes in the hills and dozens of condos, ranks below such towns as Far Hills, N.J., Kenilworth, Ill., and Muttontown, N.Y., the truth is that Malibu’s elite real estate ranks with any locale in America. Specifically, the Malibu Colony, where a home on 3000 square feet of land can sell for $4.5 million, is incomparable. One Malibu beach estate is currently listed at $29 million. Two others sold last year for more than $10 million.

Thirteen of the top 20 towns listed in the study are from California (as are 76 out of the full list of 250). Worth projects that California cities will make a jump in next year’s survey, as state activity currently outpaces national production. Malibu was one of the many California cities that moved up in the rankings from 1998.

Curiously, Pacific Palisades is excluded from the list, which relies primarily on public records data and information from multiple listing services around the country. Other nearby cities make the list, however: Santa Monica is ranked 97th, Agoura Hills is 206th, Marina Del Rey ranks just behind Malibu at No. 58.

Rick Wallace has been a Realtor at Fred Sands Malibu office for 11 years and a Malibu resident for 23 years.

Moving quickly to replace former City Attorney Christi Hogin, the City Council Monday hired an interim replacement and set up a committee, headed by former Mayor Jeff Kramer, to screen candidates applying to permanently fill the city attorney position. Each council member was permitted one appointment to the screening committee.

The committee, to be made up of local lawyers, will also include Gil Segel, appointed by Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn Van Horn. Segel is currently under investigation by the city and by the state Fair Political Practices Commission for possible campaign finance violations during last year’s City Council election.

The committee may wield influence over the choice of the new city attorney, the person who might determine whether to continue or end the city’s campaign investigations and prosecutions.

The interim city attorney, Richard Terzian, is a partner in the downtown Los Angeles law firm of LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene and MacRae, where he primarily represents public agencies. For 31 years, he has worked on a contract basis as the city attorney for Rolling Hills Estates. City Manager Harry Peacock, who at one time worked with Terzian in that South Bay city, highly recommended him to the City Council.

The contract with Terzian was tentatively approved in a special meeting last week and was formally adopted by the council Monday on a 4-1 vote. Mayor Walt Keller opposed the contract because of Terzian’s fees. As interim attorney, Terzian will be paid $7,500 per month for 30 hours of work. Any additional work over the 30 hours per month will be billed at $250 an hour.

Keller said an attorney working for the city of Calabasas would only have billed $110 an hour.

“The council members who supported [the contract last week] acted in haste and to the detriment of the city’s budget,” said Keller.

While he called the rest of the council’s action “reckless,” he singled out Councilman Harry Barovsky for criticism because Barovsky has publicly speculated the city will have to pay close to $400,000 for an interim attorney and to find a permanent replacement for Hogin.

“[Barovsky] is sort of presenting a self-fulfilling prophecy by voting for the most expensive attorney he can find,” Keller said.

Barovsky retorted, “Reckless is $227,000,” referring to the amount Keller, Van Horn and Councilman Tom Hasse agreed to pay Hogin in return for her resignation. He added, “You want to spend that kind of money to get rid of — or part company with — a perfectly good city attorney, that’s your business,” pausing for dramatic effect at the euphemistic description of Hogin’s departure from the city.

Hasse, attempting to provide what he said was some “levity” to the discussion, joked with Terzian, “As you can see, Malibu is a calm, cool, collected place where reason triumphs over passion.”

In response to Keller’s complaints about Terzian’s fees, Hasse said the city needed legal representation in place as soon as possible following Hogin’s departure.

“I’m sure if we had had the time, we could have searched far and near and found someone as qualified as the interim attorney for less money, but we didn’t have the time,” he said.

Terzian thanked the council for its appointment. “Even though you have different views that are vigorously expressed at times, each one of you cares very much about this city, and each one of you wants to do the very best you possibly can,” he told the council. “I think I can work with people who care about a city this much.”

In addition to Van Horn’s appointment of Segel, the council also accepted Hasse’s appointment of former Mayor Kramer as the chair of the screening committee and Barovsky’s appointment of David Kagon. Councilwoman Joan House said she had not finalized her decision and plans to name her appointment at the next council meeting. Keller, who appeared ready to make his appointment, declined to do so at Monday’s meeting. “I’ve decided I’ll wait,” he said.

In addition to screening candidates for the new city attorney, the committee will recommend whether the city should hire an in-house attorney or retain one on a contract basis.

Friends and supporters of departing City Attorney Christi Hogin crowded into City Hall Friday to bid her farewell — and to take a couple of pot shots at the three councilmembers who apparently orchestrated her resignation.

Those efforts — including a threat to take away Hogin’s vacation, a demand for time sheets documenting her hours of work and the hiring of a high-priced employment attorney to negotiate Hogin’s departure — made a distinct impression on those who gathered to see her off.

Referring to an observation by Councilman Harry Barovsky that Hogin had been the city’s pinata for the past year, resident Marissa Coughlin jokingly told the crowd she had placed a special order for a pinata in the shape of a “three-headed jackass.”

“[Hogin] can take it home with her and [she] and her kids can beat the heck out of it,” said Coughlin.

Mayor Walt Keller, Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn Van Horn and Councilman Tom Hasse did not attend Friday’s gathering, and Councilwoman Joan House said the party was planned that way.

“They were asked not to come,” said House.

Before House presented Hogin with a Malibu Tile, a former city employee presented another memento that caused the assembled staff members to break into raucous laughter: a T-shirt that read, “I Survived Malibu Club.” One staff member in the crowd chortled, “Better order one for me, too.”

A tradition began when then-City Manager Ray Taylor left, that the last staff employee to leave comes back to present a T-shirt to the next person leaving. In addition to Kim Collins, former project manager for the city, former planning directors Joyce Parker and Vince Bertoni returned for the Friday afternoon party.

When Hogin stepped forward to make her departing remarks, some staff members called out, “Now, don’t cry.” Hogin responded that “it doesn’t take a lot to make a maudlin Irish girl cry.” Still, she choked back tears when she cited what she said was her only regret: “Leaving my routine of coming in here every morning.”

And in a clear signal that Hogin’s resignation was far from voluntary, she added, “I never wanted to see this day.”

Under the severance agreement, a copy of which was obtained by The Malibu Times, Hogin will be paid her salary for the remainder of this year, and for all of next year as well. Hogin agreed not to bring any legal action on matters arising from her employment with the city, and she agreed to serve as a legal consultant for the remainder of the year. The agreement does not require a specific number of hours, and payment is not contingent on hours.

Barovsky said that while Hogin is being paid a total of $227,000, he expects the city will end up paying around $400,000 to hire an interim attorney and one to permanently replace Hogin. The council is scheduled to discuss its options for finding an interim attorney at a special meeting Wednesday evening.

Hasse, reached after the farewell party, hewed closely to the official line that Hogin voluntarily resigned. Still, he briefly hinted that Hogin’s departure was not a straightforward resignation when he said, “It’s frustrating that I am not able to tell the people of Malibu the precise reasons for why I accepted her resignation.” State law prohibits elected officials from discussing some city personnel matters.

Asked whether he felt a year-and-one-half’s worth of salary was a bit generous for an employee who only quit, Hasse said, “We wanted to recognize her service to the city.” But he quickly added that the city was paying for an unknown number of hours of Hogin’s time for consulting duties.

“We felt it was worthwhile for her to serve as a consultant,” he said. “If it’s generous, so be it, but we did what we felt was needed to protect the legal interests of the city.”

Of the five council members, only Keller, Van Horn and Hasse approved a severance agreement for Hogin, who had been investigating friends and supporters of the three for possible campaign violations during last year’s City Council race. The severance agreement came on the heels of an apparent yearlong effort by Keller, Van Horn and Hasse to remove Hogin from her position.

Lyn Konheim announced this week that he has sold his family’s interest in the Malibu Bay Co. to the Perenchio family.

“A fair offer was made by the Perenchio family to purchase our family-ownership share of the company,” Konheim said Monday. “The offer was made amicably and the decision of our family was to accept.”

Negotiations took place earlier this month, and the deal is expected to close in July.

Konheim said he will definitely not be leaving the city. “I will continue to look forward to being part of the Malibu community. We will continue to have our home here in Malibu.”

Stressing that the takeover was not in any way hostile, Konheim said he hoped his former partner would do well. “I wish the best for the Perenchios and the city in keeping the same positive direction.”

The Malibu Bay Co. was formed 10 years ago by the Konheim and Perenchio families. John Perenchio was an active partner in the company’s operations until June 1997, when he left to start his own record company, Ultimatum Music. “He has continued to be involved in the company but not on as much of a day-to-day basis as he was,” said David Reznick, who took over the position when Perenchio left.

The company will continue its operations without any interruptions or significant change, Reznick said. The office remains in its current location in Malibu Colony Plaza.

“The transition has been amicable and we will continue to press on with approval for our projects in the Civic Center and continue to meet with the city, at their invitation, to discuss pursuing our long-term development rights on all of our properties,” said Reznick, who will be in charge of running the daily activities of the company.

Over the past 10 years, the company has been an active participant in the city’s General Plan Task Force and Civic Center Specific Plan Advisory Committee and has been involved with the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable.

On the table now are development plans for the company’s properties in the Civic Center, Point Dume and Trancas. Reznick is working with the city’s Ad Hoc Committee on plans for all of its properties.

“We want to help the city address the fast-growing demand for more open space, recreational opportunities, and other civic and community amenities,” Reznick said. “One other thing we’ve been working on recently — we were pleased to work with the Sheriff’s Department, the city and the school district to help resolve the traffic and parking problems at Juan Cabrillo and Malibu High School.” The solutions have been planned and will be implemented over the summer and into the fall.

The Malibu Bay Co. was also involved in supporting the school board on Proposition X, which raised $42 million for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

“I have been asked to serve on the Proposition X Oversight Committee, which will oversee the administration of the bond fund,” Reznick said. “The district has close to $80 million to spend on schools in Malibu and Santa Monica, which will include major improvements at Malibu High School, as well as all the schools will gain additional classrooms.”

The company has also opened three of its Civic Center properties to the current Summer Sculpture Exhibition.

“We think the sculpture exhibits are an asset to the community,” Reznick said. “It helps stimulate people’s interest in art, and it’s a wonderful cultural resource to have this art displayed in prominent places in the community,”