Please be aware that Tom Bates is not a member of the Malibu Association of Realtors and does not speak for this organization. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Malibu Association of Realtors or its members.
Casey Kelley,
president
A long-awaited study that may affect future development in the Civic Center was released by UCLA scientists last week. The Draft Final Report to the California State Coastal Conservancy by Richard Ambrose and Antony Orme outlines options for resource enhancement and management of lower Malibu Creek and Lagoon.
At 450-plus pages (excluding appendix and bibliography), the report is replete with maps, graphs and charts, and begins with a history of tectonic and geomorphic evolution from the Cenozoic and Pleistocene ages. Whew!
Daunting for anyone with less than a Ph.D., even City Engineer Rick Morgan admitted he hadn’t read all of it — yet. But he intends to have digested it before the Malibu Creek Watershed Advisory Council meeting hosted by the city (7 p.m. April 20 at the Malibu Library). “That agenda will be more focused on strategy as to where to go with this,” he said.
“The pathogen element of the report didn’t do much to clarify the health issues for Malibu,” said Morgan. “But they do have, in the back, a matrix of restoration alternatives. Our task on the Watershed Council will be to build a consensus to pick and select from those alternatives.”
The council includes representatives of all stakeholders in the watershed, including resource and regulatory agencies, environmental groups and the jurisdictions of Malibu, Agoura, Calabasas, Westlake and Thousand Oaks. Morgan and Councilwoman Carolyn Van Horn represent Malibu on the council, which has been meeting monthly or bimonthly for six years. “It’s been a long effort,” Morgan said. “We’ve been working on this since the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Plan came out.
“We are poised to put something in motion now. We have the study. We have the recommended restoration alternatives. We just need to build support,” Morgan said. “They identified sites for wetland restoration in the Civic Center, and the city is encouraged by that part of the report.”
In its executive summary, the report concludes, “There are no easy solutions to the problems of Malibu Lagoon. . . .Possible solutions to the problems thus caused are readily enumerated but not easily implemented.”
Morgan said that is the purpose of master planning. “You first figure out what you want, and then you figure out how to get it. That’s what the study helps us do.”
UCLA has tentatively scheduled a half-day presentation and workshop for April 30 at Malibu Community Center Auditorium.
A few weeks ago, you wrote an editorial about — terrible “rats” like Kazan who betray their friends. Conversely to “ratting,” I filed a motion in court to help protect people like myself and others who believe in informing the public, rather than informing on them. The information is about the connection between development and traffic in Malibu.
I have nothing to gain. No profit, no business, no political office. There are those who would profit from Malibu’s insupportable growth as a destination resort with huge shopping centers and overwhelming traffic, which would choke P.C.H. to its dying gasp. Every day would be like a July 4th traffic weekend. It is unlikely that any negotiation could change that fact.
The first amendment to the United States Constitution protects the placing of ads about information on such issues. It is a constitutional right and the people who support it are entitled to privacy and to freedom from persecution and intimidation.
I try to be consistent in my deep seated beliefs in life. This appears to be the journalistic principle followed by your competition, the Malibu Surfside News, which is why the Malibu Citizens for Less Traffic on P.C.H., advertised in that paper only.
You also recently castigated Kenneth Starr. However, you are silent on the tactics of this Malibu investigation which has the same aura of agenda and vendetta.
In all of this time, one year now, no one has ever asked me for any information about the issues. They tried only recently, instead, to compel me by subpoena to give them information that they are not legally entitled to. No one from the state and the Malibu City Attorney’s office (investigating as a team with the inevitable influences of bias), nor your newspaper, has ever asked me one question about the truth since this investigation began. Instead they have knocked on doors at night, flashing badges, frightening people. Voluntarily, I would have been glad to discuss the issues. No one can improperly use the law to coerce cooperation. They are not legally entitled to do that.
Arnold, you have never talked to me so I am curious to know where you got your information. In good conscience, pending legal matters are best left for the courts, without anyone casting predetermined judgments. I choose not to cast doubts on your ethics. I am sorry that you have chosen to cast doubts on mine.
Gilbert N. Segel
The Santa Monica-Malibu residents have always been extremely generous and supportive of teachers and education. Passing the local facilities bond is their most recent demonstration of that support. I want to use this opportunity to explain our negotiations impasse.
During contract negotiations, the association responded to the board’s proposal to add 60 minutes to the kindergarten day by requesting that the “Restructuring/Educational Reform Plans” in the contract be used.
The reform and restructuring process has been a cornerstone of the district’s philosophy for approximately 10 years. It was proposed by the district. This process is used for proposals that impact teaching and learning in our schools. The district wanted teachers to be part of decision-making in order to ensure success for their students’ schedules and programs.
Last year when the board wanted to reduce kindergarten class size to 20:1, limited space was an issue. Kindergarten teachers across the district came together to implement this reform process by discussing ways to make class-size reduction happen. It was somewhat risky to have teachers who work at different schools come together, to get comfortable, and to feel safe in sharing opinions and ideas. After some frustration, they compromised and voted for the board’s proposal to reduce instructional time and to share classrooms for the class-size reduction program.
Why would the board want to negotiate a reform rather than follow the existing contract language on the restructuring reform process? Is it too risky for them? Why would the board package kindergarten reform with a salary proposal? This is not collaborative bargaining.
I take pride in the fact that the association has been building a relationship with community and the board over many years. We ask the board to provide us with the time necessary to develop a sound program so that kindergarten students can reach the educational standards we have established.
We ask the board to allow a free and open consultation process with the kindergarten teachers without linking the outcome to a salary proposal. The reform process should have nothing to do with salary proposals.
Beth Muir,
president,
Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Association
Although largely based in fantasy, the war stories are notorious within Malibu’s real estate industry: You’ve matched the perfect buyer with the perfect house. They’re paying millions — all in cash — and escrow is closing tomorrow. As you’re about to dial your travel agent to book that dream week in Paris to be paid for by your big commission, the phone rings. “Hi,” says the client. “Before we close escrow, you don’t mind if we have the house Feng Shui-ed, do you?” “Not at all,” you say weakly, as visions of that Paris vacation start flying out the window.
In case you’ve been living on the far side of the moon, Feng Shui (the phrase means “wind” and “water”) is the ancient Chinese art of object placement. For the past decade, its popularity in Malibu and across America is burgeoning. From Detroit to Decker Canyon, Feng Shui masters, at rates up to $1000 an hour (the average is far less, about $150/hour), are telling people where and how their homes and offices should be situated, planned or reorganized, how their furnishings should be arranged and even how their gardens should be planted. They can also, on rare occasions, actually diagnose a house as unlivable (as happened recently in Malibu). If selling the property is on the agenda, it can all be more than a bit unnerving to even top real estate sales producers, not to mention sellers.
The popularity of Feng Shui, once more or less limited to Asians and nonconformists, has gone mainstream, too. Right up there with listings for “graffiti removal” and “dog sitting” in “Concierge,” a booklet of client services published by Coldwell Banker, the world’s largest real estate company, is “Feng Shui Consultants.” Patti Robbins-Vignal, an ex-John Robert Powers model, corporate executive and now Coldwell Banker’s local “Concierge” Feng Shui master, explains: “According to the principals of Feng Shui, subtle and invisible life energies called ‘ch’i’ are continually flowing around us.
“When ch’i is obstructed, we are out of balance and unable to overcome what seem to be insurmountable obstacles,” she says. “When ch’i flows in harmony and balance, we become keenly aware of the positive effects and feel uplifted. It’s my job to see that ch’i flows in an unobstructed manner.”
Teri Yarbrow, a creative consultant and Malibu resident for three years, doesn’t need to be convinced. Before she rented her house, she called in a Feng Shui master named Katherine Metz to look the place over. “The house is on the edge of a sheer drop,” Yarbrow says, “so all the ch’i was tumbling out the front door, down to the ocean. We stopped this by putting banners, red and pink, to stop its loss. The house is also a split level, so, according to the Feng Shui master, energy was split right at the entrance. They placed a crystal on the banister to unify the energy, Yarbrow says. Before Yarbrow recently began construction on a house in New Mexico, she again called in Metz. “She made a few changes,” Yarbrow says, “primarily realligning some doors and closets. It’s all just common sense, though.”
Common sense or not, the details can be daunting for the neophyte. For one thing, there are about a dozen versions of Feng Shui. Robbins-Vignal is a practitioner of “Black Hat,” the art of interior arrangements. There is also Compass, which dictates how and where our homes and offices should be built, and Tibetan, the most ancient.
It concerns itself not with rearranging the insides of our homes, but with the human beings who live in them. Beverly Taki, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker in Malibu, swears by it. Every morning, she sprays her checkbook with Dragon Bone, purportedly a concoction utilizing the remains of the mythical monsters that, lying for millions of years in a hidden location on the China-Tibet border, “absorbed a rare combination of magnetized materials” that provide “remarkable healings” for people. Dragon Bones “Platinum” version (sold by Robbins-Vignal for $29.50), is specifically claimed to provide “immediate help . . . attracting money and success.” “A week after I started spraying my checkbook, I sold two houses in one day,” Taki says happily. Admitting it might be just circumstantial, she gave her wallet another squirt nevertheless.
Does this mean if your house doesn’t pass Feng Shui muster, you should take out some earthquake or fire insurance and pray for a disaster? Not at all, according to Robbins-Vignal. “There is a solution for every problem,” she says. Some are easy; for instance, a sofa’s back should never face the front door (blocks the free-flow of ch’i) and planting red flowers (the color of power) are said to attract success. Relocating a home or office so its tranquillity is protected by a hill or mountain can be tougher. “Mirrors are the Band-Aids of Feng Shui,” she adds. “They can be arranged to redirect ch’i in posiive ways to provide harmony and peace in the home.” Often, she is called on by Realtors to “clear” houses that were not selling. One case she recalls vividly, involving a house where a murder had been committed. “I won’t tell you all my secrets,” she says, “but part of the cure involved burning sage, the purification herb, in all the rooms.”
“A decade ago, when I first became interested in Feng Shui, my clients were mostly Asian,” Robbins-Vignal says. “Few Americans knew what it was all about. Now my phone rings constantly. I think the reason for its popularity is that many see it as having a track record of proven success in bringing tranquillity and peace in an increasingly fast-paced, stressful world.”
When Galileo explained the idea that the Earth orbits the sun, he challenged everyone’s orientation. We are now at a similar historic juncture, this time in the realm of computers, and “Y2K” is the red flag. The cause is not so simple as “computer memory was expensive 50 years ago,” or that people just decided to adopt for computers the customary practice of writing dates like “1/1/99” — Why was this practice continued even into Windows98???
Has it occurred to anyone that the way software is built might be a problem? I have not heard anyone in the news media raising such issues. Are they taboo?
A misguided orientation pervades the entire culture of programming. The susceptibility of programs to viruses, hacking and cracking also reveals errors in the foundations of software. The weaknesses of the current paradigm will be further challenged by accelerating complexity and the demand for dynamism.
Let’s reconsider the near-universal practice of programming in codes, deceptively called “computer languages.” In reality these codes are degenerate pseudo-languages embodying a bias towards formal hierarchies. The resulting systems are rigid and opaque — just the opposite of what is needed in coping with the future.
Why cling to this “mediaeval” approach? Programming can easily be done instead in network structures made up of dynamically linking modules, which can be easily visualized in a form that corresponds closely to what they do or represent.
In contrast to the old paradigm, our alternative gives developers the flexibility needed for coping with a dynamic and fast-changing network reality. It puts programming on a sound conceptual basis, modelled after nonhierarchical networks, such as the Internet itself, or the brain.
Once the dust and debris from Y2K have begun to settle, the now-reigning software paradigm will look as antiquated as the once universal superstition that the sun revolves around the Earth.
Francis Jeffrey
The familiar look of Malibu’s Cross Creek Plaza is about to change significantly with the addition of a few high-profile, national retail chain stores. The old Crown Bookstore, which closed last year, will be transformed into a would-be game hunters’ haven when it makes its debut as Banana Republic. Locals longing for jungle khakis and pith helmets will trek into town no longer.
The company is spending $3 million to give the locale a new, safari-style look. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer.
Negotiations are also underway to relocate SuperCare Drugs, freeing up space for a Gap or Baby Gap. As far as Steve Soboroff, one of the owners of the complex, is concerned, the move was long overdue. “It was love at first sight,” Soboroff explained. “My partners Anita and Richard Green wanted a Gap and a Banana Republic for a long time. These will be fantastic additions. It’s great news for the community.”
It is also great news for existing retailers and restaurants, which have not generated as much foot traffic since Crown Books moved out. “We lost a lot of business,” said Guido’s Vassil Pertchinkov. “If it’s empty, no one wants to come on this side.”
The Malibu Chamber of Commerce also views the newcomers as welcome additions. “It’s going to change the dynamic of the business community,” said Mary Lou Blackwood. “It should help draw a younger crowd.”
Across the street at the Malibu Country Mart, Fin’s is calling it quits. Just one year after moving into the place formerly known as Bambu, the owner has decided to cut bait and focus on his other seafood restaurants in Calabasas and Westlake. Although there is no official word, the property has had a few nibbles from the proprietor of Tra Di Noi, who may open a Pacific Rim eatery in its place.
While Tra Di Noi may be looking to expand, Steve Pomerance of SuperCare Drugs is looking to scale down. “This space is too big for us,” he explained. “We need to cut out the gifts and focus more on health and beauty aids and being a neighborhood pharmacy.” He may be moving around the corner — possibly to the distribution center for the Los Angeles Times, which is moving out, but said, “I’d never leave this community. I couldn’t. It’s been too good to me.”
Down the street on Pacific Coast Highway, old Windsail restaurant may be in for some changes. The once elegant eatery with its sweeping ocean views is rumored to be in escrow. If the deal goes through, beachfront dining may not be on the menu. The property may be transformed into residential or commercial use.
Across the street and opposite the pier, the property now occupied by the Malibu Inn has been sold. The switch turned out to be the last straw for the adjoining Malibu Inn Liquors. After seven years, Dib Tayar has cleared out his inventory and is leaving town. “We lost a lot of business after the pier closed,” he lamented. “Our rent is still high, and it wasn’t worth it to stay.”
While many of the details have yet to be finalized, the plans are moving forward. The Banana Republic is expected to be open by Christmas and could help give the Civic Center a whole new look.
Now that the Malibu Stage Company theater is nearly complete, the role of one of its founders is changing. With very few finishing touches remaining to convert the former Shepherd by the Sea Lutheran Church into a 99-seat theater, Malibu’s only professional theater company has a home and Jacqueline Bridgeman has the title of president emeritus.
After nine years of fund raising and personal donations totaling $45,000, including the $25,000 that triggered a matching grant from the city late last year, writer Bridgeman resigned from the MSC board in October and relinquished her leadership role to financier Richard Carrigan.
“Jackie has always been interested in the betterment of the community,” said City Councilman Harry Barovsky in a telephone interview. “She is truly dedicated to the arts and having quality live theater in Malibu. She is one of the unsung activists in this town, a marvelous human being.”
Bridgeman was introduced to co-founder and artistic director Charles Marowitz by Sharon Barovsky when Bridgeman helped her with a fund-raiser for PEN (Poets, Essayists and Novelists). Marowitz brought in first board members Mary Crosby, Matt Salinger, Leo Penn, Nan Martin and Harry Gesner, as well as the star power of Kathleen Quinlan, George C. Scott, Martin Sheen, Rod Steiger and Trish Van Devere. Bridgeman and Marowitz officially founded the nonprofit organization in 1990.
“I knew Jackie was always very interested in bringing the arts to Malibu,” Sharon Barovsky said. “Jackie is terrific when it comes to working hard for the arts in general and for bringing them to Malibu in particular.”
During her nine-year tenure, Bridgeman primarily handled fund raising and publicity. Some of the larger donations include $11,000 from Jerry Perenchio, $10,000 from Dr. Bette Taicher-Herson and $6,000 each from Robert Altman and James Cameron. Other stellar supporters, those who have “purchased” a name-plaqued seat with a donation of at least $1,000, include Charles Bronson, Johnny Carson, Dick Clark, Tony Danza, Shelley Fabares, David Foster, Kelsey Grammar, Jack Lemmon, Dick Martin and Dick Van Dyke.
Often donations were made after Bridgeman sent people a personal note enclosing the brochure she designed with the help of Patrick Aroff and the WPA Advertising Agency, a brochure still being sent to potential contributors.
Supporting the arts comes naturally to Bridgeman. As a journalist for the Palisades Post and the Malibu Monitor, predecessor of The Malibu Times, she profiled writers Thomas Mann, Christopher Isherwood and Lion Feuchtwanger.
Her most critically acclaimed work, however, came when she ghost-wrote the aviation classic “The Lonely Sky,” a biography of her second husband, William Bridgeman. The test pilot who appeared on a 1953 cover of Time for his flights on the Douglas Skyrocket, a forerunner of the Apollo space program, ironically died on a recreational flight in the late ’60s. Bridgeman also edited a collection of Aldous Huxley essays called “Huxley and God.”
A co-founder of the Frederick Douglas Child Development Center in Watts, Bridgeman has also hosted fetes for Free Arts for Abused Children and Cystic Fibrosis on her 10-acre ranch.
When she resigned from the MSC board, Bridgeman cited managerial style differences with Marowitz but lauded his artistic capabilities. “He makes me furious, but he’s a genius,” Bridgeman said recently, paraphrasing her letter. “We are lucky to have him.”
She sees her president emeritus role as adviser to Carrigan, a self-described “private investor from Wall Street” who has studied philosophy and finance. “I spent most of my life on the ‘Street,'” he said, while showing off the theater with Bridgeman. “Jackie and Charles are introducing me to the workings of the theater. I hope I can make a difference in bringing some principles of business management.”
While ticking off the company’s plans for its first production with its acting ensemble, its children and senior citizens outreach, a “live poet’s society,” and becoming a regional cultural center, Carrigan noted the theater is also available for rentals.
Bridgeman and Carrigan say that an open house for the community is imminent. Bridgeman also wants to honor the 99 seat owners at a gala dinner-dance with surprise celebrity hosts. “I want to be responsible to the people who have supported us all these years,” she said.
Pointing to the theater’s beautiful home across the highway from Heathercliff Drive, Bridgeman added, “I am happy that the theater is up. This is what the community did, this is what the community paid for.”
In a recent press release, Marowitz thanked Malibu Glass, Malibu Country Inn, Leo Damian and Ann Sacks Tile & Stone for material and services. For information or rental, call (310) 456-8226.
It is by the goodness of God that in Malibu we have three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and the prudence never to practice either. Reading letters to the editor in The Malibu Times over the last few weeks and I was wondering how God would have handled the current development problems in Malibu. I recall that Noah’s Ark was sans a red tile roof and was painted earth brown. God must have spoken to Noah and said, “In six months I’m going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water and all the evil people will be destroyed. But I want to save a few good Malibuites and two of every kind of living thing on the earth. I am commanding you to build an Ark.”
In a flash of lightning, God delivered the specifications for the above referenced Ark. Six months passed, the skies clouded up and rain began to fall. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard, lamenting and there was no Ark. “Noah!” declared the Lord, “Where is the Ark?” “Lord, please forgive me,” begged Noah.
“I did my best, but there were some big problems! First, I had to get a building permit for the Ark construction project and your plans didn’t meet Malibu City codes. So I had to hire architect Ed Niles to redraw the plans. Then I got into a big fight with the city planning commission over whether or not the Ark could be painted cloud white with a red roof. No said the city commission. Soon afterward my neighbor objected, claiming I was violating zoning by building the Ark in my front yard, blocking his view of the ocean. I had to get another variance from the city planning commission, no accommodating task. I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark because there is a ban on cutting trees to save the spotted owl. I had to convince the Malibu City Council that I needed the wood to save the owls. The local Malibu contractors formed a union and went on strike, because I was using the required city support from the Malibu Day Labor Center. I personally had to negotiate a settlement before anyone would pick up a saw and hammer.
“Now I have 16 carpenters, only half of who speak a common language, working on the Ark, but I can’t load any owls or any other living thing because the Malibu City Council had not approved the Ark as a sanctuary. When I did start gathering up the animals and other living things, the Malibu Animal and Butterfly Rescue Group objected to me taking only two of each kind. When I got the suit dismissed, the Coastal Commission notified me that I couldn’t complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on “your” planned flood. The Coastal Commission didn’t take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the actions of a Supreme Being.
“Lord, I really don’t think I can finish the Ark for at least another five years.” Noah admitted. Then the sky began to clear. The sun began to shine. A rainbow arched across the Malibu skyline. Noah looked up and smiled. “You mean you’re not going to destroy the earth?” “No,” said God sadly. “Your government already has.”
Tom Fakehany
