An active code enforcement case is open by the City of Malibu against famed restaurant Nobu. The expensive sushi eatery rented out its oceanfront location July 4 for a private party hosted by a West Hollywood bar and sponsored by high end tequila, vodka, and Champagne companies. The restaurant was issued a conditional temporary use permit that wasrevoked after tickets to the pricey event were on sale. City officials said the TUP did not meet requirements for a parking plan nor approval from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The party went on despite a toothless warning from the city. A city code enforcement officer was on scene July 4 to monitor the situation, but took no action. 

“Unfortunately, the city does not have the jurisdictional ability to independently shut down an event like this,” according to a statement. The statement continued: “Regarding the tragic fatal traffic collision that occurred on Pacific Coast Highway later that evening, the matter is currently under investigation by the LASD, and all inquiries about it should be directed to the LASD. The city offers its sincere condolences and support to all those impacted by this loss, and remains committed to fighting for a safer PCH.”

Rancorous year in local swim community ends with shutout of old vendor 

After a year of tumult and rancor between two swim clubs in Malibu, the city has awarded the newly formed Malibu Marlins swim club a sole contract to provide swimming programs to the community. Erik Ran will remain in place as the aquatics vendor’s head coach.

It was the abrupt firing of Ran last year that split the swimming community. Ran had been the head coach for the Malibu Aquatics Foundation (MAF), once the city’s sole swim vendor that ran the Malibu Seawolves swimming programs. When parents learned of that decision last summer, many complained to MAF about his dismissal, saying that they had no input in the MAF board’s decision. After angry accusations and charges between MAF and the parents of swimmers who supported Ran, disgruntled parents started a new swim club, the Malibu Marlins, and promised members transparency in running the organization as well as a democratic process in the hiring and firing of coaches. However, the Marlins could not secure swim time at the community pool and were forced to rent the pool from the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District at the inconvenient time of 6:30 a.m.

After months of pleading with city officials, the Marlins were able to share pool usage with the Seawolves program this summer by securing a separate contract with the city.

Recently, the city heard from three vendors, including the Marlins, MAF, and another group seeking to become the sole aquatics program vendor for Malibu.

Robert Brinkmann, president of the Marlins, said after a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and bidding the Marlins won a three-year contract starting Sept. 3.

The city’s website announced signups will go live in August for the fall season programs.

In addition to Masters swimming from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m., there will be classes based on age groups ranging from youngsters to teenagers in different categories and then for adults who don’t want to swim in the early morning hours. 

All swim programs begin after school is out at Malibu High School, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. On Fridays, programs start at 4:30, and on weekends swimming is in the morning.

If there is criticism about achieving competitiveness in the Marlins’ program, Ran wanted to put that to rest, saying, “I’ma very competitive guy. I was a former professional swimmer. All my friends and family members are currently still involved in competitive swimming. It’s all I do and think about. Our top priority is being competitive; any swim team, that’s what you’d like.”

Ran does not advocate for weekly swim meets, however, saying, “They are very tiring and long. You only swim once or twice. You do need swim meets to qualify for big meets and there are one or two big meets a year, but swimming a meet every weekend I think is not good. One, maybe two meets a month is much more relevant. Training is where it’s at. Swim meets don’t make you faster. Workouts do.”

Ran mentioned 16-year-old Marshal Lazar of Malibu, who qualified for the Summer Age Group Championships in Riverside. He’ll swim the 100 breaststroke this week. 

“I set up a two-year plan with him because he wants to go to college, to a Division I swim program,” the coach said.”We’re going to see some talents coming up, swimming fast times and breaking records. 

“We’re going to be able to supply Coach Hayden [Goldberg] and [Mike] Mulligan from Malibu High School with the best and most competitive swimmers that we can. We’re seeing some amazing talent. Success is going to come Malibu’s way. We’re going to get swimmers to Division I swim programs in college.”

The Malibu Times reached out to the longtime and once sole swimming vendor, MAF. President Joe Sichta asked for time in providing a response. Reached again, Sichta declined to comment.

Brinkmann invited any swimmer, competitive or not to swim with the Marlins club.

“The swimmers that are swimming competitively for the most part were trained by Erik,” he said. “We have competitive swimmers in the Marlins. Anybody who wants to compete can compete. The difference between us and the MAF is that we are also open to people who just like to swim and want to learn how to swim better and don’t necessarily want to gocompete.

“Not only are we open to all swimmers, but the whole idea behind our club is that it’s democratic and transparent. If anybody doesn’t like what we’re doing and wants to make a difference, they’re welcome to join our club. They’rewelcome to join our board, and they’re welcome to help us run it. The whole point behind everything we’ve done is to give the community a voice.”

City hiring struggles, harassment allegations, and traffic safety are among issues new councilmembers would confront 

Malibu’s general municipal election nomination period began July 15 and candidates for one of three city availablecouncil positions have until Aug. 9 to pull papers for the November election, if all incumbents have re-upped.  If an incumbent does not pull papers, then residents have until Aug. 14 to pull papers. 

To run for election, one must be 18 years old on or before election day, a United States citizen and registered to vote in the City of Malibu at the time the nomination paper is issued. Before any candidate raises or spends any money in connection with a campaign, they must first fill out and sign a Declaration of Intent to Solicit or Receive Contributions Form and the Fair Political Practices Commission Form 501 with the city clerk. 

As of July 21, there are five declared candidates, two of whom are incumbents Paul Grisanti and Steve Uhring. Bruce Silverstein, whose term ends this year, has not yet declared as a candidate.

The others competing for one of the three slots are Jack Skene, a mortgage broker; Kevin Shenkman, an attorney who has long advocated that municipalities and other voting districts with at-large elections switch to district elections; and Fred Roberts.

What issues do Malibuites want candidates to address

Of course, there are a few weeks before the deadline to declare candidacy. However, already there are a host of issues Malibuites would like candidates to consider and explain their position regarding. 

Where to start? 

One could first ask all candidates to articulate what their strategies would be with regard to filling vacant positions for the city, where some employees allege there is a “toxic workplace.” That’s more complicated than it sounds at first blush because fashioning solutions to the difficulty in hiring and attrition is multifaceted.

According to a consultant the city recently retained, there needs to be reorganization of some departments in the City of Malibu.

However, even if that occurs smoothly and compensation and benefits are competitive, the big elephant in the room concerns the need to provide affordable housing so employees don’t have to endure very lengthy commute times. 

Thus, the employment hiring and retention issue distills down, in part, to how each candidate would support providing such housing. At question is whether any of them would advocate for the city to use one of its seven available parcels, known as Malibu Community Lands, for such a project. Perhaps candidates should inform themselves regarding their position of the advisability and feasibility of such a possible solution. Perhaps the candidates could discuss the feasibility of building safe and affordable housing into the compensation structure for city employees, at least for those who are supposed to be enforcing such things as short-term rentals operating safely and without excessive noise.

Another big elephant in the room relates to Assistant Planning Director Adrian Fernandez’s announcement that he wanted to “finally raise the curtain on abuses and collusion that [he] has both witnessed and personally endured within the City of Malibu.” Fernandez asserts he has been harassed by other employees, councilpersons, and special interest groups during City Council meetings and in the workplace and that he has even received death threats. 

Clearly, City Council candidates cannot opine about interactions between Fernandez and other employees that they have not participated in or observed.  Nevertheless, it is a legitimate query to ask them to explain how they think the city could possibly re-tool its public workplace so it is perceived to be less hostile.

Events that cause traffic congestion and enormous safety risks 

Residents are still reeling from how the city handled the Fourth of July party at Nobu, especially since it became clear that a person was killed and another seriously injured when a guest who attended the party caused a head-on collision.

True, the city has now announced it will prosecute a code enforcement action and a citation has been issued. However, those actions were after the fact. Concededly, such proceedings might deter Nobu or other establishments from ignoring the city’s admonitions to not hold an event when they have not received a temporary use permit to do so. However, the question is whether the city — which states that unfortunately, it does not have the jurisdictional ability to shut down an unpermitted event — can coordinate proactively with other agencies that do have the requisite authority to close an unpermitted gathering before such an event proceeds. One also wonders whether the city could have sought a temporary restraining order on an expedited basis when the permitless Nobu informed that it was proceeding with its Independence Day event in defiance of the city’s instructions not to do so. 

Hikers risking their lives to get to the trailhead

Moving on to other troublesome matters that involve serious safety concerns: One resident recently noted that “there has been a horrendous lack of oversight at Escondido Falls and many people, some pushing babies in strollers, make mad dashes across PCH as others vie for parking spaces on the dangerous highway.” Perhaps candidates could address their positions about how the city can spearhead efforts to find solutions, as opposed to our municipal representatives stating that because the MRCA has jurisdiction over the land, the city is powerless to do anything about the extreme safety concerns. 

Racing on PCH and in the canyons

Not a day goes by without one hearing the revving of engines and observing unsafe driving maneuvers and excessive speeding. Currently, efforts to synchronize the stop lights on PCH are underway, with traffic engineers maintaining that doing so will slow drivers down. Hopefully, that will happen. However, it is not a panacea. 

Although LA County has jurisdiction over most roads beyond the city limits except Decker Canyon, a state highway, those vying for City Council should propose meaningful ways to address the racing and unsafe driving issues, including, but not limited to, finding ways to bolster the efforts of Operation Safe Canyons, a committee coordinated by the county supervisor’s office, California Highway Patrol, the Sheriff’s Traffic Division and the Department of Public Works.  

Further, candidates should tell the electorate their opinions regarding the city retaining law enforcement to conduct draconian patrols for several months to a year. Perhaps doing so would send a meaningful message to those committing traffic infractions. Trying to accomplish that by increasing enforcement may be money well spent that could save lives.

There are, of course, a plethora of other pressing issues facing City Council candidates. As time progresses, The Malibu Times will feature each of the competing candidates and the major issues they propose to address.

City of Malibu renews its petition for school district split

On July 18, the City of Malibu suspended mediation sessions regarding the establishment of an independent Malibu Unified School District and issued a letter to the Los Angeles County Office of Education Committee on School District Organization to resume the process for the previously filed petition, according to a press release issued by the city late on that day.  

The communication noted that the city originally filed a petition with the County Committee in 2017, but eventually requested that the County Committee pause the petition process to allow time for mediation with the Santa Monica Unified School District. 

“Despite dedicated efforts to find common ground and extensive progress on the revenue sharing agreement, ultimatelythe parties were unable to reach a resolution,” the release said.

Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart stated, “We have made every possible effort to work through mediation with SMMUSD, but unfortunately, we could not find a solution that adequately reflects the interests and aspirations of our community — our priority remains to provide our children with the best possible educational environment, tailored to the specific needs of Malibu.” 

The city’s press release added, “Although the parties had reached an agreement on the revenue sharing agreement, the recent mediation sessions had not yielded progress on the two remaining agreements: the Operational Agreement and the Joint Powers Authority Agreement. Consequently, the city believes it is a better use of its resources to return to the County Committee Process.”

The city’s statement further explained, “By resuming the petition process with the County Committee, the city aims to gain greater control over educational resources, curricula, and school management, ensuring that the unique characteristics of the community are effectively addressed — put simply, this move will allow Malibu to achieve local control as quickly as possible.”

Readers may recall that in 2020, City Councilmembers Rick Mullen and Karen Farrer served on the city’s ad hoc committee. In October 2020, that committee reported that negotiations regarding the financial arrangements of the separation stalled. Thus, the council decided to move forward with the petition.

Subsequently, the parties paused the petition proceedings to pursue mediation. Now, the city deems the mediation process to be at an impasse and has therefore again reinstated the petition process.

SMMUSD’s response

In response, SMMUSD issued a strong statement noting first that LACOE “has been made aware of this unexpected decision by Malibu and will announce next steps in the petition consideration process.”

Elaborating, SMMUSD Board of Education Vice President Jon Kean, a unification subcommittee member, stated, “We are extremely disappointed that the city has chosen this path that will now inevitably delay this process by many years.”

Kean added, “after years of hard work, we were less than three months away from forming two independent school districts that could provide similar programs to what exists today on day one of operation. More work was needed to finalize the agreements, but to walk away from a potential solution that meets the core tenets of our mediation and long-held goals is the city’s choice, and it is unconscionable. In three months, we could have achieved what community members have sought for decades.”

SMMUSD attorney David Soldani stated, “The district created a timeline to complete unification once and for all in partnership with the city. Going back to a fatally flawed 2017 petition is a baffling decision and the district has no choice but to fight the city’s attempt to disenfranchise SMMUSD students residing in Santa Monica.”

Soldani also stated that “the district remains willing to reinstate the mutually agreed upon timeline and attempt to complete the unification process by the end of October, but this cannot occur while it must fight a petition that has been proven to be unfair.”

The Malibu Times will keep readers updated regarding further developments.

Caltrans added two virtual workshops to discuss their PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study on July 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. and on Sept. 12, from 1 to 3 p.m.

A little over 30 people logged on to the second PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study workshop last week held by Caltrans and the City of Malibu, around the same amount of people that attended the first workshop on July 11. 

On Thursday, July 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. around the same people who attended the first in-person meeting, were at the second meeting and we’re able to participate in a survey on safety enhancements on certain areas on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). The participants were given a list of safety enhancements and were able to rank their preferred safety improvement priority from highest to least. The survey focused on areas such as Las Flores to Carbon Canyon and Puerco Canyon to Sea Vista Drive.

The study aims to identify safety and multimodal travel improvements for all users of PCH in Malibu, including options for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as enhancing transit opportunities on PCH. 

Deputy City Manager Alexis Brown and Public Works Director Rob Deboux were at the meeting ready to respond to any questions. 

Executive Liason of Special Projects Ryan Snyder led the presentation and said their goal is to have a draft and final study done by the end of December. 

“So we’re pretty tight timeline here, things will happen relatively quickly,” Snyder said. “Of course we’re not going to make everyone happy, we’re going to do our best. We want to see what the priorities are from the greatest numbers.” 

The PCH Master Plan will include community stakeholder engagement activities and community outreach meetings to gather input on various traffic calming measures and other street improvements, including a “boulevard” roadway. 

The presentation also included a chart on the crashes that occur on PCH.

“We want to conduct this study primarily with crashes in mind,” Snyder continued. “Safety is really what we’re looking at here and we’ve identified where crashes have occurred in the last five years. Pedestrian and bicycle crashes, so we’re looking at all types of crashes.” 

Caltrans District 7 Deputy District Director Marlon Regisford mentioned the first in-person meeting they held on July 11 at Malibu City Hall.

“This is an effort that will impact the future of PCH,” Regisford said.

Some concepts included adding biked lanes, buffered colored bike lanes, and roundabouts, as well as adding a gateway signal to motorists that they are entering a new location. 

“Gateways signal to motorists that they are entering a different type of zone from where they’ve been,” Snyder said. “If they are entering down the road pretty fast and they come into a narrower section of the street, they immediately slow down, so gateways can be a tool as well that we can use.” 

Malibu resident John Johannessen asked if viewers were able to see who was on the call. The guest view list was disabled thoughout the entire meeting, so the participants were unable to see who was on the call. 

One of the most popular proposals is to add trees in the middle lane of PCH. From the Public Safety Commission, Chair Chris Frost attended the meeting and emphasized the importance of having the center lane open for emergency personnel.

“We won’t be able to pick everyone’s options, but this will narrow the options,” Snyder said. 

The next meeting is on Aug. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Malibu City Hall. Caltrans added two virtual workshops to discuss their PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study on July 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. and on Sept. 12, from 1 to 3 p.m.

For background information, review the Fact Sheet at malibucity.org/DocumentCenter. For further questions, please contact: D7.System.Planning@dot.ca.gov. 

Lack of drivers is obstacle in getting SMMUSD general education buses rolling again

Malibu parents and city leaders are collaborating on finding solutions to getting public school students to campus now that the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District can no longer provide bus service. While the district does not provide general education students transportation in Santa Monica, that lack of bus service was announced to Malibu last month due to a severe bus driver shortage. Special education students will not be affected, but for the nearly 100 Malibu students who rely on the bus to get to school, their families are desperate to find a solution.

Malibu City Councilmember Marianne Riggins, who serves on the School District Separation Ad Hoc Committee, and Councilmember Paul Grisanti, who serves on that committee and also on the School Safety Committee, attended a meeting July 15 with parent leaders exploring various strategies to restore bus service. With school starting again Aug.22, there isn’t much time to figure out a solution to get kids safely to school. 

Malibu High School/Malibu Middle School PTSA President Kevin Keegan shared the meeting was productive even though this pressing problem has not been solved yet.

“The city is supportive and wants to offer their assistance in whatever way is feasible to come up with a short-term solution,” he said. “We have a short-term problem we’re trying to solve. Longer-term, we want to confirm that the service will be not only reinstated, but be more reliable in the future. We’re working on both fronts.

“Clearly, the bus driver shortage is the primary issue. Since we met with the district July 10, I think there’s been a surge in effort to seek alternative potential pools of candidates by both parents and the district,” said Keegan.

At the July 10 meeting, SMMUSD officials said the problem is not the budget for general education bus service that already offers a competitive salary and benefits. The district has been actively recruiting new drivers but is faced with potential hires’ ineligibility, SMMUSD staff turnover, California State school bus driver certification standards, and Malibu’s distance from eligibility pools. Many drivers choose to work in Los Angeles, closer to their homes.

The group of parent and city leaders are exploring the possibility of hiring a bus service separate from the district that could service students coming from Santa Monica, Sunset Mesa, Big Rock, Las Flores, and a few other local neighborhoods for transportation to Webster Elementary, Malibu Middle, and Malibu High. While trying to solve this problem however, they are likely to face the same issues as the district.

Under the tight time frame before school starts, there is currently no feasible solution on the table yet.

“There are a lot of factors that have to be taken into play. First and foremost, the fundamental cornerstone into establishing that kind of service in ensuring that it’s safe for students,” Keegan said adding that the service would have to be of “the highest quality.”

Whether this problem can be solved by school’s Aug. 22 start is the big question. Keegan said, “There is hope. That’s obviously mixed with concern. The city is a partner in this. They want to be resourceful and supportive.” 

The parent group sent an email this week saying, “Bus service is important for parents whose children do not use the buses because having this fundamental school service operational helps to maintain and boost enrollment in our schools. Increased enrollment in Malibu public schools can benefit all our students and specifically your child or children because it ensures our public schools’ funding is sufficient and growing.

“This should not be parents’ problem. We (the Malibu PTAs and AMPS) believe this is a fundamental school service essential for our school district, especially considering the unique nature of our transportation environment. The primary access road is one of the most dangerous highways in California. Also, the commute time from some of our neighborhoods can be between two-to-three hours daily, which, for many families, is almost impossible to schedule.

“Based on the July 10 SMMUSD presentation by Superintendent Dr. Shelton and his team, we do believe SMMUSD is dedicating time and resources this summer trying to restore general education bus service as soon as possible.  SMMUSD has followed up with us since the in-person meeting last Wednesday (July 10) and, while no promises were made, SMMUSD conveyed a sincere desire to stay on top of this issue until it is resolved.”

The parent group hopes to provide a status update so “parents in August can plan accordingly,” Keegan stated. “Our intention is to keep parents updated with any breakthroughs and regular messages.”

At press time there was confirmation that a formal short-term solution was submitted to the district for their consideration. A reply is expected from the district by next week.