the current

Month: March 2018

  • Homeless Dinners to be Served at County Courthouse

    FINALLY, some action from the City to organize the Homeless Dinners in a controlled and safe environment that requires City AND County involvement.
     
    How long has this ball been up the air? TOO LONG.
     
    Don’t think for one minute that if City Manager Reva Feldman didn’t get called out by Council – and on record – to actually SCHEDULE dinners on a trial basis at City Hall (you might recall my post last week re: the horror on council member Rosenthal’s new face when it was suggested by Council member Peak and Feldman “not having her calendar” available )that we would have seen any results for a good long time.
     
    It is very clear that nothing gets done by Feldman unless it is self-serving or if she is embarrassed/forced into it.
     
    If the old County courthouse is available now, why wasn’t it available over a year ago when over 300 people showed up to a Homeless meeting demanding the City start dealing with every aspect of this extremely important issue?
     
    If Feldman can call out a favor to County to get these homeless dinners scheduled then that means she start doing A LOT MORE to deal with the other issues that are greatly affecting residents in this CITY. Like perhaps the HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT that has been on the same property for YEARS!
     
    It’s not just about feeding them, it’s about DOING YOUR JOB as City Manager along side your “new and improved” Public Safety Department to earn your paycheck.
     
    She and her highly paid administrative staff (which includes at least three assistants – something no previous City Manager needed before to run this City) NEED TO GET TO WORK without a cattle prod poking them in the a$$.
     
    It will be very interesting to see where this goes. I am very happy for Carol Moss who has worked tirelessly on the Homeless issue in Malibu without seeing any help from the City until now.
     
    Congrats Carol! We love you and appreciate all your efforts and your team that works so hard to help those who are truly down and out (not those who are taking advantage of the system).
     
    Carry on the good people of Malibu. SQUEAKY WHEEL GET THE GREASE. – Cece Woods
  • Rindge Dam Meeting March 9th

    Rindge Dam Meeting March 9th

    Those who can’t stand to leave Malibu for any reason might want to reconsider, as on March 9, the California Coastal Commission is holding an “Important Public Hearing Notice Consistency Determination.” At issue are a Consistency Determination by the Army Corps of Engineers for the following issues:
    1. The removal of the Rindge Dam.
    2. Excavation of 780,000 cubic yards of sediment impounded behind the dam.
    3. Nearshore placement of clean excavated sand.
    4. Landfill placement of remaining sediments.
    5. Modification of upstream aquatic habitat barriers in Malibu.
    In essence, the A.C.E. want to discuss the best way to remove Rindge Dam, how to remove the sediment behind the dam and where to put all that sediment.
    A copy of the staff report on Rindge Dam will be available 10 days before the hearing on the Coastal Commission website at www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html.
    Go down to Item #11 and click that link to read the report on how the A.C.E intends to go about this.
    If you agree or disagree or have an out of the box idea, the meetings will be held:
    Date: Friday, March 9, 2018
    Time: 9.00 AM
    Place: Oxnard Harbor District
    333 Ponoma Street ,, Port Hueneme, CA. 93041
    REPhone: 415 904-5200
    Port Hueneme, CA. 93041
    REPhone: 415 904-5200
  • Short Term Vacation Rental Ordinance UPDATE – Hearing Set for May 7th

    Short Term Vacation Rental Ordinance UPDATE – Hearing Set for May 7th

    Malibu local Michael Lustig, a resident of Malibu Road which has been inundated with short term vacation rentals, presented over 100 hours of study to the Planning Commission last November discussing the current scale of the problem that Malibu faces with Airbnb and other home-sharing platforms.

    Lustig warned the Commission of Airbnb’s duplicity and how easy it is for operators to avoid the taxation, a main consideration for the City in terms of revenue and how they move forward with the proposed ordinance.

    Since Airbnb is not transparent on any level, there is no ledger and the numbers don’t add up leaving the city shorted millions of dollars.

    Lustig feels the proposed ordinance was a good start addressing the apartment issue with a 100% ban on all apartments in multifamily buildings of 3 or more units and protections for actual “home-sharing” of primary residences and guests houses where the owner is onsite and needs extra money to make ends meet.

    However, the proposed ordinance does not address the following:

    1.) Regulation of single family homes that are not primary residences (which is the largest growth sector and where speculators do the most damage and create the most nuisance).

    2.) There is no understanding of Airbnb’s new product offerings which are add-ons to the home rentals and create another unregulated revenue stream.

    3.) There was no thought given to enforcement or budgeting.

    4.) Due to time constraints, Lustig advised in writing, that any ordinance that does not include Mandatory Permitting, Platform Liability, Administrative Subpoena Authority, an Enforcement Plan and Budget is a non-starter. These things are essential because they force transparency and put the city in control.

    The Planning Commission’s eyes and ears were open and they decision was to send the Ordinance back to the City Attorney and City Manager for revision.

    Lustig waited on the revised ordinance to be posted “virtually any day” and received notification from the City on March 1st that the ordinance was bypassing the Planning Commission and going straight to City Council hearing on March 26th.

    Furious at how the City could bypass due process, Lustig wrote to City Manager Reva Feldman, City Attorneys Christi Hogan and Trevor Rusin and asked these three  with 3 questions;

    “Why did this happen?”

    “Is this even legal?”

    “When will the ordinance be public?”

    On March 6th, Lustig received an email from Assistant City Attorney Trevor Rusin informing of the decision to reverse bypassing the Planning Commission.

    Lustig received an update today from City Manager Feldman stating the ordinance is scheduled to be heard at the May 7th Planning Commission meeting.

    This gives the community, especially those impacted by these short term vacation rentals, time to strategize and prepare their message for the Commission who is open to solutions for this very complicated issue that is currently dividing our community and affecting our quality of life in this rural coastal town.

     

  • Malibu Township Council Oil Conference

    Malibu Township Council Oil Conference

    Malibu Township Council (MTC)  will conduct a free-of-charge community-wide conference aimed at preventing the opening of new federal offshore oil drilling leases that experts say are likely to harm Malibu’s open and safe coastal environment,  healthy surfing and swimming and even the city’s tourist-based economy .

    The conference, at 1:30 p.m., Sat., March 24, at the City Hall Theater, 23825 Stuart Ranch Road, will feature an introductory message prepared by The Hon. Leon Panetta, who was largely responsible for keep oil drilling away from the Monterey Bay. The conference will include six coastal expert panelists, including representatives from nonprofit groups whose mission is to keep the ocean environmentally safe.

    Panelists include, Congressman Ted Lieu, who represents Malibu and thirteen other coastal cities within the 33rd District;  Jeremy Wolf, environmental representative for State Sen. Henry Stern; Attorney Damon Nagami, Natural Resources Defense Council;  Steve Wicke, Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee Chair; Chad Nelson, CEO of Surfrider; a representative of State Fish and Wildlife charged with inspections of offshore structures; and Attorney Dayna Bochco, member of the California Coastal Commission.  (Bios, with photos, accompany this release on a separate sheet.)

    Richard Lawrence, MTC president, announced the event Tuesday (March 6) saying, “Since at least the 1970s, Malibu Township Council has worked to keep our beaches free of chemical and physical contaminants, as well as an open and clean horizons.  Oil platforms offshore would damage our waters, our beaches, our waves, and will harm our tourist economy.  This is not a future that is acceptable for Malibu residents.”

    Experts agree that the possibility of drilling rigs off Malibu looks more and more real every day.

    Said Panetta:  “More than 35 years ago, I worked with both houses of Congress to impose a moratorium on offshore oil drilling in federal waters along the California coast.  We understood the grave threat to one of the nation’s greatest natural and commercial assets.  Now that moratorium is at risk.”

    L.A. Times staffers Keith Schneider and Tony Barboza wrote that  President Trump’s proposal to open the coastline for drilling represents “the largest expanse of the nation’s offshore oil and natural gas reserves ever offered to global energy companies.”   Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the draft five-year leasing plan would commit 90% of the nation’s offshore reserves to leasing, including areas off all three regions of the California coast that have been off-limits to oil and gas exploration since the Reagan administration.

    And Ted Lieu, who represents 14 L.A. County cities and about 75 miles of coastline, authored a letter signed by 36 California Congress members opposing new Pacific Ocean lease sales in the Trump administrations offshore drilling plans.  Under Trump’s executive order, the Department of the Interior will consider all areas of the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas leases.

    “Offshore drilling creates extraordinary safety concerns for coastal communities and ecosystems,” Lieu said.  “Instead of fighting climate change and looking at wind, tidal and wave energy development, this drilling proposal will turn our coasts into a game of risk.  I am infuriated!”

    “This is an important meeting as it will provide information on proposed changes that will affect the economy of Malibu, property values here, and effects of the oil industry on the city that residents love and want to protect,” said Lawrence.

    The City Hall Theater holds 250 people. Students, teachers, interested residents are welcome to attend and to bring their friends.
    A cookie reception will precede the event to give the audience an opportunity to mingle with panelists.

    RSVP are appreciated. Please send to loislane@headlines.org.

     

     

  • Setting Standards In Surf Therapy

    Setting Standards In Surf Therapy

    By Jack Turturici, Jr.

    You can immediately see that the pain is still raw for Danilo Couto and Kohl Christensen, but the pain reminds them why they set out on this path—if just one surfer could be saved, it would all be worth it. The day their friend Sion Milosky passed was the breaking point; big wave surfing had gotten too big, too fast. Safety protocols and training were needed; Danilo and Kohl answered the call.

    Together with a few of their big-wave peers, the beginnings of the Big Wave Risk Assessment Group (“BWRAG”) formed in 2011. Bringing together some of the leading North Shore watermen, they began their mission to educate and train surfers in ocean risk management, safety protocols, equipment, technology and the skills needed to ensure their own safe practice and to elevate the safety of those with whom they shared the lineup.

    Sensing an opportunity to further the training for the elite watermen and women of A Walk On Water (“AWOW”), chairman Laura Rubin brought AWOW and BWRAG together for the first ever big wave risk assessment training of a Surf Therapy nonprofit. I was lucky enough to be invited alongside some of AWOW’s premier watermen; guys like Steven Lippman, Allen Sarlo, Dale Rhodes and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, just to name a few. While 20-foot waves are usually not in play at AWOW events, we still realize the massive responsibility we have when families place their precious cargo in our care.

    A Walk On Water is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing water therapy to children with special needs or disability through surfing; what we call “Surf Therapy.” The ocean’s transformative properties empower our participants, who enjoy a much-deserved day of laughter, love, and acceptance alongside their family. For one perfect, restorative day at the beach, there are no labels. Everyone is an Athlete.

    No matter the size of the waves, surfing with an Athlete with special needs requires years of specialized training, and I’m grateful to be part of an organization that refuses to believe there is nothing left to learn when it comes to water safety. In being the first Surf Therapy nonprofit to enlist the knowledge and training of BWRAG, AWOW is reaffirming our commitment to our families, and the safeguarding of their Athlete. Safety has always been the number one tenet of AWOW, and it gives me (and the many families we work with) a sense of peace knowing our sincere focus in this area.

    5% of their income from home sales through Equity Advisors back to A Walk On Water, and they bump it to 15% if an AWOW family member is involved in the transaction.

    Our day-long training began in Malibu with a CPR refresher, which included training on using an Automated External Defibrillator (“AED”), which AWOW will have present at every event in 2018. Danilo was kind enough to lead a very in-depth conversation around all the potential issues that could arise at an AWOW Surf Therapy event, and you could tell everyone in the room found immense value in this shared expertise. Danilo was able to tailor his training based on the potential real-world situations that might arise at one of our events. Following our lifesaving certification course, we caravanned down to Zuma Beach, where we met up with renowned LA County Lifeguard Tuffer Marsolek and collectively dove into Surf Risk Management and walking through potential issues that we should be prepared for at the beach. We discussed at length the various challenges we’ve faced in the past, and talked over the best way to handle those potential worst-case scenarios.

    When I felt the hand to my left tug, I realized it was my time to speak. I flashed back to that night when I first learned of A Walk On Water, and all the magic and serendipity that had to have been in play to allow me to stumble across this life-changing experience that I wasn’t even looking for, but really needed. Two years, hundreds of new friends, and a thousand beautiful memories later,

    I thanked AWOW and all those present for making me a better human being, and I continue to thank Danilo, Kohl, and BWRAG for helping make me a better waterman. Tears fell to the sand and disappeared as they met the rising sea; a reminder that we are but a small part of this expansive blue planet, and we owe our respect to the sea and all she provides.

    About the author:

    Jack Turturici, Jr. is an over 25-year Malibu resident and founding partner of Equity Advisors Real Estate alongside his incredible wife (and AWOW volunteer!) Michelle. Together with their daughter Mia, they volunteered at every 2017 AWOW Surf Therapy event, and don’t plan to miss one anytime soon.

    Jack & Michelle graciously donate 5% of their income from home sales through Equity Advisors back to A Walk On Water, and they bump it to 15% if an AWOW family member is involved in the transaction.

  • Editor’s Letter – Making Surf Therapy Safer Together

    Editor’s Letter – Making Surf Therapy Safer Together

     

    What could define commitment more than combining a love for the ocean, service and saftey more than Malibu’s own A Walk On Water joining forces with North Shore based Big Wave Risk Assessment Group to bring a higher level of ocean safety awareness to the surf therapy world.

    The Local Malibu along with our new sister publication, The Local North Shore were thrilled to participate in this incredibly informative and potentially life changing event produced by AWOW bringing two of our favorite coastal communities together.

    The dangers of the ocean and weather related issues affecting the tides is also a relevant and important public safety issue that should be addressed by local City officials yet, sadly, it has not been priority even though Malibu is recognized for being one of the most iconic surf spots in the world.

    Local government has a lot to learn from the dedication and actions of these two powerful organizations committed to ensuring the safety of ocean loving enthusiasts. To learn more about AWOW support their effortsplease go to awalkonwater.org