Malibu Canyon Road Reopens In Triumph Of Crews v. Gravity

Malibu Canyon Road reopened this morning … after getting doused with more than an inch and a half of rain over the weekend.

It’s not clear yet … if any rocks fell on the canyon road while it was closed.

It’s the tree falling in a closed forest effect.

As Malibu dries out a bit from the rain over this weekend.

Over the past four days … eastern Malibu saw 1.1 inches total rain.

Western Malibu … just a half inch.

Topanga Canyon. … 2.1 inches.

We saw no major rockslides this weekend here on the coast.

As for the weather … cloudy weather this week … a small storm on Wednesday.

Surf will continue to decrease today. 

Surf of 4-6 feet, with local sets to 7 feet, will subside to 3-5 feet by mid morning. 

 

Planning Department Dismally Failing To Meet Its Own Performance Goals

Malibu’s Planning Department now has a report card … more than a year after the city requested that it design a system to observe how well they can hit some pretty loose performance standards.

The report card can be summed up as a series of Cs and mostly Fs.

Malibu officials have released the first batch of measurements on how well the Planning Department and Building Safety officials process applications. 

This comes after the city council spent more than a million dollars to hire outsider help … consultants … to chop through the backlog.

The data shows that the city staff is failing to meet its performance goals in many areas.

For example … applications for interior remodels, exterior remodels under 5%, and minor exterior site improvements

I;’s a check on the Department’s ability to perform an initial screening that checks for completeness and ensures that applications are ready for review.

The benchmark is for an initial response within 30 days for at least 50 percent of the applications.

The city staff meets that goal only 28 percent of the time. 

How fast are initial applications for major work being processed??

The target is for 50 percent of those applications to get an initial response … a check for completeness … within 30 days.

The city is only hitting that goal 25 percent of the time.

And how fast are decisions being made by the Planning Department???

Again … the goal is for at least 25 percent of applications to get a decision … yes or no .. within 30 days.

Total failure there.

Not one of the 84 projects submitted last year got a decision within a month.

The city says “it is important to track this metric because it helps the Planning Department further analyze why targets are not being met … and what improvements can be made.”

Same story for minor permits to replace septic systems … the goal is for half of the requests to get a yes or no within a month.

Total failure. 

Not one of the 11 applications last year hit that target.

Not one of the applications for outdoor lighting review hit the target of 50 percent of the applications getting a response within 30 days.

Not one. 

Slightly better success in hitting other targets was also scored by the city’s report card.

Residents are supposed to get an initial response after filing an application … within 30 days.

The target .. 75 percent.

The actual performance … 35 percent.

The report card was published late last Friday.

No comment on it yet from the city staff.

 

Details Emerge On (Secret) Skate Park Offer, Open Session Tonight at 6:30

Complaints over acting behind closed doors has flushed a proposed legal deal over the Malibu Skatepark out into the sunshine,.

Tonight at 6:30 .. the Malibu city council will take public opinion and then vote on a proposed deal to head off a lawsuit overt the skateboard ramps at Bluffs Park.

Some Malibu residents may not appreciate how important this is to a whole segment of Malibu kids and adults.

Not to mention .. it;’s been promised for14 years.

Many criticized the long drawn out design and legal process .. they called this an example of a city that cannot walk and chew gum at the same time. 

Tonight at 6:30 … the city council will review a proposal from real estate developer Scott Gillan … who is building a nest of five ultra-luxury mansions on land wrapped around Bluffs Park.

Gillan has a legal agreement … written into the city’s zoning codes … that the skatepark will be designed to reduce noise and preserve privacy for his home buyers.

And Gillan’s company has problems with the current skatepark design … 

He’s offered to pay for redesigning it a bit … lower one corner of it …. Plant some shrubbery ,… shift part of it 10 feet away from his land.

He made all these offers in public … the city attorney responded by asking for closed door meetings … because Gillen was also threatening to sue the city to protect his rights.

The City Council met to discuss this offer first in closed session, and then directed that the offer be considered in open session to obtain feedback and input from the public regarding the proposal. 

That’s the meeting tonight.

So what’s the deal???

The location of the “wine bottle” portion of the Skatepark will be shifted 10 feet to the west—away from The Case properties. 

This part of the Skatepark will also be lowered by approximately two feet further into the ground. 

A few bushes shrubbery be planted  … kept low enough as to not block ocean views from across the PCH.

Gillan will pay about 150 thousand dollar stop defray the city’s costs here.

And he will pay 58 hundred dollars a month for his construction workers to continue parking on the vacant dirt where the skateboard park will be built. 

 

Turnout Low In Boring Primary Election

How would like your vote to be counted twice???

Maybe three times.

That ineffectively what is happening right now in California.

So few people are voting … that the effective power of each ballot cast has grown dramatically. 

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. 

California was supposed to be the epicenter of the political world … the new New Hampshire. 

Yawn. 

Turnout is far below “low” for this year’s presidential primary in California.

Voting was light over the weekend at Malibu’s three polling places.

The big race this spring … the U S Senate primary.

Adam Schiff Ewas in a small airplane … flying around the state.

Katie Porter was in her minivan … taking her kid to soccer practice in Orange County.

Barbara Lee had events in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.

And Steve Garvey … the lone Republican .. was absent … no campaign events … as usual.

Garvey appears to be sleepwalking his way into the second runoff place …. As the democrats all split the majority vote.

And the terrible turnout by young people … mostly Democrats … is aiding Republicans. 

Every Californians got a ballot in the U-S Mail.

Turnout so far … only 8 percent. 

Pollsters at the Public Policy Institute of California say that boosted turnout last time … but this year’s primary is so drama free … voters may say “meh”.

The polls close at 7 o’clock tonight … and at 8 o’clock tomorrow night.

Any person who has not yet voted .. living in LA County … may go to any voting center in LA County and request a new ballot.

The old one gets cancelled … the new one can be cast then or taken home to fill out.,

Again … the polls close tomorrow night at 8.

 

PETA Challenges Use Of Glue Strips To Kill Pests

First … it was rat poison.

Now … PETA is protesting the use of glue traps to kill rats. 

Ojai is among the first cities in the country to ban the sale and use of glue traps … according to a report in the L A Times.

The glue traps can catch rodents … leading to their deaths from dehydration … starvation … or suffocation.

But they can also catch other animals …  causing inhumane and unintended deaths.

One Ojai resident says he has heard about hummingbirds getting stuck.

He called the glue traps unbelievably cruel and barbaric that there’s just no reason to continue selling them

Advocates from PETA … People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals … worked with the city to get the ban approved.

West Hollywood is apparently the only other U.S. city that has banned glue traps. 

PETA zeroed in on Ojai after that city adopted an ordinance “The Right To Bodily Liberty for Elephants.”