‘Big Reveal’ Tonight For Malibu School District Property Taxes, City Sitting On Its Budget Predictions Until 6 PM Special Session

Two city council members say the financial deal they worked out with Santa Monica school board members … for an independent Malibu school district … will be a good deal for taxpayers in Malibu … and for school children,

But city officials still refuse to divulge any details until 5 o’clock tonight … when reporters can interview them just before a “big reveal” at the six o’clock public meeting at City Hall. 

KBUU News has been able to ferret out only a general description of the tax deal.

It will apparently include some form of transfer of lucrative Malibu property tax revenue to Santa Monica’s remaining district.

But council members who were in on the dealmaking says Malibu will be comfortable with the deal .. and infer that property tax rates will stay the same … 

And the Malibu Unified School District will have gigantic venue stream … apparently … because of the very high property tax base out here. 

The financial agreement .. however … is not the end of the negotiations with Santa Monica.

Still to be worked out are two remaining issues … dealing with control of the schools during the split.

Again … details of the financial issues … will be revealed tonight at the city hall … at a public forum … at 6.

 

Malibu Wins Two Law Changes In State Senate, May Get Permission To Install Speed Cameras

Malibu won a major victory in Sacramento last night … as the city fights to change state laws about speeding on PCH.

Two major victories … actually.

A key state Senate committee voted to change state law … to allow Malibu to install five cameras on Pacific Coast Highway to automatically issue tickets to speeding drivers.

And the same committee also approved a proposal from Malibu Senator Henry Stern … to increase penalties on people caught egregiously speeding. 

Malibu city council member Doug Stewart was in Sacramento to implore the Senate .. to add Malibu to the list of five California cities that can use radar cameras to catch speeders.

70224 SPEEDCAMS DS HL

“We are ecstatic.  If you go back six or eight weeks ago, we were very pessimistic about our chances to be successful with the red light camera bill. 

“Today, the Senate Transportation Committee passed it 14 to 1.   And the one dissenter said it didn’t have enough penalties in it. 

“It was a success that we never could never have imagined. 

“It all boils down to the hard work that Sen. Ben Allen did … and the staff … and it was just a tremendous effort and we got total support. 

“We couldn’t ask for anything better. 

REPORTER: “Any amendments?”

STEWART: “Very few clarifications. 

“The reception was so overwhelmingly positive that may go back and ask for a few more cameras, and we may go back and ask for a few more besides that.

REPORTER:  “So this is for the five speed cameras only, not including the red light cameras that you are planning, right?”

STEWART:  “Not included are the red light cameras, this is strictly just a speeding camera system, which we will be able to work on both sides of the street”

Doug Stewart last night … in Sacramento.

Also approved … a companion bill that will drastically increase penalties for drivers who blow past speed limits at very high speeds.

Senate Bill 1509 would make it easier for the DMV to yank the drivers licenses from people caught going more than 25 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.

That proposal might be running into several other bills all aimed at slowing down traffic … all across the state.

One proposed law would require cars to limit themselves … using their onboard computers … to driving no more than 10 miles per hour over the posed speed limit.

If the speed camera bill makes it out of the Senate and Assembly and across the governors desk … the cameras will be scattered up and down the coast highway and clock traffic speeds from both directions. 

The red light cameras wherever the city chooses … as Malibu rebuilds the traffic light system on PCH between Pepperdine and the eastern city limits. 

Stern … a Malibu High School graduate … said his proposed law is my pledge to his childhood home, Malibu. 

He said “the legacy of people like Emily Shane, who was killed on PCH, will no longer be a story of loss and inaction, but will now be a story of hope and change.”

 

State Farm Not Renewing Fire Insurance To 47% Of Its Malibu Policyholders

47 percent of the State Farm fire insurance policy holders in Malibu are being told… their policies will not be renewed.

That’s 518 Malibu residents looking for new fire insurance … if they can find it.

State Farm is one of the largest insurance company in the state.

And it is canceling business for many homeowners in high fire risk areas … and rising rates as much as it can get away with for the rest of its customers.

In a filing with the state insurance commissioner .. State Farm says it will not renew policies “that present the most substantial wildfire or fire following earthquake hazards, or that are in areas of significant concentration.”

It’s even worse than 47 percent cancels in nearby suburbs.

In Pacific Palisades and Calabasas … 70 percent of the policies are effectively being cancelled.

In Bel Air .. above UCLA … 67 percent non renewals. 

As the San Francisco Chronicle reports … homeowners have been protected from nonrenewable so far by a California state law passed right after the Woolsey Fire.

But that moratorium lasts for only a year after a declaration of emergency by the governor for a given area. 

Communities hit by fires in recent years are now vulnerable to nonrenewals due to their wildfire risk.

In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, …. State Farm says the nonrenewals were a “difficult but necessary” decision to maintain its long-term financial stability in California. 

One week after its March 20th announcement … a major insurance credit rating agency downgraded State Farm General’s financial strength rating from excellent to fair.

 

Malibu Autobahn Says Its Rude To Ask Them Questions About Taking Over PCH For Asshats

A for profit company that runs car shows for exotic vehicles was responsible for the traffic jam and crash on PCH Sunday morning.

Malibu Autobahn is a company that organizes gatherings for the owners of Lambos … Maseratis and other expensive street racers.

They make money by selling packages that include photos .. videos and other stuff with the Malibu Autobahn logo.

In 2021 … Malibu Autobahn got run out of Malibu … when residents complained of the traffic jams and throngs of spectators crowding PCH.

That did not stop the company from setting up shop last Sunday just outside Malibu sheriff’s jurisdiction … in an L-A County owned parking lot … on PCH at Sunset.

Hundreds of spectators … most of them teenaged men waving cellphones…. blocked PCH traffic in a street takeover.

LAPD?  Nowhere in sight.

Older teenagers maneuvered their macho machines. 

Tricked out cars used PCH …blocked off by spectators drawn by Malibu Autobahn’s Instagram and other marketing efforts. 

The result … a crash … as the driver of an expensive Mercedes McLaren street car fishtailed into the center plastic dividers and then went nose first into a row of parked cars.

No one was injured. 

But PCH was completely blockaded all morning … according to witnesses.

The organizer for Malibu Autobahn says he would have gotten out of the business … if not for KBUU revealing his company’s involvement in illegal street takeovers three years ago. 

70225 AUTIOBAHN REAXN

“Right, so, here’s what I have to say: 

“You know I remember a few years ago we talked. And I was nothing but very polite to you. 

“I explained the situation, you know, that we believed you had the wrong idea and everything. And it’s funny because, at that time I was kind of done with Malibu autobahn, I was getting bored ,and you know maybe I need to move on.

“And I just remember, you were just so rude to me and you were just such an asshole to me, but it absolutely motivated me to keep going.”

Right. 

The man making the juvenile and self-serving comments would not identify himself and hung up after he made his grand dramatic statement. 

He apparently is unhappy that KBUU put the spotlight on his company … three years ago.

The news stories that prompted the county sheriff to run them out of town. 

Last Sunday’s Malibu Autobahn event was just outside the Malibu city limits … down in Los Angeles …

On Sunday … workers trying to get to their jobs in Malibu were unable to get past the roadblock … says one Malibu resident. 

People coming to the Chumash Pow Wow just gave up … reportedly … and turned back to Santa Monica.

 

Pepperdine University Examining ‘The Moral Call To Protect Future Of Planet Earth’

Pepperdine University is hosting its eighth annual Climate Calling Conference, this week.

Students, faculty, and community members are exploring climate change and the moral calling to protect the future of planet earth.

The Seaver College campus is hosting an Earth Day Fair in the center of there campus.

The city of Malibu and the university together are hosting a keynote address by Los Angeles Times reporter Rosanna Xia tomorrow.

Xia has just written a book called California Against the Sea … and will share insights from her award-winning reporting on sea level rise.

Her speech is tomorrow at 7 at Pepperdine University…. Open to the public. 

LAX is warning of major traffic disruptions this week.

Two lanes in either direction are blocked on Century Boulevard … on the eastern side of the airport. 

Yesterday … it took 48 minutes to drive around the upper loop … according to a social media report.