Planning Director Resigns In Controversy

City planning director Richard Mollica has resigne.

Mollica has been under heavy fire from some residents and under pressure from his bosses to revamp City Hall. … resigned.

The resignation came Wednesday ,… the city has refused to release his letter of resignation.

Friday afternoon, the city confirmed the resignation, in a a flowery press release that made no mention of the controversy swirling around the Planning Department.

Mollica has been under heavy pressure from a majority of the city council, which has been acting to make changes recommended by a consulting firm that examined the entire Planning and building services functions at City Hall.

His department is also in turmoil over a botched staff work product on a proposed hotel … and subsequent set of personal attacks supposedly hurled against deputy planning chief Adrian Fernandez.

The displeasure was over a planning case that the department had bungled: a four-story proposed hotel that a developer team wanted to squeeze into the bluff next to to Malibu Inn, across PCH from Malibu Pier.

The variances and other waivers that the applicant requested – with apparent city staff endorsement – were shot down on a 4-1 vote by the city council a month ago.

After being grilled by two city council members, the planner handling that case went out on personal leave, for one month and counting. Assistant Planning Director Adrian Fernandez accused city council members and members of a civic club, the Malibu Township Council, of “relentless personal attacks on me and other employees who are just trying to do our jobs the best way we can.”

Behind the scenes, a source says Mollica had been resisting efforts to combine the planning and building safety departments back into a single administrative unit, as recommended by an outside consultant, Baker Tilley.

Mollica is one of the city’s longest-term workers, having toiled in the Planning Department for 15 years before becoming assistant planning director in 2019 and then acting planning director in 2020.

His pay and benefits totaled $244,006.16 in 2022, according to Transparent California.

City manager Steve McClary tells KBUU Radio … off mike … that he is confidant that there is a pool of former city officials … in Malibu and elsewhere … 

He says these people can be brought in on a temporary basis to run the department until a permanent director can be vetted and hired. 

 

Silverstein Ignores City Attorney, Reads Letter On Personnel Matters From Targeted Employee

Councilman Bruce Silverstein knew exactly what he was doing Monday night when he read the complaint from city planner Adrian Fernandez out loud in open session. 

The complaint … alleging personal attacks from Silverstein … Steve Uhring and members of the public … had been addressed to city officials. 

But not the general public. 

Silverstein … an experienced litigation attorney,… is apparently baiting Fernandez for a lawsuit … a lawsuit to be paid for by city taxpayers. 

70333 COUNCIL FERNANDEZ

SILVERSTEIN: “Adrian Fernandez sent a letter to all members of city council…”

COUNCILMEMBER PAUL GRISANTI, INTERRUPTING: “Point of order. I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be discussing personnel matters in open session.”

SILVERSTEIN: “Thank you Paul.  Adrian Fernandez …”

INTERIM CITY ATTORNEY TREVOR RUSSIN, INTERRUPTING: “I would also recommend not discussing personnel matters.  Also, it’s not on the agenda.”

SILVERSTEIN:  “Appreciate the recommendation…”

COUNCILMEMBER AND MAYOR STEVE UHRING, INTERRUPTING: “That letter is now all over the Internet, okay?

“Just so you understand it.  I told you what was going to happen.  It’s public so we are not talking about anything that is already out there.”

SILVERSTEIN:  “I appreciate the recommendation but I respectfully decline it.”

GRISANTI, INTERRUPTING:  “It is not on the agenda, we should not be doing it, and it’s bad H-R.”

UHRING: “Paul, Paul. Paul.”

SILVERSTEIN: “I have been receiving a number of comments from the public and I am reporting on what’s going on.”

With that … Silverstein read most of the letter from the city employee… a city employee who has been out n stress leave for a month.

Stress leave is a personnel matter … under state law it is none of the public’s business. 

The personnel leave was let out by city council member Uhring … another apparent violation of the state laws on employee privacy … claims Fernandez. 

But Silverstein says releasing personal data from Fernandez’s case file is legit.

Here’s Silverstein’s analysis for that.

70333 SILVERSTEIN ANALYSIS

“I can be wrong but the letter appears to me have been written by a lawyer.

“The only thing that gives me pause about that belief is that the letter is over the top in its rhetoric, and the fact that the letter was sent to so many people as it is now a public document, which suggests to me that the letters letter is designed to bring about political objectives as much as it is designed to set up an employment lawsuit.” 

Fact check.

The Fernandez letter was only sent to city officials … consultants …  and the city council.

It was not sent to anyone not connected to the city government.  

Releasing it to the general public … reading it aloud at a city council meeting … arguably that was a political act by Silverstein as a city council election season is warming up.

A political act that warms up the political waters to boiling … as election season is here … from Malibu to the White House. 

A recent consultants report to the city warned that a hostile work environment was a major problem in attracting quality staff to work for the city.

Your July 4 Forecast: Chance of Illegal Traffic Clogging Party on PCH, With Scattered Zoning Violations

Nobu’s permit for a Fourth of July party has been revoked… 

But the potential for the party organizers to again simply ignore Malibu’s rules … and again cork up PCH on the major holiday … is very real.

City officials tell KBUU News they are coming up with a game plan for the 4th of July … to deal with Nobu.

The restaurant’s Temporary Use Permit for a special holiday party was revoked by the City of Malibu Thursday.

By Wednesday of this week … Nobu had failed to come up with an acceptable traffic management plan for Pacific Coast Highway … to avoid the gigantic traffic jam that it caused last year.

Last year … party buses and limos were parked in the center left turn lane of the busy highway … traffic ground to a complete stop as limousines blocked traffic  to unload or wait for passengers.

Ugly to the point of life threatening … some people needed two hours to get past Nobu on the fourth last summer.

City planning director Richard Mollica two weeks ago gave the restaurant a permit for the event … which is technically held by a special events company that rents the high-end restaurant for the day.

Mollica set a requirement that Nobu provide a traffic management plan acceptable to city public works director Rob DeBoux. 

And as KBUU noted two weeks ago … the permit tentatively approved by Mollica had some details in it that just didn’t make sense. 

It called for guests to the event to arrive and depart via two shuttle buses from parking lots in Santa Monica .. a practical impossibility in holiday traffic. 

And it was vague on how Uber and Lyft drivers could possibly be restricted to the curb parking lane … and not stop traffic in the five lanes used by vehicles. 

City manager Steve McClary yesterday told KBUU News that the restaurant failed to come up with the traffic plan by the deadline.

Permit revoked. 

In past years … Nobu has flagrantly violated city rules … only to be slapped on the wrists. 

McClary says he is coming up with a plan to deal with Nobu this holiday weekend … if it goes ahead and hosts the giant party.

What will happen if Nobu once again violates its city Coastal Use Permit, and has a party without a city Temporary Use Permit … violating the rules that apply to all of us?

McClary says he is coming up with a plan.

Caltrans Plans Two July Meetings To Listen To The Public On PCH Redesign

Caltrans presented plans for the future of Pacific Coast Highway to city public works and public safety commissioners two nights ago.
It appears that the plan is to hold two public hearings in Malibu … in July .. to listen to what people want.

The Wednesday meeting was scheduled for a time when KBUU News reporters were in an airplane over Canada … unable to record it.

We were promised a copy of the tape … we hoped to get the tape yesterday … as of late Friday the city still has not released it.

Public Safety Commissioner Chris Frost tells KBUU it it was a good meeting … but no specific plans yet from Caltrans.

We’ll let you know what the state has in store.

 

Cases Of Champagne Stolen From Whole Foods In Brazen Midday Grand Theft

A daring theft from a midtown Malibu shopping center … and they got away with it.

Sheriff’s Sgt Chris Soderlund tells KBUU News it was a grand theft … a felony.

70334 CHAMPAGNE

“There was a grand theft at the Whole Foods here in Malibu on the cross Creek Road.

“Three suspects were inside the Whole Foods and they stole between $1,000 to $2,000 worth of champagne and fled in a white Mercedes with no plates on it in an unknown direction.

“The deputies canvassed area for the suspects, and they were unable to locate them, and the crime is being investigated by the detective bureau at Lost Hills sheriffs station.”

At about the same time that was happening yesterday afternoon … a police chase from Thousand Oaks into Calabasas ended with six suspected armed robbers bailing out and hiding in a residential neighborhood … right down the street from the Malibu Lost Hills sheriffs station.

70335 TO MALL

“An armed robbery occurred at the Thousand Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks. A Ventura County sheriff’s unit was able to locate the vehicle on the freeway and initiate high-speed pursuit of the vehicle.

“The vehicle exited the freeway in Calabasas and subsequently crashed.

“Six suspects fled from the vehicle into the neighborhood, and through the combined efforts of Ventura County sheriff, Los Angeles County sheriff, and the California Highway Patrol we located all six hiding in the community and take them all into custody.”

No one was hurt … and a gun was recovered.

 

Like A Good Neighbor, State Farm Is There With 30% Rate Hike Request

State Farm insurance may be in trouble … in big trouble. 

State Farm has asked the state for permission to raise its homeowners insurance rates by an average of 30% for homeowners.

Renters would get a 52% rate hike.

36% for condominium owners.

If approved, the rate increase would be State Farm’s largest in at least seven years, according to the company’s filings.

Normally … a request that huge would get significantly trimmed by the state Department of Insurance.

But State Farm is using a loophole … a desperation shot.

The company is trying a rarely-used regulation known as a “variance request.”

It would allow State Farm to increase its prices more than normally permitted “in order to protect the insurer’s solvency.”

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement that State Farm’s requests “raise serious questions about its financial condition.”