KBUU NewsScript Wed Dec 8 – Malibu Inn Hotel Put Off To Jan – Silverstein Says Lawyers Investigating Him Showed Bias – Say He Is ‘Pleased’ That City Has ‘Clean Bill Of Health’ After Attacking City Manager

 

=.  The planning Commission hearing on 46-foot-high retaining wall at a proposed hotel is delayed.

=.  The Malibu Inn project might transform the center of Malibu … and not in a good way … some residents say.

=.  Bruce Silverstein says he is pleased by the independent report on allegations or corruoption at city hall.

=.  The report eviscerated those charges … promoted by Silverstein … and said the source was not honest.

=.  38 thousand kids in LAUSD may be banned from campus … as the SMMUSD consider mandatory Covid 19 vaccinations.

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The hearing for a hotel across the street from Malibu Pier is being put off until next month. 

January 11th to be exact.

The Malibu Planning Commission two nights ago decided that the docket was too crowded … and the stack of engineering studies and other documents way too thick ..

To handle on a night when there were several other matters on the agenda.

The proposed Malibu Inn Hotel would be a two-story structure carved into the side of the hill along Pacific Coast Highway… Just east of the landmark restaurant that used to be called the Malibu inn.

A concrete retaining wall 46 feet high would have to be carved into the hillside … and the top of it would extend 12 feet above the rooftop swimming pool … which would sit atop a two story hotel … which would sit atop an underground parking garage.

And as many as 875 truckloads of dirt would have to be hauled off the site to make way for the underground garage.

Planning commissioners say they have a pile of questions about all this. 

Planning commissioner Jeff Jennings says he is “really” looking forward to the hearing. 

NEWSCART 73915 HOTEL DELAY

“It’s like putting off a roof canal [LAUGHTER]”.

One speaker on Monday night said the proposed hotel would be a profound change in the character of Malibu … 

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Reaction is beginning to trickle in to that gigantic indictment against Jefferson Wagner and his charges of cronyism and illegal behavior at Malibu City Hall.

As we reported yesterday … an independent investigation has found that allegations made by Wagner and crafted by city councilman Bruce Silverstein were baseless … inaccurate … and simply not from a credible source. 

Bruce Silverstein released a statement yesterday on social media … he claims the two lawyers who wrote the report are biased.

He claims credit for getting the city a clean bill of health … and he says he is pleased with that. 

But … he says … to say he is “pleased with the investigation does not mean that (he) agrees with all conclusions expressed in the report.”  

Silverstein says he “believe(s) the investigating lawyers misunderstood and, in some instances, misstated” what happened. 

What happened is this. 

Silverstein ..,. with a record of a deep animus against Reva Feldman … campaigned on the platform of removing her from her job. 

Remember … Silverstein was publicly calling Feldman … duplicitous .. deceitful … and had been extremely critical of Feldman over a temporary truck parking lot that she had approved under Silverstein’s house after the Woolsey Fire.

After getting elected … Silverstein wrote down Jefferson Wagner’s list of charges against her … the investigative reports finds Silverstein’s fingerprints all over it. 

This list of charges from Silverstein and Wagner… and other behavior by Silverstein that Feldman called harassment … helped forced her to resign.

The list of charges was investigated by outside counsel … at a cost estimated to be one hundred thousand dollars. 

And the investigation found nothing …. zero corruption … zero confirmation of the charges issued from Wagner and likely written by Silverstein … according to the investigation. 

In fact … the outside lawyers found the allegations … quoting now … “to be incorrect, untruthful and/or not substantiated by the information obtained by (the investigators).” 

The report says that Jefferson Wagner drafted his affidavit … with the help of Bruce Silverstein … after Wagner said he would support Silverstein’s candidacy … because of Silverstein’s desire to fire Feldman. 

In his lengthy statement … posted yesterday on Facebook … Silverstein does not address the destruction of the career of Reva Feldman.

Nor does Silverstein address the fact that an affidavit that he prepared … a list of allegations … was simply blown out of the water in its entirety … by an outside investigation. 

Silverstein says the investigators were biased.

We will read from Silverstein’s statement.

“To say I believe the investigating lawyers were experienced and independent also does not mean that I believe they were unbiased.  

“Although one of the two investigating lawyers served as a prosecutor at an early stage of his career, it is a fact that both of the investigating lawyers are criminal defense lawyers, and the contents of the Report and Interview Notes suggest to me that the investigating lawyers’ analyses and assessment of the evidence and witness statements was infected by a certain level of defense bias – a bias that has been identified by some residents after reading the Report without the benefit of the Interview Notes.”

Close quote.

And in the end … Silverstein asks Malibu to drop it and move on.

Quoting again.

“I believe that the determination of the experienced and independent investigating lawyers should conclude this matter, and I am hopeful that the residents of Malibu will reach the same conclusion after reviewing the Report and Interview Notes.”

But the bottom line is that Reva Feldman’s career was destroyed based primarily on a list of allegations that seemed to many to be flimsy a year ago … and have now been exposed as untruths … from a source that is not credible.

Those are the words used in the investigative report.

Malibu appears to be still digesting the issue.  

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Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District continues to grapple with the issue of mandatory vaccinations against COVID-19 for school children.

And now comes word that about 34,000 students have not yet complied with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

That’s 34,000 out of about a half million kids..

The deadline for them to get their second shot is January 10th — and there’s no longer enough time for students who have not gotten their first shot to be fully vaccinated by then.

The LA Unified School District will be offering a study at home program for kids without vaccinations.

But the LA Times notes that this will mean a significant disruption to their education as they will be barred from campus. 

Yesterday … the LAUSD school board fired hundreds of unvaccinated employees.

Employees were required to receive their second dose by Nov. 15.

More than 400 staffers were fired. 

The Santa Monica Malibu school district has fired 13 classified employees … all of them are non-teachers… For failing to meet a condition of employment… To be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The death toll from COVID-19 remains at 12 within the City of Malibu. That would be 12 residence plus six people who worked here and we’re part of our community… According to a list that we keep.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors yesterday unanimously approved a COVID-19 vaccine mandate covering county contractors working in person with the public or county employees.

“Given the importance of vaccinations in our fight against COVID-19 and the expansive network of contractors that the county employs, the board should adopt an urgency ordinance that would require contractor employees who work alongside county workers, interact with the public and work on county property to be vaccinated,” the motion read in part.

The ordinance will take effect immediately, but contractors will have until Jan. 1 to comply.

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If you think people are driving like idiots in Malibu… or maybe like idiots in general … you are not mistaken.

Nationwide … 38,680 people on U.S. roadways last year, the most since 2007 even though pandemic precautions had dramatically reduced driving.

Stressed-out Americans were releasing their anxieties on the wide-open roads. 

The LA Times reports that the latest evidence suggests that after decades of safety gains, the pandemic has made U.S. drivers more reckless — more likely to speed, drink or use drugs and leave their seatbelts unbuckled.

The rise in motor vehicle deaths lines up with other pandemic-era trends: Alcohol sales have soared, drug overdoses have set new records, and homicides have seen their biggest increase on record.

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Californians stepped up their water conservation in October, a move made easier by a massive storm that dumped record rain in some parts of the state but still wasn’t enough to combat the drought.

Collectively, people reduced their water use by 13.2% compared to last October, a major jump from prior months when water conservation lagged. Still, total water usage is down just 6% since July compared to the same period last year, far short of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 15% goal.

The calls for voluntary conservation follow California’s second driest year on record and what’s feared to be another dry winter as the state remains gripped by drought.

“The important part here is to continue to prepare for worst-case scenario,” said E. Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board.

Most of the state’s reservoirs are still well below historic averages. That prompted the state’s Department of Water Resources to tell water districts last week they likely won’t be getting any of the supply they’ve requested from the state for 2022 except what’s necessary for health and safety.

In October, the storm and cooler weather reduced how much water was being used for outdoor activities, which can account for up to 80% of all use, said Charlotte Ely, who presented the conservation numbers to the board.

“There is still a lot of work to do to reach the governor’s call for 15% savings from that 2020 baseline, but we’re making better progress,” she said.

The storm, a powerful atmospheric river, drenched California in the final days of October. More than 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain fell in Sacramento over a 24-hour period, breaking an 1880 record for the most rainfall in a single day.

Northern California, which saw the most rain from the storm, had the greatest reduction last month compared to October 2020, dropping by as much as 22%, while the southern region that includes Los Angeles and San Diego dropped by about 12% in October compared to last year, according to state officials.

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The City of Malibu Community Services Department is proud to offer day camps, Monday through Wednesday, December 20 through December 29 at Malibu Bluffs Park during the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SM-MUSD) winter break. Registration is now open at MalibuCity.org/Register

 

Sports camps including baseball, softball, multi-sport and soccer will be presented in a fun and inviting training environment to deliver each sport’s core skills in morning and afternoon sessions. City staff will supervise participants 12:00 –1:00 PM if participants are registered for both morning and afternoon sessions.

 

The City of Malibu will administer capacity limits, physical distancing, hand-washing, and sanitizing requirements that follow the LA County Department of Public Health COVID-19 guidelines. Program participants are required to wear a face covering throughout the program. Parents must wear a face covering during drop-off and pick-up.

 

Visit MalibuCity.org/DayCamps for more information. For questions contact Recreation Coordinator Adrianna Fiori at [email protected] or 310-456-2489, ext. 239.

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A couple three housekeeping matters.

For seven years … KBUU has partnered with the Malibu Times … they would use our material … we would use theirs … we would work together on big jobs.

That partnership is ending.

The editor of the Malibu Times … Emily Sawicki ,.,.., has moved on to a new job.

The new editor is also the one of the new co-owners … Hayley Mattson … of the Paso Robles area. 

We wish her well.

Item two … yesterday … the Federal Communications Commission granted license renewal for radio station KBUU-LP.

Our FCC license is now good through December First 2029.

And item three …. KBUU is in final design and about to start construction on the two boosters we’ve been working on for seven years. 

It’s an 80 thousand dollar project … completely funded by donors.

Transmitters are on back order … 

This will be bleeding edge technology … using satellite signals to exactly synchronize three radio transmitters up and down the coast … so that all three will blend to deliver a signal on 99.1.

We plan to be transmitting to the western end of Malibu from Trancas … and the eastern end of Malibu from the Civic Center area … and these signals should be up by April. 

—-  Rainfall amounts will be better than yesterday`s

system and look to range from between 0.10 to 0.20 inch across

the coast and valleys up to 0.20 to 0.40 inch in the mountains.

These amounts agree with the WPC values and ensemble means of the

EPS, GEFS and CMC. Most of the rain should fall with a weak cold

front moving southeast over the region between late tonight and

Thursday morning. Local amounts up to a half to two-thirds of an

inch are possible in the San Gabriel range due to low-level

southwest flow upsloping into the mountain range.

Snow down too the 4500 foot level by tomorrow afternoon.