Council Majority Snaps At Silverstein And Uhring For Delaying Skatepark Hearing

Members of the Malibu city council snapped last night.

Two members wanted to delay making a settlement over the Malibu municipal skate park … 

Bruce Silverstein and Steve Uhring objected to developer Scott Gillen’s offer … to pay to move the skatepark 10 feet further from his luxury spec homes … plant some shrubbery … and make a few other changes.

A very long … very long discussion about procedural matters.

Finally. … as midnight neared … Silverstein proposed a delay.

Marianne Riggins and Paul Grisanti snapped. 

NEWSCART B70146 SNAPPED

“Guys, you know what? We need to get to a finalization of this. 

“Our residents want the state park.  This isn’t a game.

“You sat up there before and you said this was fun.

SILVERSTEIN “It absolutely is ….”

RIGGINS, CONTINUING:  “You were sitting over there with a jolly smile on your face, and it’s ridiculous.

“Because do you know who’s suffering with this? Every single resident in this community. 

“And it’s ridiculous. 

“We have a responsibility here to make improvements for our community and make sure our residents have the facilities that they are clamoring for.

“And they have been clamoring for this skate park for decades. And it’s time to get down to the brass tacks and get it settled. 

“This isn’t a game. 

“This isn’t fun.

SILVERSTEIN: “I am enjoying every moment of it …”

GRISANTI: “We know you’re enjoying it, Bruce, but you know … you should enjoy yourself in a more private location.”

[OBJECTIONS FROM OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS]

GRISANTI: “I am a little bit irritated because today [SPEAKING OVER SILVERSTEIN]  today is my wife’s birthday. I’ve been here for since 430. We are all trying, some of us are trying to get things done, other things other people are trying to get things not done.”

UHRING: “No, what I am trying to do is make things better.”

Paul Grisanti and Steve Uhring last night .

As the meeting neared midnight … it appeared that the city council would call a special meeting to vote on Gillen’s settlement proposal next Monday.

But the city’s Internet feed abruptly went silent.

Six and a half hours into the meeting. 

It appears even You Tube tossed up its hands and went to bed.

The city council eventually voted to have a special meeting next Monday night to hear the proposed settlement agreement with Gillen.

 

Planning Commission Gets Spanked By Its Bosses, Will Have To Come In To Fix Traffic Light Screwup On A Friday Night

The Malibu Planning Commission got publicly spanked by two of its bosses at last night’s city council meeting.

And the Planning Commission will be brought in on a Friday night to try a do-over … and approve a traffic light at a crosswalk in midtown Malibu.

Last night … one city council member blasted his own appointee to the Planning Commission … for voting to delay the traffic light or even remove the crosswalk.

There issue was the crosswalk by the liquor store at Billionaire’s Beach … 

The Planning Commission said no to a Caltrans request to convert the blinking light into a green yellow red stoplight.

Why such a minor alteration had to go to the Planning Commission still has not been explained.  The change of a traffic control device is not a land use issue … 

Some city council members said quietly last week … that the Planning Commission was way outside its lane … it made the city government look picky and infantile telling Caltrans “no” on an immediate traffic fix. 

Bruce Silverstein laid into the 5 to nothing vote … including the vote of his own planning commissioner. 

NEWSCART B70147 BS TONE DEAF

“We have been up here talking – I have been up here specifically talking about things we can do to slow down traffic on PCH, to make it safer.

“And here we are being handed a golden opportunity to put up another traffic, light and they denied it…

“It’s tone deaf… I just don’t get it. 

“We declared a state of emergency, we are renewing it here tonight, I think it (the planning commission vote) was tone deaf.”

Silverstein’s appointee to the Planning Commission … Kraig Hill … was among the votes asking Caltrans to prove that the crosswalk even belongs on PCH in the first place.

At that meeting … Planning Commission John Mazza said that the twin bus stops on either side of the highway do not necessarily warrant a crosswalk … with or without a traffic light.

He said the lack of businesses in the area made him think that only the local that only the local maids use that crosswalk to reach the bus stops. 

He then said it was shame that he got quoted … implying that he is biased against local maids. 

Mazza serves at the pleasure of Mayor Steve Uhring … Uhring did not comment on the crosswalk last night.

Silverstein also blasted the Planning Commission … for delaying action of the popular Friday night rock concerts hosted by Trancas Country Market. 

 

Swim Teams Throw Shade, Demand Use Of Scarce Swim Lanes: Seawolves 1, Marlins 0 In First Round

It was the Malibu Invitational Swim Meet competition at the Malibu city council meeting last night.

An hour and a half of impassioned pleas from swimmers from two teams last night … at the city council meeting. 

The final score … in favor of the Seawolves 1-0 … for now. 

Members of the Malibu Marlins swim club want to displace the Malibu Seawolves as the city’s vendor for aquatic programs at the municipal swimming pool.

As you should know … Malibu doesn’t have a municipal swimming pool.

It squeezes into 2 and a half hours of evening time at the Malibu High pool … after the schools are finished using it. 

The Marlins have to show up at 5:30 in the morning to practice.

After nearly 90 minutes of public comment … from swimmers … parks commission chair Dane Skojphammer says they will try to split the baby.

NEWSCART B70144 SWIMFLAP DANE SKOJPHAMMER 

“We set up a meeting with the club presidents that’s going to be held on March 4. “We set a deadline deadline for the city to reopen the process and run the program going forward.”

One city council member said he felt it was unfair that only one swim team gets to swim during prime after noon hours,

Others said the entire issue is caused by the failure of a city government … over 33 years of existence … to build a municipal swimming pool to accomodate the huge demand.

Range Rover And Porsche Crash Details, Corral Snafu Fixed, MRCA Beach Access Signs Solved

More details were released yesterday about two major traffic crashes on PCH.

One was last week … when a Range Rover smacked into the side of a large truck that had been unloading construction equipment in the center median lane.

The range rover flipped several times … then caught fire … the driver dazed inside the smoldering vehicle.

Sheriff’s Sgt Chris Sunderland says two Malibu residents were heroes.

NEWSCART B70140 ROVER RESCUE DS

“Two locals a boyfriend girlfriend we’re driving by and they stopped and they were able to pull the driver out of the SUV before it was in golfed in flames so we are in the worst of getting them every day to a city Council meeting so we can honor them for their bravery and their heroism that day.”

In the second crash … a drunk idiot weaving in and out of traffic in a brand new Porsche totaled it – and the pickup truck he smashed into.

That crash was on PCH above Broad Beach. 

NEWSCART B70141 PORSCHE TOTALLED 

“At the time of the crash, he was going an estimated 80 miles an hour plus. When he hit a wet patch of pavement and lost control.

“Also … a local resident had a dash cam that was able to pick up his driving near Busch Drive just prior to the crash and they thankfully they submitted that to us.

“So that helped with the prosecution of the case,

“So thank you to that resident.”

City manager Steve McClary says the new California Highway Patrol detail in Malibu has been pulling over speeding drivers left and right.

In just two weeks … they wrote 226 tickets … 200 of those for speeding.

One alleged drunk going 100 miles per hour.

City Says Caltrans Signal Repair Has Helped PCH/Corral Canyon Lane Crunch

City manager Steve McClary says he was among the thousands of drivers stuck on Pacific Coast Highway last Thursday.

That’s when a landslide closed one lane of PCH … and the traffic signal went to flashing red. 

NEWSCART B70142 CORRAL SIGNAL

“We did run into an issue I know many of us were stuck on Thursday trying to get home trying to head north I should say on PCH. There was an issue with the traffic lights at Corral Canyon. 

“We immediately put in a call to Caltrans and also to the Lost Hills (sheriff’s station) to see if  they could help next day we were able to arrange some traffic control to help with the traffic flow there.”

On another issue … McClary told the city council last night he will meet with Coastal Commission staff regarding demands that the city install coastal access signs on streets near Broad beach … Point Dume and along Malibu Road. 

The MRCA has demanded that the signs be reinstalled.

NEWSCART B70143 SIGNS SM 

“We do have a meeting set up to discuss that.  

“We believe that there is a path forward towards getting those signs permitted and installed.”

And the city manager also says the great Malibu Farmers Market bugaboo is settled. 

Last Sunday … the farmers Market moved back to its longstanding location … in the front of the Malibu Library.

There was a yearling controversy over the market’s attempts to stay at its preferred location … across the street at Legacy Park.

On and on … went that one.

The bottom line was that the former owner of Legacy Park sold it to the city with the condition that no commercial activity be conducted there.

Rock meet hard place.

 

SMMUSD To Talk 14 Layoff Notices At Special Meeting Tonight

The Santa Monica Malibu school board will talk about laying off 14 teachers and administrators at a special meeting tonight.

If there is a budget crunch requiring the layoff notices … the district has not publicly disclosed the issue.

And it is not clear how many of the teachers getting pink slips will be at Malibu’s four public schools. 

The meeting is tonight … at 6 at the district headquarters in Santa Monica. 

Also on Zoom.

SCE Slapped On Wrist For Fire/Flood That Killed 44

One year before the Woolsey Fire … there was the Thomas Fire. 

Southern California Edison power lines actually fell in two places … 40 miles north of Malibu … the the fall of 2017 … sparking two fires that combined into the Thomas Fire.

It burned from the Magic Mountain amusement park all the way through Ventura to Santa Barbara.

It caused the Montecito mudslides … which along with the fire killed 44 people. 

Yesterday ,… the US Justice Department said Southern California Edison has agreed to pay the federal government $80 million to recoup expenses.

Federal officials called it a “record” settlement.

In the last quarter of last years …,. SCE reported a profit of 437 million dollars. 

80 million dollars may be a record settlement with the federal government … but is about as much as what Southern California Edison made in profit in three and a half weeks. 

 

NWS Calls For Up To 1-1/2 Inches Of Rain By Sunday

National Weather Service weekend outlook for the Malibu:

At the surface, a frontal system with light to moderate rain will start to move into Malibu late Thursday night and Friday, then linger over Ventura and L.A. counties into Saturday night before diminishing early Sunday.  

The latest estimates are for about 0.33 to 1.50 inches to fall across the area from Thursday night through Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon through Monday look dry over the region.