For 4 hours and 27 minutes on Saturday … Malibu residents let it out. 

90 seconds per person.  

Impossible to get to all the comments here.   Anger.   Questions.  Thanks.

But loud … blistering criticism, against the Mountain Resource Conservation Authority .. the MRCA … drew the loudest applause.

MRCA did not lock the gates to its parkland and trails … when hurricane force winds were forecast to hit … on January 7th…

They did not clear weeds or undergrowth on their land … where kids were known to party and hangout and light fireworks.

At Saturday night’s Malibu fire public meeting … 600 residents or more crowded the Malibu High auditorium, and two overflow rooms. 

People were furious .. and the MRCA took red hot criticism.

Wade Major.

70874  MAJOR MRCA

“Living next to MRCA-administered land is becoming increasingly like living next to a hoarder who stacks yelling newspapers in the house and rust in canisters of gasoline in the backyard for decades. We’ve warned that we needed controlled burns fire, maintenance, and robust resource management.  

“In return, we get nothing but condescension and vitriol from the slumlord of the Santa Monica Mountains.

“Joe Edmonton’s appetite for acquisition without a accountability has done unspeakable harm to these fragile hills. [LOUD SUSTAINED APPLAUSE]

“These hills will not recover for years. 

“The MRCA has had its day, it’s time to turn these over to state parks and their seasoned, professional leaders.

“We welcome their leadership and look forward to working with them as leaders.

“Not just Malibu strong, Malibu stronger. [SUSTAINED APPLAUSE].”

A little bit of history: the MRCA was created to give inland Ventura County a way to buy Malibu beach access ways … but the idea was for the MRCA to move fast and then hand over the beaches to California State Parks. 

But State Parks has been chronically underfunded… and not able to take on the load of managing new parkland.

That has left MRCA to fill the vacuum … to rapidly expand its empire… to create its own pitifully-small fire department and duplicative police department… and to grow into Los Angeles and beyond.

MRCA is a fiefdom controlled by Joe Edmiston … Malibu officials say.  It is a accountable only to some faceless bureaucrats in Sacramento… who largely leave Edmiston alone. 

Edmiston makes 152 thousand dollars per year.    His house … in the Pacific Palisades … reportedly burned in the fire that started behind a gate that the MRCA did not lock.

Of all the devastated Malibu  neighborhoods … Big Rock got it worst. 

At Saturday night’s city council meeting … Collin Drummond asked the key question … what are you going to do about the MRCA and its failure to clear brush.

70872 DRUMMOND

“That Tuesday night, 70% of our neighborhood went down, including our home … the place where our kids grew up and where countless treasures are gone forever.

“From my training recently with the fire brigade, I know that extreme conditions can turn fire into unstoppable freight trains, where life safety trumps structure protection.

“But in Big Rock, a domino of failures led to our devastation.

“A failed SCE power line blocked the first responders. 

“We ran out of district 29 water as the fire spread.

“Decades of fuel accumulation of MRCA land, left untreated due to restrictions or controlled burns not being allowed, led to catastrophic energy.

“And even as a fire-wise community and a fire safe council, we didn’t have enough people who hardened their homes.

“So, with all of that going wrong, what can you say about that?

“This is not a communication failure, this is an infrastructure failure.

“Big Rock, LA County, and California are not prepared for the new reality but we face.

“Our homes, our electric grid, our water system, our open spaces must meet the challenges head on.

“Legislators: This is my question to you. What are you gonna do about it?” [APPLAUSE]

So, State Senator Ben Allen: What are you gong to do about it???

70873 ALLEN TRANSFER

“I am amazed with the screwed up situation between state parks and the Santa Monica Conservancy. The risks are so hihjg and they are going to have to come up with a land management policy.

“I would like to see if we could transfer their land to California State Parks, if there is some what to do that.”

How Will Beachfront Houses By Built On Narrow Slice Of Dry Land Between Highway Right Of Way and Dry Sand?

As of current count, the recent fires have destroyed or damaged structures on over 700 properties in Malibu.

More than 300 of those properties are on the actual coastline. 

Hundreds of antique septic tanks are going to have to be rebuilt … and updated to modern onsite wastewater treatment systems. 

Additionally, they will have be protected against waves … using seawalls. 

Coastal Commission area director Steve Hudson … Saturday … said Coastal has no problem stepping out of that permitting process.

After all … the governor already ordered that.

70866 HUDSON RIGGINS HARDENING 

I would like to reiterate, there is an exemption process. It would be available for those disaster replacement structures. It could include sea walls septic systems with that up to a 10% increase and in the same location.

“So we will be happy to coordinate on those individual projects on any projects, so it is exempt because it’s it was impacted by the disaster and that includes hardening. 

Home hardening is also exempt when discussing these fire hardening procedures. FIX THIS

Coastal’s Steve Hudson … with council member Marianne Riggins questioning him. 

There is one great big asterisk to Coastal’s statement.  

It was added by Coastal’s Steve Hudson.

70867 HUDSON ASTERISK

“That’s for any existing legal structure.”

Many of those 300 coastal houses were built long before building permits were necessary. 

Their are septic tanks never had permits.

They may encroach on highway right of way.

Are they legal?

That issue has yet to be resolved.

The city council will meet tonight to bring city ordinances in line with the recent declaration from the governor to exempt fire rebuilds from the California coastal commission rules.

Acting city attorney Trevor Russin:

70869 RUSSIN AMEND 

“The goal is that… for those like-for-like rebuilds or with the 10% addition … anything required for that should be exempt or at most subject to a waiver.

“I’m gonna work forward to that for everyone so you’re not subject to the coastal development process for those, which everyone knows can take years but also can be very expensive, especially for properties that are on the coast, where you’re not subject to a Planning Commission hearing, and also an appeal to the city council, but also an appeal to the coastal  commission, which can take years to do.”

Current Malibu city zoning regulations exempt projects from design review if they are a fire rebuild with a 10% or less increase in size.

One problem is that this exemption is not allowed under city rules if the project is on the beach and thus in the coastal commission zone.

The city council tonight will vote on changing the city rules to remove the coastal commission jurisdiction.

FEMA May Require Beachfront Houses To Be Higher, Contrary to City Height limits

Another problem:

Properties along the coast may be required to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood zone standards. 

And current FEMA standards may require rebuild structures to raise their finished floors to an elevation that would be higher than before the fires. 

But the current city rules require fire rebuilds to stay within the same “bulk” .. the same mass and height.

The city staff is considering options here. 

Coastal Promises to Work With City If Houses Need to be Adjusted

Then … there is the issue of geologic safety requirements. 

Some people may need to relocate their new structures … to safer areas on their properties … without requiring a Coastal Development Permit. 

Staff has already begun discussions with Costal Commission staff.

They say Malibu may need Coastal to approve an amendment to Malibu’s local coastal program … the Coastal Commission certified plan for the city. 

Back at Coastal … Steve Hudson says they plan to be helpful .. not obstacles. 

70875 HUDSON GOV ORDER 

“The governor’s executive order makes it clear that we are all committed to removing barriers and making it as easy as possible, for people affected by the fires to rebuild. 

“And that includes seawalls and any other structures. 

“Our staff is committed to being a resource, and if their are case-specific problems that come up, we are committing to working with your local government to find solutions.”

County Fire Codes Are Too Strict, Fire Chief Agrees

Malibu rebuilds may be delayed or prevented due to LA County fire rules about water supply. 

Building consultant Don Schmitz says the rules require a certain amount of water flow from the water pipes in the neighborhood… but do not allow for local water storage. 

70870 SCHMITZ WATER

“You have constituents who lost their homes in previous fires and we’re not be able to rebuild because they could not meet the 1,250 gallons per minute that were required by the fire department. And there needed to be upgrades to watermains, water storage tanks, pumps, etc. that was just strictly cost prohibitive. 

“There are alternative standards that you can implement as a city council and I urge you to do that.“

Schmidt says it’s an LA county fire Department issue that the city needs to intercede on.

LA county fire chief Anthony Marrone said he favors that … but the LA Count y Board of Supervisors has to change the fire code. 

70871 MARRONE 

“The LA County fire codes have a more strict requirement than the state code. As stated, it is 1,250 GPM (gallons per minute), 20 PSI (pressure), and 30 minutes (supply duration).

“And as stated by Supervisor Horvath, we really need to look at alternatives, and I like the tank idea.”

It would be up to the county board of supervisors to change the flow requirements, which frankly cannot be met anywhere in Malibu.

Caltrans And MRCA Are No-Shows At City Council Forum

There were two agencies that did not show at Saturday night’s hearings.

One … the MRCA.

The other … Caltrans. 

The state agency has yet to describe the extent of damage to Pacific Coast Highway.

Caltrans has yet to describe any plan for reopening the road.

School buses … food deliveries… people going to work are all subject to two hour delays using the 101 and 405.

If school were to be held today… school buses would have to get to Malibu High School from Santa Monica via a 70 mile detour through Camarillo.

Still … no answer from Caltrans.

State workers were observed last weekend, adding chain-link fence to some of the landslide prevention devices in the Pacific Palisades area.

That’s the first Caltrans crews we’ve spotted on PCH … other than the traffic light repair crews on the road.

Las Virgenes Water District Wants Better Interconnections With Malibu Waterworks 29

106 of the houses that were destroyed above Malibu are in the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.

The district serves an area that reaches from Chatsworth to Westlake Village, and Calabasas down to Mal­ibu.

It supplied the water dropped from helicopters to slow the spread of the flames, water sent from Las Virgenes to 69 Bravo … the helibase above Malibu.

In fact, Waterworks District 29 at one point was pumping its water up to 69 bravo and in exchange Las Virgenes was backfilling western Malibu with water over the small Encinal Canyon pipe. 

That way, the critical Hella spot tanks at 69. Bravo were kept full for the helicopters to suck up into their tanks… And drop on burning houses.

Meanwhile … Las Virgenes was working to keep its own 27 storage tanks from going dry.

Trump Orders Water To Benefit Corporate Farmers in Valley

President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order yedsterday that told federal agencies to “immediately take action” to suck more water out off the Sacramento delta.

But that water will not be flowing south to the fire ravaged Southern California area.

It’;s going to go to corporate farms …. In the Central Valley.

In the new order, Trump cited the Los Angeles fires, even though the actions he is ordering — delivering more water from the federal Central Valley Project — would primarily serve farms. 

About 75% of Central Valley Project water is used for agriculture, while much of the rest goes to cities and towns in the San Joaquin Valley, including Sacramento and Fresno..

At stake are the rules that guide two massive Delta water systems, the federal Central Valley Project and a state-operated system, the State Water Project. 

These networks of reservoirs, pumps and canals deliver water to millions of acres of farmland and 30 million people. 

They draw water from rivers that flow into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay, which imperils Chinook salmon, smelt and sturgeon that are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.

Trump ordered federal agencies to “expedite action related to any exemption under the Endangered Species Act…for the long-term operation” of the water delivery systems. In addition, he directed the federal Bureau of Reclamation to “take all available measures to ensure that State agencies — including the California Department of Water Resources — do not interfere.” 

One California congressman calls the president out as a liar. 

“Do not be fooled by Trump’s lies: none of the policies in this executive order will move even a single drop of extra water to communities devastated by these wildfires. 

“This administration is presenting us with a false choice,” 

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement Sunday. “Fishers, farmers, treasured species, and every water user all depend on our water resources – we do not have to pick winners or losers.”

Trump’s actions “will have devastating consequences for California’s water future,” says a coalition of environmental groups. 

It’s “a federal takeover of California’s right to manage its land and waters.”

San Francisco Baykeeper Science Director Jon Rosenfield called the administration “a lawless regime that uses extortion to enrich their political supporters.”

The Westlands Water District, represents farmers in the desert parts of Kings and Fresno counties.

On Sunday … Westlands said Sunday that they welcome Trump’s order.

Some Los Angeles fire hydrants ran out of water fighting the fires, but city fire and utility officials say it was caused by a sudden surge in demand and limited capacity of city pipelines, not lack of water supply.