P-22 Nearing End Of The Trail – Farrer And Pierson Sign Off From City Council – Comment Letters To MRCA May Not Accomplish Much – Water Rates To Go Up 5.7%

This is Malibu’s Only Local Daily News … the Monday edition … I’m Hans Laetz reporting. 

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Malibu’s Hometown Cat, Unable To Catch Food, May Be Euthanized

Sad news for P-22.

The medical prognosis is not good., 

NEWSCART A73834 P22 ED PERT 

“At the moment it’s not likely that P 22 released back into the wild based on his current underweight and other health issues that he seems to be facing. 

“But we are trying to leave all options on the table.”

That’s Ed Pert … the regional manager for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

P-22’s injured.

He’s old.

He’s injured.

And those injuries may be so severe that the time may have come to humanely put him to sleep.

Beth Pratt … at the National Wildlife Federation … has been carrying a life-size cardboard cutout of P 22 around in their car for the past eight years… As she raised money for the mountain lion overpass on the 101 freeway over the hill.

Beth Pratt … in an interview with KTLA:

NEWSCART A73833 P22 BETH PRATT 

“We know that he may have been hit by car, and there is some concern about a head injury near his eye. 

“He is underweight and he is showing signs of mange. 

“We don’t know what else is going on. Obviously this really radical change in his behavior could point to an underlying (medical) condition. 

“it could be exposure to rat poison, like he had before.”

Beth Pratt told KTLA that P-22 is still being evaluated … he’s going to get a CAT scan today.

But if he’s in bad shape … he might be put to sleep.

The best he can expect … is to live his life in a zoo.

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Farrer and Pierson Say Good Bye, After Their Candidates Win Big

Karen Farrer and Mikke Pierson left their city council seats two night ago Monday.

Both Pierson and Farrer were elected four years ago …and decided not to run again for second terms.

Their support of city manager Reva Feldman … back when new city council member Bruce Silverstein was attacking her … created a bitter reaction in some corners of Malibu… nasty political attacks.

That was magnified when Farrer and Pierson were adamant in refusing to give Bruce Silverstein a rotating turn as mayor.

Both of the two said enough now … neither had the stomach to continue to subject themselves to the bitter small town politics.

On Monday night … Farrer named names … for 10 minutes … 

She thanked a long credits list of people whom she had worked with. 

NEWSCART A73835 BYE FARRER

“It’s been a very it’s been a very memorable four years. 

“And four years was just enough, so it’s time to move on and I really wish Doug and Marianne the best of luck.”

“Doug and Marianne” would mean Doug Stewart and Marianne Riggins … the two victorious city council candidates.

Those two were bitterly opposed by Silverstein … during the last election.

In social media posts … Silverstein lashed out at Stuart and Riggins during the campaign … called them tools of Reva Feldman.

Silverstein campaigned every day … leading up to the election … for two other candidates … Bill Sampson and Hap Henry.

Together … those two Silverstein-endorsed candidates got pasted … together they got 39 percent of the vote.

Farrer and Pierson say they take that as a victory … but last Monday night … that did not come up.  

It was time to say goodbye.

Mikke Pierson.

NEWSCART A73836 BYE PIERSON 

“I am just filled with gratitude that City Of Malibu means everything to me. I’ve said a number of times I was born and raised here, I was adopted here,

“I am the luckiest guy on the face of the earth. I absolutely have a lottery ticket that doesn’t exist, it has been the honor of a lifetime to be elected and have the opportunity to try to make a positive impact on this city.”

Mikke Pierson.

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MRCA Pulling End Run To Evade City Permitting Process, City Claims

Malibu officials are urging city residents to write letters opposing plans for a campground at Bluffs Park… And another campground off of Kanan Dume Road.

In the end… writing a letter is probably not going to do any good.

With the MRCA acting as judge and jury on this decision… It’s not clear if a stack of letters will have any real impact.

The MRCA is the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority… the government agency from the Conejo Valley and Simi Valley area that has its sights on Malibu.

Its executive Director… Joe Edmiston… has a decades-long track record of trying to bypass the City of Malibu and his residents in forcing camping into the city.

Malibu residents are largely terrified at the prospect of more camping …. Not so much against visitors … but worried about homeless persons using campgrounds as a place to live.

The city has seen dozens of illegal warming fires and cooking fires at homeless encampments on MRCA and private land.

Right now… the MRCA is trying to bypass the City of Malibu’s approval process by setting up its own parallel regulatory system… called a PWP… a Public Works Program.

The California coastal act allows a PWP to be set up when a large project crosses city boundaries.

Malibu’s lawyers contend the MRCA is using the PWP process to avoid input from the city and its residence as the MRCA builds campgrounds in the city… And this city only.

All of this is being regulated by the California environmental quality act… CEQA .

Right now… The MRCA is using CEQA to gain regulatory approval from the coastal commission.

CEQA requires the MRCA to go down a checklist of environmental impacts for its PWP campground projects.

The City of Malibu has filed a letter with the MRCA that contains a long list of objections.

Most of those are based on the CEQA checklist … which means those objections will have to be addressed by the MRCA as it does its environmental impact report.

But ‘addressed’ does not mean ‘solved.’

Under CEQA … problems that are pointed out in a CEQA environmental impact report do not have to be solved.

In fact … the MRCA can simply say a negative environmental impact simply is unavoidable… While still approving the project.

And in this case… the MRCA and it’s executive Director Joe Edmiston are firmly in favor of the campgrounds … and they are already on record as pooh poohing Malibu’s objections. 

Malibu’s lawyers are laying the case for derailing the campgrounds PWP in court.

The city is attacking the MRCA for making procedural errors.

The city says the campground request should be processed … not by the MRCA … but instead as a Coastal Development by the City of Malibu… under the city’s local coastal program.

And that Local Coastal Program – the LCP – does not allow camping at Bluffs Park.

That may be the ace in the city’s hand.

In other words …. it is not the laundry list of CEQA violations in letters that could kill the camping plan.

It’s the LCP … the Local Coastal Plan … that was certified by the Coastal Commission 20 years ago.

The PWP has to comply with the LCP.

And it doesn’t.

The City may block the camping plan … when a judge finds that the MRCA took the wrong route to get its campground its permits.

No matter how many letters come in.

The deadline to have your letter arrive in the comments window is tomorrow.

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Malibu Water Rates To Go Up 5.7% In January

Water bills in Malibu are going to go up at the first of the year. 

Last Spring’s burst of inflation may have lessened nationwide. But its lasting affects still linger. Los Angeles county works district 29 is going to raise its rates by 5 point 7 percent.

The district says it is paying more for water from wholesale agencies… And everything else because of inflation.

This was sent the average water bill up from 310 dollars per month to 328 dollars per month.

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First Deadline In The Divorce Framework Is Tomorrow

70 days after the Santa Monica Malibu school divorce framework was signed … a key deadline approaches tomorrow … and there is no public indication that the first deadline will be met.

In late October … the Santa Monica school board and the Malibu city council signed off on a framework with a tight timetable.

The two sides agreed on a timetable that … by December 15th … two major work tasks would be finished.

By tomorrow … the two sides had hoped to have requested the special legislation required to split the two districts.

Plans to gather parent and stakeholder input were to be readied by tomorrow as well.

But those deadlines may be slipping.

School superintendent Ben Drati has quit … taking a different job elsewhere.

And his resignation letter said nothing … bumpkis … about the December 15th commitments.

The city manager and city council was busy with other things Monday night.

And the framework takes for December 15th are not on there agenda for the December 15th school board meeting

Final agreements on tax revenue sharing, operations and joint powers authority — are to be completed by mid-April.

But by all appearances … that ambitious schedule may be slipping already.

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Winter Day Camps Available For Kids Starting Next Week

Winter vacation starts in the Malibu schools next week.

It’s a two week break …. away from school

The  city of Malibu is putting on some winter day camps for kids.

For there first week …. Kids can be focus on theater and soccer at Malibu Bluffs Park … and tennis and basketball at Malibu High School.

And for the second week…the camps are for art and yoga … skateboarding .. and ultimate sports … at Bluffs Park.

Registration is stillopen .. at the city’s website.

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