Spectacular New Malibu High Classrooms To Open In August, 4 Months Ahead Of Schedule

Malibu High School’s new classroom structure will open for students in August … five months ahead of schedule.

School superintendent Antonio Sheldon made the announcement last night. 

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“The planning for this building began way before the Woolsey fire … and with all the challenges we faced the Malibu fire contractors have moved steadfastly forward with with this important facility project paid for by the Malibu bond dollars.”

The new building is spectacular.  Walls off glass allow sunset ocean views up the Malibu coast to Point Mugu.

Landscaping makes it look like office suites … the outside … lush … the inside … well. … we haven’t seen it yet.

But the plans are for nontraditional learning places … lots of nooks for collaborative activities.

This views used to be available only from a cafeteria loading dock and garbage dumpster area.

The new Malibu high school classroom building is the second phase of a complete rebuild of the school complex… which dated from the 1950s and 60s and has not fared very well.

The new Malibu middle school buildings  opened first… on the eastern end of the campus … almost a decade ago.

Now comes the new high school classrooms … built on the site of the old Juan Cabrillo Elementary School.  In between them sist the dowdy and sad-looking center part of the campus… including dilapidated facilities, like the old auditorium… the ancient gym and the leaky swimming pool.

Those will be torn down and replaced in the next 2-3 years.  Final drawings are being prepared for that. 

The  $395 million to pay for it … new bond money … has already been approved by Malibu voters.

Santa Monica School Board Gets Cold Feet, Asks For More Negotiations, After 8 Years Of Divorce Talks

The Santa Monica school board last night withdrew its support for a separate Malibu school district.

Here’s the chief negotiator on the school board … Jon Kean.

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“I will not bury the lead, even though I’d love to do that dramatic lead up to it. 

“I think there are a few issues now that demand immediate attention so I think that precludes me from wanting to take action tonight.”

By unanimous consent … the school board demanded that Malibu return to the bargaining table … months after announcing that Santa Monica had reached agreements on details with Malibu.

Last minute financial concerns … from the board … torpedoed the same agreements that the Santa Monica team had announced earlier this year.

And board members also said that … the talks should be started over again because Malibu’s negotiating team has a new member … newly elected Haylynn Conrad.

Here’s one board member … Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein

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“Haylynn has not been to a mediation session yet … because she’s new. 

“I think we should. I think the five of us should get together with the mediator ASAP.

“I mean just to get together. Just to talk about ‘hey what are you feeling?’ 

“‘Where are you at? 

“Let’s clear the air … let’s look at each other in the eye and recommit. 

“I think we should do that immediately.”

Santa Monica Board Member Richard Tahlvidrian Jasswein.

The decision last night came despite more impassioned pleas from Malibu parents for an independent school district.

Few people could make the trip to the meeting … 45 miles away through roadblocks and rush-hour traffic.

Alicia Peak phoned in.

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“Local control is best for the students. 

“I love our Malibu teachers, and I think that if we could have local control, it would benefit our teachers all so much because everything would be right there.

“The needs of Santa Monica and Malibu teachers – just like our students – are different.”

The major issue … money.

What happens if another fire … or an economic downturn .. or an earthquake … cripples local property tax collections?
School board member Lori Lieberman.

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“if we were to lose that money, what would be the impact and what would be the process?
“And people have turned that question into: is there a breaking point? 

“I didn’t really ask it that way at the time, but I guess that really is the question.

“Is there some point in time that this kind of loss makes this unviable, but I think it’s more question of … what happens if something happens like that?”

SHIN GREEN: “The loss of that revenue … whether combined or separate … is a loss of revenue … “

That was district financial expert … Shin Green … answering Larire Liberman’s question.

Green says Santa Monica could always go back to relying on tax funding based on attendance … instead of being based on property tax revenues.

And he said the financial loss the Lieberman talks aboiut would hit the current combined district just as hard as if the district is split in two.

Last night … board member Jon Kean apologized for having led the community to believe that an agreement had been reached earlier this year. 

But he said he still had unanswered questions about a possible financial shortfall in Malibu … 

And … about Malibu possibly not honoring existing labor agreements with teachers and support workers … that had to be ironed out.

“I apologize for having led people to believe we had reached this point,” Kean said. 

So what does he want???

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“Have our team engage with Malibu consultants and staff to address any current concerns in the formula calculations for the early years.

‘Provide suggestions to address affordability issues another potential inequities for both communities that’s number one reengage that has to happen now.”

The vote means the city council in Malibu has a decision to make – go on alone to the LA County committee that makes recommendations on school district lines, or hold off and reopen talks with Santa Monica.

Those talks fell apart last November.

And now .. they will have to be restarted. 

Or … Malibu can just throw in the towel on trying to please the Santa Monica school board. 

In three weeks … the L:A County Office of Education advisory committee will meet to take a second vote on Malibu independence. 

The committee’s staff screwed up at a meeting in April … there is a question as to what the committee decided on a 6 to 5 vote last time. 

More Than 40% of Malibu Homes Covered By State FAIR Plan Insurance Now

The California FAIR plan insures more Malibu homes against fire than in any other westside zip code … according to numbers crunched by the Los Angeles Times. 

90265 had some 22 hundred policies enrolled in the FAIR plan this year … almost half of the houses in Malibu are now enrolled in the state insurance pool effort.

The Times found that in the Palisades and Eaton fire zones, the FAIR Plan’s rolls shot up last year a combined 47%. 

The newspaper notes that the FAIR plan is considered a backup insurance porgram.

And it has not lived up to its promise, drawing numerous complaints among policyholders about delays in payments and other issues.

The so-called insurance company of last resort is expected to pay out 4 billion dollars in damage claims for about 53 hundred damaged houses in Malibu , the Palisades and Altadena.

That has prompted it to seek a $1-billion bailout from its member carriers.

Ratepayers across the state may be on the hook for half of that bailout …. under a state policy designed to keep the FAIR plan solvent.

LA Reservoir In Pacific Palisades Is Drained Again

The trouble-plagued reservoir operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power just east of Malibu has been drained again. 

This is the Santa Ynez Reservoir … the 117-million-gallon water pond that was sitting empty in the heart of Pacific Palisades … when the big fire broke out in January. 

LA city fire ran out of water as the Palisades Fire blew out of the Palisades and into Malibu … destroying more than 700 houses in Malibu … plus 900 in the city of LA. 

LA has been saying the reservoir could return to service by early May.

The problem is with the tank’s floating cover.

DWP confirmed yesterday that the reservoir will have to be drained, again, so that crews can again fix the floating cover. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom to call for an investigation.

The DWP water system is completely separate from the LA County Waterworks District 29 system … that supplies Malibu.

SCE Begins Dismantling Unused 102-Year-Old Power Line That May Have Caused Eaton Fire

We’ve been reporting on the power line that may have caused the Eaton Fire … a power lien that was built 102 years ago … and then abandoned after an earthquake 53 years ago,

The power line may have accidentally picked up energy form nearby high voltage lines than run parallel … induction … the same electrical force that makes an A-M radio buzz when you drive under the lines. 

Southern California Edison yesterday began dismantling the unused power line … 

State law requires unused power lines to be removed. .. SCE didn’t do that.

More than 130 lawsuits have been filed against the utility, blaming it for sparking the devastating Eaton fire.

Rooftop Solar Innovators Who Helped California Save Money On Power Plants Protest State Plan To Cheat Them

Dozens of rooftop solar owners protested yesterday outside the office of a state assembly member who is fighting against rooftop solar panels.

Assembly member Lisa Calderon is a retired Southern California Edison P-R executive.

She is behind a proposed Assembly Bill 942 that would slash credits that were promised to people who invested in rooftop solar … in exchange for 20 years of credits on their remaining power bills. 

The credits allow people with solar panels to feed electricity to the grid at market rates during daylight … and repurchase power at night when their panels are off.

No one gets a check … it’s just a way to generate power during the day … rather than rely on distant generating stations. 

People who spent money on their rooftop solar were promised the power companies would buy their power for 20 years … but Calderon wants to cut that to 10 years.

Southern California Edison and the state’s two other for-profit utilities hate rooftop solar .… they make money by transmitting electricity … and more solar equals less profit. 

Assembly member Calderon worked for Southern California Edison and its parent company, Edison International, for 25 years before she was elected in 2020. 

Her last position included managing the parent company’s political action committee … which helped fund her campaign. 

Calderon told the Los Angeles Times she introduced the bill because she had learned that 97% of the people in her district were paying higher electric bills because of the solar credits going to the remaining 3%.

“From an equity standpoint, that’s not fair,” she told the newspaper. 

“I would love for everyone to have solar, but we need to do it in a fair and equitable way.”

The protest yesterday was organized by people who took the state’s deal … and invested in solar … which has kept the state’s power demand flat for 20 years.

In that time … Edison spending on transmission and distribution infrastructure has risen by 300%, McCann found.

Environmental groups say out of control spending by SCE and two other power monopolies has generated record utility profits.