Point Dume Club Sale To Chicago Firm Raises Questions About Future Tax Bill

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED LATE FRIDAY

The residents of Malibu’s largest neighborhood are living under uncertainty … and the possible threat of massive rent increases.

The Point Dume Club has been sold to a Chicago investment firm. 

That means the rents will almost certainly climb … because the sale of the land will result in a new assessed valuation of the property… and that could lead to a whopping increase in property taxes.

The city’s rent control ordinance allows the owner pass through tax costs to the families that own their own manufactured homes … but who rent the land under them.

Rents may increase dramatically if the Point Dume Club is reassessed at a much higher value after the sale. The LA Times reports that the sale was around $200 million, but no specifics were offered by an anonymous Times source.

Again… all that depends on what the 95 acres sold for. It is clear that the Chicago based investment company… Hometown America … is not in this deal to lose money.

The broker says that the property sold for “the highest price per site ever achieved by a manufactured housing community.”

The new owners are not responding to phone calls and emails from KBUU News.

Some side notes about the Point Dume Club sale… a proposed law that would have given mobile home parks the right to make a combined offer to buy mobile home parks … before they are sold to investors … failed to pass in the California Legislature this year. 

And … the City of Malibu has zoned the Point Dume Club … and the Paradise Cove mobile home park … as “Mobile Home Residential.”  That means the land cannot be used for any other purpose under the current zoning. 

But what if the land owner applied to build a resort there … displacing the homeowners … but providing badly-needed coastal recreation opportunities???

The city council would obviously turn that down …  but the matter could be appealed to the California Coastal Commission … which has final say.

The Coastal Commission might rather have a condos or a resort there … with low income rooms … and the commission staff might rather have a coastal visitor complex …. Or a large block of affordable housing … rather than a mobile home park that does not provide housing for low income families … seeking to move to the coast.

And in a similar case from San Diego may be instructive as to what the Coastal Commission will do.  There, a long-standing mobile home park next to Mission Bay was torn out several years ago.

De Anza Cove had some significant differences … it was on land owned by the City of San Diego .. and the city wanted to reintroduce a wetland to Mission Bay Park.

But 50 mobile home families were ousted there … in the interest of coastal law. 

Back at Point Dume … the Chicago investment company that bought PDC has a does have a record of jacking up rents … denying benefits … and violations of various rent control laws and ordinances at some of the parks that it owns, across the country.

Hometown America owns 80 high end mobile home parks across the nation.

And some of its tenants have nothing but praise for the company.

Silverstein Roundly Booed At Democratic Debate, As His Final Statement Turns Personal 

Boos and shouting erupted at the end of last night’s city council debate … when one city council member personally attacked another. 

This was at the Malibu Democratic Club debate … last night at the Malibu Library.

Up until the very end … it was a fairly calm and uneventful event …with all five candidates pretty much agreeing that they pretty much agree on the need to preserve Malibu … listen to everybody … find common solutions …. Etc.

One key exception … Bruce Silverstein and Steve Uhring both came out strongly in favor of a boulevard makeover for PCH in eastern Malibu. 

The boos and shouting erupting at the end … when the five city council candidates were asked the fairly saccharine question … what’s your closing argument.

Paul Grisanti rotated first.

70605 DEBATE GRISANTI 

“Malibu is a great place, and I’m very very lucky to be here. Believe me, deciding to move here after my first job in Los Angeles was the best thing I ever did”

Channing Frykman … second.

70607 DEBATE FRYKMAN

“What a gift it is that we live here. And to be good stewards to use your words, Paul.

“I feel like that is so important, to be able, especially that I am to be alive..”

Another political neophyte … Haylynn Conrad … was third. 

70608 DEBATE CONRAD

“To have really vibrant political discussions …. because that’s what we’re doing here. I love to facilitate things like that. When we disagree, let’s do it respectfully. Let’s not character assassinate.” 

Then … incumbent Steve Uhring.

70609 DEBATE UHRING 

“I think we gotta clean up City Hall. I think there are some things we can do. We talked to Lester (Tobias) and I think there are some changes we can make to the planning department to help us out. 

“But you are going to have to take a look at the candidates and understand that there is a difference”

And then … incumbent Bruce Silverstein … sticking a finger at, and leaning towards, Grisanti .. who was sitting next to him.

70610 DEBATE SILVERSTEIN 

“Paul says a lot of great things, Paul has a lot of great experience in the city. But where we come apart and what we didn’t talk about tonight at all is the vision statement and the mission statement, and program growth versus development. And Paul has consistently supported development in Malibu, contrary to the mission statement.”

CROWD NOISE:

“You’re not Malibu, that’s not the way …”

“No!”

“No personal attacks”

SILVERSTEIN, SHOUTING: “Excuse me!”

AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  “You’re attacking.”

“No. No, no, no.”

SILVERSTEIN:  “There is a difference between attacking and differentiating…”

CROWD NOISE GROWS

“No personal attacks.”

SILVERSTEIN:  “I am not personally attacking… There was a difference between attacking a person and talking about a substantive issue.”

CROWD:  “That’s not necessary.”

VARIOUS PEOPLE: “No.”

“That’s a personal attack.”

“Boo.”

The meeting ended with most of the crowd of 40-50 people expressing their unhappiness, vocally, with the sudden turn in the debate that Silverstein had made.

Writing the next day on Nextdoor, Silverstein attacked the people in the room, 

“To be clear, shouting down speakers is a form of mob censorship.  By exercising a ‘heckler’s veto,’ the hypocritical audience members who claim to champion civility prevented the majority of the audience from hearing the substantive views I sought to express.” 

To be clear, most of the people in the room had expressed unhappiness with what they perceived to be a sudden personal attack, at the end of the two hour session.  Silverstein had been cut shorty 15 seconds before his time ran out, and his views were clear.

“Bruce could not restrain himself from making a personal attack, at the end of the debate, when Paul could not defend himself,” said one unhappy Democrat.

In his written attack Thursday, Silverstein also accused Malibu Democratic audience members of violating his First Amendment constitutional rights, a curious mistake for a lawyer to make.  The First Amendment regulates government action – members of the public expressing opposition act the meeting of a political club is fundamentally different.

Earlier Wednesday evening, Democratic Club members also loudly applauded … when candidate Halylynn Conrad called for planning commissioners to stop the delaying tactics, and their animosity directed at applicants and staff.

Uhring and Silverstein sat silent …. and did not come to the defense of the apparent targets … their appointees to the planning commission … John Mazza and Kraig Hill. 

One final note:

The Democratic Club asked all five candidates who they are supporting for president. 

Strongly endorsing Kamala Harris … was Bruce Silverstein.

Halylynn Conrad said she too would vote for Harris.

Paul Grisanti and Steve Uhring both waffled and refused to endorse either Harris or Donald Trump.  

And Channing Frykman said she could not support either candidate.

The city council race is nonpartisan … but Democratic Club members said the gravity of this year’s election means all candidates need to be on the record. 

10 Open Jobs In City Planning Department 

Malibu’s planning department has 10 open jobs. 

County council members met yesterday afternoon to talk about the city’s priority list … and filling those jobs with qualified planners was at the top of the agenda. 

Assistant city manager Joseph Toney said the city is doing a better job of advertisiing its job vacancies …. 

But he told the city council that turmoil at the top levels of government has hurt retention efforts.

Toney’s comments were at a city council meeting where no sound system was being used ….  We have an interpreter repeating them:

70604 STAFF TWONEY

“I mean, that is anecdotal, it would be  pure speculation, but it feels like we’re in a better position than we were. We’re starting in the right direction. I don’t think we’re any worse than we were a year ago. 

“Obviously, we had some significant losses due to some interactions we’ve had in the last few months, losing some few people, particularly in the planning department. But I think in the whole the numbers are inching forward in the positive direction.”

There was no comment during the meeting … about that … from any of the city council members. 

Malibu’s Police Now Have Anti-Gang Rules For The Force

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department unveiled a much-awaited anti-gang policy yesterday.

This is about gangs wearing uniforms. 

The controversial tattooed groups and their alleged misconduct have plagued the L A sheriff’s department for decades.

Sheriff Robert Luna said yesterday … he worked with his deputies to make sure they would accept the new antigen rules.

70611 SHERIFF GANGS

“Part of my strategy was to make sure that we got their input.

“We went through a very good process, so we have buy-in from our employees as we change the culture.

“We are doing it all together and it is not just me.”

The elected sheriff was interviewed by  Fox 11 … and the deputies union has endorsed his antigang policy.

Department leaders have been trying for years … decades … trying to eradicate the tattooed deputy gangs … partly because being in a gang has never been explicitly grounds for firing.

The state legislature passed a law three years ago that the gangs had to go. 

The new policy will require department employees to participate in investigations into the groups. 

Deputies who run afoul of the rule will be referred to the state commission responsible for certifying peace officers across California. 

Violating the rule could not only lead to being fired by the LA department … but also losing the privilege of working as a sworn officer anywhere in Califorinia. 

Violating the policy could result in discipline, including termination.

L.A. County has paid out at least $55 million in settlements in cases involving sheriff’s deputies alleged to belong to the gangs … according to the LA Times.

Luna told the newspaper yesterday that there are at least four deputy gang-related investigations underway right now.

The Board of Supervisors has an appointed inspector general to oversee the department.

He says the new policy is pretty weak .. but a step in the right direction.

The LA county sheriff’s department is hired by the City of Malibu to be the local municipal police department.