City Council Clips Mic Of Nobu Lawyer, Who Makes Startling Admission About Booze-Soaked Nobu Party

Nobu will be hauled before the Planning Commission for a hearing possible revocation of its permits

And at last night’s city council meeting … an attorney for Nobu admitted that Summer Wheaton had been at the liquor-soaked party that Fourth of July night. 

The Nobu lawyer ….Benjamin Resnick … appeared before the city council last night … and at one point … he got his mic shut off.

Resnick was arguing to the city council …. when Bruce Silverstein said the lucrative bar violated its requirement to get a Temporary Use Permit for the 4th of July party.

Silverstein said the bar acted illegally. 

70523 SILvERSTEIN TUP PROB

“To me, sophisticated business people go to court to get a rapid decision, or abide by the law and then sue for damages if they think they were wrongly prevented from doing what they have a what they claimed to have a right to do. 

“They don’t just disregard the law and then just go forward.”

The Nobu attorney repeatedly denied the city’s proof … that there was no Temporary Use Permit for the July 4th party.  Malibu had issued a TUP subject to Nobu coming up with an acceptable traffic plan.  And the Friday before the party … a city official told them … their plan was not acceptable.

Resnick repeated the bar’s contention … that the event had a TUP, and in fact did not need a TUP.

And that the event went off without a hitch.

70520 ATTY WITHOUT A HITCH

“Yes, we had the clearances and … and … and the event went forward with conditions being complied with, because the conditomns required code enforcement,  it required the sheriff’s to be there, they were there the entire evening, they monitored it, they reported it, and their conclusions was ‘the event went off without a hitch.’ ”

Of course, the conclusion of the deputies  down the road, investigating the death of Martin Okeke at the hands of a Nobu party participant, were not factored into that conclusion.

And Malibu code enforcement said they were not allowed on the property to count. attendance, and thus could not say if Nobu honored the standing 249-person occupancy limit.

Nobu has been operating for 17 years with an occupancy limit spaced on the amount of serving space and the amount of septic tank capacity.   The rule: no more than 249 guests and employees may be on the property.

The Nobu lawyer said Monday night he had no data,  if that occupancy limit was observed.  His claim left the city Council members incredulous.

Bruce Silverstein called it an F-U position .. that apparently stands for “fuck you.”

That sparked the Nobu attorney to again claim that one key condition from the city … for a city okayed traffic plan … was met. 

Nobu attorney Benjamin Resnick .. and councilman Bruce DSilcerstein.

70522 TURN THE MIC OFF

NOBU LAWYER BENJAMIN RESNICK: “That condition was satisfied. It required agency approval of the two agencies referenced In here.”

COUNCIL MEMBER SILVERSTEIN: “I’m gonna stop here because you are arguing now.” 

RESNICK:  “But you made statements that are wrong and I can’t leave that along in the record as if I’m not responding to that. You said we took an F U position. 

SILVERSTEIN:  “Excuse me, can we please turn his microphone off?”

RESNICK, CONTINUING: “We did not take an F U position.” 

SILVERSTEIN:  “Please turn his microphone off.”

At that point, Resnick either shut up or his microphone was turned off.

Last night, Nobu also came under fire for allowing a guest, Summer Wheaton, to drive away from the Nobu party … eventually killing an innocent motorist … Martin Okeke. 

Nobu had promised that everyone would arrive and depart in a shuttle from Santa Monica.

Councilman Paul Grisanti:

70518 THE TUP SIR

GRISANTI:  “If no one is allowed to bring their cars, how does someone leave the place and get into their car, and get into an accident in less than two miles of driving? 

“And kill somebody?”

NOBU LAWYER RESNICK:  “We don’t know where she parked her car: somewhere in the area.  She walked off the premises, so we’re clear: Nobu did not have her car. The valet…  She never gave her keys, she never had her car there.

GRISANTI : “Sir?  Sir”

RENSICK: “She walked off promises in her case.  She parked somewhere in the area and walked on premises, she got into the event. So … yeah … that she did not come in a shuttle as far as we know or in an Uber.”

GRISANTI:  “So you would agree that what happened to Mr. Okeke is not appropriate?”

RESNICK: “That has nothing that’s got nothing to do with the TUP, sir.”

GRISANTI: “It has everything to do with the TUP, sir.”

Putting aside the one dead person at the hands of a Nobu patron … did the event really go off without a hitch???

Nobu erected so-called privacy hedges to hide the attendees from the public. Nobu did not have a permit to install the privacy hedges, either. They are required to preserve coastal views across the parking lot.

Nobu’s lawyer says he does not know how many people attended the party … total occupancy was capped at 249.

The city doesn’t know what the attendance was either.  Here’s city councilman Doug Stewart questioning city staffer Joseph Smith. 

70519 DS QUESTION

“THE TUP says there is a cap of 250 people in attendance and they CUP says the same or 249 or something like that. Do we know how many people were actually at this event, and I’m going to ask Joseph first if the city knows, and then I’ll ask Mr. Resnick and then also make my own comment about that. So Joseph, did we have a firm count as to how many people were there?

CONTRACT CITY PLANNER JOSEPH SMITH:  “No. I’ve tried hard to answer this question. We don’t have a firm count from the city perspective. We did have a code enforcement officer who is able to observe from the exterior and he noted in his notes that he did not notice any overcrowding from the public right away, but they were unable to see inside because there were privacy hedges that were about 10 feet tall that were put up.”

Nobu attorney Benjamin Resnick says they do not have a crowd count either.  He said Nobu had tuned control of the restaurant over to a third party that night … and has no idea what happened inside. 

If that is true … then Nobu just admitted to violating a state Alcohol Beverage Control law. The Bureau Alcoholic Beverage Control does not allow a liquor license holder to turn control of their liquor service service over to a third-party.

So where does this leave Nobu? 

The city council voted last night to have the Planning Commission consider whether to modify the conditional use permanent … to tighten the rules or maybe even revoke the Malibu permit.  Because that appeal can be appealed to the city council, members took pains last night not to prejudge the issue, lest they disqualify themselves from hearing the appeal.

Planning Director Warns Nobu’s Revocation Preps May Delay 25 Other Projects

Malibu’s interim Planning Director warns that up to two dozen construction projects, sought by Malibu landowners, may get delayed at the Malibu planning commission … as the commission and staff grapple with the Nobu issue. 

Interim planning director Maureen Imuri warned the city council … she just doesn’t have enough staff to handle to Nobu issue and all of the other projects at City Hall right now. 

70524 MAUREEN TAMURI

“We have staff reductions that will impact our ability just to keep those projects moving so I can tell you with some certainty that we will not be able to get an item like this through 60 days without affecting 22 to 25 other projects.” 

Some planning commissioners have laid the blame for the backlog to commission chairman John Mazza … who spends a lot of time asking what they say are repetitive questions.

That causes items to be carried over to subsequent meetings … bogging down the entire process.

Mazza says he was appointed to do a thorough job.

Other commissioners say he asks the same questions over and over. 

Members of the public also spoke last night … complaining that Mazza is still treating members of the public and city staff with disrespect. 

This note … Planning Director Maureen Tamuri has a voice that cannot be picked up accurately by a tape recorder.  

The quote that we used on the air was voiced by a KBUU reporter … repeating what Tamuri said at the meeting. 

City Councilmembers Say Kraig Hill Was Disrespected By Commission Chair

Malibu planning commissioner Kraig Hill has apologized for calling a meeting bullshit … and stomping out of it.

But city council member told Hill they understood his frustration … with a planning commission chairman who had treated him rudely. 

Hill walked out of the last Planning commission meeting a week ago.

It was late into the meeting … here’s what went down… during the long discussion about state requirements for Malibu to provide affordable housing. 

70509 BULLSHIT BLEEPED

CITY CONSULTANT:  “… back to be invalid in the fifth housing development…

MAZZA:  “OK. What’s your next item?”

HILL: ”OK. Let’s talk about who were are counting as affordable or low income….”

MAZZA, INTERRUPTING:  “No no no no no, Kraig. They have a limit …”

HILL, INTERRUPTING AND SHOUTING:   “John, I have things I want to say here. ”

MAZZA, STAMMERING: “You do not … You get called on.”

HILL, SHOUTING  AND GATHERING HIS PAPERS: “I am going home.  Thanks everybody.”

MAZZA: “See ya, Kraig,

HILL:, SHOUTING:  “This is bullshit. Seriously. “  [[NOTE: OBSCENITY BLEEPED ON THE AIR PER SCOTUS RULING.]]

MAZZA:  “We have to do our job.”

HILL, WALKING OUT: “Good night everybody.

MAZZA: “Good night Kraig.”

Kraig Hill And John Mazza … usually two political allies … at Monday’s night’s Planning Commission.

That was commission chair … John Mazza … cutting off questions from … Kraig Hill.

Hill and Mazza are usually political buddies. 

Not last week.

Last night … Hill appeared before the city council. 

70517 HILL APOLOGIZE

“First, I’d like to apologize for my part of the brew ha ha last week. 

“For me to lose my cool as very uncharacteristic and in the parlance of the day, weird.   “I was frustrated on several levels with the process that has gone to where we are with the housing element, and with the process at the meeting itself.”

Several city council members said they sympathized with the planning commissioner..

Members of the public said the lack of respect from the commission chairman was deplorable.

Marissa Coughlin is an expediter at city hall … she works for clients who want to get their project approved.

70526 MARISA COUGHLIN 

“How everything is going on here is embarrassing and I think it’s deplorable. I think there is a lack of respect among them and a lack of consideration. Some people, including the city attorney for the planning commission, were treated with such disrespect at the last meeting. It was really deplorable.”

City council member Marianne Riggins was at the planning commission meeting.  She agreed that decorum and respect were missing before Hill blew up. 

70525 RIGGINS RE HILL 

“I also … I was actually at that planning commission meeting in person. And Kraig you shouldn’t have been treated the way you were treated. Nobody deserves that. 

“The planning commission already has adopted decorum rules and they don’t seem to be following them. So I would encourage all of us to reach out to our appoint and encourage them to treat everyone in a way that is respectful.”

In fairness to Kraig Hill… he had repeatedly tried to get permission from chairman John Mazza to speak at last weeks planning commission meeting… and Mazza just continued to speak over him.

One person watching the event on video said the entire meeting sounded very much like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party …. with side conversations … frequent mistakes from the chair …  and Mazza struggling to control the proceeding. 

Doug And His Stupid Emu Stop Writing Bare-Bones Policies in California

Yet another major insurance company is pulling out of the California fire insurance business. 

Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company is not renewing 17 thousand dwelling-only fire insurance policies .

These are policies that cover the structure only … not the usual blanket policies that cover structure and contents. 

The company is retiring the “antiquated” technology it uses to manage the dwelling fire policies, “and it is not feasible to create a new system to support this product in California,” Liberty Mutual wrote in its filing.

Liberty Mutual is the seventh largest property and casualty insurer in California overall, representing about 4% of the total market and 9.8% of the fire insurance market through its several subsidiaries as of 2023.

The non-renewed policies represent approximately 1% of Liberty Mutual’s total personal insurance policies in California and less than 2% of the total fire insurance market, according to the company and data from the Department of Insurance.

Liberty Mutual is still offering dwelling fire insurance policies in California through its Safeco brand, according to the company spokesperson. 

Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company policyholders were not immediately offered a new policy under Safeco.

This story is based in reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. 

Caltrans Again Listening To PCH Traffic Safety Ideas Wed Night

Caltrans plans another listening session tomorrow night … as it grapples with calls to redesign Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

The meeting is from 6 to 8 at Malibu city hall.

Calls are coming from both Malibu and the outside world .. to radically redesign the layout of the road.

As most people in Malibu know … PCH is a state highway … owned by the state … used by taxpayers as a commuter road.

But there are calls to redesign the highway Ito a local road … with more sidewalks, traffic signals, bike lanes and crosswalks that force motorists to slow down and drive as though they’re in a city.

75 p3rcent of the houses along the beach have walls or trees or other fixtures sticking out into state property.

Two lanes are devoted to parking … mostly for residents along the highway … but some of it for beach visitors.

And the center left turn lane … used by fire trucks and sheriff’s deputies … but increasingly used by entitled asshats who want to pass slow traffic.