$10 Million Lawsuit Launched By Guy Who Claims To Own ‘Community Brigade’ Name;

Suit Seeks To Ban One Malibu Brigade Member From Using A Computer For The Rest Of His Life

A battle over control has torn apart the ground of volunteers who formed the Community Brigade … a volunteer group of residents formed to assist the fire department when a major fire sweeps thru the area.

One of the founders of the Community Brigade … Brent Woodworth … has gone to federal court. 

He claims that he thought up the concept … and that he controls a federal trademark for the term “Community Brigade.”

And that other people do not have the right to use the term Community Brigade unless they refer to the group that he thought up.

Woodworth has now filed a lawsuit in federal court … claiming that his foundation owns the trademark for Community Brigade.

The lawsuit claims that Malibu residents Mikke Pierson … Keegan Gibbs and three others are committing civil theft … computer crimes … and trademark violation.

Woodworth will not speak to KBUU for the record … and he has hired a Long Beach crisis P-R company to speak for him.

Mikke Pierson … a former Malibu mayor … is named in the lawsuit. 

He says he can only say this. 

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“The Community Brigade has always been about community.

“And it always be about the community,.

“I am so proud of the fellow brigade members and their commitment and what they have done … and that will never end.”

Malibu residents have resigned en masse from Woodworth’s group this week… according to some reports.

And Woodworth, through his lawsuit, makes legal claims that are at best highly questionable. 

It claims that the organization … which has received 100 thousand dollars in City of malibu money … is known as the LAEPF “Community Brigade.”  LAEPF is the Los Angeles Emergency Preparedness Foundation, the group that Woodworth founded and led more than a decade ago.

Well … the Community Brigade is not called the LAEPF Community Brigade by anyone other than Woodworth, it would reasonably appear.

And when the City of Malibu donated 100 thousand dollars to the group … the donation discussion was about the Community Brigade … not the LAEPF Community Brigade. 

Woodworth has hired a crisis management public relations company from Long Beach to speak for his foundation.

It’s not known how much of that city money is going to pay for Woodworth’s lawyer or his Long Beach crisis communications firm.

The Wolcott Group’s Denis Wolcott demands that KBUU not quote him by name. 

Side note … KBUU did not agree to that.

Wolcott put out a press release. 

In it … Wolcott claims that the Woodworth foundation “created and manages the Community Brigade program … which operates under contract with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.”

And … that “there has never been an authorized Community Brigade program or entity separate from the one operated and owned by LAEPF”.

We should note that the Los Angeles Fire Department does not allow its name to be used for private endeavors, such as a logo.

The lawsuit claims that the foundation owns logo for the “L.A. County Fire Dept. Community Brigade”. 

The suit asks for a permanent injunction against the Malibu volunteers from using the term Community Brigade.

As well as the court to find that the Malibu volunteers committed crimes … and asks that their personal computers be seized.

In one case … Woodworth is asking that the court ban one defendant from using any computers at all. 

And … 10 million dollars in damages. 

CORRECTION: The spelling of Brent Woodworth’s name was incorrect in this written transcription of the radio broadcast.  The computer apparently heard the script as “Woodruff” and that appeared in this script for several hours.   We apologize for the error. 

Malibu Council Approves Roundabouts Permit, But Not Current Roundabouts Project

The Malibu City Council held off on making any final decision on the proposed roundabouts in western Malibu Wednesday night.

It was a 4-1 vote to approve the city permit to build the drastic road diet …  but that does not mean the project will go forward as currently designed. 

It is a bit of legal ballet.  Several council members said they favored killing the town roundabouts as now designed, but support the concept of traffic calming on PCH in western Malibu.  

Council members pointed out that they have never approved the concept of roundabouts at the long straightaways of western Malibu.  Led by council member Marianne Riggins, they gently chided city engineers for coming up with specific blueprints for a roadway surgery concept that they had not yet approved. 

Riggins said the staff needs to ask the council if any construction concept is OK with the public and council, before coming up with specific plans. 

The council members had said they needed more information as to whether they want to accept $2 million from Metro – the countywide transit agency – to narrow lanes and install 35 mph speed limits west of Broad Beach and east of Encinal Canyon. 

Council members were frustrated trying to get answers from city staff on unable to answer several key questions about traffic flow and capacity  – both before and after the proposed changes. 

The council last night asked for traffic models to be generated … to show the capacity of PCH to evacuate all of Malibu west of Kanan Dume Road.

These estimates should include traffic counts for PCH westbound … to evacuate Malibu towards Oxnard … 

Both with and without highway being narrowed to one lane at the roundabouts.

Currently … the highway narrows to one lane three miles down the road … at Neptunes Net.

But the biggest issue is emergency evacuations. Can the roundabouts be pulled out in an emergency?

City council member Doug Stewart favors the roundabouts … but he has that very same question.

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“If we find ourselves in red flags where we need to pull it up … that’s where the instant command system in the emergency operation center system will take hold.

“It isn’t ideal.

“But look. 

“We have got to do some things to make things better safety wise … not just fire safety … pedestrian safety.

“And I’d rather make some moves that we maybe rip out later … and that’s what the whole idea is. 

“I am not gonna say it’s not our money. 

“It’s money we’re spending to find out if this is going to work.”

Steve Uhring doesn’t buy that. 

That council member opposes the roundabouts because the city has failed to do any traffic studies showing that they could handle emergency evacuation traffic.  

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“I was there for Woolsey, and there was nobody there. 

“There was nobody on the highway directing traffic. 

“I understand it sounds nice and I hope it works that way.

“Then … it didn’t. 

“And until somebody can prove to me, we’re going to effectively be able to do that on a consistent basis, then this is just a crapshoot.

“And I don’t think I want to take a crapshoot with the lives of the residents.”

Council members also had questions abut how the road will handle large numbers of bicyclists being pushed into the one traffic lane in each direction … inside the two roundabouts.

Council member Marianne Riggins.

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“if I had to vote right now, I would vote no for this project because I think there’s deficiencies in it. 

“I know how heavy the bicycle use is in that area, and I think on a day-to-day basis and especially on a Saturday and Sunday, there is going to be a conflict between a peloton and cars entering and exiting these roundabouts.”

Council members also want answers about beachgoers … how would pedestrians cross PCH to reach beaches.

Riggins said she went into the meeting ready to approve the roundabout design, but after hearing good arguments from the public, was prepared Thursday night to vote no.

Uhring, on the other hand, said he was opposed to roundabouts.  But he voted in favor of the permit, to allow city staff to come up with a better plan.

PCH/Corral Canyon Road Project Delayed Again, 15 Months More Of Detours And Construction

The dangerous detour and annoying construction on PCH at Corral Canyon Road will be with us until June of next year.

That’s the estimate from Caltrans engineers … made to the California State Transportation Commission as they visited several sites in Malibu yesterday.

Some Malibu residents are infuriated that the construction has ground to a halt …repeatedly … for weeks at a time.

Remains from ancient Native American burials … human bodies … got in the way and threw the whole schedule off.

Those remains have been disinterred and relocated.

But now … Caltrans engineers say they are off their schedule rhythm … and have to again stop work because of restrictions aimed at protecting migrating fish during the spring time. 

Construction will resume this summer … and then take about one year to finish. 

The state is replacing an 80-year-old concrete arch culvert with a new bridge.

Many residents are infuriated with that they call Caltrans incompetence. 

Caltrans Estimates Just Designing Landslide Prevention Walls At Getty Will Top $1 Billion

And Thursday … Caltrans say they are watching the hillside come down near the Getty Villa … again creeping into traffic lanes. 

It will cost well above one billion dollars just for the engineering at the complicated Tramonto Landslide, where an entire mountain covered with houses or wreckage is slowly sliding onto the highway.

The Tramonto Landslide is above PCH … between Sunset Boulevard and Porto Marina. 

The state right now does not have any active engineering work … to fix the pending disaster.

State Transportation Commission members were told yesterday it may take between four to nine new concrete and steel retaining walls along the bluff … which has been collapsing towards PCH for the 120 years that the road has been there.

Caltrans does not own the land above the road … private developers do … as well as the City of Los Angeles.  That city has not taken any steps to keep its city streets from sliding onto the state highway …

Already … Caltrans has surrendered one lane of pavement on PCH to the mud and ooze … which has millions of pounds of wet dirt sitting on it … plus the wreckage of a half dozen houses that started collapsing decades ago. 

One year ago … Caltrans moved the two westbound lanes toward the ocean … taking away the center turn lane … and repaved the mess. 

Now … that new pavement appears to be threatened by the approaching mountain of mud.

And when the bluff collapses …. It will close the main access way between Los Angeles and Malibu. 

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Another Crash At PCH/Westward Beach, As State Has No Plan To Fix

Another crash last night at the disastrous PCH intersection at Westward Beach and Bonsall Drive … near Zuma Creek.

A pickup truck rearended a car.  No major injuries, this time. 

Last weekend … a two car crash totaled both of them.

Council member Haylynn Conrad fired off a letter to Caltrans Thursday night. 

She says the bad situation is made much worse by the inability of Clatrns to keep there Zuma Beach undercrossing open. 

Coincidentally … the California State Transportation Commission is holding its statewide meeting … today and tomorrow … at Malibu City Hall. 

Public comment is being taken tomorrow morning by the state Transportation Commission on any matter.

Conrad tells KBUU … she plans to be there. 

This week’s meeting of the state Transportation Commission … in Malibu City Hall … caught city leaders by surprise. 

It was not announced to the public … in fact … city council members were caught by surprise. 

There California Trnasoirtation Commission acts as the management and oversight body for Caltrans.

It is in charge of parceling out all major money projects oil the state … an enormous job.

This month alone … they have 146 specific items on their agenda.

Item 147 is public comment … it appears that will come around onFriday morning.

Yesterday … the Transportation Commission members we’re shuttled around the eastern malibu construction zones by Caklrans Los Angeles officials. 

City council woman found out about the meeting in Malibu yesterday by listening to the KBUU News broadcast.

Haylynn Conrad raced over to Malibu Bluffs Park . … to ask the commission members to go visit the closed underpass below PCH at Westward Beach.

They declined. 

Teensy Tiny 2:20 am Quake Awakens A Few Sleepers

Did you feel it?

We did at Zuma Beach.

At 2:20 this morning … a magnitude 1.4 micro quake bumped the area.

The microquake was epicentered at 6 mile off of Las Flores beach … 

Most people doubtlessly slept thru it .. at 2:20 this morning.

Hot Hot Hot To Repeat Repeat Repeat

Dangerously hot temperatures will continue all week. 

Although hot weather may have peaked here on there coastal yesterday … the Santa Monica Mountains and the inland valleys will blister today and tomorrow. 

Dense coastal fog may develop asearly as tonight. 

Temperatures lower significantly over the weekend, but remain well above normal into next week.

Highs will be 5 to 10 degrees lower Saturday … but then slowly start to increase again starting Monday through the middle of next week.