Broad Beach Told: Keep Your Hands Off The Malibu West Swim Club

Ruling May Upset GHAD’s Taxing Authority for $100 Million Sand Dream

A Los Angeles judge has ruled that the Broad Beach sand district does not get to take over the Malibu West Swim clubhouse.

In fact … this may be year another nail in the coffin for the Broad beach Geologic Hazards Abatement District … which may have lost its ability to tax anybody.

On Monday … Judge Jay Ford said he will overrule the Broad Beach tax district’s order … that the Malibu West swim club be sold at public auction.

Judge Ford’s may make it impossible for the Broad Beach district to collect further tax payments from anyone along Broad Beach … and pay for the sand restoration effort by private landowners.

That puts the 100 million dollar sand restoration project in dire financial straights.  

Broad Beach formed its district 15 years ago … and has been taxing oceanfront landowners up to 100 thousand dollars a year to fulfill a promise they made to the state.

In exchange for being allowed to dump rocks on the beach to protect their houses … they promised to form a tax district.

The tax district would raise tens of millions of dollars it will take to cover up the rocks with sand … hundreds of thousands of truckloads of sand … trucked in from Ventura County.

But now that district has been found by court after court to be unconstitutional. 

But by losing in court  …the Broad Beach landowners may have won in the longterm.

They got a rock seawall installed to save their houses … and now there may be no way for the state to collect on the payoff of a new public beach in front of their houses. 

Malibu West officials are delighted. 

They say the sand project would not have added any beach in front of their club … but would have saddled 280 homeowners in Trancas Canyon with the cost of building a beach in front of the billionaires on Broad Beach. 

As for Broad Beach .. attorney Kenneth Ehrlich issued this statement in writing to KBUU:

“The BBGHAD appreciates Judge Ford’s efforts.  The Court of Appeal exists for a reason. We look forward to our legal system upholding the existing regime of tax sale and GHAD law, as well as recognizing multiple votes of Broad Beach property owners ratifying the BBGHAD assessment and community efforts to restore Broad Beach.

“The Broad Beach Restoration Project, funded wholly by Broad Beach property owners, will provide significant benefits to the public at large, including those living up Trancas Canyon.”

Malibu Hires New Assistant City Manager, With Asterisk

Malibu has a new assistant city manager …  at least for the time being.

Christopher J Smith has spent 14 years as a high ranking bureaucrat at the City of Santa Monica. 

He was the deputy city manager, chief of staff and acting chief information officer. 

But he still as an asterisk next top his title .. one of the many interim … temporary … day two day leaders at Malibu’s troubled city hall. 

Malibu has had an acting city attorney for 8 years.

It’s been 3 years since a permanent city manager was in office daily … and he opal; y made it for a little more than a year.

It’s been six months since the city hired a permanent city manager … but she resigned in a cloud of nasty politics from her former home in the Antelope Vallwey.

In a statement that the city P-R department put out … Smith supposedly said that … ”Malibu represents resilience, beauty, and civic pride. 

Smith’s appointment was announced Monday night. 

I look forward to supporting the Council’s goals, empowering staff, and working closely with residents to ensure that our local government continues to reflect the community’s values and priorities.”

Before his work in Santa Monica, Smith spent a decade with the Judicial Council of California, where he led statewide court technology strategic planning and policy development to expand electronic filing and access services.

Near Collision Above LAX Runway Last Friday

There was a near collision over the LAX south runway last Friday/

An Italian airline jet and an American Airlines jet were taking off at the same time … the ITA Italian jet on the North runway complex … the American Airlines jet on the south runway complex. 

Suddenly … the Italian jet made an early left turn … and crossed the path of American flight 4. 

Here’s the audio as the radio officer ion American 4 sees the jumbo jet in his path.   The pilot sees there possible crash.  

The air traffic controllers did not …

LAX CROSSING 71681

WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT NOT AVAILABLE

AUDIO: youtube.com/watch?v=-j76cp7bETw&themeRefresh=1

The Italian pilot apologized and was given an FAA phone number to call to report the pilot deviation incident. 

County Explains Why It Hasn’t Spent Last Water Rate Hike, As It Asks For Another

LA County water officials are explaining why they want to hike water rates 35 percent. 

The explanation was that the last general rate hike to pay for the water system was 13 years ago …  although ratepayers seeing yearly increases to offset higher prices that the water district has to pay its suppliers. 

But city officials say the last rate hike …, 13 years ago … has amassed about 100 million dollars in construction money for the Malibu system … money that ashen’t been spent yet. 

Carolina Hernandez is the county’s waterworks manager.

She says she is working to spend that money on the backlog of projects that are quite literally in the pipeline. 

COUNTY WATER FASTER. Carolina Hernandez. 7167

“You know I can apologize for it taking so long.

“But I think what we can do is just try to try to mention that we’re gonna do better moving forward now that we have this in front of us … and we’re gonna try to use the money faster.”

Only 28 million dollars has been spent in there past few years … but there is a 190 million dollars in projects lined up. 

LA County water plans to install several new pumps at its tanks … but will not install generators at all the pumping stations. 

Their engineers say using portable generators is less expensive … and provides more bang for the buck.

The county has purchased 10 generators on wheels … on prepositions them when bad weather is forecast … to keep the water flowing across Malibu.

Council Slaps Down Critic Who Made Unsupported Charges About Vacant Lot At PCH/Malibu Canyon Road

Malibu city council members are not happy that a local political activist is accusing them of letting a developer bulldoze a hilltop for his proposed resort. 

Charges flew at Monday night’s city council meeting … where Jyoti Drummond accused the city off Malibuiof allowing a developer to bulldoze the vacant lot … any the corner of Malibu Canyon Road at Pacific coast Highway. 

That is the property where developer Jerry Weintraub has been trying to get approval to build a luxury resort hotel.

Drummond has accused the city off allowing Weinstraub to bulldoze the site … to move dirt for his resort that he would not be able to get permits for. 

At Monday night’s city council meeting … she showed pictures of the hilltop lot … which is now a busy construction yard for Southern California Edison crews rebuilding the power system after the Palisades Fire. 

WEINTRAUB DRUMMOND  71682

“The transformation of that lot happened literally overnight, while hundreds of Malibu fire victims rebuilding like for like are still buried in red tape, waiting months and in some cases years just to rebuild the homes that stood safely for decades.

“The same grading has brought the developer one step closer to getting his proposed 200,000 square-foot resort approved taking up the very space and resources were residence are fighting simply to come home.”

Councilman Doug Stewart said the dirt was not moved by the developer … but by the county fire department … 

STEWART MTC 71679

“It got burned off in the Franklin Fire.

“You know who graded that property?

“THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!!! [EMPHASIS HIS]

“They did it as an emergency action for the Franklin Fire. ire.

“They came in quickly.

“They don’t need our permission to do it and we and know the topograhpy  before and after.

“And the fire department or Weintraub has to go in and restore the situation.

“So let’s be honest about the situation.”

The other side of the Malibu political divide was also visibly angry.

Councilman Steve Uhring said the developer … Richard Wientraub … did not get any inside deal. 

UHRING MTC 71680

“Richard calls me at least twice a month asking me ‘get ahold of Yolanda and have her do something so that he can get his project started.’

“His project is dead in the water at the moment, and it has been in the water for a very long time. 

“And he keeps asking me to go to Yolanda to move it forward and I refuse to do that. 

“We need a place to refuel all of the trucks have been working for us … the Army Corps of Engineers, all the trucks have been working for Southern California Edison.

“So that was an emergency situation to help us deal with all the emergency problems we have coming out of the Woolsey fire. 

“You cannot blame the city for doing that and saying that’s doing something to slow down the other development.

“That’s not happening.

“That is a misstatement and I just don’t think we should be stating that sending that mission out to people..”

City council members Doug Stewart and Steve Uhring … at Monday night’s city council meeting. 

[[[ EDITOR”S NOTE:  Although Uhring said “Woolsey Fire” … it is clear in the context of his statements he was referring too the Palisades Fire. ]]]

City of LA Covering Up Its Mismanagement Of Fire Dept Before and During Pali Fire

First … there was negligence by the city of Los Angeles … failing to monitor a smoldering fire … failing to upstaff as hurricane force winds were forecast … failing to prepare for the Palisades Fire.

Now comes the cover up.

The os Angeles Times has run a series of stories that detail how at least one LA city fire official knew that firefighters had been ordered to pack up their hoses and leave the scene of the small Lachman fire Jan. 2.

The firefighters had complained that the ground was still smoking in places and rocks remained hot to the touch.

And a battalion chief ordered the hoses rolled up … with hurricane force winds on the horizon.

So … why did the official after action report not include that?

Why did the LA city fire department fail to make any detailed examination of the reignition, in its after-action report on the Jan. 7 Palisades fire?

Los Angeles Mayor Carne bass has ordered an investigation into those major questions.

 But she waited until after the LA Times pointed out there obvious questions?

And this question … why cover up the answers for such obvious questions??

Fire Season A No-Show So Far, As heavy Rain Approaches

This may be the year that fire season skipped.

With another rain storm poised to hit Malibu tomorrow … last October’s big rain … a lack of Santa Ana winds … and a thick marine layer have added up tp a relatively calm fire environment.

The fuel moisture index in the Santa Monica Mountains is a relatively juicy 69.

Usually … at this point of November … that key measurement is well below 60 … and 60 is the critical level.

Now … wildfires are still possible.  

And one huge Santa Ana could evaporate this margin of comfort. 

But brushfires are far less likely to spread with the hills this moist.