Issue 49/50 The Local Malibu

MALIBU MEETS NORTH SHORE

A WALK ON WATER X

BIG WAVE RISK ASSESSMENT GROUP Making surf therapy safer together

THE

PUBLIC SAFETY

ISSUE

WARNING SIGNS WILL IT TAKE A CATASTROPHE FOR THE CITY TO GET IT’S PUBLIC SAFET ACT TOGETHER?

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ISSUE 1/12 2018 Founder, Editor in Chief, Creative Director

CECE S. WOODS

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EDITOR’S N

OTES

Contributors

LORI JACOBUS JULIE TOBIAS

DAVID STANSFIELD MARSHALL THOMPSON SUSAN TELLEM MARI STANLEY MARIE MANVEL GUS JOHANSON ANNEMARIE STEIN

Executive Publisher

Contributing Photographers

Co-Founder STEVE WOODS

Executive Editor

NICK BETTS Managing Editor ADDISON ALTENDORF

TIM HORTON JEN BEL EMILY SCHER NATHAN FAGAN

PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR DAVID SAUL

Lifestyle Editor

COVER PHOTO: Cece WOODS

TRACEY ROSS

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING ROB JOSEPH

Wellness Editor DIANA NICHOLSON

Sustainability Director ANDREW MCDONALD

Travel Editor LESLIE WESTBROOK

Copy Editor KIM LEDOUX

Rogue Writer BEN MARCUS

Sustainability Advisor BRAD DIAZ

Sustainable Lifestyle Editor EVELINA CHRISTOPHERSON

political contributors JAMES HALL ELISABETH JOHNSON

From left: Allen Sarlo, Rube Escalante, Laura Rubin, Steve Woods, Cece Woods, Dale Rhodes, Danilo Cuto, Steven Lippmann, Sean Swentek.

Love combined with power manifests itself as service.

- Master Choa Kok Sui

What could define commitment more than combining a love for the ocean, service and saftey more than Malibu’s own A Walk On Water joining forces with North Shore based Big Wave Risk Assessment Group to bring a higher level of ocean safety awareness to the surf therapy world.

The Local Malibu along with our new sister publication, The Local North Shore were thrilled to participate in this incredibly informative and potentially life changing event produced by AWOW bringing two of our favorite coastal communities together.

The dangers of the ocean and weather related issues affecting the tides is also a relevant and important public safety issue that should be addressed by local City officials yet, sadly, it has not been priority even though Malibu is recognized for being one of the most iconic surf spots in the world.

Local government has a lot to learn from the dedication and actions of these two powerful organizations committed to ensuring the safety of ocean loving enthusiasts.

To learn more about AWOW support their effortsplease go to awalkonwater.org

THE AUTHENTIC MALIBU LIFESTYLE EAT. SHOP. PLAY. LIVE. Malibu... It’s a lifestyle. malibu90265magazine.com

CITY

WARNING SIGNS Will It Take A Catastrophe For the City

BY CECE WOODS

to Get Its Public Safety Act Together?

If you only paid attention to the words that tumbled out of her mouth last year, you might believe that City Manager Reva Feldman was motivated to do her job to the best of her ability and was someone who truly understood her new position as City Manager.

Or that she truly believed that protecting the people was the FIRST responsibilty of government.

Unforuntely, that’s not true.

In the last year, Feldman’s lack of seriousness and subsequent refusal to take immediate action when it comes to public safety in Malibu, is both reckless, and a nothing short of dereliction of duty.

And from the moment Feldman stepped into the role of City Manager, the slow motion collapse of City Hall began.

Oblivious to the chaos she caused in the community by forcing out Emergency Services Coordinator Brad Davis in October 2016, and with no second in command, Feldman gushed to the Malibu Times months later about her ‘new and improved’ version of Public Safety she planned to unveil (with nothing but smokescreens to back it up) and quite eager to take the credit before the new department had proven itself.

“I felt after ( Emergency Services Coordinator) Brad Davis left that it was a great opportunity to revisit how we handle public safety issues,” Feldman told the Malibu Times in April 2017. “It needed to be handled at a higher level. We needed to raise the bar.”

Raise the bar? That’s open to interpretation if you ask me, and residents already felt Davis was exceptional at his job protecting this community. Feldman, known for forcing out and/or shuffling staff, resulting in long-standing, devoted employees departing their posts, imposed a madatory “medical leave” on Davis during the most critical time of the year for weather events. Davis turned that slap in the face for the years of dedication to this town, into his resignation.

Now Malibu is left with very real, long term detrimental effects on our City.

The “upgraded” position Feldman spoke of to the Malibu Times? That’s in theory only.

While the Public Safety Manager position did come with a pay raise (approved by city council in January 2017), we are paying almost double for a drastic reduction in emergency services and the services Davis used to expertly perform are virtually non-existent now.

When Davis left, those services left with him. Public Safety came to a grinding halt in Malibu and the feedback from residents is residents is clear; “We need more. We want more. We deserve more. We were promised more.

WE NEED more, we want more, we deserve more and we were promised more.

Davis was in charge of training and certifying resident volunteers as Emergency Responders (C.E.R.T), sending out emergency alerts to residents and other emergency services duties. He was an invaluable member of this community who took public safety very seriously. Davis’s contract also included overtime reimbursement, essentially anchoring the position as a 24 hour Emergency preparedness supervisory role.

Noticeable deficiencies were evident almost immediately once Davis left his post. Emergency alerts sent out through the City’s Nixle system were untimely or not sent out at all. On November 9, 2016, a fire broke out in Corral Canyon. This was a very hot night, and any change in weather could have led to a devastating outcome.

Although the fire was contained in approximately 20 minutes (thanks to L.A. County Fire Department) no alert was sent to residents from the city. Furious at the complete disregard for the safety of the residents of Corral Canyon, I contacted council member Peak. He assured me he would follow up with Feldman as to why the City alert was not activated. Feldman issued no apology, instead calling the fire “brief,” making the excuse it was “outside the city limits.” In other words, and in Feldman’s mind, the residents in unincorporated 90265 are not her concern, nor did she take into account that Corral Canyon has only one access road that runs through Malibu city proper. This fire was one wind gust away from potential disaster inside the city limits, similar to the 2007 re that destroyed over 50 homes.

On December 22, 2016, Davis turned in his official resignation.

Immediately after his announcement. Davis landed a plum position in Foster City. Malibu’s loss became Foster City’s gain as they will benefit greatly from Davis’s invaluable experience our city was fortunate to have from for well over a decade.

Shortly after Feldman took over as City Manager, the supervisory role to Malibu’s highly trained CERT force ended, effectively gutting the program until the community spoke up, asked City Council to step in, and provide CERT with the training and support Davis initiated. The partnerships with Sheriffs, first responders, LA County, CalTrans etc. suffered as well. While Feldman may have had contact with the agencies, there is no way she could have nurtured the type of relationship with that Davis had for over a decade. You can’t take on two important roles (City manager and Emergency Services Coordinator) without one suffering - and they both did.

Instead of hiring an interim replacement for Davis to keep the Emergency Services and CERT programs operational until she could find a permanent replacement, Feldman chose to take care of her needs first, creating a new position and placing more burden on the city’s budget, by hiring yet another personal assistant, Assistant to the City Manager (she has since added an additional role, Deputy City Manager).

Feldman continued to leave the post of Emergency Services completely unmanned for six months.

Sorry Malibu, you don’t really need an Emergency Services department in your disaster prone community right?

Of all the things a city manager could overlook, none touches in intensity and consequence as much as the absence of an Emergency Services coordinator, especially in a rural community like Malibu. The disconnect between the City Manager and her responsibility to protect the community was crystal clear when Feldman “took over” the Emergency Services department and one of the first decisions she made was to decide there wasn’t any great value for our City to participate in the October 19, 2016 Great Shake Out exercise. This annual opportunity is for people in homes, schools, and organizations to practice what to do during earthquakes, and to improve preparedness. Shakeout.org reported that 10,667,89 Californians participated in the life-saving drill, yet under Feldman’s rule, Malibu was a no-show.

Malibu residents limped along for another half year, essentially leaving public safety in the hands of the residents. Timely traffic and safety alerts were posted mostly by a core group including The Local’s social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter), and the Facebook groups Malibu Disaster and Emergency and Friends of Malibu, teaming up and staying on top of vital information dispensed by verified news sources and weather agencies, circulating posts to multiple platforms to reach as many people in the community as possible, in effect, making an example of what we expect for our tax dollars and subsequently making a mockery of what we are actually getting for it.

MISS HIRE

Of all the things a city manager could overlook, none touches in intensity and consequence as much as the absence of an Emergency Services coordinator in a disaster prone community like malibu.

Last spring, City Manager Reva Feldman said in an interview with the Malibu Times that it was her idea to “restructure the position and give it more responsibility and authority”.

So how did Feldman accomplish that?

By passing over Malibu-based applicant David Saul, a likely seamless replacement for the new position of Public Safety Manager.

Having a local resident in charge of Emergency Services, one who has close ties to local law enforcement and first responders, would have been the best strategy for the community, given Malibu’s history of becoming isolated by weather-induced landslides, earthquakes and/or other natural disasters.

Saul received more than 30 letters of recommendations, is well respected in the community with an intimate knowledge of the local landscape. Yet, under the depraved standards of the new regime, Feldman hired outsider Susan Duenas as Public Safety manager. And while Duenas’s qualifications may look impressive on paper (according to her resume, Dueñas comes to Malibu with over 25 years experience, most recently serving as emergency services manager for the City of Oxnard), her performance in the last year, under the guidance of City Manager, has been nothing less than sub-standard at best.

In fact, Duenas may have taken sub-standard to a whole new level recently joking on social media about missing phone calls from Feldman and receiving 30 plus texts after a fire broke out behind the library near City Hall during red flag conditions with winds in excess of 40 mph and neighborhoods being evacuated.

CITY

I can assure you that if Duenas lived in Malibu and had experienced her home being threatened by fire during these types of conditions, as so many Malibu residents have, she would have never made the undeniably awkward remarks she did on social media.

In all honesty, it was a little creepy.

But then again, I guess we should have seen this coming.

In January, when the devastating fire began in Ventura, subsequently spreading to what is now known as the largest wildfire in California, Duenas commented on a post about the fire on the Friends of Malibu Facebook page. Most residents were terrified, anticipating the fires could end up in Malibu quickly, expecting encouragment from our Public Safety director, perhaps with links to information to prepare in case disaster struck.

Instead, “Those are my peeps.” was Duenas’s comment on that thread.

How’s that for flexing those experienced Public Safety muscles with over 25 years experience? Hmmmmm. Comforting.

And you can expect more of the same under the direction of neophyte City Manager who boasted to the Malibu Times that Duenas’s position reports directly to her.

MOVING ON...

Without question, Public Safety has never recovered from Feldman assuming Davis’s responsiblities as she claimed she had all the while performing her full responsibilities and adjusting to her new position as City Manager. Feldman assumed Davis’s responsibilities while on her probationary period and failed miserably at it, missing crucial traffic and emergency posts, alienating CERT team members and abandoning the program altogether.

A program vital to this community and assisting first responders in an emergency.

Looking back at the last 11 months of the City’s version of ‘new and improved’ Public Safety, how has Malibu fared?

So far, we’ve seen is a series of poorly attended Town Hall meetings, (our personal favorite “Active Shooter Scenario”), inconsistent emergency alerts and next to nothing out of CERT which is supposed to be Duenas’s pet project according Surfside News article written by Mayor Peak.

But hey, at least we now know how to duck and run in case a sniper opens fire at Ralphs.

Educating a rural community on how to deal with an active shooter scenario, is a waste of City resources given our landscape and the opportunities for a situation like that to occur. We are not Las Vegas.

Could an active shooter happen on the Pepperdine Campus? Absolutely and Pepperdine is equpped to handle such an occurence. Malibu, as a community has very few opportunities for an active shooter scenario to be a significant public safety threat affecting a large number of residents as say a wildfire, earthquake or other natural disaster.

Another prime example of the City wasting resources is the time it takes Media Information Officer, Matt Myerhoff, (who has been labeled the unofficial ‘Sean Spicer of Malibu’ due to his unpopular role defending the actions of the City), to troll our social media pages looking for threads calling out the Feldman and Council, mostly on public safety issues.

That’s a full time job in our world.

Rarely does anyone who is passionate about this community miss an opportunity to call out Council or Fedlman’s dereliction of duties - especially on socal media where word travels fast.

Doesn’t Myerhoff realize that with the amount of fodder the City provides us, worrying about damage control on social media is not only endless - but will make him bald?

Based on his public (and private) responses, Myerhoff is definitely drinking the City koolaid.

YOU’RE FIRED?

In spite of Feldman’s obvious deficiencies ( there are many we don’t have listed here), and despite a MOUNTAIN of evidence clearly showing her inability to run a single department efficiently (let alone a City), last May, four out of five Council members voted to extend Feldman’s contract, effectively leaving Feldman in charge - with a pay raise.

How many Cities do you know extend the contract of and give raises to people who fail at their job - even with tangible evidence to prove they should be terminated? It’s laughable really.

This was a recent exchange with the City Media Information officer Matt Myerhoff (in grey).

After the in January wildfires and during the floods that devastated Montecito. City alerts during that time were spotty and vague at best with no real information to guide residents.

How did Myerhoff answer me after I pointed out that Public Safety Manager Susan Duenas failed to step up to inform and protect the community in the same way former Emergency Services Coordinator Brad Davis did?

“Moving on...” that’s the City’s response to residents concerns with the lack of public safety information and preparedness the City.

In the end, the responsibilty ultimately falls on City Manager, Reva Feldman, who has single handedly stripped the community of necessities, like Emergency Services that our tax dollars pay for so she can instead hire additional administrative staff to help her push more paper.

How many Cities do you know extend the contract of and give raises to people who fail at their job - even with tangible evidence to prove they should be terminated?

As Feldman continues to do her version of cleaning house at City Hall it has only gotten dirtier... and now dangerous!

If that isn’t enough, amid the unending political inferno that has erupted in Malibu politics with the defection of two of the Team Malibu slate, Skylar Peak and Rick Mullen to the dark side, the two who promised to drain the swamp on the campaign trail, continue to support Feldman (in spite of her failures) and her pursuit of yet another favorable review from Council.

Should we take a break from holding their feet to the fire (pun intended)?

Absolutely not.

LOCAL

THE HOMELESS CRISIS: THE CITY RELEASES A SURVEY, IS it ANOTHER SMOKESCREEN?

by Lori Jacobus

Malibu residents are wondering about the communication they recently received from the city asking them to participate in a survey regarding the homeless situation in Malibu. It appears our City Government is doing what they do best – creating the impression that they might actually be doing something about a growing problem and major topic of conversation with residents. The heated homeless conversation, initially sparked by concerned residents on social media, including localized resident-driven Facebook groups, has been ongoing for the past year and change.

As is often the case with the folks at City, they’ll troll Facebook to pick up on the complaint du’jour, jump in, and create a false front making it appear as if something is actually happening to address resident’s concerns.

Case in point: over a year ago or so, the homeless situation in Malibu lit up on social media, with residents calling for a solution to the ever-growing number of homeless sleeping, camping and living on Malibu beaches and in Malibu Parks such as Legacy and Bluffs (where a decomposing body was recently found by a hiker). Their answer? Send out an email inviting residents to a town hall meeting at City Hall where experts from Government Agencies would speak on solutions for dealing with the growing homeless population in Malibu. Clearly, the homeless situation in Malibu was of great interest as the meeting was SRO with what appeared to be at least 200 residents showing up, many clamoring for information and advice on how to deal with a situation they felt was becoming more prominent, dangerous, and scary. I personally spoke to a number of attendees of that event, who expressed their fears and frustrations around what they believed was quickly becoming a dangerous issue for Malibu, bordering on “out of control.” So, what happened after that meeting to inform, protect, and provide real solutions to addressing the homeless situation in Malibu and the safety of its residents? Nothing. As a matter of fact, the homeless situation has gotten worse, with resident complaints of break-ins, attempted break-ins, increased assaults, vandalism, and drug dealings in Legacy Park.

You see, this is a dangerous pattern with our city government, led by the overpaid, non-Malibu resident and City Manager, Reva Feldman; sit back and do nothing until it seems you have to do something, then put something out to give the impression you’re actually doing something, when in fact you’re really doing nothing, knowing full well that as soon as citizens think it’s being taken care of, they’ll go back to their own lives which allows the city to go back to “business as usual,” or in the case of our city government – no business at all. It’s an exhausting game of “lack of leadership,” and I can’t help but wonder when we as a community will finally ascend on City Hall, pitchforks in hand, demanding real change (and frankly, I can’t wait!)

So back to the survey: fine. But don’t assume it means that anything has changed at City Hall. While giving the benefit of the doubt is a nice thing to do in most cases, it’s certainly not here, because when someone shows you who they are, it’s best to believe them.

CITY’s “FULL SCALE TEST” TURNS OUT TO BE A... DISASTER

by CECE WOODS

The hype by the city surrounding the Everbridge disaster MASS notification test AND IT’S FAILURE to show the city has a viable system in place - FRUSTRATES Residents

There is no question that since Emergency Services coodinator Brad Davis left his post (after being forced to go on medical by City manager Reva Feldman) in late 2016, residents has felt increasingly unsafe.

Malibu, known for being a disaster prone community, heavily relied on Davis’s timely emergency and traffic alerts, his unparalleled experience and dedication to protecting the community.

Over the last year, locals have come to the sobering realization that not only do we no longer have the services we so desperately need and our tax dollars pay for, now with the failure of the Everbridge Emergency Mass Notification System, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting any safer in Malibu if the City has anything to do with it.

Mounting frustration hit an all time high throughout the community after the City failed to replace Davis for more than six months with no second in command. Residents decided it was time to take Public Safety into their own hands by posting up to the minute traffic and safety alerts on personal pages and newly formed Emergency/Disaster information groups as well as other online platforms.

Locals have continued to diligently perform the monumental task of making sure timely alerts are circulated with information from verified news, weather and law enforcement agencies - a job City officials are paid handsomely to perform - and are failing miserably at.

The P.R. push by the City to give residents the illusion that Public Safety was their focus included Council member Skylar Peak referring to the CERT team as Public Safety Manager Susna Duenas’s pet project.

While that may be so, (although we have yet to see any real evidence of it) City Manager Reva Feldman has tried to kill the program since she forced out former Emergency Services Coordinator Brad Davis.

Above is a text from a CERT team member posted over a year ago on Facebook after Brad Davis left his post as Emergency Services Coordinator.

At left is a text from a local resident regarding the emergency alert system and what she knows of the current situation with the CERT program.

So, in an effort to create a smokescreen (pun intended) by leading the community to think the City actually got their Public Safety act together, City Manager Reva Feldman went on a full scale press tour to announce the “test” of this system on all the major news stations.

The next morning, after most residents who signed up anticipating results did not get them (only a few who signed up actually received notifications), Feldman still continued the facade of allowing the press to think the test was a success, when in fact the majority of residents were not only frutrated, they were furious.

This now leaves residents on their own to create and facilitate an emergency alert system they can rely on, until the City can figure out how to do a job that was so expertly executed by former Emergency Coordinator Brad Davis until Feldman stepped in as City Manager.

TOPANGA TAKES THE LEAD IN PUBLIC SAFETY Topanga recently had residents sign up for alert.lacounty.gov Disaster Alert System which was announced on Twitter as a SUCCESS (in the truest sense of the word not as a “successful failure as the City of Malibu tried to spin their test of the Everbridge system).

Which eads us to ask, if Topanga and LASD can get it right, why can’t the City of Malibu?

CITY

BUILDING IN MALIBU? PLAN ON IT TAKING A REALLY LONG TIME

by SAM HALL KAPLPAN

If any local government responsibility is apt to stir up the citizenry, it is planning; the review of zoning and building codes, and, generally, land use in the design of neighborhood character and the preservation of the environment.

It also is the prime source of wealth, for property owners, as well local builders and realtors,, and symbiotic facilitators, lawyers and lobbyists. And so in select cities where size and location marks status, as in Malibu, planning frankly has become a blood sport.

Certainly, all is not well at City Hall these days. Witness the flurry set off by the admission by planning director Bonnie Blue at a recent council meeting that the department has fallen behind in both its reviews of policy and processing of plans.

This in turn prompted the challenged Blue to hurriedly propose several corrective actions, including the reassigning of staff and the hiring of new planners to replace recent departures. These moves were doubled down by city manager Reva Feldman, who also announced hiring a deputy city administrator, at a salary of up to $190,000, to principally oversee planning and development.

The new city position has to have made Blue’s tenure tenuous, while cushioning the city manager from criticism for the planning imbroglio. It also no doubt will make for an increasingly crowded city manager’s suite and increased payroll and perks.

Meanwhile, whether adding and rearranging chairs in City Hall will correct the situation remain very much a question. One is hopeful, of course, but those familiar with the all to common government ailment of the hardening of bureaucratic arteries has to be skeptical.

I am, based on my investigative stints as a journalist with New York Times and New York Post, and oversight experiences in the public sector, including with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. There also have been several books on planning that have stood the test of time as texts. And making me downright suspicious is having witnessed Malibu’s 26 year history as a doddering city.

Malibu City Council approved yet more funds for the City Manager to get MORE help for the Planning Department caught up on projects.

This is in spite of the fact that the City manager is largely responsible for longtime employees have departed their posts because of the working conditions Feldman has exposed them creating the backlog. Not to mention Feldman recently informed our Planning Commissioners they cannot communicate with planners regarding projects on the Agenda. That’s right, OUR PLANNING COMMISSIONERS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO COMMUNICATE WITHE PLANNING STAFFF PER THE CITY MANAGER. You can’t make this stuff people!

“...in select cities where size and location marks status, as in Malibu, planning frankly has become a blood sport.”

Simply throwing bodies at problems doesn’t always work, and could actually makes the planning mess at City Hall worse, adding another layer to the bureaucracy, heightening the in-and-out basket shuffle, and generating countless do-nothing meetings or surveys .

More perhaps can be accomplished by a rededication of staff, letting them do their jobs without the city hall crowd trying to surreptitiously influence decisions.

And the problem actually goes beyond personnel, to the city’s zoning and building codes, or more precisely, their constant compromise by an appeals process that should be made much tougher. Almost every plan is dibbled with because the city’s lax precedents encourages it, such as the 18 foot height limits forever being stretch to 28 feet, and building envelopes being stretched.

These appeals frankly also are grist for political favors, friends of friends and lobbyists. City Hall perhaps need fewer back scratching bureaucrats and more rat traps set by committed planners.

Don’t get me wrong. I sincerely wish bolstering the planning department works. Just think of my comments as a dash of salted skepticism .

Long time Malibu resident SAM HALL KAPLAN , according to websites, is a widely recognized and respected award winning print and broadcast journalist and author, whose past associations include the NY Times, LA Times, NBC, CBS Fox snd NPR. He also has been a planner and creative strategist, and can be funny when he wants to.

LOCAL

Homeless encampment in civic center

Resident raises serious concerns about this public safety hazard just feet from the farmers market by CECE WOODS Recently, a local resident visiting the Malibu Farmer’s Market stumbled across this homeless encampment literally within feet of the market.

Startled and unaware that this encampment has been there for years, and the City has neglected to do anything about it, the resident took photos and documented her experience forwarding the information to The Local and one of our Planning Commissioners: “I was at the farmers market yesterday. It was packed with families and children. I looked up towards the County buildings and there was a man urinating all over the side of the County building. The photo that you see with the stain on the side of the building is urine. I walked up to see what was going on and couldn’t believe the filth of trash and encampment that is there.

They also had a hot barbecue that they were using!

Why are these people allowed to live there, urinating and defecating in public especially after the terrible fire?

Can we have a no loitering law?

Any progress with the county?”

Kian Schulman, Corral Canyon resident and founder of Poison Free Malibu While the buildings may be the jurisdiction of the County, the serious public safety violations are occurring within City limits allowing the City Manager to enlist the help of Lost Hills Sheriffs Department to clean up the encampment. However, despite numerous complaints, City manager Reva Feldman has refused to do so.

Instead, after a town hall meeting to deal with the “delicate and sensitive” issue of the homeless held in early 2017, attended by close to 300 residents demanding action by the City, a year later the only real effort made by officials is to distribute another homeless survey. More paper pushing by the City of Malibu instead action.

Meanwhile, residents are subjected to very real health and safety hazards which include an increase in crime and potential exposure to life threatening diseases brought her by these individuals who are defecating and urinating in our public spaces. When is enough enough?

From left: Two homeless men who live at the homeless encampment at the Civic Center, a wet spot on the County building from a man who recently urinated on it in public, piles of trash left by the homeless residents, a BBQ used to cook food in an open area with a pile of human feces next to it..

RINDGE DAM MEETING TO BE HELD MARCH 9

Those who can’t stand to leave Malibu for any reason might want to reconsider, as on March 9, the California Coastal Commission is holding an “Important Public Hearing Notice Consistency Determination.”

At issue are a Consistency Determination by the Army Corps of Engineers for the following issues: 1. The removal of the Rindge Dam. 2. Excavation of 780,000 cubic yards of sediment impounded behind the dam.

3. Nearshore placement of clean excavated sand.

4. Landfill placement of remaining sediments.

5. Modification of upstream aquatic habitat barriers in Malibu.

In essence, the A.C.E. want to discuss the best way to remove Rindge Dam, how to remove the sediment behind the dam and where to put all that sediment.

A copy of the staff report on Rindge Dam will be available 10 days before the hearing on the Coastal Commission website at www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html.

Go down to Item #11 and click that link to read the report on how the A.C.E intends to go about this.

If you agree or disagree or have an out of the box idea, the meetings will be held: Date: Friday, March 9, 2018 Time: 9.00 AM Place: Oxnard Harbor District Port Hueneme, CA. 93041 Phone: 415 904-5200

MALIBU COLONY PLAZA I 23733 WEST MALIBU RD. I MALIBU, CA. 90265 I 310-456-1500

LOCAL

SKATERS BEWARE

By STEVEWOODS

Malibu, CA. has a population of 13,000 residents with some of the wealthiest income earners on the planet, but yet, our iconic Southern California surf town has NO SKATE PARK - and - in case you did not know this, it is against the l aw to skate within the Malibu city limits.

A few hours north, the little Sierra town Crowley Lake, CA. ( 14 miles south of Mammoth Lakes) has a population of 800 low to middle income earners, and has just completed what seems to be a monumental accomplishment for Malibu, a world class concrete skate park in their community.

The residents in this small Sierra town were concerned about their children skating in the streets and being hit by passing cars, so they pooled together their working class pay checks, worked cohesively with a sympathetic City Council, and in a matter of months started building a new skate park for locals to enjoy.

To Malibuites, this seems like the impossible dream.

If you ever traveled through Oregon, you will notice just about every small town over 200 residents has a skate park. Some of these are towns are more than 100 miles from the coast.

A family can spend all summer traveling through the four corners of Oregon visiting numerous skate parks every day, yet, Malibu, home to one of the best surf spots in the world, has NO Skate Park.

Malibu is also one of the only surf towns in the southern California to have signs posted as you enter the city limits alerting the public; ‘Skateboarding, Rollerblading is Prohibited by Malibu Municipal Code Chapter 9.32, Violators May Be Subject to Fines or Criminal Prosecution as Provided by Law’.

While as far as we know, no one has gone to prison for violating Malibu’s skate laws, beach towns along the Southern California Coast cater to the surf and skate community by providing a healthy outlet for skaters and surfers to enjoy (when the surf is flat).

the city has become incestuous with the La Paz Civic Center developers and the new proposed Shopping Mall in a deal with the devil for a small piece of land big enough for a skate park.

Far left: A new skate park where Crowley Lake Skaters can master the mathematical movement of kinetic form , balance and learn to defy gravity. Center: Crowley Lake, population 800, is 14 miles south of Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort boasting a new skate park which opens this spring. Far right: A sign posted as you enter Malibu City limits; “Skateboarding, Rollerblading or Similar Activity is Prohibited by Malibu Municipal Code Chapter 9.32, Violators May Be Subject to Fines or Criminal Prosecution as Provided by Law.: The family of local adventurer and skateboarding icon, Johnny Strange, donated $1 million dollars to the City to build a skateboard park in his memory.

Bureaucracy and red tape has stalled the skate park from moving forward leaving residents very disappointed that Malibu continues to be one of the only coastal communities without a place to enjoy the sport.

In his memory, the Strange Family family has pledged $1 million dollars for the construction of a Malibu Skate Park - if only the City of Malibu could get it together and truly commit to building it.

So far this has not happened, but, the City has become incestuous with the La Paz developers and the new proposed shopping mall (although we are hearing rumblings of a new ‘lifestyle entertainment complex’ going in instead of retail shops) in a deal with the devil for a small piece of land big enough for a skate park.

The Environmental Impact Report for the skatepark is ready to go, but it stinks of back room deals and special variances for the unwanted shopping mall.

There have been city council candidates who were elected for their skate park and recreational facilities promises made on the campaign trail, in the meantime, it may be another generation of Malibu youth who will be deprived of the opportunity of enjoying a local skatepark.

There has been talk of constructing the impossibe fantasy of building a skate park on undeveloped 83 acres of Bluffs Park but these plans are smoke and mirrors and blow away in the sea breeze.

There was a chance for a clean purchase of property in the Civic Center called the Yamaguchi Property adjacent City Hall, however, our former mayor, Skylar Peak, balked at this once in a life time purchase, and instead voted to waste tax payer funds on an EIR for Bluffs Par going against his promises to the people who re-elected him, in the first step to destroy the last remaining undeveloped pristine coastal bluff in Los Angeles County.

Unfortunately, the sad truth is, it’s time to roll on to another community if skateboarding is your passion.

The family of local adventurer, and skateboarding icon Johnny Strange, donated $1 million dollars to the City to build a skateboard park in his memory. Bureaucracy and red tape has stalled the skatepark from moving forward leaving residents very disappointed that Malibu continues to be one of the only coastal communities without a place to enjoy the sport.

Another local skateboarding icon and X Games champ, Tom Schaar, had to leave Malibu because of the distance his parents had to travel to take Tom to skating facillities.

Local realtor Mike Gardner understands the frustration the Scharr family endured while supporting Tom’s skateboarding career as he commutes long distances to allow his son Dakota enjoy his passion for skateboarding as well.

Recently, Gardner and his son ran into Tom Scharr at a skate park and sent a message to the City via instagram communicating his unhappiness about the signifant amount of miles he logs in to allow his son to have an adequate place to enjoy skateboarding.

MALIBU HOME STORE

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LOCAL

another malibu neighborhood subjected to joe edmiston’s

MRCA NIGHTMARE

by steve woods

Residents in private residential Malibu neighborhoods are seeking legal help from the City to help defend their easements from being invaded and circumvented by Joe Edmiston and his powerful agency of the Mountain Resource and Conservation Authority (MRCA).

Elizabeth Stevens from Sycamore Park came before the city council Monday night to sound the alarm that Edmiston and the MRCA are systematically defying Malibu’s LCPs and trying to turn their residential zones into recreational zones with a trail head for public use.

Every neighborhood that Edmiston is encroaching on has had to hire lawyers to protect their property rights and is asking the city to come together to enforce its LCPs. Malibu neighborhoods that are being thrashed from the public, all of which has been documented to pass through properties leaving trash, spraying graffiti, drinking, smoking, urinating and defecting without any oversight from the MRCA to provide security, trash cans or bathroom facilities.

Whether it is Winding Way, Ramirez Canyon, Sycamore Canyon or the new trail head development in Puerco Canyon, each neighborhood has mounting legal bills and Elizabeth Stevens reminded the council that Edmiston is this is the most powerful unelected official who runs two agencies and is relentless for picking off each neighborhood one by one. “I don’t think that this is fair, that we must handle this individually. I think the city should be coming and supporting us.” said Stevens.

“How you would react if someone bought the property next door to you and built an amusement park?”

Brittany Stevens followed reiterated that Malibu cannot allow residential zones to be turned into multi use or recreational zones. She asked “How you would react if someone bought the property next door to you and built an amusement park?”

Joe Edmiston is a serious force to reckon with and his powerful agency may want to evade your neighborhood easements and circumvent our LCPs.

Edmiston has purchased a residential property and is trying to change it into something else which defies the law, “ This is precedent setting and that is why we are asking you to look in the matter.” said Stevens.

But City Attorney Christi Hogin who is also working for the City of Palos Verdes has been mixed up in other questionable and ethical issues concerning property rights in P.V. and did not seem optimistic in aiding, but instead said “Parks are permitted uses in most of our residential zones, so they may not need a coastal development permit for it.” But added that the city planning commission was on top of it.

Mayor pro-tem Rick Mullen lives in one of the impacted neighborhoods relayed that he understood their plight saying that this fight with the MRCA is extremely stressful and it takes a lot of money to fight in court, but reiterated that the council’s job was to look out for the rural tranquility of our residents. Mullen admitted that special deals have been made between developers and land owners without regards to the impacts of the neighborhoods He encouraged all residents in impacted areas to voice themselves at council meetings.

18th puma since 2002 to be killed by vehicles Another unfortunate incident just occurred killing a local cougar known as P-23.

This time it was not because of poisonous rodenticides that destroyed a female mountain lion, but a vehicle on Malibu Canyon Road according to the National Park Service.

P-23, just 5 ½ years old, had been collared and tracked in the Santa Monica Mountains since she was a kitten and known to give birth to several offspring. She is the 18th puma since 2002 to be killed by vehicles crossing roads into and around the Santa Monica Mountains and was famous for a viral hit when a photographer caught P-23 on top a deer kill on Mulholland in 2013.

We cannot ban cars from our roads but we can ban rodenticides that have killed too many of our wild creatures.

The fight to ban the rodenticides is one of “David and Goliath” proportions, according to Kian Schulman of Poison Free Malibu, who said the next step in the group’s mission is amending the City of Malibu Local Coastal Program (LCP) to ban the use of bait boxes citywide and eventually state wide and nationwide.

As things stand now, too many of our local Malibu commercial areas still are using poisonous Black Boxes and public pressure should be put on the city of Malibu to rid this menace from businesses like the Ralphs Shopping Center, and many other businesses up and down PCH. As seen in the award winning documentary, The Cat that Changed America, (featuring local Malibu wildlife advocates) it is vitally important that State agencies, elected officials and wildlife advocates continue urging the state to provide the much-needed link in an area where rampant development and highways have fragmented once-continuous habitat. The proposed 165-foot-wide, 200-footlong overpass near Liberty Canyon Road would connect the Santa Monica Mountains on the south with the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains.

A photographer caught P-23 on top a deer kill on Mulholland in 2013 that went viral.

From left: The proposed 165-foot-wide, 200-foot-long overpass near Liberty Canyon Road would connect the Santa Monica Mountains on the south, with the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains. Pic #2: We cannot ban cars from our roads, but we can ban rodenticides that have killed too many of our wild creatures.

The fight to ban the rodenticides in our community is one of “David and Goliath” proportions, according to Kian Schulman of Poison Free Malibu.

LOCAL

‘Zev blocered it’ beach

By Steve Woods

DAN BLocker Beach

Though delayed for decades, the Dan Blocker beach access project spearheaded by outgoing LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky in 2014 just before the end of his term, said 17 days before the project was completed, “Public access to our coastline is about making sure that our beaches and our coastline are for everybody, and so this is a great day,” But a great day for who?

Not for deceased rugged TV legend Dan Blocker, a.k.a. Hoss Cartwright, nor the taxpayers of California who have paid the tax man millions for more coastal beach access, yet gained none.

It’s been 3 years since the $5.5 million Dan Blocker Memorial bluff side restroom has obstructed ocean views along PCH between Latigo and Corral Canyon, but not because there was an overflow of cars in the parking lot blocking the ocean horizon.

Throughout the summer months when just about every available parking spot along the 21 miles of Malibu (or 27 - depending on who you listen to - the City Manager or the people who actually live) are being fought for, the Dan Blocker Memorial Restroom parking lot has remained empty, except for, on the rare occasions when a Beaches and Harbors maintenance truck makes a routine visit to check the empty pay machine. Or possibly when a traveler realizes they can empty their bladder in the modern, clean, plush block brick restroom.

The reality is, users flee quickly after reading all the giant view blocking ‘Pay to Park’ signs.

Not only does the huge Dan Blocker Restroom Memorial entrance sign ‘Blocker’ one’s ocean view from PCH, but so do all the signs that read NO BEACH ACCESS placed all over the sleek modern fencing that prevents one from beach access below.

After 3 years, the parking lot still looks brand spanking new (as if never used, because it has not been) and beautifully maintained with new native plants that replaced the once thriving yucca native plants.

It is debatable if the homeless nomads of PCH who take advantage of the picnic tables as a free overnight campsite are able to appreciate the modern restroom facilities, but even these rugged individuals must question the lack of beach access, as they contemplate a forbidden and hazardous climb down the steep rocky bluff.

If the county could manage to keep the ‘Zev Blocked It’ beach parking lot “ fully occupied every hour of every day, of every week, of every month, of every year for the next 84 years, the cost of construction could be recouped minus maintenance expenditures.

Could the County be sued when visitors who have paid to access Dan Blocker Beach realize that there is NO safe way down the cliff? What if they try climbing over the fence anyway only to be air lifted off the beach with life threatening injuries? The safest way down from the parking lot may be to rappel down with a legit climbing rope, but getting back up as the rising tides forces visitors to escape the rocky cove could prove to be more difficult.

Somehow, I think it may be more than 84 years before the parking fees could be recouped because I am not quite sure why anyone would ever pay anything in the first place when there is FREE parking at the two safe beach access points within a ten-minute walk east to Corral beach, or a ten-minute walk to the Latigo beach stair access.

The Dan Blocker Memorial Restroom is yet another classic case of tax payer waste.

The needless destruction of this pristine little coastal bluff for the sake of an ugly restroom with no beach access pales in comparison to the environmental destruction that our Malibu City Council has planned for last remaining undeveloped coastal land at Bluffs Park.

I miss seeing the native yuccas through the old rusty corroded chain link fence and rarely ever used ugly block pink restroom.

Dan Hoss Blocker deserved better.

I recently came across this Poem by Bob Hummer

The Real Hoss of Malibu

Big Hoss Little tiny parking lot Beautiful stretch of beach Dan Blocker Beach PCH But no way down No way from the tiny parking lot There is no open gate No opening either side of Hoss lot No Hoss pathway No Hoss trails No Hoss beaches Dan Blocker was too big a man for this tiny parking lot that has no parking lot for the folks The Ponderosa had parking for the folks Where’s ole Ben Cartwright When you need him?

Where’s Little Joe and Hop Sling?

I’m sure they all enjoyed the sea and sand and steaks and chicken back in the day when the Cartwrights rode Horseback together on Malibu, open shores under the golden sun on his way to his favorite surf spot Back when it really was Dan Blockers Beach and the folks beach too Ask any of the Cartwrights Herse to you Hoss Big Hoss The real Hoss of Malibu :

Dan Blocker Beach : Another day, another empty parking lot.

Access to the $5.5 million dollar restroom YES, but ‘No Access’ to any beach!

eytan levin · (310)924 0806 · Eytan@4malibu.com · www.4Malibu.com

COVER FEATURE

MALIBU/NORTH SHORE

SETTING STANDARDS IN SURF THERAPY

Big Wave Risk Assessment Group Brings North Shore Knowledge to A Walk On Water You can immediately see that the pain is still raw for Danilo Couto and Kohl Christensen, but the pain reminds them why they set out on this path—if just one surfer could be saved, it would all be worth it. The day their friend Sion Milosky passed was the breaking point; big wave surfing had gotten too big, too fast.

Safety protocols and training were needed; Danilo and Kohl answered the call.

Together with a few of their big-wave peers, the beginnings of the Big Wave Risk Assessment Group (“BWRAG”) formed in 2011. Bringing together some of the leading North Shore watermen, they began their mission to educate and train surfers in ocean risk management, safety protocols, equipment, technology and the skills needed to ensure their own safe practice and to elevate the safety of those with whom they shared the lineup.

Sensing an opportunity to further the training for the elite watermen and women of A Walk On Water (“AWOW”), chairman Laura Rubin brought AWOW and BWRAG together for the first ever big wave risk assessment training of a Surf Therapy nonprofit. I was lucky enough to be invited alongside some of AWOW’s premier watermen; guys like Steven Lippman, Allen Sarlo, Dale Rhodes and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, just to name a few. While 20-foot waves are usually not in play at AWOW events, we still realize the massive responsibility we have when families place their precious cargo in our care.

A Walk On Water is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing water therapy to children with special needs or disability through surfing; what we call “Surf Therapy.” The ocean’s transformative properties empower our participants, who enjoy a much-deserved day of laughter, love, and acceptance alongside their family. For one perfect, restorative day at the beach, there are no labels. Everyone is an Athlete.

if just one surfer could be saved, it would all be worth it.

No matter the size of the waves, surfing with an Athlete with special needs requires years of specialized training, and I’m grateful to be part of an organization that refuses to believe there is nothing left to learn when it comes to water safety. In being the first Surf Therapy nonprofit to enlist the knowledge and training of BWRAG, AWOW is reaffirming our commitment to our families, and the safeguarding of their Athlete. Safety has always been the number one tenet of AWOW, and it gives me (and the many families we work with) a sense of peace knowing our sincere focus in this area.

5% of their income from home sales through Equity Advisors back to A Walk On Water, and they bump it to 15% if an AWOW family member is involved in the transaction.

No matter the size of the waves, surfing with an Athlete with special needs requires years of specialized training

COVER FEATURE

MALIBU/NORTH SHORE

Safety has always been the number one tenet of AWOW Our day-long training began in Malibu with a CPR refresher, which included training on using an Automated External Defibrillator (“AED”), which AWOW will have present at every event in 2018. Danilo was kind enough to lead a very in-depth conversation around all the potential issues that could arise at an AWOW Surf Therapy event, and you could tell everyone in the room found immense value in this shared expertise. Danilo was able to tailor his training based on the potential real-world situations that might arise at one of our events. Following our lifesaving certification course, we caravanned down to Zuma Beach, where we met up with renowned LA County Lifeguard Tuffer Marsolek and collectively dove into Surf Risk Management and walking through potential issues that we should be prepared for at the beach. We discussed at length the various challenges we’ve faced in the past, and talked over the best way to handle those potential worst-case scenarios.

When I felt the hand to my left tug, I realized it was my time to speak. I flashed back to that night when I first learned of A Walk On Water, and all the magic and serendipity that had to have been in play to allow me to stumble across this life-changing experience that I wasn’t even looking for, but really needed. Two years, hundreds of new friends, and a thousand beautiful memories later, I thanked AWOW and all those present for making me a better human being, and I continue to thank Danilo, Kohl, and BWRAG for helping make me a better waterman. Tears fell to the sand and disappeared as they met the rising sea; a reminder that we are but a small part of this expansive blue planet, and we owe our respect to the sea and all she provides.

I found myself fortunate enough to be standing arm-in-arm with the strongest, most passionate group of watermen and women; all of whom I could trust to save me or anyone else in need.

About the author: Jack Turturici, Jr. is an over 25-year Malibu resident and founding partner of Equity Advisors Real Estate alongside his incredible wife (and AWOW volunteer!)

Michelle. Together with their daughter Mia, they volunteered at every 2017 AWOW Surf Therapy event, and don’t plan to miss one anytime soon.

Jack & Michelle graciously donate 5% of their income from home sales through Equity Advisors back to A Walk On Water, and they bump it to 15% if an AWOW family member is involved in the transaction.

LOCAL

CORPORATE AMERICA IS AT IT AGAIN!

BY DR. X

It’s bad enough that we have to endure corporatized music, corporate agriculture 9theworst produce in the world!), corporate wine (California wine isn’t fit to clean a Frenchman’s latrine!), corporate media, corporate sex, corporate yoga and now corporate marijuana.

Before we do get started on the simpletons who agree to this – voters and also city councils who had veto powers – we should recognize that the “recreational marijuana bill” was an inappropriate title.

We already had “recreational pot also known as “medical pot”. Everyone and their mother had access. There are probably one hundred plus ailments that would earn you a “script”.

In the early days of “medical”, people would come to the doctor’s office or clinic wheezing, limping or holding their backs and for the hyper-dramatic, all of the above.

But soon enough all was forgotten.

I understand voting for recreational pot seems cool; as if your vote actually ended the prohibition or war on drugs, But, what your vote really did was combining the two most vile and destructive forces on this planet, corporate business and organized crime.

The two are not necessarily distinguishable.

Enterprising scumbags bring it in by the truckload where it’s sold by virtually every hydroponics store under the counter...

You extended an invitation to Phillip Morris and Monsanto to supply you with toxic carcinogenic products of inferior quality.

Don’t forget the environmental impact that 5000 light warehouses are going to cause along with the thousands of acres of clear-cut forests.

You think the week killer Roundup by Monsanto was carcinogenic? Wait til you get a puff of Eagle 20 and Phosphoload currently used by 95% of all growers in the valley!

“Oh but they have to test for all these things…to be safe…”

Really Dorothy. You don’t think those test results can be paid for? The guys with the big money can get any test results they want?

Phosphoload - coated with phosphorus salts – 0, Mold – covered with white mildew – 0, Pesticides – dripping off the bud – 0, THC content – 110% THC! What’s that Eagle 20 stuff?

It was developed to shrink massive Douglas Fir to 10-20 foot height of Christmas trees.

Almost all valley growers use it to maintain their plants at 3 feet to increase bud size and consistency.

It smells like I imagine napalm would smell. Violently powerful gasoline-like fragrance that makes your nose twitch. It’s systematic fungicide - meaning it stays in the plant until smoked – outlawed in California, but not Arizona.

Enterprising scumbags bring it in by the truckload where it’s sold by virtually every hydroponics store under the counter to 95% of scumbag growers who use it.

Even when they open the bottle at the other end of the store it punches you in the nose.

Not far behind in tumor causing enjoyment is Phosphoload.

It was developed to shrink massive Douglas Fir to 10-20 foot height of Christmas trees. Almost all valley growers use it to maintain their plants at 3 feet to increase bud size and consistency.

It’s easy to spot in a bag or glass jar because all of the nuggets are the same size.

Organic growers like myself will have different size nuggets ranging from very large to thumbnail size.

Phosphoload is also systemic (never leave until smoked), also illegal in California and carcinogenic!

Then wait for the GMOs to start – and you know they already have.

Then we can add Roundup and pesticides to the mix.

LOCAL What was that Nirvana line? “I wanna eat your cancer when it turns black…”

That’s corporate America baby!

Don’t think I’ve forgotten about organized crime.

You voted to bring in all the gangs and of the world, some of which would rival the financial resources of Monsanto and Phillip Morris.

Just as legalized gambling in Las Vegas exponentially increased the mafia’s power, so does legalizing pot here.

Some can launder their money in activity they already do (my father helped the mafia launder their money in real estate so I am familiar with the system).

Just as Monsanto has their subsidiary companies, so do the cartels.

Those wild-eyed killers from Sinoloa or MS13 can easily be morphed into cheery-faced young white kids wearing yoga pants. Pointing out various “organic” strains of Kush while playing Yani.

How nauseating is that?

Listen, “medical” is bad enough right now, but what “corporate pot” will do is drive out al the small and medium growers including that truly organic and quality-minded 5% group.

There’s the tragedy.

No one will have access to organic high quality medicine.

Don’t tell me some idiot in a 5000 light warehouse can produce the same quality a local dedicated and educated organic grower can.

If growers can’t hand water their own soil grown plants, they has too many!

And what about the 80 year old grandma/grandpa that wants to grow more than 6 plants in flower or buy from a reliable care-giver at a reasonable prive?

Out of luck old man.

Corporate America threw you and your wife under the bus!

You now have to buy from a massive corporate clinic and it will be expensive!

What was that Nirvana line? “I wanna eat your cancer when it turns black…”

But the taxes will got back into the economy…

Yes, state and local governments will get their taxes; roughly 12% and 4% - and I am sure the Feds will want something as well – even though it’s still illegal to them.

But many of these corporations or national or multi-nationals with the international gangs and cartels so the money will not be returned to the local state or economy.

In the “medical scenario, most of the small and medium growers don’t pay taxes but return virtually all the money to local and state economies.

So, “recreational pot” will actually cost the state and county billions in localized revenue. It’s important to learn how to think beyond your nose!

So, let’s summarize: 1. Corporate pot only squeezes the farmers who will be forced to take shortcuts but including Phospholoads, Eagle 20 and toxic pesticides like ag-wine, ag-produce, ag-dairy.

2. The consumer will pay approximately 50% in price. An 1/8 of marijuana will go from $40-$60 to $60-$90 – That’s $7680-$14400 per pound!

3. Unscrupulous companies are now in charge.

4. Truly organic growers will be driven out in favor of Snoop Dog and Tommy Chung brands of cannabis garbage.

5. No more reasonable priced medical herb for those who need it. Tough luck old arthritis folk!

6. Marijuana is so hip and cool now that it’s not cool anymore. Just like corporate surfing, corporate yoga, corporate wine. Thank god paragliding, base-jumping and free diving are too dangerous to ever go corporate so they will always be cool!

In closing, what can you the responsible consumer do?

Know your farmer.

Just as there’s a demand for quality produce from Farmer’s markets, there needs to be a demand for quality organic pot from growers.

Forget about the ridiculous government mandated tests; they’re meaningless.

If you’re lucky, you’ll find the actual grower.

And if you’re really lucky, you’ll find me!

DR X

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LOCAL

WINTER SOLSTICE IN MALIBU CELEBRATING SOLSTICE IS A TIME HONORED Tradition at wishtoyo

By BRIAN TIELEMAN

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light but by making the darkness conscious.”

Carl Jung And so, some things came to an end and other things got born and began as it is in recycling the circular motion. Tobacco burned eagle feathers blew away while another fear of wildfires, Santa Ana wind, took center stage at the Wishtoyo Village Solstice ceremony. Mati and Luhui Waiya, Chumash ceremonial leaders, talked of forgiveness, thankfulness, honoring elders all the while smudging the crowd with white sage, while that wind, that mischievous wind in the canyon sung its song for those with ears to hear and danced on the cobalt blue water of the ocean stretched out before us.

I kept thinking of the Winter Solstice ceremony and how it, like the wind, is a dance only different in that it is a dance of the celebration of shadow. Easy to hide in the Southern California sun, the image of alright and the veil of wealth and six pack abs, but this season seemed different in that the cultural masks were being torn off and exposing the underbelly or the shadow, as it were, in a way that perhaps we haven’t seen before. It’s nothing new, but the elephant in the room is now being called out and the Emperor has no clothes and he quite literally has been caught with his pants down. And then, there is each of us, hopefully seeing our own shadow pointing out our hiddenness our own un-forgiveness , judgement, divisiveness, anger; and there I was with all the other broken humans hanging out around a fire at Wishtoyo feeling that same shadow poking me in my pain and drumming up my need to shadow dance, not box, with my darkness. Strange days, I thought. I never remember a time quite like this where the imagined is dissolving right before our eyes, as it should, and being replaced with the very raw scab of truth across our personal and collective lives. Hard pills to swallow. Hard times, but the admission of a condition leads to redemption.

Good Winter Solstice ceremony at Wishtoyo Chumash Village. Thankful.

CORRAL CANYONL FIRED UP! There’s excitement among neighbors in Corral Canyon about the new proposed fire station to serve residents. The future home of station 211 is marked by a sign near the Corral Canyon bowl showing the architectural renderings of the structure now undergoing the approval process through the County.

Local residents formed the Corral Canyon Fire Safety Alliance (CCFSA) two years after the 2007 fire ravaged through the area destroying 53 homes and approximately 5000 acres.

The fire was started by a group of teenagers partying in the “Jim Morrison Cave” which has since been closed by State Parks due to the high volume of dangerous and illegal activity brought on by the promotion of the caves on social media.

With the guidance of the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD), the first and only volunteer fire department, the nonprofit Corral Canyon Call Firefighters and Engine Station 271, was established in Malibu in 2010 and after customized academy training for its volunteer firefighters by the LACFD Station 271 was established with its nine Call Firefighters, who report to the LACFD’s Station 71.

Station 271 has one fire truck and four water-bearing pick-up trucks.

Photo: Steve Woods

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SURFING

GOOD MAN OVERBOARD Quiksilver Head Pierre Agnes Lost

By BEN MARCUS

at Sea in France

The first alert that something was amiss in the life of Pierre Agnes was seen by most on Kelly Slater’s Instagram. On the morning of Tuesday, January 30, the former Quiksilver frontman posted a photo of a shirtless man wearing a green hat with a large sportfish on a boat that appeared to be called Mascaret - the French word for the tidal bores that move up the rivers that feed into the Bay of Biscay.

Slater wrote: “I love this man. @pierre_agnes went missing in Hossegor today when his boat washed ashore in the cold, early morning fog. I’m praying for a miracle but it’s just starting to hit me what a profound effect this man had on my life and the surf community at large. He loved his morning fishing trips, family, @quiksilver, surfing, friends, motorbikes, Capbreton… I’m not even sure how to let it sink in. He just did his job, and he’s very close to the people close to him. He’s a quiet stallion at work and family and friendships, and got his job done, thoroughly. He never really slept, he was up all night on his e-mails. He was better at numbers than I ever was.”

Kelly Slater and his friend Pierre Agnes.

Kelly’s concern concerned Pierre Agnes, a 54-year-old father of three who had a long history in the surf industry, beginning in 1988 when he became Team Manager for Quiksilver. Agnes worked in various capacities for Quiksilver in France and throughout the company’s European marketing operations.

Agnes was appointed Managing Director of Quiksilver Europe in 2003, then President of Quiksilver Europe in 2005. Agnes became Global Head of Apparel in 2013, Company President in 2014 and was Quiksilver CEO since 2015.

In the Orange County register, Quiksilver honcho Bob McKnight said Agnes joined Quiksilver when he was a teen, at the time a stand-out surfer who won the national title in France.

“He worked small jobs at Quiksilver, always a great kid and fun to be around. He grew up in the company, went through every regime and ended up being CEO. Agnes was a disciplined businessman - smart and quiet with how he approached everything.”

Agnes was at or near the helm of Quiksilver through all the swells and bumps and turbulence the company experienced out of the 20th Century and into the 21st. The undulations of the surf industry are a metaphor for the ocean waters of the Bay of Biscay, which Agnes

regularly navigated in his 36-foot fishing boat Mascaret III. All acquainted with Agnes knew he was a talented man who loved surfing, loved the ocean, loved his immediate family and his Quiksilver family.

Graphic designer, art director and former Surfer Magazine Art Director David Carson (1991 - 1993) remembered being called to France to do branding for the Quiksilver Pro France: The day I arrived in France, Pierre was out towing into some of the biggest, best beachbreak waves I’d ever seen. He was an absolute joy to work with, and his main objective was to show off the area, land, the trees, the colors, the waves. Everything he’d grown up with and loved. He seemed to have figured it all out - life, work, love, play.. He was the real deal.

All: Early this morning our CEO, Pierre Agnes, did what he did many mornings and went fishing on his beloved boat to start his day.

Later in the morning his boat was recovered on the beach near his hometown and Pierre has not been heard from since. The Boardriders family and entire surfing world are devastated by this news.

Given the situation on the ground is still evolving, our statements today will be limited. We are concentrating on working with the local authorities on the search and rescue effort and supporting Pierre’s family.

Please keep Pierre and his family in your prayers. Thank you.

Agnes’s boat washed up on a Bay of Biscay beach launching a massive search.

The search in the Bay of Biscay continued at daylight on Wednesday, with two Personal Watercraft and a French Coast Guard patrol boat joining in. That search was cancelled at 2:35 PM local time, with French rescue officials declaring: We’re looking for clues which could have washed up along the beaches. Other than that, we also continue our investigation to try to understand … the circumstances of his disappearance ... and to reconstruct the timeline and the facts to better understand the situation.

All surfers know that the ocean is the definition of “shit happens” and anything could have happened to someone even as experienced as Pierre Agnes: A rogue wave, slipping overboard. Agnes was fishing alone which can turn a minor mishap into a major tragedy. According to a website for the United States Search and Rescue Task Force, in ocean temperatures between 50° and 60°, exhaustion or unconsciousness sets in in 1 - 2 hours, and death occurs in 1 - 6 hours.

The water temperature in the Bay of Biscay in late January is 54° and maybe colder after a storm.

Tragically, it appears one of the most reliable members of the Quiksilver family and surf community is gone, at a time when Quiksilver is consolidating with Billabong under the new corporate banner “Boardriders.”

They will need a new leader, but by all accounts, Agnes’ booties will be difficult to fill.

LOCAL

Stormin’ In STormy’s Gastropub opens in the heart of Haleiwa

Stormy’s Crew from left: Sous chef Kristopher, owners Dustin and Mark, and Chef Sebastain.

The Spicy Polenta Cakes are a local favorite.

Stormy’s Gastropub is where you’ll find a unique spin to old school pub classics.

The brainchild of Dustin Pokrass, who partnered with successful entrepreneur and avid sky diver, Mark Cook to ring a combination of a casual sports bar atmosphere and hearty, upscale food into the heart of Haleiwa.

A hand-picked team of experienced chefs, servers, and bartenders, create a friendly, fun vibe with genuine local warmth and personality.

Local Chef Sebastian Arango, known as “Rasta,” a popular mainstay on the North Shore for over a decade, has lit up Stormy’s with his artistry and passion for cuisine (and just life in general).

Upscale comfort food, craft beer, and creatively mixed specialty cocktails, like the Blood Orange Patron Margarita or Mango Snakebite are what make Stormy’s stand out as the new star among North Shore eateries and the Crab Cakes with Wasabi Remoulade sauce is already being touted as the best on the island.

Entrees like the Fish and Chips and the 5th Wheel Burger, served with fried smoked provolone and sriracha aioli sauce are out of this world.

Locals have found a laid-back place to meet family and friends and enjoy amazing food at reasonable prices. It’s a great place to watch the game, have an Elysian Space Dust IPA or just a regular ol’ PBR, and feast on a gorgeous Shrimp Scampi Pizza. It’s also a place where kids are welcome and easily swayed into compliance by a heavenly, generously portioned fried banana split (that you will surely want to finish for them).

The Stormy’s team is always ready to meet you with smiles and Aloha anytime, so stop by and enjoy the oldschool, laid-back island-style gastropub with a cutting edge vibe.

66-165 Kamehameha Highway, Haleiwa. 808.888.3213

The Snake Bite, a Stormy’s specialty drink and it’s a killer!

OLD PUB STYLE FAVORITES WITH A TWIST Open 7 days a week.

Happy Hour from 3-6 Monday - Friday.

Pizza served until midnight.

66-165 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleiwa (808) 888-3213

SURFING

PIPE IS PAU FOR NOW WSL AND CITY/COUNTY OF HONOLULU Can’t Find Common Ground

By Ben marcus

The Hawaiian standoff between the World Surf League and the City and County of Honolulu has resulted in a no-win for either side, as it appears that the Pipe Masters will not be the first event of the 2019 WSL World Championship Tour - and might not be on the schedule for 2019 at all.

Which kinda sucks. Can you have a World Championship Tour without Pipeline - at one end or the other? The world may find that out, a year from now.

In a press release issued on Thursday, February 15, the WSL officially stated: Yesterday, the City and County of Honolulu Dept of Parks & Recreation announced preliminary permit approval for the 2018/2019 winter events calendar. While all of WSL’s historic permits for the winter 2018/2019 have been granted, including the 2018 Billabong Pipe Masters, the WSL remains disappointed that the 2019 Billabong Pipe Masters has not been granted. The WSL will pursue alternative options to open the season next year.

The Billabong Pipe Masters is extremely popular as a spectator event and draws tens of thousands of people and lots of dollars to the North Shore every winter. Can the WSL or Hawaii afford to lose this event?

Honolulu mayor Kirk Caldwell was the state representative squaring off against the WSL and their new CEO Sophie Goldschmidt in a bureaucratic scuffle that involved late registration for contests by the WSL, money, prestige and other issues. In an email to www.theinertia.com, Mayor Caldwell said : The WSL has been awarded six events for the 2018/2019 winter surf season on the North Shore, more than any other applicant. I am happy that they decided not to pull out of Hawai‘i for the upcoming season. I am disappointed that they don’t plan to apply for the 2019 Pipe Masters in Hawai‘i, and I hope they will keep an open mind and reconsider for the sake of giving Hawai‘i’s young local surfers the opportunity to compete on the world stage. We look forward to working with WSL for other events in future years.

So the competition schedule for the winter of 2018/2019 now looks like this: Oct, 27 to Nov. 9, 2018: HIC Pro at Sunset Beach.

Nov, 12 - 24, 2018: Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa.

Nov. 25 - Dec. 6, 2018: Vans World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach December 8 - 20, 2018: Billabong Pipe Masters at Ehukai January 18 - 28, 2019 Sunset Open at Sunset Beach January 29 - February 10, 2019: Volcom Pipe Pro at Ehukai Akamai eyes might notice that the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout was not included on that tentative schedule. Kelly Slater has sharp eyes, and hope for the future: I’m not sure that is final yet so let’s wait until it is. My understanding is that even the shootout for 2019 has yet to finalize their permit so it may just have to take a bit more time to be 100% either way.

Some have said that WSL wanted to move the Pipe Masters to January for two reasons: More reliable conditions, as the last two Pipe Masters have been disappointing surf wise. And also some say the WSL wants to start the WCT season at Pipeline in January, then run the schedule through summer and into fall, with a World Championship finish in Indonesia - made for the web.

Time will tell.

This is the full press release from the WSL: Thursday, February 15, 2018 LOS ANGELES, California/USA (Thursday, February 15, 2018) Yesterday, the City and County of Honolulu Dept of Parks & Recreation announced preliminary permit approval for the 2018/2019 winter events calendar. While all of WSL’s historic permits for the winter 2018/2019 have been granted, including the 2018 Billabong Pipe Masters, the WSL remains disappointed that the 2019 Billabong Pipe Masters has not been granted. The WSL will pursue alternative options to open the season next year.”

WSL remains committed to a full-tiered scope of events ranging from Junior to QS and CT this-coming winter. We are also committed to trying to foster opportunity for local Hawaiian surfers and Hawaii through events as well as our Junior Development and Careers programs. In the best interests of surfing, the community and all stakeholders, the WSL requires fundamental changes to the permit process in order to determine what its future plans will be from winter 2019/2020 onwards.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell met yesterday with WSL at his offices, where positive discussions were held on the future of the permit process, as well as medium and longterm objectives for surfing in Hawaii. In his press conference yesterday, the Mayor acknowledged the need to overhaul the permit rules, to support competitive opportunities and nurture young, aspiring surfers to uphold surfing’s place as the lifeblood of Hawaiian culture and community.

WSL CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said, “We are disappointed we will not be able to run the 2019 Billabong Pipe Masters. However, we are pleased that the Mayor recognizes that fundamental changes are required to the permit process that will benefit Hawaiian surfing, the surfers, the community and other stakeholders. We will assist however we can during this process and once we understand the changes, we will be able to determine which events we can invest in bringing to Hawaii in winter 2019 and beyond. As previously stated, we would love to continue to bring our full array of events to Hawaii, but we need to be able to plan long term and receive the appropriate local support in order to help grow Hawaiian surfing in a sustainable way.”

The 2018 WSL Championship Tour season will commence on March 11, 2018 with the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast at Snapper Rocks in Australia.

For more information, check out WorldSurfLeague.com.

ISSUE/2 FEB/2018

EDITOR’S N

OTES

Founder, Editor in Chief, Creative Director

CECE S. WOODS CO-FOUNDER STEVE WOODS

Executive Editor TANYA HO

Executive AT LARGE BEN MARCUS

WELLNESS Editor SHAWNA BIELMANN

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- Matt Warshaw, theinertia.com

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WSL pullS prestigious from the 2019 schedule

is this the beginning of the end for the wsl in hawaii?