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8 | October 18, 2018 | Malibu surfside news election 2018
malibusurfsidenews.com
Malibu City Council (Five for two seats)
Name: Olivia Damavandi
Age: 33
Occupation: President,
Santa Monica Safe Trails
Association
Elected Political Experience:
I served as assistant
editor and staff writer of The Malibu
Times, primarily covering Malibu politics.
After obtaining my master’s degree
from Columbia University in New York,
I returned home to serve as the City of
Malibu’s Media Information Officer. I
now serve as president of the nonprofit
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Santa Monica Mountains Safe Trails Association,
which supports education, volunteer
work, youth activity programs, and
community advocacy to promote safe
trails in the Santa Monica Mountains. The
SMMSTA works with public agencies,
concerned citizens, and homeowner’s associations
to identify and ameliorate identified
risk for visitors to public park lands
and adjacent residential communities.
Why are you running for a City Council
seat in Malibu?
Malibu has given me everything I have,
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MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS
and I want the opportunity to give back.
Three generations of my family live here,
which makes me aware of the unfulfilled
needs of each demographic.
Myriad issues are threatening our quality
of life. Malibu is under siege by outside
agencies that want to control how
we use our land and educate our kids, and
whether we’ll ever be able to improve
PCH safety.
This great uncertainty of how Malibu
will change has made me wonder how realistic
or sustainable it will be to raise a
family here over the next 18 years.
What makes you the best candidate for
this position?
My incentive, experience and skill set.
I’m the only candidate who has children
(three) in Malibu schools (and will
for the next 18 years), and the only candidate
whose neighborhood is under attack
by the [Mountains Recreation and
Conservation Authority].
I’ve experienced Malibu through the
lens of a lifelong resident, student in our
local public schools, political journalist
covering Malibu City Hall, media information
officer for the City of Malibu, and
now as a parent and community activist.
My role at The Malibu Times required
an incredible amount of knowledge
about all Malibu issues, leadership, integrity
and dedication to making decisions
based on fact. A great journalist
never gets “spun,” and neither does a
great councilmember.
In my role as Malibu’s MIO, I worked
with City Council and staff to develop
citywide communications strategies to
better facilitate information to outside/
state agencies, the media and the public.
My role was also to serve as the City’s
spokeswoman and protect residents’ interests
by changing the narrative of Malibu
from a NIMBY community into one
known for its environmental stewardship
and commitment to preserving a rural
lifestyle. As Malibu’s spokeswoman, I put
the interests of residents first — exactly
what a great councilmember must do.
What are the Top 3 issues you see facing
Malibu, and what would you do to
solve them?
1. Public Safety
Public safety means PCH safety and
homelessness.
I’ll reprioritize our budget to hire extra
law enforcement that also hold bicyclists
accountable for reckless conduct. I’ll
work with Caltrans to upgrade technology,
track traffic and time stoplights accordingly,
especially at the Topanga Canyon
intersection.
I’ll launch a social media campaign to
reach millions of visitors who use PCH
without knowing its extreme danger.
I believe nobody is entitled to be a public
safety threat. I’ll analyze the effectiveness
of current City policy to find a compassionate
but legally firm way to handle
homelessness in Malibu.
2. Local Control
The majority of Malibu’s challenges
stem from its legal inability to govern
resources within its geographical jurisdiction.
I’ll protect Malibu from all outside
interests that don’t respect residents’
needs.
MRCA
I’ll prevent MRCA from illegally accessing
public trails and beaches through
private, residential roads in neighborhoods.
I’ll demand that it supervises and
maintains the properties it claims it wants
to protect.
Federal Emergency Management Agency
I’ll protect Malibu from FEMA’s calamitous
plan to destroy property values
by requiring FEMA to work with Malibu
coastal engineers and consultants to
achieve a plan that is based on scientific
evidence, not broad- brushed supposition.
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School
District
We absolutely need to separate from the
Santa Monica school district.
3. Short-Term Rentals
I believe STRs must be strictly regulated,
and the City must hire additional code
enforcement to handle STR issues.
I favor an ordinance that holds owners
responsible for tenants’ behavior.
Owners must live on the property or
be immediately available to respond to
complaints. If owners do not respond
within two hours, the Sheriff will shut
the facility down immediately. After
two failures to meet their responsibility,
owners will be banned from providing
STRs.