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10 | June 6, 2019 | Malibu surfside news news malibusurfsidenews.com bobcats From Page 7 TOO TOXIC TO TRASH Household Hazardous Waste &Electronic Waste Roundup Sunday,June9,2019 9:00am-3:00pm Calabasas Landfill Scale Area 5300 Lost Hills Road Agoura For more information or an event schedule, contact: 1(888) CLEAN-LA, www.CleanLA.com or 1(800) 238-0172 www.lacsd.org only around 300 bobcats in the Santa Monica Mountains, and research shows the population was already declining. Malibu’s bobcats and mountain lion may eventually be getting some help from an unexpected quarter: Washington, D.C. A bipartisan bill to identify and protect key wildlife corridors is currently working its was through Congress. The bill would allocate funds to identify, designate and protect a network of National Wildlife Corridors. The wildlife crossing bridge over the 101 freeway at Liberty Canyon has been singled out as an example of a critically important wildlife corridor by advocates for the bill, and the bridge project is already underway. But it won’t help bobcats and other wildlife avoid traffic at key crossings on narrower but still potentially deadly roads like Malibu Canyon or Mulholland. “As sad as this is, there is a safety message here,” Moriarty said. “Please keep your eyes open on all roads, especially ones where there is open space on both sides. Also, slow down and don’t drive distracted. This is their habitat too.” Old paint. Solvents. Batteries. Computer monitors. These are some of the household hazardouswasteandelectronicwasteitems you can bring to aRoundup for recycling. It’s agreat opportunity to clean out your garage and clean up the environment. Our free drive-thru, drop-off events are aquick, convenient, and common-sense way to dispose of materials too toxic to trash, pour down asink, or dump in a storm drain. CALABASAS LANDFILL Roundup Collection Area Canwood St. Ventura Frwy. Scale Area Enter this Roundup from Lost Hills Road to the Scale Area Lost Hills Lost Hills Rd. No Business Waste Accepted Brought to you by the County of Los Angeles and presented by the Department of Public Works and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County in cooperation with the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Los Angeles, Malibu, and Westlake Village. Home-generated sharps waste such as hypodermic needles, pen needles, syringes, lancets, and intravenous needlesSHOULDNOT be placed in your trash. Bring them to the Roundups or visit www.CLEANLA.com for alternate disposal options. You can also take your used motor oil to more than 600 oil recyclingcenters in Los AngelesCounty.Call 1(888) CLEAN-LA for acompletelisting. Rd. Agoura (101) Rd. Rd. Virgenes Las NPS spokesperson Ann Beatriz Cholo told the Malibu Surfside News that the researchers learn about the road strikes from a variety of sources, ranging from social media posts to calls from concerned citizens and from other government agencies like animal control. When Moriarty and her team are notified in time they will collect the remains. Necropsy on road-killed animals in the past have provided important data on health, including genetics and issues like fire From Page 7 intel to responders, especially if they’re from out of the area.” His first project involves a Cal Fire grant that was recently awarded to the City of Malibu to create a Community Wildfire Protection Plan specific to the greater Malibu area. The city is currently covered under the Santa Monica Mountains CWPP, which encompasses all communities in the Santa Monica Mountains, but the Malibu plan will be tailored to its specific needs. According to Vandermuelen since Malibu cannot change its topography or prevent the Santa Ana winds every year, prevention comes down to diligent personal and household preparedness. He stressed the importance of an evacuation plan and the need to practice it regularly. “Officially, both the City of Malibu and the Los Angeles County Fire Department endorse and support the Ready, Set, Go program and would expect evacuation when the call is made,” he said. “We understand that many residents are committed to staying behind to defend their homes, but an secondary poisoning by rodenticides. Anyone who encounters an injured bobcat or other wild animal that has been struck by a vehicle is encouraged to immediately call the California Wildlife Center for emergency medical aid: (310) 458- WILD. To report a road-killed bobcat or mountain lion directly to the NPS researchers, email joanne_ moriarty@nps.gov. The LA County Department of Animal Care and Control evacuation plan should still be in place for family members that will be leaving.” The next step is to safeguard homes against fire because statistically most homes don’t catch fire from actual flame contact or radiated heat but from embers that can be carried a mile or more by the winds, he said. “As we saw in the Woolsey Fire, even houses far away from the brush are susceptible to fire, so this creates a threat to everyone in Malibu,” Vandermuelen said. “Things like metal mesh over all vent openings into attics or raised foundations can make a difference, as well as removing leaf litter and debris from roofs and rain gutters.” He also suggests considering fire-resistant alternatives to common landscaping materials like mulch, wood chips and railroad ties, which all are receptive fuels for embers that can remain deep seated and undetected for hours or days until they build enough heat or are fanned by winds and will burn freely. “If applicable, also consider a portable or fixed standalone pump system utilizing swimming pools for water supply that can protect your home without will remove dead wildlife that constitutes a road hazard: (818) 991-0071. Road-killed wildlife can also be reported on the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s online reporting form: www. wildlife.ca.gov/Conserva- tion/Laboratories/Wildlife- Investigations/Monitoring/ Mortality-Report, and to U.C. Davis’ California Roadkill Observation Network, where the data helps researchers determine wildlife patterns: www.wildlifecrossing.net/california. you being there,” he said. He said maintaining a minimum of 100 feet clearance of flammable vegetation from all structures and improvements is also a smart method. “This means more than just weed whacking the annual growth of grass, but also keeping trees and shrubs trimmed up off the ground and away from your roof,” he said. “In native vegetation, consider breaking up fuel continuity by thinning out.” Vandermuelen is aware that the fire problem in Malibu is not new and it is an issue that needs constant improvement. “Unfortunately, I do not come into this position with a long-held secret nugget of wisdom that will solve all of the problems,” he said, “just the desire and willingness to keep reinforcing much of what we already know along with researching and soliciting new ideas. “In the meantime, diligent personal and household preparedness remain our path to the best possible outcome in our next fire event.” For more about fire safety, visit the Malibu Safety and Preparedness Expo June 15 at Trancas Country Market.
malibusurfsidenews.com School Malibu surfside news | June 6, 2019 | 11 SMMUSD Board of Education Name of new merged grammar school on Pt. Dume: Malibu Elementary Parents voice displeasure with voting process Michele Willer-Allred Freelance Reporter Malibu Elementary School will be the new name for the recently combined elementary schools at the former Point Dume Marine Science School site. At its Thursday, May 30 meeting, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education voted 6-0, with board member Oscar de la Torre absent, to approve the name change of the merged Juan Cabrillo Elementary and Point Dume Marine Science schools. The school will use the new name beginning in the fall. The SMMUSD announced the new name to the community on May 27 prior to the board vote. While school administrators say the name change was done after a process that included engaging the community, some Malibu residents say they actually felt left out of the process. The Malibu school name change was brought up during the public and council comment session during the Tuesday, May 28 Malibu City Council meeting. According to a district news release, the votes were nearly 60 percent in favor of the new name, with teacher votes weighted by a factor of three in the final tally. Each Malibu student family received one vote through their primary email address. Five names were on the ballot following outreach to the Malibu community for name suggestions. The five finalists were: John and Amanda Ballard Elementary School, Malibu Elementary School, Ocean Elementary School, Surfside Elementary School, and Westward Elementary School. Isaac Burgess IV, the Malibu Pathways director, said during the meeting that the process of selecting a new school name began a few months ago and included engaging the community with a survey and receiving back more than 300 name suggestions. Burgess wanted the community to know “we did listen, we did hear, we did revisit it, and we do understand that we have very unique schools that we’re merging and we know that there are strong ties there, strong beliefs there.” “It definitely was a process, but we wanted to make sure we got to some kind of consensus with everybody as much as we possibly could,” said Burgess, who was joined at the podium by Pat Cairns, interim principal of the elementary schools. District board member Craig Foster, who represents Malibu, said a large segment of the community wanted the Ballard name, “which didn’t resonate with the school community at all.” At the Malibu City Council meeting, longtime Point Dume resident Marianne Riggins spoke about the name change, which she said was actually done with limited public input and decided essentially by the teachers and staff at the schools. “I think that this needs to have a little bit stronger community input on it,” said Riggins, who both graduated and had a child graduate from Point Dume Elementary. Riggins said the name of Point Dume wasn’t even allowed to be considered as one of the selections by the community for the name of the school. “We shouldn’t be losing this history in our community,” she said. Councilmember Skylar Peak also weighed in on the matter, asking the council to consider a future agenda item regarding the school renaming because he’s heard a lot of different complaints from people about it. “I think that the school district is listening to a few power people, and I don’t think they have a lot of community input. I think it’s happening behind closed doors,” Peak said. “It bothers me because it’s another reason why we need our own school district.” He said the renaming of the school is another example of why students and their families aren’t always heard in Malibu. “I think that the school district has a little bit of a history now of not getting the word out on things, and it’s really frustrating,” Peak said. District officials said that following approval of the school’s name, students at both Juan Cabrillo and Point Dume schools will go through a process to decide on the school’s mascot and colors, which will occur under the leadership of new principal Chris Hertz. Another new name Also at the May 30 School Board meeting, the board voted 6-0, to approve The Michelle and Barack Obama Center for Inquiry and Exploration as the new name for the SM- MUSD facility located at 721 Ocean Park Blvd. in Santa Monica. A new Personalized Project-Based Learning Model school, which will include 100 ninth-grade students from both Malibu and Santa Monica, will be housed at the newly renovated learning facility. Adding the Obama name to the facility was also met with controversy. Out of the 100 responses received from families in the district, about 60 percent supported the name. Those that disagreed cited either differing political opinions or that the Obamas don’t have a local connection to the school district. Board President Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein said the board looked at what former President Barack Obama stood for: “the inspiration, the hope, and the joy of learning and education.” The board agreed that adding Michelle Obama’s name was important because of her contributions to education policy in the country. city council From Page 6 the city to trim expenses. A one-time appropriation of approximately $2.9 million from the General Fund undesignated reserve is being made to balance the budget. Lisa Soghor, assistant city manager, said all the cost-cutting and other budgetary measures enabled the staff to present a proposed that retains a General Fund undesignated reserve of 65 percent. Public safety, Woolsey Fire recovery efforts, and school district separation were designated as priorities by the Council for the next fiscal year. During 2019-20, the city anticipates spending $2.3 million in fire recovery efforts, and $500,000 allocated for school district separation. Pierson said the cost to the city and its residents is “huge” dealing with 13 to 15 million visitors a year to Malibu, which has a lower TOT than surrounding communities. “I think the citizens would be in favor of this as well, and I think it makes sense for the city,” Pierson said. “I think it’s important to the long range of actually taking care of our local businesses and providing the services to support that and public safety in Malibu.” Councilmember Rick Mullen said it would be important to consider the implications of getting rid of short-term rentals in the city, which would impact the TOT equation. He requested more information about tax rates in other cities. Feldman said the city is already interviewing firms that the city hopes to use on analyzing the implications of a short-term rental ordinance in the city. Peak differed from his fellow councilmembers, asking them to consider placing the TOT question during a special election in November 2019. Peak said that by waiting until November 2020, the city will be foregoing approximately $1.2 million in TOT from existing short-term rentals in the city. “I think that’s foolish in a time when we need it more than ever,” Peak said. Visit us online at MalibuSurfsideNews.com
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