City, College and County Discuss Malibu Campus

• Plans Consist of Acquiring Old Sheriff’s Station for School

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu Public Facilities Authority, formed through a joint powers agreement between the City of Malibu and Santa Monica College, is scheduled to meet on Friday, Feb. 27 at Santa Monica College at 10 a.m.
The panel, which is comprised of Councilmembers Sharon Barovsky and John Sibert, college officials and a technical advisory committee made up of college and municipal officials, has been meeting behind closed doors for several months during its sessions.
The authority is currently in discussions with Los Angeles County about acquiring the old sheriff's station for a college satellite campus.
After the county Board of Supervisors approved entering into negotiations, the panel has apparently gotten bogged down in the details of the negotiations which include the price and terms of payment.
Since the matter has been discussed in closed session, no one was willing to talk about it.
Acknowledging that he could not publicly discuss the matter, City Manager Jim Thorsen, who is on the technical advisory committee, said the closed sessions allow the panel to talk about the negotiations in a strategic manner.
“Everybody agrees on the deal,” said Thorsen, who said the ongoing negotiations are on the terms of price and payment. “That is why it is done in closed session,” he added.
A year ago last January, the board gave the green light to sell the old sheriff's station, which is a portion of the county-owned Malibu Civic Center complex, to the Santa Monica Community College district for an education center.
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has been a vocal advocate of the sale despite Sheriff Lee Baca voicing opposition.
Some of the conditions that Yaroslvasky said the county would insist on is if the property ceased to be in public use it would revert back to the county. Additionally, county officials have said that any sale would have to take into account the ongoing county uses at the civic center complex, including parking and the needs of various other county departments housed at the complex.
The center comprises about 9.2 acres and consists of two buildings that together include 85,260 square feet. The main building houses the courthouse, public library and public works office space. The second building is the site of the former sheriff's station and is a free-standing building. The sheriff’s station was decommissioned in 1991.
The civic center was constructed in 1963. The municipality maintained its city hall at the station for several years before it moved to its current location.