Mayor Pro Tem Challenges City Approach to Septic Ban

• Affirms He’s at Odds with Rest of Council

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu has already witnessed an impact to the municipality based on the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board’s decision to ban septic systems in the Civic Center area.

An apparent split has developed on the city council over the direction it should take for either abiding by the RWQCB decision or appealing it and possibly litigating the matter.

Mayor Sharon Barovsky has indicated she wants to go to court if the city appeal to the state board is denied.

However, Mayor Pro Tem Jefferson Wagner is being quoted and has repeated this week that the time for lawyering is over and it is “time to do something now.”

When asked if that puts him at odds with some of the other council members who have already publicly taken a position, Wagner tersely answered, “Yes.”

At the board meeting, Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich bluntly told the board the matter was sure to end up in court.

Wagner said he has been quietly listening during the time he has been in office, but indicated that he now plans on a new direction when speaking out on issues.

The freshman council member acknowledged that he has already encountered detractors who accuse him of wanting to “sewer Malibu.” He says that is not the case and those “criticisms are nothing more than Malibu politics.”

“We are not talking about sewers. We are talking about small treatment plants like [the ones] at Pepperdine or Malibu West and other areas. We are not sewering Malibu. We are talking about taking care of the Civic Center,” he said.

Wagner, who owns a surfboard and surf gear sales business in Malibu, said he does side with the surfers, as he is one of them, as well as the environmental groups that demand that the city take action now to clean up Surfrider Beach.

“[Cleaning up Surfrider Beach] is my position as well. It is a start in the right direction,” he said.

At the same time, he says it will take longer than the alloted five years to implement a proposal and calls 15 years a more realistic timeline.

But Wagner is emphatic about not continuing to litigate  the isue, calling litigation a stalling tactic that simply won’t work in the long run.

The mayor pro tem’s comments already have political insiders pondering who will start the fireworks.

City Hall observers are gearing up for the council meeting next week when the matter is on the agenda.

The staff is seeking direction from the council about what do to with ongoing projects related to wastewater management.

While city officials must wait for the next two to six months  to see whether the regional board’s decision will be approved by the State Water Resources Control Board, the staff is asking the council for input now.

The municipal staff has prepared a list of questions that they want the council to answer in terms of preparation for the state board and the immensity of the plan ordered by the regional board.

Should the city continue to fund the final plans and Environmental Impact Report for the existing Civic Center CWWTF.  Should the scope of work change to meet the regional board prohibition area or should the plan focus on an alterative solution? If not, should all or a portion of the funds be reallocated?

“Should the city utilize and expand additional resources in order to assist the city’s efforts with the state board?” This expenditure could include funding additional water quality testing by such groups as the USGS, UCLA or other water laboratories to gather additional data.

The council majority may be too bogged in details like these to try to put Wagner on the hot seat for dissing their stance.