Mayor Prompts Look at Closed Session

• Council Considers Name Change for Heathercliff Road

BY BILL KOENEKER

At the outset of this week’s Malibu City Council, Mayor Jefferson Wagner made somewhat cryptic comments about the closed-door session the council had just left.

So much so, that City Attorney Christi Hogin said she felt prompted to talk about what had happened. She prefaced her remarks by saying, “We took no reportable action, but did discuss litigation.”

Hogin said there were two items on the amended agenda, one concerning the lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Santa Monica Baykeeper versus the City of Malibu.

“It was a pre-trial decision. We think there are factual errors and the council decided to file a motion [in the NRDC lawsuit] for reconsideration. We will be filing it this week,” Hogin said.

The information was unusual for Hogin, who often does not reveal what kind of legal strategy the council is considering or taking.

Hogin’s closed session reports are usually tightlipped on the premise that “based on the advice of the city attorney, discussion in open session concerning these matters would prejudice the position of the city in this litigation.”

Hogin also felt compelled to explain what the council talked about in the other litigation discussed in the closed session, that of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy versus the City of Malibu.

During that conference, the city attorney said they talked about how the SMMC has made it known that the public works plan including overnight camping is on the Conservancy’s agenda on Aug. 23.

“Our appointee Dennis Seder will not be able to attend the meeting on the 23rd. We discussed replacing him for the interim and appointing another person. We would need to add it to the agenda. There is no council meeting on the 23rd,” she said.

In other matters, the council discussed how a street name change might be made on Heathercliff Road, renaming it something dedicated to Emily Shane, the Malibu girl who was killed on PCH  approximately 92 yards east of the Heathercliff intersection by a driver who has subsequently been charged with murder.

Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich wanted to know if there was some way to short cut the need to have citizens petition for a name change.

Some businesses and residents in the area have raised cost and other issues related to a potential change.

The council agreed to have the staff explore what alternatives might be available.