Listen Calabasas!

The City Council meeting this last week was the first where we saw personalities come out among the new Council. It would be wrong to suggest that City Council meetings should not expose differing opinions. Indeed, the prior Council was a lovefest, and look where that got us. Managing differing opinions, though, is where leadership is required.  In this regard, a spotlight is deserved for Mayor Bozajian. His professional and fair approach to issues, his encouragement for fellow Council members to voice their opinion, and his respect for public opinion, is refreshing and to be commended.

Several issues were discussed in this last meeting that deserve review. First, this publication spoke out against the expectation that Mr. Gaines was in favor of moving Calabasas to the San Fernando legislative district. While in the meeting it appeared that there was agreement to keep Calabasas in a contiguous district with communities tied to the Santa Monica mountains, the proposal was to move away from Santa Monica. This will pose redistricting problems in terms of population count, and could still move Calabasas away from the Santa Monica mountain community. We’ll continue to report on this.

When it came to appointing new commissioners for the City’s commissions, there was a hiccup with the Planning Commission.  Each Council member has one pick, and Ms. Martin nominated Dale Reicheneider, a well-known attorney in political circles.  Mr. Reicheneder did not run for Council in this past election, but did so in prior elections.  Four Council members voiced issues with his nomination, but agreed to postpone a vote until the next meeting to give a chance to individually meet with him.  To many onlookers, the opposition to his appointment was politically motivated.  Mr. Bozajian was the most open in discussing his concerns with Mr. Reicheneider during the meeting, which did not come off as political. Mr. Gaines suggested that the vote be postponed. Notably, no other candidate presented by Ms. Martin (or any other Council Member) was opposed.

The septic Ordinance, the smelly bane of Calabasas, was also discussed in this meeting. Important points came out of this discussion, as outlined below:

• Calabasas inspections performed by independent professionals are no different than those performed in other communities. Where things differ is that City personnel invite themselves to Calabasas septic inspections (which opens the door for code violation witch hunts). City personnel also interpret the findings, and homeowners are not given access to the original inspection report, even though they paid for it.
• Once a negative inspection is on record with the City, the City must take action in regards to the site under the California Plumbing Code. The significance is that those sites where inspections uncovered problems must, in accordance with State law, take corrective action. Likewise, a site where no inspection occurs cannot have a recorded violation. Notably, the State does not mandate specific actions against property owners with violations, nor a specific timeline for repairs.
• The Council is willing to review the current septic Ordinance and revise or replace accordingly. This is an encouraging step forward.  Much attention was given to focusing inspections and repairs at the point-of-sale.

The Mayor proposed to take immediate action to heal the community, recommending a plan that would legally absolve the 8 homeowners that have not undergone inspections, and postponing any action on the part of the homeowners until a revised Ordinance exists.  This was the right thing to do.  However, none of the other Council members agreed, wanting the 8 homeowners to test their systems.  A 90 day amnesty period was agreed.

Changes to the septic Ordinance are needed.  It should reflect a slimmer, homeowner-friendly policy.  But can the City conduct a workshop to enable public input towards a new policy?  The City has conducted two workshops to date to get public feedback on ordinances, one in 2008 for the septic Ordinance, and one last year for the Building Code Ordinance.  Each workshop had a completely different format.  Neither workshop was designed to foster a friendly, collaborative effort with homeowners as a group, and neither were popular. Both were conducted by Community Development Director Ms. Tamuri, who is immune to public opinion, and reports her two workshops as very successful.

City Manager Mr. Coroalles has more than Ms. Tamuri to reckon with.  The irreputable Sparky Cohen, titled Building Official, is known for his antagonistic behavior with homeowners.  Those who have watched him in action take note of his aggressive joy in finding horrific faults in people’s homes, such as a faucet installed without a permit.

The new City Council is off to a fair start.  The redistricting issue remains. There’s a lot of work ahead, including fixes to the Building Code Ordinance and the budget. But to fully restore confidence in the City, Council members will also have to focus on the performance of City management.  Calabasas pays top dollar for its management, and gets anything but top results.  If Mr. Coroalles performed half as well as he is paid, he’d wise up and clean house, without having to be told to do so.