Listen Calabasas!

The City of Los Angeles woke up this morning to the news that it’s neighboring police state of Calabasas continues to raid the homes of its residents.  Read the LA Times article for yourself by clicking this link. If Calabasas were a stock, it would be trading 20% lower today.  Instead, property owners just get to watch their valuations drop.

Are the actions of the City legal, and if so, how did we come to this?  Over the past several years, the City of Calabasas passed two significant ordinances:  the OWTS Ordinance 2009-262, and the new Building Code Ordinance 2011-278 (which you’ll only find at this link, as the City of Calabasas doesn’t post it on its web site).  The OWTS Ordinance established the precedent of eliminating grandfathering.  If your home was purchased with a septic tank on the property, then any pre-existing permits for operation of the OWTS were pre-empted by the new rules.  The City found that this wasn’t quite enough to push people out of their homes, so it asked the law firm of Dapeer, Rosenblit & Litvak, LLP, originally contracted by the City to pursue ordinance violations, to write a bullet-proof Municipal Code that would allow the City to go after anyone it chooses.  In the context of the new Calabasas Municipal Code, a homeowner that dares to go to Home Depot or Lowe’s to buy and install a light switch or change a faucet without a permit is in violation of the law.  That opens the door for the City to inspect any home in search of violations.  Given that it will always find violations of some type, the new Municipal Code becomes a tool to pursue other objectives, such as taking over properties for new development.  If you are found to be in violation, the City can turn off your water and power, per the authority given it in the new Municipal Building Code, forcing you to leave your home.  The City can do this before any appeals effort takes place.

These ordinances were vigorously fought in open Calabasas City Council meetings, only to have then Councilmember and now past-Mayor Barry Groveman to declare those attending the meetings to be “criminals.”  Mr. Groveman and Mr. Washburn stepped down last night from their seats on the City Council, but still on board are James Bozajian, Mary Sue Maurer, and Jonathan Wolfman, without whose support these punitive ordinances would never have passed.

When taking oath as the new Mayor of Calabasas in last night’s ceremony, the words we so wanted to hear were: “I, James Bozajian, as the new Mayor of Calabasas, hereby solemnly swear to disavow the City of Calabasas of the evil brought upon it by the work of this City Council.”  Think you can say that, James?   Or will Calabasas continue to be a police state?   It’s now your choice.

Photos from the Palmer house raid:

An Old Topanga resident was targeted for a City inspection today following issue of a warrant in violation of the City’s septic ordinance.  Reportedly, the inspection warrant instructs “the city of Calabasas to inspect, measure, photograph and/or videotape all interior and exterior areas of all structures on Subject Property, as well as yard areas, based on possible conditions thereon that violate the Calabasas Municipal Code.”  Yes, the cleverly crafted, punitive, Calabasas Municipal Code is being put to nasty work already.  Who would have dreamed such a thing could happen under Mr. Groveman, Mr. Coroalles, and Ms. Tamuri?

But the party notice drew its own crowd.  Bob Poole of the LA Times, Channel 7 News, and the Topanga Messenger all showed up for the dance.  Mr. Kenneth Dapeer, whose firm Dapeer, Rosenblit and Litvak, contracted by the City of Calabasas to prosecute code violators, wasn’t impressed, and called the City’s inspection crew home.  Didn’t even smile for the cameras.  Gosh, folks at City Hall, do you really think that residents are going to bend over for you and your wretched behavior?

Dance or no dance, tonight is a night of true celebration.  It’s Mr. Groveman’s departure from the City Council.  He held his going away party last week in his very own specially called City Council meeting, as he most certainly isn’t going to be the star this evening.  Perhaps he’ll encounter a black hole and get sucked out of our lives.

Congratulations to Mr. Bozajian, who will be the new mayor of Calabasas.  Now is your chance to show that there’s more under your trousers than underwear, James.  It’s time to call off the dogs and settle with residents in a civilized manner.  With Mr. Groveman and Mr. Washburn no longer on the Council, there is no reason not to stand up for the people of this community and do the right thing.  We’d like our city back, please.

Read more from the LVHF.

Last night’s election was a watershed for the grassroots effort in Calabasas.  Grassroots candidate Lucy Martin won, with only a 46 vote differential between her and Fred Gaines.  Bob Sibilia, the runner-up and another grassroots candidate, was not far behind.  The remaining candidates were left in the dust, including Martha Fritz.  The election was so close among the top three that, had only 103 votes switched from Mr. Gaines to Mr. Sibilia, Ms. Martin and Mr. Sibilia would have won the election.

That’s no mandate for Fred Gaines.  And it’s a big statement to the City of Calabasas and the sitting City Council, who did everything possible to give Fred Gaines and Martha Fritz a significant advantage over the other candidates.

The big winners in last night’s election are the citizens of Calabasas.  With such a strong show of support for grassroots candidates, and such a trampling of the City’s recruited candidate Martha Fritz, the message was sent:  the people of Calabasas have a voice.  This isn’t just a sleepy little community that an arrogant, obnoxious, and overspending city management can dictate its terms to.

The losers in last night’s election were City Council members James Bozajian and Mary Sue Maurer, both of whom actively campaigned against winner Lucy Martin.  Mr. Bozajian is known as a crowd pleaser who never vigorously fights for a cause.  That Mr. Bozajian choose this election to stand up and show his colors did not go unnoticed among his base of voters.  Mary Sue Maurer was already placed on a precipice by her supporters prior to the election campaign.  Her infatuation with Mr. Gaines only helped to push her right up to the edge.

This was not the prettiest of elections.  Mr. Gaines pulled every stop to get his 46 vote lead.  No candidate has spent more money to get elected in Calabasas than Mr. Gaines, and no candidate has manipulated City Hall to their advantage in the course of an election more skillfully.  We’re told that election complaints have already been filed about some of Mr. Gaines activities.  A community of people can’t wait to study his campaign finance statements.

What Mr. Gaines, or the City of Calabasas, may not appreciate in this election is that the various “Don’t Vote For Gaines” campaigns were not conducted by any candidate or organization.  They simply sprouted.  Individuals across the city, frustrated by recent actions of the City that were simply over the top, smelled a rat and worked independently to their own drum.  That there is so much uniform dislike for the City and for Mr. Gaines should not go unnoticed.  It certainly did not end last night.

With the election behind us, an unanswered question remains:  how can Fred Gaines sit on the City Council without engaging in conflicts of interest?  His client base includes James Kay, Brian Boudreau, Sound Garden LLC, Brown Derby LLC, and Capital State LLC, guiding them to fight local property development issues that ran up against County or State laws.  It was Mr. Boudreau and Mr. Gaines that were behind the defeated Measure C in 2005.  Don’t blink, or Mr. Gaines will attempt to get the City to acquire Mr. Boudreau’s Malibu Valley Farms as an “open space” acquisition, with anything but open space in mind for it.

Mr. Gaines, the people of Calabasas are watching you.

The photo below, taken by Bob Singer, is of Calabasas City Council candidate Martha Fritz, stealing campaign signs that do not belong to her. One sign is under her arm, and she’s about to take another.  Mr. Singer says he caught her in the act.  The signs say “Don’t Vote For Fred Gaines.” Gaines is her running mate for City Council.  Is there a need to say more?

click here for the full photograph

Citizens are finding it more convenient nowadays to vote by absentee ballot, but this year in Calabasas absentee voting has resulted in a number of complaints. Voters have complained that, when they have submitted in a request for an absentee ballot, almost by return mail they have received an official-looking letter addressed to “Dear Calabasas Absentee Voter” signed by Council Members James Bozajian, Mary Sue Maurer, and Dennis Washburn. The flyer cuts right to the chase and announces, “As former Mayors and long time members of the City Council, we would like you to know we are supporting Fred Gaines … “. Though not on City letterhead, the flyer gives the impression of being official City correspondence.

Among the reasons the three Council Members give for supporting Gaines are, “… In 2005, Fred joined other Calabasas residents in passing Measure D to keep our open space free of potential development.” All this says, of course, is that Fred Gaines voted in the 2005 election along with several thousand other Calabasas residents. The letter doesn’t say that he played any role in the Measure D campaign, and, of course, we can’t even prove he voted for Measure D, since it was, of course, a secret ballot.

What the flyer neglects to tell us is how Fred Gaines voted in that same election on Measure C, the proposal to annex the Malibu Valley Inn, a proposed mega-resort at Las Virgenes and Mulholland, that was being promoted by Fred Gaines’ client, Brian Boudreau. (Boudreau wanted to annex this resort to the City because the County had refused to approve it; it was ‘way more development than would be permitted there under the County’s North Area Plan.)

The three Council Members go on to tell us that “Fred … will work to stop over development (like Malibu Valley Inn?), fight any effort to develop our beautiful ridgelines … “ On the contrary Fred Gaines has 1) sued the County to invalidate its ridgeline protection ordinance,  2) sued it again to force it to allow a group of developers to build mansions on the ridgelines visible from Mulwood, Calabasas Highlands, Mountain Park, and Old Topanga, and 3) did nothing to stop a client from grading an illegal road through National Park Service land on Castro Peak, one of the highest ridgelines in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Far from “fighting efforts to develop our beautiful ridgelines,” Fred Gaines has probably done more than just about anyone else to enable developers to develop those “beautiful ridgelines”.

The letter closes with the wish that Calabasas voters “… will join us in helping to protect our City’s charm and quality of life by voting for Fred Gaines when your absentee ballot arrives.” There is no mention here of anything Fred Gaines has done to protect anything in Calabasas, least of all its charm and quality of life.

This being the week before the Calabasas City Council election, the reports of egregious political behavior continue to climb. Let us count the ways…

• In the election 2 years ago, James Bozajian was asked why he refrained from endorsing a candidate for the Council.  His response was very respectable:  he didn’t want to campaign against a candidate that he may end up working with.  Two years later, Mr. Bozajian has forgotten his manners.  His face appears almost daily in our mailboxes endorsing two candidates, as if no one else is worthy of the job.  Why the change, James?

• One candidate in particular has outspent the sum of the other candidates several times over.  If you add up the small stipend that Council members are paid, including allowance, the job only pays up to $15,000 a year.  This is chump change in Calabasas. Most of the candidates are running out of a personal call to civic duty.  But no one has even come close to running a campaign as aggressive and as expensive as Mr. Gaines’.  Why is this job so important to you, Fred?  And where is the money coming from?  We have yet to see any disclosures of campaign finance.

• How is it that those who are signing up for vote-by-mail ballots in this election get two items in the mail on the same day:  their vote-by-mail ballot, and a flyer from James Bozajian, Mary Sue Maurer, and Dennis Washburn instructing them to vote for Fred Gaines?

• How much money has the City of Calabasas spent to keep up with the voter information demands of Mr. Gaines’ consultants?  Those familiar with past elections say the City has never worked so hard.

• No one has stepped up to the plate to say they were responsible for the CERC political survey calls in which the interviewers claimed the survey was for the City of Calabasas.  CERC refuses to release information.  Only someone with special interests and money to spare would conduct such a poll and hide behind the City’s name.  Hmmm…who could that be?

• Mary Sue Maurer, you are not forgotten.  We hear all about your regular calls to Patch and other news organizations to remove anything not complimentary to Fred Gaines.  Your finger pointing at certain candidates for having the audacity to run against your picks have come to light.  The many people who campaigned for you two years ago are so upset, that any comment from us pales in comparison to their disgust over your behavior this election.

• Let’s not forget about the budget…the source of all evil.  Read and download the spreadsheet, based on figures from the City’s award-winning CFO Gary Lysik. Why is it that the candidates endorsed by the City say the budget isn’t a problem?  How could a loss of $4M annually not be a problem?  We’ve seen the attempts to fix it.  Build a water park in the city to increase sales tax revenue.  Bring a convention center into the city (disguised as a health spa) to increase sales tax revenue.  Hmmm…that health spa…it was on Brian Boudreau’s property…and his attorney is…omg…Fred Gaines.

The saddest part is that this isn’t the end of the story.  This behavior isn’t about one man.  There’s something very smelly going on.

Your House Needs Your Vote On March 8

Competitive Edge Research and Communication conducted a telephone poll of Calabasas citizens concerning the upcoming election.  More than one person contacted reports that the interviewer explained that the poll was conducted for the City of Calabasas.

Upon hearing this, the City, in an emailed announcement, quickly denied any involvement with the poll.  Both the Calabasas Patch and the Acorn reported the wrongdoing.  But we’re told that CERC denies its interviewers said the poll was conducted on behalf of the City, and that CERC won’t say who hired them.

A reader wrote a letter documenting her experience (published with permission):

Who hired Competitive Edge Research (CERC) to conduct a survey, represented as being conducted by the City of Calabasas, to find out from Calabasas citizens the two candidates they are going to vote for? The City announced they had nothing to do with this and they would take steps to “prevent further misrepresentation.” Shouldn’t the City be taking a more aggressive action in a potentially illegal matter that could taint the entire election? The fact remains citizens are receiving personal phone calls – me being one of them – with false representation.

The caller asked to speak to Susan Ellis. He said he was doing a survey for the City of Calabasas. I said ok – trusting that is was the City behind it. These were the (paraphrased) questions: In the upcoming election, are you highly likely, likely or not likely to vote? What is the most important issue to you in the City? Are you happy with the direction the City has been taking and why? What two candidates are you most likely to vote for? And he started naming the candidates and their credentials!

I was taken aback by the last question. I asked again who was he doing the survey for, and he repeated the City of Calabasas. I looked up CERC on the web. I was shocked to see, and I quote from the CERC website, “Competitive Edge provides: political polling; consumer research; campaign voter contact.” “We win elections by providing superior voter communication and strategic advice based on sound analytics”.

Who is using the name of the City of Calabasas to take a survey asking who I am voting for? What is going on here? Remember that before the filing date for the Council election was closed – not knowing yet who was going to run – the entire City Council endorsed Fred Gaines and Martha Fritz. Could this have anything to do with that? Again, twice, the caller told me the City of Calabasas was behind the survey.

I want answers and I want them now. I am outraged and so should be every Calabasas citizen.

Susan R. Ellis

Clearly, we’re not getting the full story.  CERC says that the City didn’t hire them (believable) and that it never attributed the poll to the City of Calabasas (not believable given reports such as the one above).  CERC is not being truthful, and apparently the City doesn’t want to dig any deeper.

Such polls aren’t cheap, costing in the $10,000 to $20,000 range.  So someone with more money than that at stake wants to know in which direction the election is headed.  Who could that be?

Absentee ballot voting will soon begin for the Calabasas City Council election, and you’re asking yourself how to decide?  Seven candidates are running.  What are the issues?  Where are the candidates on the issues?

We begin with the issues:

BUDGET. While it can be claimed that Calabasas’s fiscal health is good, the City has been running a deficit of ~$4M a year, charging to its once substantial reserves.  Charging reserves is OK if one believes revenues will soon increase.  But the bulk of Calabasas’ revenue comes from property tax, State sales tax, State use tax, utility taxes, and vehicle license fees.  The City does not have the power to increase these revenues.  Unless one is eager to overturn Prop 13 or increase the other taxes state-wide, we should be balancing our budget based on current revenues.  You can bet that most of the current City Council members have never added up the figures to see that the City is spending more than it makes.  The City is not incentivized to spend less without pressure from the City Council, but the City Council simply rubber stamps the budgets handed it by the City.  It is important to understand the City’s spending problem, as this is the driver behind the City’s pro-development activities.

LITIGATION and REPRESSIVE ORDINANCES. As rude and unfriendly as the City Council has been of late to its citizens, the City has also shown its dark side by boosting its power through repressive ordinances.  All approved by the City Council, of course.  The ordinances and its actions have led the City into expensive litigation to defend itself, the cost of which the City has yet to disclose.  It would appear that this is a case of lawyers feeding lawyers.  The City Attorney writes punitive ordinances, such as the OWTS (septic tank) ordinance.  It also authored the creative “Urgency Ordinance” for a revised building code, in which the City can fine a homeowner $1000 for changing a light switch or a faucet without a permit.  Lengthy ordinances require more manpower to administer, and more lawyers to defend.  In an effort to lessen its litigation burden, the “urgency ordinance” eliminated the appeals process from the building code, simply adding insult to injury.  The City has gone down a dark hole with its unfriendly, pro-litigation ordinances.  And should anyone think about it, forcing new permits and fees on homeowners is not a good way to balance the budget.

But does the City really intend to knock down your door and look for violations so it can fine you?  Probably not, assuming you don’t live in a strategic location that would benefit development.  If you read the LA Times, then you know all about the City’s raid on the Smith Ranch in Stokes Canyon, complete with Sheriff backup.  One of the pioneering families in this area, they are accused of violating the OWTS ordinance.  The LVHF posted a substantial report on the Smith raid, and the City has its own website in its defense. The resulting litigation from it’s overbearing display of power doesn’t help balance the budget.  Sadly, while this may be an extreme incident, it is not the only incident in which the City has taken overbearing steps with its citizens.

DEVELOPMENT. In regards to Calabasas and its City Council candidates, this is one of those areas where it’s useful to “look at what I do, not what I say.”  The City is pro-development.  Development is a powerful mechanism for increasing City revenue, given that the City has no authority to raise taxes and likes to spend more than it takes in.  It’s not surprising that the City endorsed two pro-development candidates, even before the candidate application period closed.  Pro-development is the thread that ties all of the City’s questionable activities together.  The OWTS ordinance was a ploy to drive certain property owners into selling their property and opening up strategic corridors.  It was also an attempt to justify dipping further into reserves to pay for sewers.  Open corridors and new sewers are sought so that further development can take place in two prime areas.  One area where development is sought is the land that lies between Old Topanga and Calabasas Highlands south of Mulholland, southeast of Viewpoint School.  Development is also sought in the region bordered by the Oaks of Calabasas on the north and Dry Canyon Cold Creek Road on the east, which just happens to be accessible through the Smith’s ranch.  Both developments will cause Mulholland Highway west of the high school to be widened, creating further congestion along Mulholland Highway and Valmar.  Notably, cars already line up daily on these streets while schools are in session, affecting access to the Mulwood and Calabasas Park areas.  Both developments will destroy the beautiful views that led many homeowners to live in this area.

Now for our take on the candidates, in ballot order:

Bob Sibilia
Bob has past experience as a Council member and as Mayor of Calabasas.  He has a law practice in civil litigation (http://www.stephenlorenzo.com/).  He’s a “balance the budget” guy, with no ties to developers.  One of Bob’s legacy’s was his fight to prevent what we now know as the Commons from becoming another Warner Center.  His sensibility, legal background, and experience are a plus.  As you might notice, we like Bob, and think Calabasas would benefit with Bob on the Council.

Roxsana Sepanlou
[updated] Roxsana didn’t impress at the City’s candidate forum.  Since then, she’s been doing her homework and now demonstrates a sense of the City’s issues.  But she is new to City government, and undoubtedly has more to learn.  This may not be her race, but it’s a good entry if she chooses to stay involved in city politics.

Terry Stobie
Terry has no experience in city government, but his heart is in the right place.  A fair description (we hope Terry takes no offense) is “he’s mad as hell, and isn’t going to take anymore.”  While that could describe a lot of people these days, Terry has the guts to run for office.  Perhaps Terry is your kind of guy.

Martha Fritz
Martha has substantial experience in City government as Chair of the Calabasas Planning Commission.  But Martha is all about the status quo.  The City reached out to her to run for office, and immediately endorsed her well before closing the candidate application period.  Not a candidate that we recommend voting for.

Fred Gaines
Fred is a prominent attorney whose clients are largely developers.  You would have to be living under a rock, or not reading this blog, to not know about Fred’s past and current activities on the litigation front.  As with Martha Fritz, the City wants Fred in office, endorsing him as a candidate well before closing the candidate application period.  Not a candidate that we recommend voting for.

Alicia Weintraub
A candidate with substantial city government experience here and elsewhere, Alicia’s current involvement in City government is as a member of the Bicycle Advisory Committee.  Notably, an article in the Daily News describes Alicia as a “real estate developer,” words that do not appear in her candidate statement.  In the candidate’s forum, Alicia’s position appeared to have a pro-development bend, but it may simply be that she’s not well-informed on the issues.  As such, it’s not possible to say that Alicia would take the City Council in the right direction.

Lucy Martin
Lucy runs for Council with substantial experience as a volunteer in Calabasas.  She is Vice Chair of the Parks, Recreation, and Education Commission, President of the Greater Mulwood Homeowner’s Association, and President of the Calabasas High School PFC.  If you’re a parent and involved in the schools, you probably met Lucy along the way.  She understands the issues, she’s connected to the people of this community, she will work to balance the budget, and she appears to be fearless.  She’s endorsed by the Sierra Club, the only candidate that can claim this distinction.  “We love Lucy,” as her supporters would say, and think Calabasas would benefit with Lucy on the Council.

From the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation:

“Fred Gaines …  is afraid that [voters] will learn what he does for a living…

Who is helping him pull the wool over the voters’ eyes, and why? Even before the race officially started, the City Council crowned Gaines heir to the throne to keep voters from objectively evaluating the candidates.”

Read more at

http://www.lvhf.org/files/News-Flashes/2011/LVHF_NEWS_WATCH_02-04-11.pdf