Let Malibu Be Malibu

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has an uncanny way of deciding that it knows what’s best for its constituents, no matter what the constituents say. Latinos fighting the county over fair supervisorial district boundaries have already encountered the board’s arrogance. Now, Malibu residents are being treated by the board with a similar pat-on-the-head attitude.

Following years of pressure from Malibu activists--and facing a court order--the board finally agreed to set an election for residents to decide whether they want their community to become a city. Currently, the Malibu community, along with other unincorporated areas, falls under the political jurisdiction of the county. The board voted to allow Malibu to vote on incorporation June 5, but attached a string that is more akin to a steel cable. With the exception of Supervisor Ed Edelman, the board voted also to delay the actual incorporation until March 28, 1991. The upshot of that decision is that, assuming Malibu residents vote in June to make the community a city, it would be a city in name only for almost a year.

The supervisors are not shy about admitting the reason for their unprecedented maneuver. The development-minded board has been pushing for years to put in a large sewer system, which could accommodate tremendous growth in the area, like that planned at Pepperdine University. (At present, there is no general sewage system in Malibu.) Supervisors say a sewer system is needed for health and environmental reasons. In addition, the county says a sewer system would provide protection from liability from a potential landslide that could result from leaking septic tanks.

Malibu does need some sort of sewer system to replace its aging septic tanks. But there are less intrusive alternatives, like the sewer system plan approved by the state Coastal Commission last year. That plan calls for a system 25% to 40% smaller than the one pushed by the county.

The amount of development that can occur in and near Malibu is directly tied to a proposed sewer system. If Malibu voters decide June 5 that they want their community to be a city with its own elected leaders, then they deserve to receive all the benefits--and headaches--that come with being masters of their own fate.