Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board members maintain that Malibu’s voice has been represented on bond measure projects at Malibu schools.
By Jessica E. Davis
Malibu activists and leaders pressed the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board of education for a formal agreement to ensure an equal voice on the spending of 20 percent of a $385 million bond measure that will go before voters in November.
SMMUSD board members did not take action following a two-hour discussion Thursday around the possibility of forming a Malibu Measure ES Input Committee, pushing the discussion to November to allow for more time to gather input and resolve differences with the Malibu community.
Measure ES is aimed at providing a portion of $1 billion needed for improvements and technology upgrades at Malibu and Santa Monica schools.
For the past few months, Malibu leaders and activists have urged the district to create a joint powers authority—a legal agreement between two or more jurisdictions working together. In this case, the body would include Malibu representatives and members of the Board of Education.
Malibu-only Committee Could Make Critical Bond Funding Decisions
During Thursday’s meeting at Malibu City Hall, several people, including Councilwoman Laura Zahn Rosenthal, pressed the need for a joint powers authority, or something close to it, to ensure Malibu has an equal role in deciding how the funds are spent.
“What we need is a legal entity so Malibu gets to make the decisions that are binding for how their money is spent,” Rosenthal said.
She pointed to an existing agreement between the city of Malibu and Santa Monica Community College. The Malibu Public Facilities Authority, created through a joint powers agreement, includes two city councilmembers and two members of the college’s Board of Trustees. The entity makes decisions about the construction of the college’s planned satellite campus in the Malibu Civic Center area.
Craig Foster, who is a Malibu candidate for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and president of Advocates for Malibu Public Schools, said he believes having a formal agreement would help build consensus within the community around projects.
“I think it would make a dramatic difference in how smoothly it moves in our community,” Foster said.
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Advocates for Malibu Public Schools 