Malibu Residents Demand Representation on School Board

Locals packed on Thursday to demand the Board of Education allow Malibu residents to have a nonvoting representative on the board. While the board members agreed to put this subject on a future agenda for discussion, it is uncertain when this will happen.

There has not been a Malibu resident on the board for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District since 2008, when Kathy Wisnicki decided not to run for reelection. No Malibu resident ran in the 2008 election and Patrick Cady, a Malibu resident and former Santa Monica High School teacher, finished sixth of eight (the top four candidates earned seats) in the 2010 race.

Although at least one Malibu resident sat on the board in the three decades that preceded Wisnicki's decision to end her tenure, many people believe the current atmosphere makes it impossible for somebody to be elected from this city, which has a population about six times smaller than the one in Santa Monica.

"If every single registered voter in Malibu voted for a single candidate, that candidate would still need a like number of Santa Monican votes to win," said Craig Foster, who like many of the people who addressed the board is a member of Advocates for Malibu Public Schools, or AMPS. "As anyone vaguely familiar with politics knows, this means that candidate suddenly ceases to be a voice for Malibu—even if she or he could get those Santa Monican votes, which hasn't happened in the last two elections."

To many people in Malibu, the SMMUSD is a Santa Monica organization with little interest in Malibu. This is seen in how the board handled issues such as the distribution of capital improvement funds in 2007-08 and the rejection of charter application earlier this year.

It is also observed, or at least perceived, in subtle ways such as board members forgetting to say "Malibu" when stating the name of the district and board members showing immense pride in Santa Monica, but an indifference or sometimes hostility, at least by some, toward Malibu.

All board members have denied the frequent allegations of city preference.

The proposal is for an advisory member, a person who could not vote (although possibly give an advisory vote), but would be able to sit on the dais and speak on each issue for longer than the maximum three minutes granted to public speakers. The board's high school representatives (one from each of the three schools) have these rights.

The board members, meeting during one of the few sessions scheduled to take place this year in Malibu, could not discuss the issue in-depth because it was not on the agenda. They said the subject should be placed on a future agenda, but no date for a meeting was determined, and there was some discussion it might not happen until the summer. Also, district staff will study whether the proposal is legal.

Among those who addressed the board were Malibu Mayor Pro Tem Laura Zahn Rosenthal and Malibu member Lou La Monte. They, like most people who want to address any government body in the state of California, had prepared three-minute speeches (La Monte's intended speech can be read here), but the board only gave speakers two minutes each to address this issue, citing time constraints for the meeting. After the conclusion of public comment, La Monte was allowed to come back to the podium to finish his speech, although he said its fracturing had harmed the effect. 

La Monte noted the irony of the board's decision to limit public comment in an interview with the Santa Monica Daily Press, according to the newspaper

"It was strange because the message was about being heard, and they limited us to two minutes," La Monte said, according to the newspaper. "It was another message sent that they didn't want to spend 12 extra minutes hearing us."

In his speech, La Monte told the board that there are other options if the SMMUSD leadership refuses to allow an advisory board member, including litigation and pursuing the creation of a Malibu school district. Board member Ralph Mechur, , said people should consider the possible negative effects of "others outside our communities," such as a judge, making decisions for the SMMUSD.

He said, "I would ask that people consider what the implications of those might be for all our children because decisions that we make as a board are for our 11,500 children."