What a week!
It all began with several public and many private remembrances of Woolsey and how it has changed our lives over the weekend of the 9th.
Yolanda Bundy, the City’s new Rebuild advocate, has been making the rounds of community groups speaking quite eloquently about her experiences in Ventura’s Thomas Fire and what she intends to accomplish here in Malibu. The empathy and passion she delivers to the audience brought several people to tears during the talk I attended. She is doing a great job of convincing the applicants that she is on their side and she continues the commitment at the office. A friend who lost a home in Malibu Park, described how generous Yolanda has been with her time and the capable assistance she rendered. Ms. Bundy sat down with the homeowner and her architect for a ½ hour going over the plans. She then escorted them to the various departments advocating for the speedy processing of the plans. She repeatedly emphasized the necessity of treating the homeowner as they would want their own family treated.
I think she is a great asset for the community.
Robert Kerbeck’s book “Malibu Burning” is out and he has been making the promotional rounds. I finally caught up with him at the Barnes and Noble in Calabasas to buy my copy. It’s also available on Amazon as well as Audible and Kindel for the more electronically inclined. The pictures are great, and the chapters are individually gripping. Robert has interviewed many of the survivors and knits together a patchwork of the individual experiences that allows a wide-angle view of the disaster as it occurred. He’s done a great job of distilling the emotion we jointly experienced those first months of Fire and Flood.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the epic article on the Malibu City Woolsey Fire report authored by KBU’s Hans Laetz that appeared in the Nov. 14thissue of the Malibu Times. Laetz interviewed Brent Woodworth, one of the authors of the independent study which came to some very different conclusions than were reached in the County’s After Action Report. I was particularly struck by the statement that the Fire Department made a conscious decision to cease defending property and wait for life support calls. This was not previously communicated to the public, to my knowledge. I’m looking forward to getting a copy of the source material to glean additional nuances. If you missed the story find a copy of the Nov. 14 Malibu Times and catch up!
Meanwhile Caltrans is removing the sand from under the bridge just east of Malibu Seafood. They are not spreading it on Corral beach. The sand is being trucked it to a landfill because they ”Can’t guarantee it’s not contaminated”. When will governmental agencies consider where sand comes from and allow streams to deliver their sediment to the ocean?