Barrier to Malibu Cityhood Vote Lifted

In a victory for Malibu cityhood supporters, a judge on Wednesday knocked down a legal barrier erected last week by Los Angeles County supervisors and ordered county officials to set a June incorporation election.

At the request of Malibu residents who want to see their seaside community become a city, Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs lifted a stay put in place when the supervisors filed a court appeal last week.

Lawyers for the county immediately questioned whether Janavs had the authority to take the action, which, left unchallenged, clears the way for a Malibu election to be held June 12. County officials indicated that they would seek to have the stay reimposed by a state appellate court.

The judge ordered the supervisors--who are to meet today--to “fully and promptly” comply with an earlier order she issued last month, which had given them until Tuesday to stop stalling and set the election.

On Monday, county officials disclosed that they had appealed the order, resulting in an automatic stay and making it likely that the state Court of Appeal would have to decide whether the long-sought election is to be delayed further.

However, Janavs cited the “important right” of Malibu residents to vote on cityhood in invoking her authority under state law to lift the stay, thereby placing the burden on the county to persuade the appellate court to act if the election is to be delayed.

A majority of supervisors have resisted Malibu incorporation for years, insisting that an extensive sewer system be approved before a cityhood election takes place.

Although the supervisors began an incorporation hearing last Oct. 19, they voted 4 to 1 in November to indefinitely postpone a decision on the matter--thus postponing the hearing’s conclusion--until construction permits for the sewer system are issued. The hearing, required by state law so that both sides can express their views, is the last step before an election can be set.

Cityhood backers, many of whom regard the county’s sewer plans as a prelude to widespread development of the Malibu coast, filed a lawsuit against the supervisors in December. They accused the county officials of violating a state law that sets a 60-day limit on the duration of a hearing before an election date is set.

In siding with cityhood proponents in January, Janavs rejected the county’s argument that state law sets guidelines recommending--but not necessarily mandating--the 60-day limit on concluding the hearing.

On Wednesday, jubilant cityhood backers expressed confidence that the judge’s decision will clear the way for a June election.

“It’s wonderful, just wonderful,” said Carolyn Van Horn, co-chairwoman of the Malibu Committee for Incorporation. “The supervisors have denied us our constitutional right to vote for too long, and it’s gratifying when a judge recognizes that.”

For an election to be held in June, the supervisors would have to conclude the hearing and set the election date by March 9.

Graham Ritchie, an attorney for the incorporation group, said that unless the supervisors act promptly, he will seek a contempt citation against them.

“Absent any other orders from any other court, if they don’t act promptly we will seek a writ holding the board in contempt and ask that they be jailed until they comply,” he said.

Asked if the judge’s action means the supervisors will likely now set the election, Assistant County Counsel Bill Pellman was noncommittal.

“As to what we recommend, it depends on whether we feel the order is a valid order,” he said. “We’re going to have to assess that.”