Dana Joins Edelman as Malibu Ally : Incorporation: Their support makes it virtually certain that Malibu will soon become the county’s 87th city.

After delaying Malibu’s incorporation for more than eight months, Los Angeles County supervisors suddenly appear to be tripping over each other to clear the way for cityhood.

A day after Supervisor Ed Edelman announced this week that he will ask the Board of Supervisors next month to allow Malibu to become a city on March 28, Supervisor Deane Dana moved to beat him to the punch, saying he will offer a similar motion next Tuesday.

Together, the announcements make it virtually certain that Malibu will soon become the county’s 87th city, giving its leaders a major voice in the future of a controversial sewer system the county wants to build in the community.

Dana said a recent vote by Malibu’s unofficial City Council to study the sewer question had helped to convince him that cityhood could go forward. Besides, he said, the county has “exhausted all its appeals” in trying to start work on the proposed $43-million project.

“We are at the end of the line. We have to rely on the city’s good faith (in pursuing a waste-water treatment plan),” he said.

While Edelman’s action had been somewhat expected, Dana’s sudden shift caught Malibu’s leaders by surprise, since he--along with Supervisors Pete Schabarum and Mike Antonovich--had been adamant in holding up incorporation until the county’s sewer plans move forward.

Although Malibu voters overwhelmingly approved cityhood last June, the supervisors--with Edelman as the lone dissenter--have used legal means to delay incorporation while attempting to start construction of the sewer system. Until recently, the officials had been hinting that they might try to delay cityhood even further, perhaps until 1992, if their efforts to build the sewer remain stymied.

The county’s sewer plan is regarded by most Malibu residents and officials as far larger than necessary and a prelude to widespread development.

The apparent change of heart by county officials, however, may also be based on practical considerations.

Some observers have suggested that by offering to consider the cityhood motion as early as next week, Dana and perhaps some of his colleagues may be trying to short-circuit Malibu’s push in the Legislature to gain cityhood.

A measure by Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) would nullify the county’s delay. It would also make it impossible in the future for Los Angeles County--or any other county--to stall the incorporation of a community where voters have approved cityhood.

The measure includes a provision that would enable Malibu, once it becomes a city, to collect $1.25 million in property tax revenue for the fiscal year that begins in July, which it would otherwise lose as the result of the county’s failure to file certain documents with the state by last Dec. 31. As matters stand, the county would be able to keep the money.

“We’re ecstatic that things are moving our way with the supervisors, but we have no intention of giving up on the legislative front,” Malibu Councilman-elect Mike Caggiano said. “I’m sure they would like us to, but there’s too much money at stake.”

Caggiano and Mayor-elect Walt Keller were in Sacramento Wednesday to testify before the Senate Local Government Committee, which voted unanimously to send the measure to the full Senate for approval.

A lobbyist for the county had asked that the committee postpone action on the matter until the sewer issue is resolved. Clancy Leland, the lobbyist, argued that no mandate for cityhood was needed since the supervisors have said they will support a March 28 incorporation. He said county officials were opposed to transferring the $1.25 million because of the county’s “anemic financial condition.”

Keller called the argument “a red herring,” saying that “with cityhood now inevitable, the county is obviously trying to take from us tax revenue that is rightfully ours.”

Dana announced his intention to introduce the cityhood motion during a meeting of the Board of Supervisors Tuesday, saying that he was “a bit disturbed” to learn of Edelman’s plans.

“Normally, a supervisor doesn’t go in and make a motion in another supervisor’s area,” he said. “I don’t think it was appropriate to do that.”

As a result of a December court ruling upholding the redrawing of the supervisorial district boundaries, Edelman, not Dana, represents Malibu. However, the supervisors are continuing to exercise joint interest in areas where the old boundaries overlap until March, when the retiring Schabarum’s successor takes office.

Edelman had said he planned to offer a motion on Malibu’s behalf when the supervisors meet March 12, the first session after the new supervisor takes office. He expressed confidence that there would be a three-vote majority because Supervisor Kenneth Hahn has said he will now support cityhood, as have both candidates in a Feb. 19 runoff election to succeed Schabarum, state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina.

The county’s biggest obstacle in getting started on the sewer project has been obtaining approval from the California Coastal Commission. The commission, whose approval is necessary for all significant construction projects along the coast, accepted the county’s sewer plans in principle in 1989 and authorized the county to set up a sewer tax assessment district to pay for it, but the panel has yet to allow the construction to begin.

The county’s efforts were dealt a severe setback last month when the coastal panel, signaling its displeasure with the cityhood delay, indicated that it would almost certainly refuse to allow the work to start unless the county resolved its dispute with Malibu’s leaders. The county suffered a similar rebuff last week before the Regional Water Quality Control Board, which must approve of plans for disposal of the effluent from the sewer plant.

After the Coastal Commission setback, county officials, at the instigation of Dana, agreed for the first time to conduct talks with representatives of the City Council on the future of the sewer system. A two-hour session three weeks ago resulted in a standoff.

Last week, however, discussions entered a new phase, with several members of the City Council meeting separately with Edelman, Dana and Hahn’s top aides.

In agreeing to sponsor a study by an independent consultant to consider alternatives to the county’s sewer plans, Malibu’s leaders for the first time signaled that they might be willing to accept a sewer system in Malibu, although one presumably much smaller than that envisioned by the county.

Edelman, who has said he would have pushed for cityhood regardless, nonetheless was quick to praise the Malibu leaders’ initiative as a positive step. Dana, according to Malibu officials who met with him, was cordial but noncommittal.

In calling for an early motion on the cityhood matter, Dana said that he had “always supported cityhood in Malibu.” As if to underscore his action, Dana sent an aide to Malibu’s City Council meeting Tuesday night to announce it there.

Besides the overtures from Edelman and Dana, the county also acted in another way this week to mend fences with Malibu’s future leaders.

In a letter to the City Council, the county’s chief administrative officer said that various county departments were ready to help smooth the transition to cityhood. The action clears the way for Malibu’s leaders to begin negotiating soon with the Sheriff’s Department and other county agencies to provide services to the new city.

Staff writer James Rainey contributed to this story.