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28 | October 7, 2020 | MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS MALIBU
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From Page 8
ker and Malibu West Fire
Brigade and Community
Emergency Resource Team
member, said that a council
person who is responsible
financially for the city can
only say it’s time for everyone
to evacuate.
“The liability associated
with telling people to stay
is ridiculous. But we’re all
individuals who can make
our own decisions,” said
Grisanti, adding that people
should have fire gear and
the mental knowledge to be
able to assist in a fire.
Uhring, a city Planning
Commissioner, said people
also should be careful
about talking about people
staying behind to help fight
the fires by themselves, because
they might not have
the ability to do so.
“I can’t think of any
home that I have that is
more important than my
life,” said Uhring, who emphasized
that every fire situation
is different and the
Woolsey Fire was unique
because fire personnel were
also fighting other fires at
the same time.
“If you got a situation
where the resources are
close by and there’s a fire
going on, you got to really
think about whether you’re
going to stay behind, because
I just don’t want to
see dead bodies all over the
place,” Uhring added.
Stewart, vice chair of the
Malibu Public Safety Commission
and member of the
Malibu Community Emergency
Response Team, said
he doesn’t think people
realize how much of a risk
they’re taking in trying to
do it on their own.
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“I can’t imagine what
a wall of flames would do
to people,” he said, adding,
“and they’ll probably
try and leave at exactly the
wrong time and that’s when
people get killed.
During the debate, several
candidates pointed out
that current council members
are sending out the
message that people will
be on their own during the
next fire.
Mullen, a Los Angeles
County Fire Department
captain, disagreed
with that, saying fires can
happen very fast and “no
publicly elected official or
public safety person is going
to encourage anybody
or direct anybody to stay.”
“What’s important is that
everybody understand what
their personal plan (in a fire
situation) is,” said Mullen.
“The reality is a lot of
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people are going to stay for
many reasons … If you’re
relying on public agencies
to save you during a disaster,
the point I’m making
is you need to make your
(own) preparation.”
“You’re on your own
can’t be the policy,” responded
Silverstein, an attorney
and Operation Recovery
steering committee
member. “It’s the responsibility
of government to
provide for the safety of the
community.”
“We’re hearing I think
a lot of between the lines
from some people that are
saying, ‘Don’t stay because
we can’t advise you to do
that, but yet you really need
to stay,’” Silverstein continued.
“That just cannot be
the plan. The plan cannot
be the citizens are on their
own, the citizens have to
take care of themselves.”
Simmens agreed, saying
he thought “it’s dangerous
and unwise to basically say
you’re on your own.”
“The reason we pay taxes
and we have fire and police
departments and everything
else is to help us in times of
need,” said Simmens, a retired
public policy analyst
and vice president of the
Malibu Democratic Club.
Residents need to be
prepared, Simmens said,
“(But), when it comes to
fighting fires, we need to
have the resources to do it
in the safest way possible.
And that’s not getting out
there with a hose and hoping
that you can get enough
embers off your roof.”
Simmens, a member of
the Malibu Community
Emergency Response Team
and vice chair of the Malibu
Public Works Commission,
proposed that the city
work with state and federal
officials to develop a fire
reserve that would include
fire professionals that can
be activated in times of
need.
Wetton said that while
a state reserve would be
great, he wasn’t so sure
about the idea of giving up
neighborhood volunteers.
“I think the further away
you get from your neighborhood
the less control
you have, and having less
control is not good,” he
said.
Lyon said the city should
be helping neighborhoods
with emergency generators,
as well as providing water
sources for firefighting helicopters
to dip into.
“Those should be all over
the hills right now. I don’t
see that we’re doing a lot of
stuff that’s going to be a big
change,” said Lyon, adding
that the city should recruit
people from the local labor
exchange to help clear
trails and be part of the firefighting
brigade.
Stewart said he is actually
amazed with what the
city has accomplished with
fire preparedness since the
Woolsey Fire, and that generators
were already being
put up to support water
tanks in the Big Rock area.
Silverstein believed that
certain fire prevention measures
are only happening
now because of the election
cycle, and that assets
are being hardened in Big
Rock because those residents
repeatedly made a
fuss about.
“It’s not happening because
the city took proactive
action to help. It’s
happening because the
community is insisting on
it and we need to do a better
job with providing the
assistance to the community,
not saying, ‘You’re on
your own’ or ‘Tell us what
you’ll need and maybe
we’ll help,’” Silverstein
said, adding that the city
can find money in its budget
to do so.
In terms of public safety,
Grisanti said he believes
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department deputies
should be audited with GPS
on their vehicles.
Lyon said the city needs
more protection than two
sheriff’s cars a night.
“Malibu is just sitting
ducks right now, and if anybody
doesn’t think that’s
the case, then their head’s
in the sand. We need to
pony up some more money
for that, and if that means
giving up an assistant city
manager or whatever, I
don’t know. I think that we
have money, we can afford
it. We can’t afford not to
have more sheriff’s (deputies)
out here,” Lyon said.
Uhring said Malibu Volunteers
on Patrol need more
responsibilities and that the
sheriff’s department needs
to be called on less.
Stewart said that some
crime is up because of the
homeless/transient problem
in the city, and that won’t
change until that situation
is addressed.
Wetton questioned
whether any uptick is actually
temporary, adding
that it could attributed to
the population of Malibu
increasing since the beginning
of the pandemic. It
might be time, Wetton said,
to consider a private security
company to help secure
the city.
“It’s going to take every
single one of us working
together after Nov. 3.
Whoever isn’t elected, I
hope you’ll still continue to
help,” said Ulich at the end
of the discussion, adding
that all candidates should
be commended for stepping
up especially during
the pandemic.
“The most important
thing that we can all agree
on is everyone needs to
vote,” she added.