MINUTES
MALIBU ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE
SPECIAL MEETING
MAY 2, 2022
TELECONFERENCED - VARIOUS LOCATIONS
10:00 A.M.
The following meeting was held pursuant to AB 361 and fully teleconferenced from various locations during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
CALL TO ORDER
Councilmember Pierson called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.
ROLL CALL
The following persons were recorded in attendance:
PRESENT: Councilmember Mikke Pierson and Councilmember Steve Uhring ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Steve McClary; Interim Assistant City Manager/City Treasurer Ruth Quinto; Finance Manager Renée Neermann; Community Services Director Jesse Bobbett; Media Technician Parker Davis; and Executive Assistant Mary Linden
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION Councilmember Uhring moved, and Councilmember Pierson seconded a motion to approve the agenda. The question was called, and the motion carried unanimously.
REPORT ON POSTING OF AGENDA
Executive Assistant Linden reported that the agenda for the meeting was properly posted on April 28, 2022.
ITEM 1 PRESENTATIONS
None.
ITEM 2 OLD BUSINESS
None.
ITEM 3 NEW BUSINESS
A. Approval of Minutes — April 11, 2022
Recommended action: Approve the minutes for the Administration and Finance Subcommittee Special meeting of April 11, 2022.
Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
Special Meeting
Minutes of May 2, 2022
MOTION Councilmember Ubring moved, and Councilmember Pierson seconded a motion to approve the minutes for the Administration and Finance Subcommittee Special meeting of April 11, 2022. The motion carried unanimously.
B. Fiscal Year 2022-2023 General Fund Grants
Recommended Action: Provide a recommendation to the City Council concerning recipients and amounts for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 General Fund Grant Program.
Interim Assistant City Manager/City Treasurer Quinto provided the report.
Ellen Shane thanked the City for considering their application each year. She stated the SEA (Successful Educational Achievement) Program provided tutoring assistance to middle school students with an emphasis on organization and study skills. She discussed success stories. She discussed impacts of the pandemic.
Francesca McCaffery, Children’s Lifesaving Foundation, thanked the City for considering their application. She stated grant funds would help them offer a Wilderness Camp and Surf Camp.
Eduardo Del Signore, Call 2Peace Foundation, discussed the Foundation’s recent concert at City Hall to raise funds for Malibu students to perform at Carnegie Hall.
Jennifer Brent, California Wildlife Center Executive Director, discussed the Center’s work in Malibu. She stated services in Malibu cost over $300,000 annually.
Jenny Rusinko, Malibu Aquatics Foundation Board Member, discussed the Malibu Sea Wolves and Masters Swim programs. She thanked the parents who took over the Sea Wolves team. She stated funds would further develop the programs’ competition sector and need-based scholarships.
James Obradovic, Esperance Center, discussed the Center’s work with children with disabilities. He stated grant funds would be provided to staff to supplement wages.
Pamela Feldsted, Malibu Women’s Club, read a letter from Aya Yoshida, President, that described the Club’s student essay contest. She stated grant funding supported awards for the contest.
Oscar Mondragon, Malibu Community Labor Exchange, thanked the City for past support. He discussed workers who were placed in jobs. He stated the Labor Exchange also supported the community with language training and fire prevention.
Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
Special Meeting
Minutes of May 2, 2022
Jor’El Jones, Find Homeless, Inc., discussed their work to deliver essential goods to homeless people. He stated they had assisted more than 13,200 individuals.
Terese Berry, President and CEO ofBerry, Kee Foster, Inc., discussed her personal history that led to establishment ofthe organization to assist youth in the foster care system and those aging out of the system.
Karin Al-Hardan, representing Webster Elementary School PTA, thanked the City for its efforts to form an independent school district. She discussed fundraising work ofPTAs for Malibu school programs. She stated the grant funding would help maintain seven instructional aides at Webster School. She thanked Mayor Grisanti and Councilmember Farrer for their donations.
Sara Grisanti, Friends of Malibu Urgent Care, discussed services provided by Malibu Urgent Care. She thanked the City for its past support and requested grant funding to continue providing essential services to the community.
Kasey Earnest, Boys and Girls Club of Malibu (BGCM), thanked the City for its ongoing partnership. She discussed programs provided to the community, including more than 300 TK to ~ grade students. She discussed free mental health services provided to students and their families.
Anne Russell Shurgot, Malibu Little League, stated the Woolsey Fire and COVID 19 pandemic nearly caused the league to fold. She stated participation grew from 90 in 2020 to 247 in 2022. She stated grant funds would be used to upgrade the irrigation system in the ballfields at Malibu Bluffs Park.
Talley Hutcherson, Cavallo Foundation Program Director, discussed programs using horses as healers. She stated the Woolsey Fire and pandemic impacted programs that helped youth also struggling from those events. She stated funding would support programs at the Malibu Equestrian Center.
James Grasso, Malibu Search and Rescue, confirmed Search and Rescue was not funded by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He discussed the history and makeup of the team. He thanked the City for past support. He stated he hoped to receiving funding this year to support their work and upgrade equipment.
Merlin Clarke discussed the work of the Do Good Bus. He stated funding would help them create partnerships with local businesses and organizations.
Susan Tellem, American Tortoise Rescue Executive Director, stated they lost everything in the Woolsey Fire but have rebuilt. She stated funding would support very high veterinary costs.
Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
Special Meeting
Minutes of May 2, 2022
David Katz, Malibu Film Festival, stated the Film Festival supported local filmmakers. He stated funding would support rental of City Hall and providing of high-technology equipment to present films.
Councilmember Pierson discussed the total funds applied for and availability of City grant funds.
Councilmember Uhring complimented all speakers and their organizations for their important work. He discussed the history of the General Fund Grants Program. He discussed his approach to this year’s fund awards, emphasizing smaller organizations. He discussed his proposed distribution of $117,000.
Councilmember Pierson asked what the State’s responsibility was for funding necessary repairs to the Adamson House.
In response to Councilmember Pierson, Finance Manager Neermann confirmed the Council held $7,000 in reserve last year.
Councilmember Pierson agreed with Councilmember Uhring about the great work done by these organizations, especially to address needs following the Woolsey Fire and pandemic. He suggested raising the funding to $200,000 this year. He discussed his proposed grant awards. He stated Malibu Film Foundation should apply for a fee waiver and bring that to Council. He questioned why Malibu Little League was requesting funding to pay for maintenance of City property.
Councilmember Uhring stated he hoped to help the smaller organizations that had less access to donor support.
In response to Councilmember Pierson, Councilmember Uhring stated he might support an increase in the Grant Fund depending on where the funding was awarded. He stated it was important to support the organizations that provided the most benefit to the community.
Councilmember Pierson discussed the request from Malibu Little League for upgrades to the bailfields at Malibu Bluffs Park. In response to Councilmember Pierson, Community Services Director Bobbett discussed maintenance at the park.
He stated basic maintenance was covered by the City. He stated non-essential enhancements were often covered by the organizations that use the property through an agreement with the City. Councilmember Pierson inquired about liability. Community Services Director Bobbett stated the City had to agree to the work and, once the work was completed, it would become City property.
Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
Special Meeting
Minutes of May 2, 2022
In response to Councilmember Pierson, Councilmember Uhring agreed to consider Malibu Little League funding through the City’s Undesignated Funds to be discussed by the Subcommittee with the proposed Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget in a meeting tomorrow.
In response to Councilmember Uhring, Councilmember Pierson confirmed he was suggesting a one-time increase of the General Fund Grants to $200,000.
Councilmember Pierson stated the listing of awards was not consistent with how it was presented last year. Interim Assistant City Manager/City Treasurer Quinto displayed a listing of last year’s grant awards totaling $143,000 from the June 28, 2021 City Council Agenda, Item No. 4.E. staff report (page 22).
Interim Assistant City Manager/City Treasurer Quinto stated City staff would investigate funding for the ballfields and Arts Commission to report back to the Subcommittee at its meeting tomorrow.
The Subcommittee reviewed its recommendations, which totaled $133,000 for Councilmember Uhring and $200,000 for Councilmember Pierson.
Councilmember Uhring expressed concern that some smaller recommendations would not assist as much as the organizations needed. He stated Malibu Aquatics Foundation needed more funding than the $1,000 suggested by Councilmember Pierson. He suggested giving less to BGCM to spread the funding out over other recipients.
Councilmember Pierson suggested continuing the item so he could reach out to some of the organizations. Councilmember Uhring agreed and suggested Councilmember Pierson reach out to BGCM about impacts if its award was reduced.
MOTION Councilmember Uhring moved, and Councilmember Pierson seconded a motion to recommend that the City Council approve a one-time increase of the General Fund Grants Program to $200,000 for Fiscal Year 2022-2023. The question was called, and the motion carried unanimously.
Councilmember Pierson asked if another Special meeting could be scheduled after May 17, 2022 to continue this item for further discussion. Executive Assistant Linden confirmed that the first available date for that meeting would be Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
ADJOURNMENT
Malibu Administration and Finance Subcommittee
Special Meeting
Minutes of May 2, 2022
MOTION At 12:00 p.m., Councilmember Pierson moved, and Councilmember Uhring seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting to Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. The motion carried unanimously.
Approved and adopted by the Administration and Finance
Subcommittee of the City of Malibu on May 18, 2022.
0 MIKKE PIERSON, Councilmember
ATTEST:
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