🌊 The Malibu Current with Councilmember Haylynn Conrad

📅 July 17, 2026

Dear friends,

I hope this newsletter finds you enjoying the best of a Malibu summer, whether that means an early morning in the water, an evening walk at Bluffs Park, or a relaxing dinner with people you love. This was one of those weeks that reminded me how much is moving forward in our city, some of it visible right from PCH and some of it working its way quietly through City Hall.

Below you will find a celebration for one of our newest small businesses, a ferry proposal that came before the Council on Monday, road work on PCH you will want to plan around this weekend, a poster contest for our young artists, and the latest word from our fire experts as the hills keep drying out. Let's get into it.

🍽️ Support for Small Business: Welcome, Ela Greek Eats

🔹 A new restaurant just opened its doors on PCH: This week I was proud to stand with Mayor Pro Tem Uhring, Councilmember Riggins, and the Chamber of Commerce for the ribbon-cutting at Ela Greek Eats. What struck me most about Ela isn't what's on the menu, it's what it represents. Every business that opens its doors right now is a sign that our community is healing and Malibu is rebuilding. This is an investment in our coastline, our community, and our comeback at a time where belief in our community matters more than ever.

→ 💙 How you can help: Every meal at a local table keeps a Malibu family employed and tells the next entrepreneur that this town is worth betting on. If you are deciding where to eat this weekend, decide local. Our small businesses carried us through the hardest chapters, and showing up for them now is how we return the favor.

👉 Explore Malibu business support resources

🛳️ Economic Development: A Ferry at the Malibu Pier?

🔹 The Council took up the Pier to Pier ferry proposal Monday night: Our July 13 agenda included a request from Pier to Pier LLC for a City letter of support for its California State Parks concession application at the Malibu Pier. The privately funded venture, led by Malibu residents including a retired Coast Guard Rear Admiral and operated with California-licensed Harbor Breeze Cruises, proposes coastal passenger service connecting Malibu with Santa Monica, Marina del Rey, Redondo Harbor, San Pedro, and Long Beach aboard two 149-passenger, CARB-compliant catamarans, with round trips estimated around $50. State Senator Ben Allen has submitted a budget line item seeking $2 million annually to support passenger ferry funding.

→ ⚡ Why I am paying close attention: Anyone who has crawled along PCH on a summer Saturday understands why the idea of moving people by water instead of asphalt is worth serious study. Traffic on our one coastal artery touches everything, from safety to small business to simply getting our kids to practice on time. I want to see any proposal at our pier examined carefully and on its merits, and this one is worth your attention too.

👉 Read the Council staff report (PDF)

🚧 Heads-Up: PCH and Topanga Lane Closures Through Sunday

🔹 Caltrans fire-repair work is slowing traffic through July 19: Crews are making Palisades Fire repairs along PCH and Topanga Canyon Boulevard, with lane closures running July 13 through 19. Expect delays, watch for workers and changing traffic patterns, and remember that fines can double in construction zones.

→ 💡 What this means for your weekend: If you are heading east, build in extra time and extra patience. This is the unglamorous side of recovery, and every repaired stretch of highway brings us closer to a safer, sturdier PCH.

👉 Browse the City's latest news updates

🌿 Environment: The Hills Are Drying Out Faster Than Usual

🔹 Live fuel moisture has dropped to 70 percent: The latest report from our Fire Safety Liaisons puts live fuel moisture at 70 percent, down from 74 and below the historical average of roughly 80 for this point in the summer. In plain English, the vegetation in our hills is drying out ahead of schedule, and with hot, windy stretches ahead, wildfire risk is climbing.

→ 🎯 What I am asking of every household: Keep your defensible space and brush clearance current, clear roofs and gutters, avoid anything that throws sparks, and make sure your family evacuation plan and go-bags are ready. The City's Fire Safety Liaisons will even walk your property with you, free of charge. Call (310) 456-2489 or email FireSafety@MalibuCity.org to schedule a home wildfire assessment. We just earned state recognition for this work. Let's keep earning it.

👉 Read the latest Fire Conditions Report

🎨 Education: Calling All 3rd Through 5th Grade Ocean Heroes

🔹 The "Can the Trash!" Clean Beach Poster Contest is open: L.A. County's Department of Beaches and Harbors is inviting students in grades 3 through 5 to create artwork with a message about keeping our oceans and beaches clean. Winning designs get displayed on beach trash barrels across the county, right where millions of visitors will see them. Entries must be submitted by an adult.

→ 💙 Why I love this one: As a mom who raised two kids on this coastline, I know the fastest way to grow a lifelong ocean steward is to hand a child a crayon and a reason. A Malibu kid's artwork reminding the world to protect our water? That is exactly the kind of hero we need more of.

👉 Enter the Clean Beach Poster Contest

🖼️ Community Engagement: Carving Canvas Is On View All Summer

🔹 Malibu's most wanted artists have taken over the City Gallery: Last Friday evening, the Arts Commission opened Carving Canvas at City Hall, our community exhibition celebrating the surf and skate culture that runs through everything Malibu makes. The show is now on view through August 21, admission is free, and it pairs perfectly with a stop at our new skate park just down the road.

→ 🎨 An easy add to any errand: If you find yourself at City Hall in the coming weeks, give yourself fifteen extra minutes in the gallery. Thank you to our Arts Commission and every local artist who shared their work. Keeping Malibu's creative identity alive is a community project, and you are all carrying it beautifully.

👉 Learn more about the exhibition

🏛️ Community Engagement: The Candidate Window Is Officially Open

🔹 Nomination papers are now available for the November 3 election: As of Monday, residents interested in one of the two City Council seats on this fall's ballot can pull nomination packets at the City Clerk's counter at City Hall, with the window running through August 7. To schedule an appointment, email City Clerk Kelsey Pettijohn at KPettijohn@MalibuCity.org or call 310-456-2489, ext. 228.

→ 💡 One sentence of encouragement: If you have been thinking about it, the difference between a maybe and a candidate is a single appointment. Make the call.

👉 See candidate filing details and deadlines

🏛️ Get Involved: Malibu's Commissions

🔹 Want to plug into one of Malibus commissions? Planning, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety, Public Works, Arts, and the Harry Barovsky Memorial Youth Commission all meet monthly at City Hall, and every one welcomes public comment. So much of our local policy actually starts in these rooms, and if serving on one has ever crossed your mind, the application is open year-round.

👉 Browse upcoming commission meetings and agendas

👉 Apply to serve on a commission or committee

📅 Dates to Know

🔹 Through Sunday, July 19: Caltrans lane closures on PCH and Topanga Canyon Boulevard for Palisades Fire repairs. Expect delays.

🔹 Monday, July 20, 6:30 PM: Planning Commission Regular Meeting, Malibu City Hall Council Chambers.

🔹 Wednesday, July 22, 3:30 PM: Public Works Commission Meeting, Malibu City Hall, Multi-Purpose Room.

🔹 Monday, July 27, 5:30 PM: Regular City Council Meeting, Malibu City Hall (hybrid).

🔹 Tuesday, July 28, 9:30 AM: Malibu Arts Commission Regular Meeting, Malibu City Hall, Multi-Purpose Room.

🔹 Wednesday, August 5, 5:00 PM: Public Safety Commission Regular Meeting, Malibu City Hall, Multi-Purpose Room.

🔹 Friday, August 7: Final day of the nomination period for the two City Council seats on the November 3 ballot.

🔹 Through Friday, August 21: Carving Canvas on view at the Malibu City Gallery, City Hall. Free admission.

🔹 All July: Park and Recreation Month programs across the city, from movie nights at Bluffs Park to sunset hikes at Charmlee.

👉 Browse the full Malibu city calendar

🐝 One Last Thought

A ribbon-cutting only takes a minute, but everything behind it takes years: the savings risked, the permits pulled, the family that decided Malibu was worth building in. The same is true of a guardrail, a skate park, a state fire designation, and every other good thing this town has celebrated lately. None of it arrives on its own. Someone chooses it, then keeps choosing it.

So this week, choose something local. Order the meal, enter the contest with your kid, sit in on a commission meeting, or pull those nomination papers you have been thinking about. And whatever is on your mind, my inbox is open at hconrad@malibucity.org. I read every note.

👉 Follow me on Instagram

See you around town, Malibu.

Together, we're building a community and better future that works for everyone. Thank you for staying connected!

Haylynn Conrad
Councilmember, City of Malibu
hconrad@malibucity.org