🌊 The Malibu Current with Councilmember Haylynn Conrad

📅 June 26, 2026

Hello Malibu,

After years of planning, community input, and no small amount of persistence, Malibu has a permanent skate park to call its own, and this past Saturday we got to celebrate it together. On Go Skateboarding Day, June 20, the gates opened with a ribbon cutting and live demos from X Games athletes, including Malibu's own Tom Schaar.

As a mom who has watched her own kids grow up between the soccer fields, the surf, and just about every park bench in this town, a free and safe place for young people to gather means a great deal to me. A skate park is so much more than concrete and rails. It is a place to belong.

There is plenty more below worth your time this week, from a controlled burn happening in our hills today to fresh progress on the rebuild, summer reading at the library, and a few easy ways to lend your voice. Here is where things stand.

🛹 A Skate Park Worth the Wait

🔹 Malibu's permanent skate park is officially open: On Saturday, June 20, the City cut the ribbon on the new Malibu Skate Park during Go Skateboarding Day, opening a 12,500 square foot space with everything from a flow bowl and quarter pipes to rails, ledges, and banks. The morning featured demos from X Games Club Los Angeles athletes, including Olympic medalist and hometown skater Tom Schaar. The park is now open daily from 8:30 AM to sunset, with helmets and pads required for everyone who rides.

→ 🎯 Why this one means so much: This park exists because residents, skaters, staff, and our commissions kept at it for years, through surveys, public meetings, and a temporary park that carried the community over until the real thing arrived. I am inspired and grateful for everyone who proved that hard work can turn a long-held dream into something real and lasting. To Raul, to Tom Schaar, and to every volunteer who helped pull Saturday together, thank you.

→ 🎨 A gift of art to go with it: The day also came with a gift of public art, and I want to thank the artists, Estevan Oriol and Keeley Studios, along with our Malibu Arts Commission, for making it part of the space. Pairing bold artwork with a brand-new community gathering spot says everything about what makes this town special, and I am thankful to them for sharing their work with us.

👉 View Malibu Skate Park hours and rules

👉 See opening day on Instagram (Instagram)

🌿 Fire Season Is Here, Starting With Smoke in the Hills Today

🔹 A planned burn brings smoke to the Santa Monica Mountains today: The Los Angeles County Fire Department has a prescribed burn scheduled for today, Friday, June 26, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM near Santa Maria Road and Mulholland Road above Topanga. Crews will treat roughly 53 acres one plot at a time, which means many of us may see or smell smoke through the day. This is planned, controlled work by trained personnel, so there is no need to report it unless you spot fire or smoke outside that area.

→ ⚡ Why a little smoke today is good news: Clearing fuel now is one of the most effective ways to slow a real fire later and to give firefighters safer ground to work from. With live fuel moisture in our mountains already down to roughly 74 percent, well under the seasonal norm, the message from our fire experts is plain: now is the time to get ready. If you have been meaning to refresh your defensible space or your go-bag, consider this your nudge.

👉 Read the prescribed burn details

🏗️ Recovery: Steady Progress and a Closing Fee Window

🔹 More families are getting the green light to rebuild: Since the start of May, the City reports that ten additional homes have cleared Planning approval, with six more issued rebuild permits so construction can begin. Every one of those is a household moving closer to home, and after all this community has carried, that is progress worth saying out loud.

→ 💙 Why I keep sharing these numbers: Recovery can look slow from the outside, but each approval and each permit is a real family stepping forward. I want our rebuilding neighbors to know the momentum is genuine and that the City is in this alongside you for the long haul.

🔹 The Woolsey Fire Fee Waiver closes Tuesday, June 30: If you are rebuilding after Woolsey, this is the final stretch. Planning applications must be deemed complete by Tuesday, June 30, to qualify for the waiver, which can erase certain City rebuilding fees for qualifying homeowners replacing a primary residence with a comparable one. If you already paid fees that qualify, you may even be in line for a refund.

→ ⚡ Why now and not next week: It is easy to let a single date disappear into a packed summer, but for eligible families this waiver can take real weight off the rebuild budget. Even a maybe is worth a quick call to the City to confirm where you stand.

👉 Apply for the Woolsey Fire fee waiver

📚 Education: Summer Reading Is in Full Swing

🔹 The Malibu Library's summer reading program runs through July 31: Our local branch is in the heart of its summer reading season, and it welcomes every age. Children read ten books, teens and adults read three, and finishers pick up prizes at the branch while supplies last. Storytimes, science programs, and naturalist walks around Legacy Park are woven in all summer long.

→ 💡 Why this is close to my heart: I was raised by a single dad who taught school and spent his life helping the kids who needed it most, so I know what a summer of reading can do for a young mind. Keeping our children curious through the long, warm months is one of the simplest gifts we can give them. Bring a young reader by and let them pick out a stack.

👉 Explore programs at the Malibu Library

🏄 Around Town: Honor a Malibu Surf Legend

🔹 Nominations for the 2026 Malibu Surf Legend Award close July 10: There is still time, through Friday, July 10, to put forward someone for this year's Surf Legend Award. It celebrates the surfers and groups whose lives are bound up with Malibu's place in surfing history, with the Parks and Recreation Commission weighing each nomination before sending a recommendation on to the Council.

→ 🏄 Why I hope you will nominate someone: Surf culture is part of Malibu's DNA, and the people who keep it alive deserve to be honored while we can thank them in person. If a name just came to mind, that is usually the right one. Send it in.

👉 Nominate a 2026 Malibu Surf Legend

🏛️ Coming Up at City Hall

🔹 The Council's next regular meeting is Monday, July 13: With the calendar giving us a fifth-Monday break, the Council's next regular meeting lands Monday, July 13, at 5:30 PM. The meeting is hybrid, so you can take part in person or remotely. Materials and the recording from this past Monday's June 22 meeting are already posted in the Agenda Center, and the July agenda will follow ahead of the meeting.

→ 🎯 Why it is worth a look: Public comment is where residents actually move the needle, and you do not have to be a policy expert to be heard. If there is something on your mind for the summer ahead, mark July 13 and come tell the Council about it.

👉 View City Council agendas and meeting details

🏛️ 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

🔹 Friday, June 26, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM: Prescribed burn in the Santa Monica Mountains near Santa Maria Road and Mulholland Road. Expect possible smoke.

🔹 Friday, June 26: Final day to see the "Two Points of View" exhibit at the Malibu City Gallery in City Hall.

🔹 Tuesday, June 30: Deadline to apply for the Woolsey Fire Fee Waiver Program.

🔹 Friday, July 3: City Hall is closed in observance of Independence Day. Wishing you a safe and happy Fourth.

🔹 Friday, July 10: Last day to submit nominations for the 2026 Malibu Surf Legend Award.

🔹 Monday, July 13, 5:30 PM: Regular City Council Meeting, Malibu City Hall (hybrid).

🔹 Wednesday, July 15, 12:30 to 2:00 PM: Malibu Rebuild Meeting, Malibu City Hall.

👉 Browse the full Malibu city calendar

🐝 One Last Thought

Here is what I keep coming back to this week. The best things in a town like ours are rarely handed to us. They get built slowly and stubbornly, by the people willing to keep showing up long after the first excitement fades. On Saturday, years of that quiet persistence turned into something our kids will use for decades, and watching this town celebrate together was a reminder of how much we can do when we refuse to give up on an idea.

There is a long, bright summer ahead and plenty of ways to be part of it, whether that is honoring a surf legend, getting your home ready for fire season, or simply showing a young skater that Malibu made this place for them. My inbox is always open at hconrad@malibucity.org, and I would love to hear what is on your mind. If a neighbor would enjoy this newsletter, please pass it their way.

👉 Follow me on Instagram

Here is to a summer well spent, 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