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Haylynn Conrad Newsletter — November 13, 2026
🌊 The Malibu Current with Councilmember Haylynn Conrad
📅 November 13, 2026
Good morning, Malibu,
Here is a question I have been turning over all week: what do you call a public building that sits locked in the middle of town for 13 years while the community around it goes without a modern fire station? On Wednesday I put that question on Instagram, and the answers are still rolling in. More on that below, including the two email addresses where your voice can actually move this.
But first, a weather note, because this week gave us whiplash: a red flag warning midweek, rain moving in Thursday night, and a high surf advisory that begins at 2 PM today with waves that could reach 12 feet by Saturday. Malibu never does one season at a time. Here is the rundown.
🚒 Public Safety: Our Courthouse Should Be Working for Malibu
🔹 Thirteen years is long enough: The Malibu courthouse has sat unused in the center of our city for 13 years, through fires, floods, and every emergency in between, while our community needs a modern fire station. This week I shared my hope that the County of Los Angeles and the California Judicial Council will work with Malibu to put that building back into public service, and I would love to see the property considered for an expanded Fire Station 88. Previous Councils and our current Council have made repeated efforts here. To be clear, these are my personal views as a Malibu resident and Councilmember, not a statement on behalf of the full Council.
→ ✉️ How you can help: Take two minutes and email both agencies asking them to work with our City to release the unused courthouse space for a public safety purpose. Write to the California Judicial Council at judicialcouncil@jud.ca.gov and to LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath's office at ThirdDistrict@bos.lacounty.gov, with the subject line "Please Help Malibu Reclaim Our Courthouse."
→ ⚡ Why this matters: A building that belongs to the public should be serving the public. The Bryson Fire reminded us last month that minutes and resources are everything when the wind picks up. Hundreds of your emails, stacked on top of years of Council effort, are how an empty building becomes an asset again.
🌊 Coast Watch: Big Surf, More Rain, and a Beach to Respect
🔹 A high surf advisory runs from 2 PM today through 3 PM Tuesday: The City's advisory, citing the National Weather Service, puts surf at 4 to 7 feet today, 7 to 12 feet Saturday, and 6 to 9 feet Sunday through Tuesday, with the greatest impacts expected Saturday. That means dangerous rip currents, waves powerful enough to sweep people off beaches and rocks, and possible coastal flooding and beach erosion. Rain continues through early Saturday morning, with more possible Monday through Thursday. If you are driving the canyons, stay alert for mud and debris flows.
🔹 Point Dume repairs continue through November 25: County Beaches and Harbors crews have resumed emergency erosion repairs along Westward Beach Road, rebuilding 325 feet of rock revetment battered by high tides and El Niño swells. The access road at the end of Westward Beach Road is closed to vehicles, though Westward Beach Road, Birdview Avenue, and the beach itself remain open. Crews stand down November 16 and 17 for expected rain and again over Thanksgiving weekend.
→ 🎯 My take: This is a weekend to admire the ocean from a safe distance. Stay near staffed lifeguard towers if you go, keep off the rocks and jetties, never turn your back on the water, and surfers, between the storm runoff and twelve-foot faces, let the sea have Saturday to itself. Filled sandbags remain available at the Malibu Equestrian Park at 6225 Merritt Drive if the rain finds a weak spot at your place.
👉 Read the City's surf and rain advisory
👉 See the Point Dume repair schedule
🚗 PCH Safety: The State Put Our Highway at the Front of the Line
🔹 PCH is now a Catalyst Priority Safety Corridor: On October 27, the State of California designated the 28.2 miles of Pacific Coast Highway from the McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica to the Ventura County line as a Catalyst Priority Safety Corridor, pairing infrastructure improvements with targeted enforcement and public education to prevent fatal and serious crashes. The designation honors hard history: the four Pepperdine students we lost in 2023, Emily Shane in 2010, and the long fight by their families and this community for a safer highway.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: We have lost 61 lives to road incidents in this town. That number is why I ran, and it is why a designation is only a down payment. I will keep pushing alongside our City team to make sure Malibu's most dangerous stretches get the actual concrete, signals, and enforcement this status promises, not just a spot in a press release. In the meantime, the speed camera warning period is underway, the evening commute is dark by 5 PM, and the paving crews are still out between Malibu Lagoon and the county line on weekdays. Slow is the whole strategy.
👉 Read the City's announcement
🏛️ City Hall & Community: Gratitude, Patience, and a Wednesday to Watch
🔹 Twenty-seven years of thank you: On Wednesday, Veterans Day, Malibu continued a tradition now 27 years strong of gathering at City Hall to honor the men and women who served this country. To the veterans among our neighbors, and to everyone who paused their week to say thank you in person: that steadiness is the quiet backbone of this community, and I am grateful for it.
🔹 The ballot count is still a count: Ten days after Election Day, the County is still processing vote-by-mail and provisional ballots in our council race, and the margins have moved with each update. I will say what I said last week: results are not results until the County certifies them, and patience while every lawful ballot is counted is part of how we do this. No cheering for outcomes in this space, only for participation.
🔹 A special Council meeting lands Wednesday, November 18: The Council takes up the appeal of a coastal development permit at 25200 Pacific Coast Highway. The agenda and materials post at the Agenda Center, and public comment is open as always.
👉 Browse agendas at the Agenda Center
🛍️ Economic Development: Rainy Weekends Are Shop-Local Weekends
🔹 The registers need us more than the beach does: With surf advisories keeping the coast quiet and rain in the forecast, this is a perfect weekend to spend indoors at a Malibu counter: coffee between showers, a long lunch, holiday gifts bought early. The Farmers Market runs Sunday, November 15, from 10 AM to 3 PM at the Malibu Library parking lot on Civic Center Way, rain gear encouraged. Seventeen years in, I still believe foot traffic is the most honest thank-you note a town can write its businesses.
🔹 Tax relief for ocean-damaged properties: If your home or property took at least $10,000 in physical damage from the recent high tides and powerful swells, you may qualify for property tax relief through the LA County Assessor's Misfortune or Calamity program. File Form ADS-820 within 12 months of the damage, and contractor estimates can support your claim. If approved, your assessed value drops until the property is repaired or sold.
→ 💡 What this means: The same ocean that drives our economy has been rough on the people who live closest to it. If that is you, this program exists for exactly this moment, and the clock on that 12-month window is already running.
👉 Apply on the LA County Assessor's website
👉 Browse City business resources
🎨 Arts & Community: Sea and Stone Opens Sunday
🔹 A free reception at the Malibu City Gallery: The Arts Commission opens "Sea and Stone," featuring five decades of work by artist Nancy Wise, with a reception this Sunday, November 15, at 12 PM at the Malibu City Gallery at City Hall, 23825 Stuart Ranch Road. Wise builds images from thousands of tiny dots of oil paint, a Neo-Pointillist technique that shifts with the light, which sounds about right for a town whose whole identity shifts with the light. The exhibition runs November 16 through December 23, the gallery is open weekdays 8 AM to 4 PM, and no tickets or RSVPs are ever required. Pair it with the Farmers Market and you have a full Malibu Sunday without touching PCH at speed.
📚 Education & Youth: Slow Mornings, Long Game
🔹 A rainy-week word about the school run: As a mom who has done her share of wet Morning View drop-offs, this is my annual plea: add ten minutes, put the headlights on, and treat every canyon curve like it is hiding debris, because this week it might be. Our kids' commutes run on the same storm-tested roads as everything else in town.
🔹 The aquatic center stays on my radar: The coastal development permit for the Malibu Middle and High School Campus Aquatic Center had its Planning Commission night on November 2, and the process keeps moving from here. The moment the next public step posts, you will read the date in this newsletter. Families who stay in the room are how youth facilities get built in this town, and I intend to keep handing you the room numbers.
👉 Follow the project record at the Agenda Center
🤝 Get Involved: The Rooms Are Open This Month
🔹 Four commission meetings in the next two weeks: The Planning Commission meets Monday, November 16, at 6:30 PM in the Council Chambers, and the Parks and Recreation Commission follows Tuesday, November 17, at 6:30 PM at City Hall. After Thanksgiving week ramps up, the Arts Commission meets Tuesday, November 24, at 9:30 AM and the Public Works Commission meets Wednesday, November 25, at 3:30 PM, both at City Hall. The Public Safety Commission returns Wednesday, December 2, at 5 PM, and the Harry Barovsky Memorial Youth Commission meets Thursday, December 3, at 7 PM. Every one of these rooms takes public comment, no appointment needed.
🔹 And if you want a seat at the table instead of in the audience: The application to serve on a commission or committee is open all year. Policy in this town is drafted in these rooms long before it reaches the Council dais. If you have expertise, opinions, or just stubborn love for this place, we can use all three.
👉 Browse upcoming commission meetings and agendas
👉 Apply to serve on a commission or committee
📅 Dates to Know
🔹 Today through Tuesday, November 17: High surf advisory from 2 PM Friday to 3 PM Tuesday, peaking Saturday at 7 to 12 feet, with rain through early Saturday morning and more possible Monday through Thursday. Beach caution, canyon caution, all of it.
🔹 Sunday, November 15, 10 AM to 3 PM: Malibu Farmers Market, Malibu Library parking lot, Civic Center Way.
🔹 Sunday, November 15, 12 PM: "Sea and Stone" opening reception, Malibu City Gallery at City Hall, free and open to all.
🔹 Monday, November 16, 6:30 PM: Planning Commission Regular Meeting, City Hall Council Chambers.
🔹 Tuesday, November 17, 6:30 PM: Parks and Recreation Commission Regular Meeting, City Hall.
🔹 Wednesday, November 18: Special City Council Meeting on the appeal of a coastal development permit at 25200 Pacific Coast Highway, details at the Agenda Center.
🔹 Tuesday, November 24, 9:30 AM: Arts Commission Regular Meeting, City Hall.
🔹 Wednesday, November 25, 3:30 PM: Public Works Commission Regular Meeting, City Hall.
🔹 Thursday, November 26: Thanksgiving. City Hall will be closed for the holiday, so check the City calendar for the full closure schedule.
🔹 Looking further out: The Public Safety Commission meets Wednesday, December 2, at 5 PM, and the Harry Barovsky Memorial Youth Commission meets Thursday, December 3, at 7 PM, both at City Hall.
🔹 Ongoing: Sea Level Drive remains closed under an evacuation order while repairs continue. Point Dume erosion repairs run through November 25, with the access road at the end of Westward Beach Road closed to vehicles. PCH paving continues weekdays between Malibu Lagoon and the county line, fiber construction continues on Malibu Canyon Road, Webb Way, Stuart Ranch Road, and Civic Center Way through December, and the speed camera warning period is underway.
👉 Browse the full Malibu city calendar
🐝 One Last Thought
An empty courthouse waiting for a second act. A highway finally named a priority after years of grief and advocacy. A gallery hanging five decades of one artist's dots. This week kept circling the same idea: things in this town do not fix themselves or reveal themselves alone. People show up, write the email, make the push, and keep at it longer than is comfortable.
So here is my ask: send one courthouse email this weekend. It takes three minutes, and it adds your name to a thirteen-year effort that finally has momentum. Then, if something else in your corner of Malibu needs that same stubbornness, tell me about it at hconrad@malibucity.org. I answer my own email, and your note has a way of becoming next week's bullet point.
Stay dry and stay loud, Malibu.
Haylynn Conrad
Councilmember, City of Malibu
