Malibu set to announce new public safety director, maybe Monday Play

Some major changes are coming at Malibu City Hall as the city hires a new director of public safety. Longtime director Susan Dueñas retired last summer.

The city manager has reportedly hired a new public safety director who will probably be announced at the coming City Council meeting on Monday.

Some City Council members who know who this person is say they are very happy with the choice. The selection does not have to be confirmed by the City Council.

The Advisory Public Safety Commission has its monthly meeting Thursday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, with very little on the agenda.

Because Malibu hires the county sheriff and fire departments for municipal services, the public safety director here serves as a liaison. They do oversee the city's zoning enforcement officers and the city's fire outreach workers, and they handle graffiti removal.

Two weeks ago, graffiti was scrubbed off of 28 wrecked buildings in the fire area along Pacific Coast Highway.

Teams from the Code Enforcement Division and the Public Works Department did the work.

Sixty-one properties were scarred with street-visible graffiti. The city says they can't remove the graffiti until they obtain the owner's permission on each property.