Malibu shifts code enforcement to Public Safety Department

Malibu's code enforcement department is being moved out of planning and zoning and into the city's Public Safety Department.

City Manager Joe Irvin says the idea is to put all of the city's enforcement efforts in one place. The shift effectively doubles the size of the Public Safety Department.

And it's not just moving desks around at city hall, says Public Safety Director Susan Duenas.

Duenas said the move has already been made, but the entire city hall bureaucracy is being reorganized into new divisions. This will be similar to what was done last year, when the planning and building sections of city hall were merged.

Some of the plans are tentative and need to go before the city council. But the city's code enforcement officers are already moved into the Public Safety Department — that's a done deal.

Some city hall insiders have been complaining for years that Malibu has been lax in enforcing its zoning codes. Some planning commissioners — most particularly John Mazza — have repeatedly criticized city manager after city manager, saying that code enforcement of the regulations he writes is lax.