A LOVE LETTER TO MALIBU & WHY I’M RUNNING

Hello, Malibu Family!

As a parent, pediatrician, PCH victim, passionate advocate, and servant leader, I am seeking to PROTECT and SERVE Malibu on the City Council!

Born at Andrews Air Force Base and subsequently moved to Austin as an infant. I spent my childhood in Corpus Christi, TX “The Sparkling City by the Sea” (or what I call the Malibu of Texas) where I inherited my parents’ love of the ocean and nature! I am forever grateful to my family for fanning the flames of my soul and dreams!

I have wanted to be a pediatrician since the age of 5 and embraced every opportunity to learn, serve, explore, and grow! I graduated cum laude from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX followed by medical school at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and pediatric residency training at Children’s Health (formerly Children’s Medical Center of Dallas) which is where I met my husband Phil.

We have been married for 32 years and I thank God for him every day. Phil and I met in medical school and have both dedicated our lives and callings to caring for children. I am a pediatrician ad Phil is pediatric surgeon (at Cedars-Sinai for 15 years & now his practice Pacific Coast Pediatric Surgery). We are the blessed parents of 3 children- adopted twin sons Ryan (23) and Everett (healed in Heaven at 14) & a daughter Kristen (15), who inspire us to embrace the GIFT OF LIFE each day through their miraculous lives, unsurpassable courage, and healing journeys!

Our family came to Malibu in 2014 so our young children could grow up in this heavenly place we call HOME! Our Angel Everett almost didn’t make it here due to his severe, progressive mitochondrial disease. Right before our move to Malibu, he developed a life-threatening infection and was fighting for his life in the pediatric ICU at Cedars-Sinai. After a 4 month hospitalization, Everett was MIRACULOUSLY able to discharge and transition to our new home in Malibu with ongoing ICU level- and hospice care! Our entire family was here together in this sacred place for Everett’s final months before he was fully HEALED in his Heavenly Home.

From the moment we arrived in Malibu 10 years ago, we were welcomed and nourished with unsurpassable kindness, hospitality, generosity, and support by this beloved
community, Mending Kids, Malibu West and Malibu Pacific Church. Time and time again, our family has been surrounded and sustained by our Bu Family through our children’s hospitalizations, PCH crashes and life-threatening emergencies. We LIVE in a place that still cares for each other and celebrates the beauty and holiness of each moment!

We love and appreciate our Bu Family & Community beyond words. For that reason, it is heartbreaking to witness and experience the escalating dangers, concerns, and changes that are making it harder to live in Malibu (i.e., PCH, fires/emergencies, schools, rebuild delays, city government toxicity/understaffing) resulting in so many of our dear friends and neighbors moving away. With my husband’s life-threatening cycling crash in July (following my pedestrian vs. vehicle in 2020) and our daughter starting to drive, I feel called to use my VOICE and ADVOCACY to represent the needs of our community now and for generations to come!

I would be humbled and honored to serve Malibu with my testimony and training, passion and leadership skills.

Testimony/Training-
Two life-threatening crashes on PCH:

#1: I was struck by a car on PCH speeding through the Trancas Canyon Road crosswalk upon returning home from a walk at Zuma Beach with a dear friend. It has been a long, hard road to recovery over the past 3-4 years involving intensive in-patient and out-patient brain rehab, procedures, & multiplied therapies in being able to stand, walk, and function again. Even when I was physically recovered enough to walk without a cane and return to driving, the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of leaving the house to face PCH seemed an insurmountable obstacle to overcome. I am forever grateful for trauma treatment and comprehensive therapies to get be back on my feet and in the community again! First to speak during public comments at Malibu City Council Meeting about PCH Tragedies in the Fall 2023 which was featured on front page of LA Times and other media outlets (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-10-27/sharp-curves-speeding-cars-pch-in-malibu- takes-a-deadly-toll)

#2: No sooner had I completed my recovery journey, when my husband Phil was in a cycling crash on PCH this summer (2024). He was returning home from an early morning ride up Mulholland Hwy/ Encinal Canyon and only had a short interval on the PCH. However, the trash bins and other obstacles displaced him from what should be protected space for cyclists/pedestrians. Witnesses reported that Phil lost control trying to avoid colliding with a misplaced waste bin which caused him to crash on PCH where he lay unconscious for 4 minutes due to a concussion (his cycling helmet was cracked in half). Without a Good Samaritan cyclist who crossed PCH to render aid and protect Phil from further injury and highway traffic, the situation could have been magnitudes worse. Thank God for this hero, the other cyclists that stopped and ran to Fire Station #99 which resulted in first responders being on the scene within minutes and the fire engine shielding Phil from cars on the highway. He has recovered well, but we are still in shock that this is the second near-death experience in our family in a short time.

These recurrent, preventable crashes are becoming all too common occurrence in our neighborhood/ city. While Phil and I both had favorable outcomes because we survived, that has not been true for 60+ others in the past 10 years who have lost their lives on PCH. We do not want anyone else who lives, works, studies, visits, or tours in Malibu to be the NEXT VICTIM!

These PCH tragedies are 100% PREVENTABLE! I have spent my life’s work advocating for the health and safety of others through medicine, education, prevention, and collaboration. Every aspect of my life has been about caring for and celebrating what is most precious with compassion, dedication, determination, and inspiration- from my early years to adult years, I have gravitated to roles where I can represent, encourage, impact, mentor, restore, and unite for shared goals and journeys from student government/organizations and gymnastics/cheer through college to organizations/committees and conferences/presentations as a healthcare professional and public servant.

Servant Leadership/Advocacy- Integrally involved in medical, institutional, community, and advocacy roles at medical, educational and faith-based institutions over 20 years in California.
With personal and professional connections at UCLA and other healthcare entities on our family’s healing journey, I routinely speak about pediatric special needs/disabilities, chronic medical conditions, palliative care & hospice, grief, trauma, and whole-person care.

My most rewarding volunteer role has been serving as a physician and Board Director (including Chairperson for 8 years) at the Los Angeles Christian Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), with 2 fixed sites and 10 satellite locations in the heart of LA. Being involved in and responsible for all aspects of the organization with extensive medical and federal regulations as well as leading/participating in a dozen committees (i.e., executive, clinical,
personnel, financial, legal, safety, quality, corporate compliance, strategic planning) prepared me for the high level of organizational leadership & commitment required to be a City Councilperson.

I was very humbled and honored to receive “Recognition for Service to the City of Los Angeles” and “Spirit of Healing” award for my work at the Los Angeles Christian Health Centers. Our family is also very involved with Mending Kids (life-saving surgeries for children around the world) and The Painted Turtle. I currently serve as a volunteer physician/“camp doctor” on a monthly basis which interfaces perfectly for our family. It is truly HEAVEN on earth when I’m at The Painted Turtle (https://www.thepaintedturtle.org/). In honor and memory of our BRIGHT LIGHT EVERETT, I volunteer at their Summer Camps and Family Weekends throughout the year so children, siblings, & families like our own with serious chronic/life-threatening medical conditions can experience the magic of camp and vital support on their most courageous healing journeys!

These sacred gifts and teachable moments with children (patients and our own) inspire me every day! My most important and fulfilling medical role is coordinating & navigating the very rare & complex conditions, expanded services & specialists, services & treatments of our 3 miraculous children. With prolonged seasons of continuous hospitalizations for one or more of our children and “Home Hospital/ICU-level care when we weren’t “living” at Cedars or UCLA, Phil and I have a long history of managing 24/7 365 emergencies.

I am prepared for the worst case scenarios in emergency management and have extensive
experience in crisis intervention. As a pediatrician, I never imagined I would be performing CPR on my own children (on both our sons before they were 5) and managing hospital- and ICU-level care at home. As Everett’s mitochondrial disease progressed, he would have metabolic and hypotensive emergencies on a monthly basis, then weekly, later nightly, and ultimately multiple times daily that required resuscitation. Each time EMS arrived & Everett was hospitalized, his heroic specialists would equip us with more rescue meds & interventions that we could administer at home so he wouldn’t have to live in the hospital for the rest of his life.
Phil and I were immeasurably blessed to optimize his care, quality of life, & our miraculous moments by providing his hospital- and ICU-level care at home which was unprecedented according to his medical specialists and pediatric hospice team. We are eternally grateful for the GIFT & POWER of TEAMWORK!!!

Through extensive physician advocacy and leadership both professionally and personally, I have a developed strong “Mama Bear MD” & organizational leadership track record multi-tasking, team-building, problem-solving, power-calling, collaborative partnerships, advancing processes, holding accountability, accessing safety nets & life-lines. I would apply the same unrelenting determination, dedication, (com)passion, persistence, diligence, grit and grace on City Council to accomplish whatever is needed for you and our MIRACULOUS MALIBU!!!

Whatever I do, I am ALL IN as evidenced by my family testimony, medical calling, PCH
trauma recovery, and public service… just ask my family, friends, and colleagues! That is exactly what happened in the 11th Hour of the campaign nomination period. No one approached me about running for City Council. This wasn’t even on my radar until the Lord impressed it upon my heart when I saw the nomination announcement for City Council just following Phil’s near-death experience on PCH. I subsequently discussed with my family and committed it to prayer.

With escalating tragedies/fatalities on PCH along with 2 life-threatening pedestrian/cycling crashes already in our own family and our daughter starting to drive, it was an undeniable call to use our testimony & training for GOOD! Initially, there were double the number of candidates running which more broadly represented Malibu, but then at the last minute that changed dramatically. Consequently, I went to City Hall the day before the nomination deadline to pull papers where I met kindred spirit Haylynn Conrad. Definitely a Divine Connection as we both have new drivers in our families and share similar paths to candidacy! In less than 24 hours
which was unprecedented, I completed the nomination requirements- thanks to our Malibu & City Hall All-Stars!

I entered this campaign with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength to SERVE & PROTECT MALIBU! Our community cannot live in fear of a child, loved one or “neighbor” being the NEXT VICTIM on PCH! And with all our “Shake-Up-Calls” lately and California wildfires, we need to be ready for the next disaster with secured evacuation access, safety protocols, multi-agency partnerships! We must reorganize and streamline system processes, recruit & retain city staff so that the victims of the Woolsey Fire can finally return in their homes and other high priority issues can be resolved. It is TIME for ACTION & COLLABORATION to REBUILD and RESUSCITATE the HEARTBEAT (Neighbors/commUNITY) & LIFE-LINE of MALIBU (PCH- Major Artery/Evacuation Route).

With professional training and expertise in medicine and emergency management, I am MALIBU’s CANDIDATE for DISASTER PREPAREDNESS & PUBLIC SAFETY! A most critical role considering these are the biggest issues and threats our City is facing. My 1 MISSION: HEALTH, SAFETY, and commUNITY in Malibu STAT! I thrive on helping & serving communities through multi-disciplinary collaboration & interventions, complex problem-solving & decision-making, regulatory agencies & legal compliance, team-building & organizational systems.

My values and oaths guide me to “LOVE MY NEIGHBOR” and “DO NO HARM”! I approach EVERYthing in life and medicine through this lens. RELATIONSHIPS and TRUST are guiding principles for me. I seek to treat others with kindness and respect. When it comes to the campaign, I highly regard my relationships with the other 4 candidates. They are my neighbors and I look forward to working with them in some capacity whether on City Council or in public service.

We have so much in common and that needs to be emphasized and esteemed rather than negativity and toxicity which only creates more division and extremism. Malibu is not exclusively split into 2 polarized camps, Pro- or Anti-PRESERVATION vs. Anti- or Pro-DEVELOPMENT, even through that is the message being propagated. Most of Malibu is not at either extreme and is in agreement to PROTECT and PRESERVE the beauty, scenery, beaches, mountains, historic and sacred places of Malibu with slow, smart growth and prioritizing Woolsey fire rebuilds. That is where I stand, too. I am dedicated to being a good steward of our community and environment, and honoring our Mission and Vision Statements.

Lastly, I invite you to read my platform and get to know me BEFORE making assumptions. I am running an INDEPENDENT CAMPAIGN. And just because I “love my neighbors” (figuratively and literally, with Paul Grisanti in our Malibu West Sicomoro Family) and strive to cultivate positive relationships with all candidates and community members, it does not mean that I am incapable of formulating my own ideas, opinions, decisions, and functioning INDEPENDENTLY despite the narrative and optic that is being portrayed.

Kindness and empathy are not signs of weakness or deficiency, but rather necessary ingredients for commUNITY! As a woman and human being, I have been troubled and shocked by the gender bias and toxic culture that exists in our community. I would have never imagined after completing my medical training in the 1990s during a more misogynistic, malignant era that this is still occurring TODAY. I will continue to use my VOICE to make the world a better place for
our children and future generations! Hopeful to elevate a SPIRIT of commUNITY and HEALING in Malibu with you!

I look forward to answering your questions, hearing what is most important to you, sharing my passions & vision, developing solutions together, (PRE)SERVING & PROTECTING our beloved Malibu!!!

Lovingly, Enthusiastically, Humbly, and Gratefully Here to SERVE You and Our LIGHT-filled City,

Channing