Mike Sidley brought to my attention that I incorrectly associated him with Laura Rosenthal’s “new paradigm” idea of having both the city and the SMMC share the costs to pay for ranger supervision of those campgrounds. I was incorrect. This idea was solely attributable to Laura Rosenthal. I apologize to Mike for that incorrect association I made.
What Mike did say was: “They (the SMMC) have received permission from the Coastal Commission to allow them to have camping within the City limits. I can yell about it, I can scream about it, I can tell you that I personally don’t support it but that’s not going to change the reality. I need to provide protection for my citizens. And that means that I need to find a way for the city to protect and ensure there’s going to be cold camping. To ensure that the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy does what they say they are going to do. And that’s exactly what I intend to do. I don’t intend to file lawsuits for no reason, especially lawsuits that are a losing battle. But what I intend to do is use our city resources to help ensure we can protect our residents.”
The events leading up to the city’s decision to sue the Coastal Commission over the LCP override were a very challenging time for our city leadership. After hearing concerns from residents about the fire danger in the SMMC’s camping plan for Malibu, the Corral Fire occurred literally before that agenda item was completed before the council. The council meeting went into the night and was continued to the following week with the Corral Fire happening over the weekend. Fifty homes were destroyed. The fire was started by visitors to state parkland.
Mike’s words, accurately quoted above, indicate to me that he would have accepted the edict of the Coastal Commission and not pursued litigation. That is my opinion on Mike’s actual words. You should make your own interpretation of what he said. The candidates’ words about this challenging leadership event are important.
Rick Mullen