For me, December has always been a season of lights, exploding into January with new resolves for a new year. This year, the brightest lights have been the City of Malibu fighting for its existence as the state saw free to turn the control of Malibu over to the California Coastal Commission to broker and decide (a dark day indeed).
At every commission meeting regarding this state staff-driven plan, the room was filled with Malibu citizens, testifying and listening in support of Malibu. Between times, the brightest of our citizens volunteered for months to analyze and cross analyze every article of that plan (which were shared with the Commission members). On those few occasions when the commission, at citizen request, directed that the staff make a change, this local analysis group either discovered it hadn’t been changed or it had been taken out of one place and put in another.
When the commission passed their plan, Malibu citizens created a petition, which 30 percent of the voters signed to “Let Malibu Decide” by a voter referendum election.
In November, Chair Wan, hoping to gain a fourth year as chair, nominated herself a month before regular elections and lost, but not before the curtain of civility had been ripped apart to reveal a group of squabbling, contentious commissioners for all of us to see. And now there is a new chair.
Meanwhile, the Malibu Council and its consultant continued to rewrite the existing plan to have ready an acceptable Local Coastal Plan. Our target is now in sight.
Georgianna McBurney