The California Coastal Commission meeting on Sept. 12 was a time when power shifted and local citizens stood tall. One hundred seventy Malibu people signed up to testify. Even more crowded the room to support the speakers. There was a determination in the air that pervaded the atmosphere. One of the speakers delivered a 10-minute talk about what happened in Germany when fearful local citizens collaborated with tyranny for security at the price of freedom.
As the speaker finished, the room erupted in shouts and applause. Citizens leaped from their chairs, hugged one another and rushed about the room talking to friends.
It was hard to hear the chair banging her gavel and finally declaring a 5-minute break. Speaker Wade Major had galvanized feeling into form and citizens became one in courage and in resolve. Now of course, the next day the Coastal Commission approved their staff’s plan. No surprise that! They turned down the compromises offered by the city.
And the commission’s staff will try to do anything they can to shove their plan down our throats and the throats of everyone else all along the California Coast. The commission’s staff has their own future state agenda that doesn’t allow for a citizen-based local coastal plan.
It was on Sept. 12, 2002, that Malibu’s local citizens declared war.
Georgianna McBurney