Letter: Dolphin Award

This letter is addressed to The Malibu Times Publishers Arnold and Karen York.

My wife, Tracy, and I are delighted beyond description at your decision to present Johanna Spinks and Lieutenant Jim Royal with the Citizens of the Year Dolphin Award. They both have displayed community support like no others. Johanna has dedicated herself over these several years to introducing us all to many outstanding individuals who call Malibu home. Not only has her involvement in this neighborhood building effort been met with high praise, but also her selfless commitment to her craft, and the benefits of knowing whomever lives next door, or down the road, which is clearly a unifying act of compassion and generosity. We will celebrate her induction into this wonderful group of pioneers who have gone above and beyond the call. 

I have had the extreme pleasure of knowing, and working with, Lt. Jim Royal for many years. His contribution to the safety and security of Malibu cannot be overlooked. We first met at the Zuma Beach Lifeguard HQ. Jim was the lieutenant in charge of the beach team. He enjoyed deep respect from the community, and also the deputies who served with him. I had become a member of the Arson Watch team in 1995, with the help of my neighbor, Jack Wyan. Throughout these many years, the Arson Watch group has proved to be quite a benefit to Malibu and Topanga. 

With clear, and, at times, outside-the-box logic, Lt. Royal helped form the Malibu West Volunteer Fire Brigade with his clever suggestion that brigade members first join Arson Watch, and after undergoing background checks through LASD, become part of the Sheriff’s Department Auxiliary. This would allow the passage of brigade members through roadblocks, and get them back into Malibu West to retrieve their firefighting equipment to set up for structure protection, etc. I firmly believe the Malibu West neighborhood would have a much different landscape today if not for the energy and effort of Lt. Jim Royal. 

Unfortunately, we lost 15 homes and six condos. However, the remaining homes number in the hundreds. Thank you most sincerely, Lt. Royal; your concern and dedication is to be applauded as well as your community building skills. The fact is your direct involvement in coordinating LASD with the Volunteer Fire Brigade was of paramount importance in using members of this community to work together with law enforcement to form an asset this community needed. 

Dermot Stoker