Often times, well -meaning measures go awry, and Measure R is an example here in Malibu. As much as we would like to have the most local control over our community, we must remember that Malibu is part of Los Angeles County, the State of California and the United States as a whole, and the laws of these larger governments usually take precedence over the laws we enact here locally. Measure R requires voter approval for all commercial development proposals over 20,000 sq. ft., and prevents City Council from taking any final actions as administrative approvals in the sphere of commercial development without voter approval. So under Measure R, it wouldn’t matter who is on City Council – voter referendum on all proposals will replace local government duties.
However the district court found that Measure R, is illegal, invalid, and unenforceable. The Court was also sympathetic with Measure R’s goals to preserve its unique and rural character, as well all who live and love it here are; unfortunately, Measure R is not the legal means to achieve these agreed upon goals. We need more than symbolic gestures to determine what kind of community we will have here in Malibu. We need effective strategies to address the issues that Measure R concerns itself with. http://www.malibucity.org/DocumentCenter/View/12552
Laureen Sills has devoted years to the Malibu schools, neighborhoods, and community. She is not pro-development. She understands that we need to consider legal ways to retain Malibu’s unique character. Measure R, still in litigation and consuming precious financial resources, is not necessarily the best or legal way. Sills shares the goals underlying Measure R but opposed it’s specific provisions which, as the court found, illegal. The Measure has only been effective in generating attorney fees and disinformation. Sills wants to find ways to retain Malibu’s rural character by City purchases of land devoted to open space and public use, as well as being a guardian of Malibu’s character by casting important votes on City Council to achieve the goals of Measure R, but in the context of representative democracy rather than in the courthouse.