Kudos must go to the residents and all the organizations who for years worked to persuade Sharon Barovsky and Andy Stern to stop promoting commercial development on the Chili Cook-Off property. The residents stood fast in their determination to turn the center of Malibu into a park. The residents consistently opposed the numerous commercial development plans that would have exacerbated the continuing traffic problems on PCH. For very practical reasons, but contrary to the residents’ wish, this City Council used all kinds of city resources for years to fight in favor of commercial development.
All the while Barovsky ignored the Malibu Lagoon Task Force’s 2001 public presentation to the City Council of the $250,000 UCLA study and the recommendation to acquire the Chili Cook-Off property. Barovsky/Stern ignored the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy’s (MCLC) wetland/park feasibility study. Barovsky/Stern ignored and attempted to undermine the numerous efforts by Malibu CAN to educate the general populace about the facts. And now, for political reasons, Barovsky/Stern refuse to give credit to MCLC for the $500,000 challenge that raised a million dollars for the acquisition of the Chili Cook-Off property.
I, for one, am deeply grateful to the many residents (who wish to remain nameless), the Malibu Creek Watershed Council, Malibu Lagoon Task Force, Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, State Parks, Heal the Bay, Environment Now, Surfrider Foundation, Malibu Surfing Association, Santa Monica Bay Keepers, Sierra Club, Wetland Action Network, Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu Township Council and Malibu CAN, who persevered, fought the good fight and won.
I am thankful that Barovsky and Stern who, after all these years, finally gave in to the wishes of the residents. If they didn’t only support the commercial developers and spec-developers and they weren’t against the residents, maybe they wouldn’t have to fight so dirty.
Bob Purvey