The Native Legacy
Editor’s note: The following letters are in response to Publisher Arnold G. York’s editorial published Oct. 6, titled, “What Happened to Darwin?” which touched on the issue of the practice of replacing nonnative plants with native species, which has been done at Legacy Park.
A vote for Legacy
I love Legacy Park. I love the subtle colors of its indigenous scrub, its undulating hills, its winding path, its boulders and rocks, its oversize creature sculptures, its swale for capturing rainwater. It is an accomplishment as sensitive as my first admired Malibu re-vamp, the unpaved redo of the Malibu Lagoon parking lot.
From every angle that I see Legacy Park; whether from PCH, Webb Way, riding my bike through it or parking at the farmer’s Market, I am visually pleased by what I see, even right down to the new angled parking on Civic Center Dr. I think back to the flat, dusty, rock hard earth that was the Chili Cook-off lot and I feel very proud that all of us in the City of Malibu managed to accomplish this monument to reconstructed natural, commercial free, open space. No, It’s not lush. Lush is in another part of the world. Those who find it uninviting probably don’t like roaming the amazing trails of the Santa Monica Mountains either.
I do feel sorry for the people who have written disparagingly of what I see as food for the soul. Thank you, City of Malibu,
By Lucinda Cowell
Just a fiasco
Bravo to all those speaking out against The Legacy Park disaster. If there was a contest for the most drab, boring and user-unfriendly municipal park in America it would surely win hands down.
As others have noted, this fiasco is a byproduct of the politically correct fanaticism that has driven this state to the brink of financial ruin. Forget about the importance of aesthetics or the needs of the community. This project was ill-conceived from the get-go. After all the taxpayer money that was spent we are left with something only marginally better than the empty lot of weeds that was previously there.
And let’s not forget the sorry history of this park. The city originally overpaid for it after being totally out-negotiated by a super-savvy businessman who insisted on onerous conditions that should have never been agreed to.
To keep the tradition of arrogance and incompetence going after the city bought the new city hall, it immediately gutted a fantastic music venue that could have generated revenue in order to have more opulent offices and a grand council chamber befitting their sense of entitlement and self-importance.
By Austin Hardy
Taken to task
Having been out of town for a spell, I am just now catching up on the volley of letters predicated by Arnold York’s editorial, “What Happened To Darwin?” I am stunned, Mr York. What a myopic understanding of the value of native plants and endangered species you express. And what a poor grasp of Darwinism. The brevity of this forum does not allow for a proper re-education, but allow me to point you in the right direction.
Darwin’s theories apply to the natural world and how species evolve and, yes, become extinct over millennia. They do not apply to the abrupt interruption to these natural cycles and processes by human beings. If you are truly curious what’s at stake, take the time to speak to a local wildlife biologist or ecologist. Really, take the time and do it. Gain at least a casual understanding of these issues before you espouse such a narrow opinion under the your paper’s masthead.
The Pacific steelhead are threatened by the damming of rivers that constitute their spawning grounds. Darwin doesn’t apply. If the threat of wildfires concerns you, try investigating how invasive plant species can exacerbate that problem that troubles many of your readers.
You wrap your ill-conceived argument in a perfectly valid one: the design and function of Legacy Park, one for which you’ve clearly done your homework. Stick to that in which you have an investment and refrain from wedging in a knee-jerk and, frankly, irresponsible rhetorical question. Your readers will be the better for it.
By Chip Warren