Safety is real issue

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As a longtime Malibu resident, I feel compelled to write regarding the ruling handed down at the most recent meeting of the California Coastal Commission, approving overnight camping in our local canyons. I am in no way opposed to overnight camping in our canyons or anywhere else. Few experiences rival the peace of the mountains and everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy the same public land that we do as residents.

However, this should not come at the price of public safety, which is the problem with the plan proposed by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. If these campsites are not monitored 24/7, they are not safe for anyone. Despite a limitation to “cold camping,” without consistent monitoring to ensure adherence to campsite rules, a wildfire isn’t merely likely, it is certain.

I also feel compelled to share my observations of the behavior of the members of the Coastal Commission during the hearing. They were rude, dismissive and indifferent to the input from the community and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. What I now realize, after 10 hours with them, is that their minds were made up and the meeting was simply a legal nicety.

In contrast to the Commission’s disdain for the Malibu stakeholders, they sat with rapt attention as the Conservancy stage-managed a tableau of diversity that no doubt was meant to contrast with the residents of Malibu as exclusively white and entitled, a concept that I, as a working mother of Latino ancestry, resent deeply. The Conservancy bused in inner city youth, disenfranchised families and the handicapped to testify about “needing and deserving access to find sanity in an insane world.” Unfortunately, nothing could be closer to fresh insanity than ignoring the safety of these very visitors to proposed campsites.

Without 24/7 monitoring of these campsites, it’s not a matter of “if” there will be a fire, but “when.” When it comes, it will be the residents of these canyons who will be first on the scene to help get people out; the same people painted as elitist monsters with a NIMBY attitude. Should any of these campers perish because of a fire, these commissioners will have blood on their hands.

Shame on the Coastal Commissioners for their holier-than-though attitudes; shame on the Coastal Commissioners for their complete and total lack of respect to the residents of Malibu; and shame on the Coastal Commissioners for not putting public safety first. I urge everyone in this community to get involved now to ensure the safety of all.

Lori Juarez-Jacobus