I was appalled when I read in last week’s paper that the City of Malibu had blown our chance to receive over 10 million dollars in grants from various government agencies for the purchase of Legacy Park. This park is perhaps the most important acquisition that the City of Malibu will ever undertake. After the voters turned down the previous plan to acquire the property (measure M) because of the massive development it authorized, we finally have a chance to acquire the property and clean up the water in the lagoon and what happens? We are told that because City Manager Katie Lichtig did not contract for the proper appraisal and did not even ask for a required second appraisal, we are so far behind schedule we will not make the required deadlines.
We are told that the city did not seek the required state review of the appraisal until time had run out. We are told that the city just discovered that it could not borrow on the vacant land and may have to add Charmlee Park and Las Flores Park to the loan. We are told that the city’s plan to fund the project with loans and later pay them off with grants is illegal. Why did the city manager not know this? Where was City Attorney Christi Hogin? Where was Grants Coordinator Barbara Cameron? Councilmember Barovsky says she is pleased with the situation but I am not. Certainly everyone in the city should do everything they can and contribute as much as they can and, no, Ms. Barovsky should not have to mortgage her house. We must complete this land purchase and I commend Councilmember Barovsky, Ozzie Silna, Steve Uhring and the others who are working very hard to raise public money, but those funds are expected to be less than one-twenty-fifth of what is required. The new city plan is to borrow over $17 million, wipe out our city hall fund and dip heavily into our reserve funds. Grants can’t pay debts. Once this acquisition is completed, our reserves will not allow us to purchase additional land for sports fields and parks, our budget will be burdened with excess rent and we must raise the money to develop the park. Someone was responsible for this mess and someone owes us an explanation.
John Mazza