Let me get this right about billionaire David Geffen’s beach path. Almost 20 years ago he makes an easement agreement with the Coastal Commission that he cede a 9-foot-wide strip of property running from PCH to the beach as a condition for a 950 square foot addition to his already large beach house. He agrees to these same conditions again in 1991 and 2000. Geffen has a legal responsibility to carry out what he agreed to, yet, for the past 20 years, this path remained blocked by a fence and thick shrubbery and in fact, has never been open to other Malibu residents to use.
I feel Andy Spahn, Geffen spokesman, was a little harsh on the members of Access for All, and felt that his comment “takings of these sort constitute extortion” unbelievable when Geffen is the one who did not live up to his promise. For the city to side with Geffen is a little disappointing. It seems that some of the billionaires in our community including Jerry Perenchio with his polluting, un-permitted private golf course, are allowed to do as they please with impunity. What would happen to an activist that would jump Geffen’s fence and have a picnic on the beach in front of his house?
Although I might be considered “environmentally extreme,” I have always been non-violent and take responsibility for my actions. I am a member of a non-profit Earthways Foundation and I have experience maintaining a beach access at Escondido Beach. For three visits a week, I was paid $50. I did this for all of spring into summer. So in reality, this could be done with very little organization and very little money. Let us live up to our agreements for a happier and healthier beach visit.
What can the billionaires contribute to the whole Malibu Community?
Valerie Sklarevsky