I did some research on the Malibu Township Council. Long before cityhood, the MTC were the “watchdogs” of Malibu. They wanted to keep Malibu exactly as it was. Not only didn’t that work, but their efforts often backfired with unintended consequences, such as fighting a bitter battle to prevent six home sites and winding up with 38 condos instead. It seems personal agendas have alienated MTC, leading the community to question MTC’s purpose and integrity. Last week, one of the local papers had an article on the MTC exposing some problems and raising many questions and eyebrows.
If you look at the list of board members on their Website, it appears to be a political pack of the old Keller/Van Horn group, not a 501c3, which by law must make their tax and nonprofit documents public. They, however, refuse to disclose them. Rules and regulations do not seem to apply to the MTC. Board members are representing districts that they do not live in. The president of MTC (currently suing the city against all its current park projects) who doesn’t even live in Malibu, sits on Malibu’s Parks and Recreation Commission as an ex-officio member, ironically the very same commission that voted in favor of building Trancas Park.
Board members also include a Planning Commissioner for the City of Malibu and a reporter for the Surfside News. Another member is presently making a Malibu Park family’s life miserable over horse manure and false accusations as you can read in the editorials of several recent papers. MTC’s board seems to be working within several conflicts of interests.
As for the “candidate forums” Steve Uhring refers to in last week’s paper, their low attendance is indicative of the decline of MTC. Perhaps the philosophy of “No Growth” is simply not feasible in a changing world. Change is inevitable and is not necessarily a dirty word. Change can be thoughtful and constructive. Change is needed as the needs of a community change. Change can clean water and get rid of septic tanks. Change can keep a community child-friendly so that its children can grow up here and live here as adults. Change can build parks so that we need fewer rehab centers.
Julia Goldberg