Why are members of our community playing politics with our children’s and teachers’ health? Recently, most Malibu residents have been receiving emails from individuals, candidates and organizations who are trying to hijack what is a very serious issue for their own professional and personal gain. As the person responsible for raising the issue of toxic materials at a board meeting in early October, 2013, it distresses me to think that members of our community have decided that they can use this issue, take credit for things that they had no part in, attack a process that has not even begun, and use it for political gain. Shouldn’t we say that there are some issues and some concerns that are above trying to score political points or push an agenda.
Even outside interests from Washington D. C. and other communities have decided to use Malibu as a guinea pig for a broader agenda and to gain ground on issues not related to our community’s concerns and what we must do. The school district is by no means off the hook for how things have transpired. Many errors were made in their initial efforts and members of the school environmental task force like myself also believed that we needed to move quickly to do testing and remediation. We probably should have waited and gone down a more pragmatic path. But whether we like it or not, we are part of a larger school district that has finally put together a process, hired a nationally recognized consultant and has made public commitments to engage our community.
Are we going to find answers or play politics? We need to focus on making sure these commitments are delivered and we need the community to focus its attention on supporting the teachers and students. We cannot afford to make this issue a carnival act, or a pawn in a political game. This is too important, there is too much at stake. We need to put aside the past, ignore the politicking, conspiracy theories and call for layers of bureaucratic review and support the local, state and federal agencies that, working with the school district and our city, are trying to find answers. I applaud the members of the community that are pushing for greater transparency and testing, and the teachers that are looking for answers. We need to test air, water and soils, to look at both Juan Cabrillo and Malibu High School, and to get our kids back in safe classrooms. But let’s rise to the occasion and be the best we can be. Let’s bring a sensible dialogue to this issue and not rant and rave about a flawed process that may be finally moving in the right direction. We cannot afford to look back in anger. We need to look forward in hope.