I am a husband, father and insurance broker. Making baseless accusations toward my support for the Whole Foods project and attacking the character of citizens, mothers and developers is not honorable behavior. The developer has our community in his best interests as a generous donor. Has anyone else built a park for the special needs children? No.
I am passionate about this project as the proud dad of a teenager who has volunteered with the Hand-in-Hand special needs program for four years. His friends look forward to the Whole Foods and park, which will be a healthy, safe environment on weekends.
I voted for Measure R. It succeeded in politicizing this process and dividing Malibu to such an extent that no one is safe to voice support. Imagine the good we could do by channeling our anger towards real problems, such as poverty, instead of obsessing over a health food store and park.
I received a ridiculous email from Malibu-CAN telling me “I don’t need another grocery store.” Who are you? Please don’t tell me what I need. You may not want Whole Foods, but many of us do. Look how many coffee places we have. Competition is what our economy was built on. Why is your name Malibu-CAN if you are asking me to vote to stop something beneficial to our community? It should be Malibu-CAN’T.
On their Facebook, I found bizarre, fear-inducing hysteria with lying statements. They began by posting about traffic, but realized tourists won’t flock to Malibu for Whole Foods, so they changed their message to say that developers are lying and that Whole Foods is not coming to Malibu, despite having a well-publicized lease. The VP of Whole Foods attended and spoke at the public hearing and was quoted in our newspapers about their commitment Malibu. Thus, Malibu-CAN changed their argument again by stooping low enough to twist the story by bullying mothers and children.
Between Rob Reiner quotes and emotional, yet rarely factual blog posts are the messages Malibu-CAN’T conveys. If you don’t want Whole Foods, say so. Rational folks won’t feed into sensational propaganda.
I hope to spot these rabid fanatics at our new beautiful Whole Foods. I already voted “yes” on Measure W.
Rob Daniels