On Monday evening I witnessed participatory democracy in action at the Malibu Planning Commission meeting. It restored much of my faith in local politics. The subject was the newly minted Plan B that had been urgently presented by the City Council for “review.” Despite the pressure of four of the City Council members in the audience, the process was the most encouraging sign of democracy in action I have witnessed in a long while. I left the meeting with a sense of pride that we have a Planning Commission with such independence and honesty representing this great town of ours.
The commissioners that were present, Richard Carrigan, Robert Adler and Deidre Ronie, listened patiently to the crowd of people who got up to speak. The speakers were all quite passionate and prepared for their comments, but as the clock rolled around to 10 p.m., I must admit that I was having trouble sitting down for three plus hours.
When the commissioners finally got around to their comments and recommendations to the City Council, I must admit I had no idea what their thinking on the issue was. However, as I stood and listened to their thoughtful and articulate reasons for turning down the much ballyhooed Plan B, I was absolutely struck by the wisdom and fair-mindedness of this remarkable body of Malibu citizens. I encourage you to turn on your televisions and listen to the reasoning that went into their decisions. I don’t care which side of the fence you sit on, these people make sense and lots of it.
Each person brought a new perspective and clarity to this major development proposal. They encouraged a much more thorough understanding of the entire issue, as they know how important it is to get this issue right and in accordance with the Development Plan for Malibu. They even-handedly encouraged the MBC to stick with the negotiations and hammer out an agreement that we can all be proud of. Such an agreement may well be the very thing that can bring all the divergent views in this town together around a project that will benefit the developer and leave us with a future Malibu can clearly envision and embrace.
The commissioners pointed out the folly of legally tying Plan B with the original Plan A that had proven to be unacceptable across the board. They saw promise in the new plan but wanted it studied and wanted it handled in a proper, considered timetable. The wisdom of having a waste disposal plant in the middle of a liquefaction zone and a flood plain, not to mention smack dab in the middle of our open space park, was also heavily questioned.
The Planning Commission has thrown down the gauntlet of what fair, measured thinking can produce. Now it is up the City Council, whose four members all sadly left before the planning commissioners spoke, to take heed of our outstanding citizens’group and show the same measured leadership.
Bob Carmichael