Now that much of the flurry of elections and LCP (Local Coastal Plan) activity has subsided, although the latter probably won’t go underground and likely into the courts until September, it is time to think about the future of our city. In the opinion of many, our city needs a broadly supported, citizen-driven, long-range plan to extend out over the next 20 or so years. After all, don’t we want to leave Malibu to our children and grandchildren in better shape than now? What is the value in doing this? What is meant by “better”? A list of “betters” should come from the overwhelming majority of citizens we never hear from.
What about the PCH mess that can only get worse, the contentious Civic Center development plan, playing fields for our youth, a senior citizens center that we can be proud of, caretaking of our beaches and mountains which are our precious heritage? Laguna Beach, Culver City, Carlsbad, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, to name a few, have struggled with similar long-term needs. They and other Southern California cities have benefited from long range visions of what is desired for the future, even though quite different from Malibu’s needs. To elicit thoughts about a future vision means going door to door, having vision fairs and having a guest speaker educational program to help find out what people truly want for the future.
There are strongly held beliefs that Malibu needs to be far more proactive in shaping its future. I believe with the help of a determined City Council and a group of dedicated citizens this can be accomplished.
Richard K. Davis