Last week, a locally published letter to the editor signed “anonymous for fear of retaliation” took careful aim at Barovsky supporters: Deirdre Roney, Lloyd Ahern, Anne Hoffman, Laureen Sills, Pamela Shatsky, Ken Kearsley, to name a few. I would suggest that anyone reading an “anonymous” letter should think twice before believing any of its accusations.
“Anonymous” sought to malign these people who are some of Malibu’s best leaders and community servants. Deirdre Roney is a dynamo who raised $200,000 in one year for Webster School programs. Lloyd Ahern saved parkland in the Palisades and fought the Coastal Commission long before he moved to Malibu. Anne Hoffman is an Ever Ready battery of energy and information on land use and helped raise $45,000 for the Bond Measure K. Laureen Sills serves on the Parks and Recreation Commission, is an advocate for youth sports and put together a great team for the 10th Anniversary City Celebration Saturday. Pamela Shatsky serves on the Board of the Malibu Community Labor Exchange and was the Emergency Cold/Wet Shelter Manager for three years. Ken Kearsley has been an exemplary council member, teacher and Malibu citizen for decades. The anonymous letter tries to ding these people for writing letters to the editor because they support Barovsky. This is but one of the ridiculous accusations contained in the unsigned hit piece.
Further, “anonymous” seems to believe that Sharon Barovsky has created a deep, dark, and dangerous political machine. I and many other Malibuites have volunteered repeatedly to work on numerous local campaigns. If working together in the past qualifies a group as a “machine,” then I plead guilty as charged. However, I would insist that there is nothing malevolent, dark or dangerous about campaign volunteerism. More people ought to do it. This city deserves a political process that includes all of us.
One of the (very) few nice things about our elections is that because we live in a small community, we can know those who run for political office. I know Sharon Barovsky very well. She is slow-growth, environmental, a natural leader, a savvy political strategist, an excellent communicator, as well as deeply human. As she is deeply human, she is not a perfect person. But she rises above her opponents in many respects not the least of which is that she has earned from friends and associates who know her well deep loyalty, affection and confidence in her capabilities as a strong, experienced, and intelligent leader as well as a dedicated community servant.
Mona Loo