Money raised for Boys and Girls Club; money needed for local schools
From the Publisher/Arnold York
The Boys and Girls are better for it.
A couple of weekends ago, Malibu turned out en mass at an event that took place at the Rosenthal Winery to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu. The club provides a safe after school locale for many of our Malibu children.
The fundraiser took place at the spectacular 250-acre winery high up in the mountains, just off Kanan Dume Road. The box office draws for the event were hosts Mel Gibson, Daniel Stern and David Foster, but I do know the real heavy lifting for the event was done by their wives, Robyn Gibson, Laure Stern and Linda Foster.
My hat is off to them. I’ve been to many other celebrity events and often they’re totally predictable. The celebrities often lend their names and an old pair of their sweat socks to auction off, but this definitely was not the case here. They gave their all. They MCd and ran the auction, did the music and skits, got their friends Kenny G, Paul Reiser and others to perform, and unmercifully squeezed every dollar they could out of the crowd. They raised approximately $200,000 for the club, which was wonderful and will help many local children. David Foster also introduced and showcased some spectacular young local Malibu children, whose musical talents are unquestionably going to be big.
They gave their all, for which we all should be grateful. Bravo!
The school piggy bank is empty
We’re going to be called on soon to give our all in support of the schools. The state economy, and with it the local schools, are in an enormous hole. Post 9/11 business decline has helped to produce a district estimated shortfall of $2.5 million this year and an anticipated $2.5 or so next year.
The City of Santa Monica, which already gives the school district $3 million per year, has agreed to go for another one-time increase of $1.5 million to raise its total contribution to $4.5 million, despite its own budget deficit. Malibu has roughly 20 percent of the students in the district and the city gave an overwhelming $25,000 to the schools, which, to my mind, is almost an embarrassment. Even after the extra Santa Monica money, the district is still short about $1 million this year, and it is looking for an additional $250,000 from Malibu. But Malibu keeps crying poverty. The truth is, if I was a Santa Monica voter, I’d be very upset.
There is a longer-term solution coming our way, and that is a parcel tax increase of about $300 per parcel, per year. If it passes, it would give the schools about $9.6 million per year for each of the next 12 years. When we get the November ballot, we’ll have a real opportunity to prove that we really mean it when we say we value good schools. For those of you who don’t like the quality of public education, or think we spend too much on it already, we’ll give you some numbers in the coming months on what other states are doing and where we stand in comparison to large industrial states like Mississippi and Arkansas. I can tell you already it’s not pretty.