Several vendors whose names appear on a petition denouncing Cornucopia Foundation say their signatures were forged or included names of people they didn’t know. Others who admit signing it say they didn’t know about the harsh letter against the farmers’ market operator.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Some vendors whose names were listed on a petition attached to a letter written and circulated in Malibu last week by former Malibu Farmers’ Market vendor Mark Devlin accusing the Cornucopia Foundation of mismanagement and calling for it to be replaced as the market operator, said their signatures were forged or the signed names were not affiliated with their businesses. There were also vendors who signed the petition who said they were not fully informed about the letter.
“We’ve been working with them [Cornucopia] for five years,” said Eliki Olive Oil owner Pete Theodoropoulos, whose company was listed on the petition with a name of a person who he said did not work for him.
“I have no problem with them [Cornucopia],” Theodoropoulos said. “This whole thing is one vendor who has something against them. And he is trying to make a big deal out of something that is nothing.”
Alex Mancilla of Alex’s Fruits & Nuts is listed twice on the petition, once as “Alex” and another time as “Alexander.” He said neither of the signatures were his.
Another vendor, Trace Palmer from Karma Kulture, said she signed her name to the petition because she wanted Calabasas-based California Certified Farmers’ Markets, which Devlin wrote in the letter would be a good replacement for Cornucopia, to operate the market in Malibu. But she said she would not have signed her name had she seen the letter’s accusations of Cornucopia President Debra Bianco sexually harassing a vendor and stealing from other vendors.
A similar statement was made by Carol Lightwood of Pasadena Soaps, who said she has never been to the Malibu Farmers’ Market but would go if California Certified were its operator. Lightwood said she was never shown the letter attached to the petition when Devlin approached her at another city’s market.
“That’s a pretty harsh thing to put in a letter,” Lightwood said when told about its content. “But I don’t know anything about it. I have no experience with the Malibu Farmers’ Market.”
Devlin did not respond to calls for comment.
Not all the vendors were dissatisfied with having their names attached to the letter. Sandra Peltola, who heads Wild West Foods, said she signed her name because Bianco kicked her out of the Malibu Farmers’ Market once she discovered her association with Alan Cunningham of Vital Zuman Organic Farm, who Peltola said is banned from the market for no apparent reason. Cunningham’s name is also on the petition, although he said Peltola wrote it for him.
“They [Cornucopia] need to move on,” said Peltola, who said she has heard many horrific stories but declined to repeat them because they did not involve her. “If only the customers in the community knew what is going on.”
Peltola said many vendors are displeased with how Cornucopia runs its operation and that is why they signed the petition. The Malibu Times was unable to find any other vendors who said they signed the petition and knew about the content of the letter. However, the newspaper was unable to contact most of the people whose signatures appeared on the petition because many names were illegible or no last names were provided. Also, no contact phone numbers were listed on the petition.
Bianco said she has hired an attorney and legal action might be taken to combat what she said were inflammatory statements in the letter. She also suggested that the letter and petition were made in coordination with California Certified in an attempt to get it to take over the Malibu market.
Ellen Prager, market coordinator for California Certified, said Devlin sells jewelry at some of the company’s nine markets, but there was no discussion with him about the letter.
“She’s [Bianco] developed that in her own mind I suppose,” Prager said. “Or maybe somebody is trying to make us look bad. I hope not. We have never usurped someone’s market.”
Prager said California Certified applied to the county (which owns the Malibu Courthouse property where the Malibu Farmers’ Market takes place) last year for the right to hold a market on the property because for a period of time Cornucopia was not operating its market due to a dispute about the zoning of the property. Prager said she made clear in the application that California Certified had no intention of interfering with Cornucopia if it were to start its market again.
Prager never heard from the county (the county could not have legally granted California Certified the right to hold the market during the zoning dispute) and Cornucopia opened its market in the fall after the zoning dispute was temporarily solved.
Last month, the City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance that changed the zoning of the courthouse property to allow farmers’ markets, creating a permanent solution for the zoning problem. A second reading of the ordinance, which would put it into effect 30 days later, was supposed to be approved on Monday, but Cornucopia has asked for a continuance. Cornucopia Board member Remy O’Neill said this was because Cornucopia wanted to talk to the city about some possible adjustments to the wording of the ordinance.