On occasion, public agencies are attacked for decisions they make with inaccurate, misleading or outright false statements. We usually do not respond to these statements. However, on April 11th, you published an article covering the protest of opponents of the Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project. In the article, Marcia Hanscom is quoted saying that State Parks officials “would not allow news media to be present.” That statement is completely false and hopefully not intentional, but we feel compelled to set the record straight.
Within the Angeles District there has never been an occurrence that legitimate media personnel have been denied access to any State Park event or incident. California State Parks not only embraces first amendment rights, it also regularly updates its employees on the constitutional rights of not only the public but those of the media as well.
As the Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project moves forward, it is our hope that knowingly false statements are replaced with a spirited debate based in facts and science. Lastly, we will state for the record that the media have been and will always be welcome to all events on State Park property.
D. Lindsey Templeton
Acting Malibu Superintendent, California State Parks