On Sunday, (Oct. 7 to be exact), my bride and I drove to the Malibu Public Library to hear our five council candidates vying for the two seats being vacated by Lou LaMonte and Laura Rosenthal. In the back of the room was a long table. On the left side of the table were chocolate chip cookies, and both powdered and chocolate miniature donuts. On the right side of the table I think were celery and carrots (rabbit food) with salsa for the health minded among us. I say “I think” because I never gave that portion of the table a second look.
I had a difficult time choosing between the cookies and donuts, and thus decided to indulge in ample portions of both. I especially like the concept of miniature donuts. Somehow I feel as I gobble them up that I am not taking in as many calories as I would if I consumed a normal sized donut.
I am a bit disturbed by the news that Dunkin Donuts is removing the “Donuts” from its official name. Pretty soon In-N-Out Burger will delete “Burger” and we will be left with In-N-Out, AT&T will become AT, IBM will become IB, and so forth. It’s bad enough that my kids are texting, the president is tweeting and it obviously won’t be long before everything is reduced to just one letter or two.
But I digress. The forum was sponsored by the Malibu Democratic Club. All five candidates—Jim Palmer, Karen Farrer, Olivia Damavandi, Lance Simmens, and Mikke Pierson (they were seated from left to right in that order)—delivered opening statements and then answered a battery of questions. Having recently survived the 2016 presidential campaign, I expected a no-holds-barred brawl.
I was rather surprised that not a single candidate called any of their opponents ugly, or accused them of having a relative who helped assassinate John F. Kennedy or even of having tiny hands. There was no name calling and seldom was heard a disparaging word. (Sounds like “Home, Home on the Range”).
All I heard were five sincere candidates telling the assembled how they would try to solve our many problems including traffic, safety, homelessness, land use, etc. It was a most civilized afternoon, and I enjoyed hearing the candidates almost as much I liked the donuts.