Robert Daniels (“Stick to the facts”) and Cathy Wood (“Enhancing Malibu”) deserve a response to their support of the Soboroff project detailed in letters to the editor.
Daniels ignores the concerns voiced by the opposition. He claims the arguments are so weak that the campaign has resorted to “gross misrepresentation” through his use of the term “shopping mall.” Yet, no moniker changes the project’s impact. It’s over 40,000 square feet of commercial construction. It’s a large parking lot that may or may not accommodate the anticipated car trips. It is anticipated that it will be filled with businesses that must maximize those car trips. And the crux of our opposition is that the Civic Center cannot handle any additional car trips. So, rather than putting words in the mouths of others, perhaps Daniels should respond to the real issues being voiced.
Daniels should also produce the long-term lease that obviously must exist for him to make such a brash assertion that, if it is built, Whole Foods will come — or stay, for that matter. For your information, every grocery store in Malibu has changed at least once since we became a city.
Wood’s letter is indicative of the demographic driving the support of the development. Besides being incredibly ridiculous (“Every neighborhood has a Whole Foods except for Malibu.”), she exhibits the attitude that runs completely contradictory to the reason Malibu became a city. When she describes her vision of Malibu as “a beautiful West Coast Riviera,” and as “a dynamic tourist town,” I am reminded of a quote by one the Hakim brothers (Malibu Inn). He referred to the strip of PCH just east of the bridge as the “Rodeo Drive of Malibu,” while vowing to exploit that brand to its fullest commercial extent.
Lester Tobias