Facts should matter, but they don’t seem to these days. In referring to Reva Feldman’s departure as city manager, last week’s letter to the editor by Sam Kaplan falsely referenced, “the thin if insincere praise she received when exiting.” That is simply not true. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The front page story, also in last week’s Malibu Times, accurately described a tribute to Reva on Zoom attended by over 150 people despite getting short notice of the event. Past and present elected and appointed officials who worked with Reva over the years were effusive in their praise of her, as were leaders of many of our most important civic organizations.
Scores of citizens also gave witness to Reva’s integrity, competence and heart. The tribute lasted three hours and several people who participated broke down as they talked. There was nothing thin or insincere about any of it.
As a former public official on both a local and state level, I have attended countless farewell tributes, but I have never experienced such an outpouring of heartfelt praise and good wishes. I sincerely doubt that any of those attacking Reva with false claims of corruption ever received such lavish praise when they moved on.
Burt Ross