The local Lilly’s Caf Steering Committee is trying hard to reposition themselves in the eyes of the community. If you listen to their rhetoric they have anointed themselves as protectors of children, as dispensers of the truth and as enemies of hypocrisy and pretense. However, when you look behind the words and focus on their actions, you find a completely different story.
The reason your children do not have additional sports fields to play on today is because of the Lily’s Caf Steering Committee. While 62% of the voting population endorsed the recent bond measure that was focused on acquiring land for permanent sports fields in Malibu, the Lily’s group campaigned to defeat this initiative. Was their campaign against the bond measure conducted with honesty and integrity? Did they provide the voters with the accurate facts they needed to make an informed decision on this bond measure? Hardly.
Instead, in the last weeks of the campaign, they launched a campaign of lies and misinformation. They misled voters by stating that the bond measure had been engineered by the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy to steal the funds and use them to construct 40-acre wetlands in the civic center. In bold print they declared that the MCLC never cared about parks, sports fields, children or seniors. There was not a word of truth in anything they said.
Did they know they were being dishonest? You bet they did.
Mr. Harlow, Mr. Fakehany and Mr. O’Brien had gone out of there way to attend many of the local fundraisers the MCLC was conducting around the city to raise “private funds” to pursue its conservation goals. During those sessions they asked questions and received clear answers confirming that all members of the bond committee, the MCLC included, had agreed to use the bond funds first to acquire land for recreation and sports fields in Malibu. They spoke to other members of the bond committee who also confirmed that the first goal of the bond measure was the acquisition of land for permanent recreation facilities here in Malibu.
So how should you judge the words this group is now using to position themselves in our community? How do you evaluate their recent endorsement of a pro-development candidate for City Council? I suggest that when you meet them on the street you should shake their hands and listen to what they have to say. Just make sure you count your fingers as you walk away.
Steve Uhring