Dear Editor,
I am writing to address a misleading statement in last week’s article regarding the dismissal of the latest Malibu Seawolves swim coach. The co-president of the Malibu Aquatics Foundation (MAF), Joe Sichta, is quoted as saying that “the leadership of the Seawolves and the Marlins have been in ongoing conversations for many weeks now as both sides seek common ground to heal this rift in our community.”
Unfortunately, that is not the case. When I texted Mr. Sichta to find out how he could make such a statement in light of the facts to the contrary, he answered by referring to a single meeting he had with the president of the Malibu Marlins Board Of Directors, Ani Dermenjian. At that breakfast, he asked Ani (our president) to join their (the MAF) board — an offer she declined for obvious reasons.
He also asked the Marlins to reach out to the Daland Swim School, an out-of-town for-profit organization, in the hope that they could come in and take over for both clubs. This is a plan the MAF has since abandoned themselves, and we never thought it made any sense nor met with Daland at all. The “ongoing conversation and plan for healing” made a good sound bite, but grossly misrepresented the facts.
The Malibu Marlins Swim Club was formed after the old MAF Board Of Directors fired their previous coach, Erik Ran, and subsequently refused to meet with the swimmers to explain their decision. We, the swimmers and parents, were told that the MAF board has the right to do as they please and that they had no intention of listening to the community. We soon learned that the nonprofit MAF is indeed organized, unlike most other nonprofit swim clubs, and does not allow their “members” (legally they have no members) to vote in board elections. The MAF operates without transparency or accountability, more like a privately held business than a public-benefit corporation. That is why we were forced to start a new swim club, the Malibu Marlins, based on principles of democratic governance, transparency, and accountability.
The stonewalling by the MAF has continued for over eight months. The MAF/Seawolves, with the help of the city staff, have denied the Malibu Marlins access to the community pool, even though we represent the majority of the Malibu swim community. I suspect their goal was to choke off the competition and force swimmers to join the Seawolves as the only option. This has partially succeeded. It was only with the help of the school district that the Marlins were able to secure pool time at 6:30 in the morning, which has allowed us to re-hire our beloved Coach Erik and build a successful new club, despite the attempts to undermine us. Ironically, the Seawolves were then forced to fire their head coach, because they don’t have enough swimmers to afford him.
This was the status quo when the article was published. On Saturday, Feb. 17, there was a meeting between a Joe Sichta and myself, at which the possibility of healing the community and combining the clubs was discussed for the first time. Even after this meeting, it is not clear whether that could ever happen, because the MAF board refuses to join the Marlins organization, which has proper governance, but is so far also unwilling to commit to changing their board structure. In other words, they just want to go back to the way it was. We pay — they decide. While I am encouraged by the fact that a frank exchange of ideas took place and continue to hope for the best, I am also aware that there is a tiny minority of activist parents who brought about this rift and continue to act unilaterally and in secret instead of taking steps towards reconciliation. It is a good sign that the Seawolves held their first-ever general meeting last week, which is dampened, however, by the fact that they, once again, refused calls for democratic governance by their own members.
I get asked by other parents all the time about when we will be able to offer afternoon swim times, because they want to join the Marlins so their kids can swim with Coach Erik. Many of our swimmers who are unable to make the early morning times are swimming with the Seawolves and are now frustrated again by the new board repeating the same mistakes of the old one: firing yet another coach without notice or consultation with their members, and now being told that a head coach isn’t necessary at all. I wish there were a way to heal and bring the community together, but I don’t see it happening under the “my way or the highway” approach the MAF pursues when they are not providing a nice-sounding but hollow public statements.
Robert Brinkmann
CFO, Malibu Marlins Swim Club