Dear Editor,
I wanted to take a moment to share with you some thoughts on the events that have transpired since I announced my candidacy for the Malibu City Council. I never imagined I would become involved in politics, but a few weeks ago, when I met Michel Shane and listened to the tragic story about the loss of his daughter Emily, it moved me to see if I could make a difference.
For those of you who do not know, Emily was 13 years old and was run down on the PCH in 2010. Sadly, as we know all too well, little has changed since that horrific event, and more tragedies keep happening.
I thought surely we all could get together and find a way to prevent this senseless loss. But we still lose loves in our backyard.
I knew what I would do, I would run for City Council. I would use the position to move Caltrans to finally step in and fix PCH. I would use this position to help my friends and neighbors who lost houses in the Woosley fire. I would help Malibu keep its character and help preserve the environment. I hoped I could give back to the place that had given me and my family so many wonderful memories.
Surely, everyone would agree these things needed to happen and change was long overdue. I rushed in and got my candidate package from City Hall. I immediately started studying the situation. I met with Caltrans; I met with all the current City Councilmembers, the current roster of incumbents, and the other candidate.
I met with many of the past members of the council to learn more about the history. I met with the sheriff, various agency heads, and I spoke to many of the leading figures around Malibu.
As expected I found out that everyone had many of the same ideas and were united in their desire to see the realization of some of the changes we had discussed.
However, to be candid, what I did not expect was the magnitude of the vitriol, the number of allegations, litigations, and pontifications levied by and amongst the same group of people who seemed to be so aligned on so many issues. How did we get here? By what twisted sorcery did this mayhem arise? Unfortunately, this truly Shakespearean drama has caused too many people to spend too much time fighting each other instead of fighting for what we all seemingly want. It seems we are suffering from the same symptoms that have infected politics on every scale. So it has become apparent to me that if I win or lose the election the most important thing I can do is ask everyone to listen to their better angels and to start working together for a better Malibu. Let’s do it for the fire victims past and future, let’s do it for the environment, for the ocean, and for the mountains. Let’s do it for Emily and all the other lives lost on the PCH. We owe it to them.
No matter what happens in this election one thing is for sure: I’m not going anywhere.
Haylynn Conrad
Malibu