Dear Editor,
I write as a founding member and current treasurer of the Malibu Marlins Swim Club, and as someone who has received insulting and threatening messages from associates of “the board” of the Malibu Aquatics Foundation (MAF). I feel compelled to respond to last week’s Letter to the Editor from “the board.”
In their letter, “the board” alleges that they have endured a “relentless series of slanderous and hurtful personal attacks intended to inflict reputational damage.” This claim is perplexing because they have never publicly identified themselves, even in the letter itself, which is signed as “The MAF Board of Directors.” There is a notable lack of personal responsibility or accountability for the statements made. Furthermore, no specific examples or evidence are provided to support their allegations of slander. “The board” simply cries “slander” without addressing the concerns raised by the swimming community or substantiating their claims.
What remains undeniably true is that most former Seawolves swimmers discovered that the MAF operates as a board-directed nonprofit, where only the four members of the MAF Board of Directors hold decision-making power. This lack of transparency and accountability, allowing “the board” to impose decisions on the majority of swimmers without recourse, led us to establish a new swim club, The Malibu Marlins Swim Club, which is structured as a member-directed nonprofit. Every swimmer in our program has a voice and a vote, with our five-member Board of Directors openly identifying themselves and being accountable to our members through elections and open board meetings.
Both the MAF and the Malibu Marlins Swim Club boards are directed by unpaid volunteers. The primary difference, it seems, is our humility in recognizing that we should not impose our will on the organization against the wishes of the majority.
The article that sparked the MAF’s letter primarily focused on the Malibu Marlins’ challenges in accessing the Malibu Community Pool. This is a cause the MAF appears to oppose because, given a choice, the community may prefer an organization that is responsive to its members. The MAF’s imagined insults are tangential; we believe that to serve the community, one must also listen to the community. This is why we founded the Malibu Marlins Swim Club and why we advocate for access to our community resource.
Robert Brinkmann
Malibu Marlins Swim Club
Treasurer