I’ve been wondering if the results of our election take into consideration that many of the poll voting places were changed.

Well, there’s egg on my face! Because even though the sample booklet said to check that my polling place may have been changed, and I planned my whole day to vote, I went to my regular polling place and found out that I was in the wrong place. Due to my schedule, it was too late to go to the place I was supposed to go. My husband did the same thing, and couldn’t vote because he scheduled the voting when he was on his way to work. The new voting place is more than 15 minutes north–we go south. Our old voting place is right down the street.

Why, and who, makes the decision to change voting places? We live between Paradise Cove and Kanan Dume Road. The new voting place is at the high school on Morning View Drive. It used to be at St. Aidan’s. If there must be a change, then I think Zuma Beach should be the cut-off. How can this be rectified? I bet others did the same thing.

Mrs. S. Rosenthal

REFRESHINGLY DIFFA-RENT

You just know if Malibu’s Hutton Wilkinson gets behind something it’s going to be grand, and at this year’s Dining by Design fundraiser, the legendary designer did not disappoint. With a little bippity, boopity boo, Wilkinson, Matthew White and many other top style-makers worked their magic, creating a dramatic and dazzling one-of-a-kind evening for the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA).

The Santa Monica Barker Hanger was transformed into a fragrant, flower-filled, eye-popping showplace. The 40 dinner tables were done up in a special theme that spanned the globe from Asia to Africa and Europe to the Americas. There were chandeliers fashioned from seashells and red coral, leopard fur throws, Japanese rock fountains and gem-encrusted tables. Towering centerpieces overflowed with yellow orchids, ripe mangos, seasonal persimmons, colorful crabapples and Casablanca lilies.

Thomas Schumacher, the man behind Broadway’s best, brought along performers from his celebrated productions of “The Lion King” and “Aida.”

Wilkinson’s exotic Indian pavilion came complete with authentic woodcarvings and bare-chested sword-carrying guards. I was assigned to the Malibu table surrounded by beach sand and “Baywatch” babes.

My dinner companions, Andrian and Sebastian, were equally interesting–and fearless. The two enticed me to boogie down to the dance floor and in a flash, moves were being busted in a way that put M.C. Hammer to shame. Before you could say, “show me the Monty,” dress shirts were coming off revealing jiggly love handles, fuzzy backs and stomachs about five cans short of a six-pack. They flipped and hustled and bumped and jumped for nearly two hours. Starbucks special blend? Viagra? Whatever fueled their enthusiasm, Andrian and Sebastian, I salute you as an inspiration to middle-aged men everywhere. Between the fantastic creations, the food, the flowers and fun-loving 40-somethings, this group really knows how to rock the Kasbah and serve it up with style.

MORE DISCO DAZE

Dance to the beat was the theme of this year’s 12th annual gala for the John Wayne Cancer Institute. Malibu’s Olivia Newton-John was the honoree at the ’70s-style bash, which featured music by the fabulous Four Tops. The Afros were gone, but the guys still got their groove. Although a lot of people here might be more familiar with Olivia de Havilland than Olivia Newton-John, that didn’t stop them from struttin’ their stuff to hits like “Bernadette” and “Standing in the Shadows of Love.” Next door, they were singing a different tune as The American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers handed out its Golden Score Awards. This year’s honors went to famed music makers Michael Legrand Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

ON A HIGH NOTE

There were plenty of famous faces in the audience and backstage at the opening night performance of the Los Angeles Opera’s “La Traviata.” The sumptuous production was one of the company’s finest with a lavish second act worthy of La Scala. Up next, the opera puts a little ho, ho, ho in the holidays with “The Merry Widow,” which runs through Dec. 22.

Those of you who like ancient history will remember the myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus had annoyed the gods who sentenced him to push a huge rock up the mountain. And when he reached the top and was exhaustibly wiping his brow and relaxing, he looked up to see the rock rolling down the mountain. Hero that he was, he went down and started pushing it up again.

I’d like to bring that story up to date. The mountain was the Bond Issue. We had to have 66 2/3 percent of the voting population for it to pass. The rock was the city that owned little land. There were only 10 or so buildable vacant lots left that could be used for public common areas. Much of that land was already in the development planning stage.

And Sisyphus was a Malibu miracle of great fighters who had been fighting each other, who joined together to pass the bond. All the great fighters answered three multiple choice questions.

Which would you rather see in Malibu: Land for parking and playgrounds or strip malls; land for a community center or condo complexes; land for natural habitat and trails or large shopping centers?

That all answered the same was what brought the coalition together and kept them together. About halfway up the mountain, (during the campaign), the whole mountain range began to suffer major earthquakes of terror. US News and World Report called the period between Sept. 11 and the present a “fear recession” and stated, “Americans who have money don’t want to spend it even if they are flush.”

When voting figures came in, we were so close to the top. I was so proud of my community I wanted to weep for joy. Some 62 percent of my fellow citizens voted “yes.” The Miracle Coalition indeed knew it had served a Miracle City. To all of you wonderful, caring people who made his possible, thank you!

Georgianna McBurney

California Coastal commissioners all stated recently they were opening up lines of communication with City of Malibu representatives, residents and visitors for revisions to their staff written Local Coastal Plan (LCP) for Malibu. In response to the hearings, they said they would welcome phone calls and especially written suggestions for revising specific plan items.

Now it is partly up to us to characterize what residents and visitors can’t live with about this plan and its assumptions, item by item. You can request and then read carefully copies of the staff LCP including the staff report and transcribed testimony by requesting them from the Ventura office at 805.641.0142.

Learn about this plan because it will forever affect your personal, family and even pet’s safety against wildlife and human intruders; your present and future home and lot use; your landscaping, gardening, and orchard pursuits; your horse corrals, barns and trails; your parks, your wetland dreams, your beach access, parking, availability of rental units, the urbanization of your Civic Center, etc. Or you can choose to ignore all the extreme and impractical requirements in the LCP and file lawsuits or complain forever.

You can reach the commissioners individually and through your City Council people, Gov. Davis, state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, and Assemblymember Fran Pavley. Commissioner phones and addresses are available along with relevant information at the web site http://www.coastal.gov.

Make sure our newspapers cover the LCP items comparing previous City LCP with CCC language and with interviews with residents and visitors that personalize the issues on a home and lot basis.

There is a lot at stake and the CCC is rushing this process with their next draft due out in January. The ball is in our court. Let’s understand and communicate!

Dr. Bruce Lockwood

Fads come and go, but phenomena are few and far between.

When author J.K. Rowling created Harry Potter, she re-invented the wheel for fantasy fans, but she also seems to have managed to do the impossible: Rowling introduced a new generation, used to the instant gratification of television, to the marvels of reading.

She enticed young (and not-so-young) readers to explore the fantastic world of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where boys and girls fly on broomsticks, disappear in invisibility cloaks and make feathers fly with magic wands.

And Hollywood hopes to continue that enticement with the just released “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” The movie seems to have done that–bringing in an estimated $90 million over the weekend.

Malibu “Potterites” were part of the mass excitement as they eagerly waited to see their imaginary friends come to life on the big screen at The New Malibu Theater on Friday night.

Although the Malibu opening was not as crowded as others in larger cities, it did bring the unusual sight of a line waiting outside the theater, going past Pizza Hut.

Harry Potter first captured children’s imagination when he appeared in the 1997 book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

Before long, the extraordinary tale of the young British orphan who could master the art of flying on a broomstick became a trend of its own, attracting the attention of children and adults alike.

Malibu resident Sally Emr, said, “My 9-year-old granddaughter, Melanie, read every single book as they came out. She told me to read them so we could talk about them.”

While Potter fans of all ages came to the theater, a few were not yet convinced about Potter’s prestige. Robby Mohr, 12, has not read any of the Potter series.

“I hope to be pleasantly surprised,” said Mohr as he waited in line to purchase tickets. “And if I like the movie, I’ll read the book.”

His friend, Annabel Simer, 16, read all four books. “I think I like the third one most,” she said.

Zack Sher, 12, decided to read the first book to see what the hype was all about.

“I like it, but it was kind of corny,” he said, not convinced that the excitement is justified. But he still gave Potter a chance and came to see if the movie is illustrative of the book.

Teenage skepticism aside, young and old Potter fans that were already converted, couldn’t wait to see the story come to life on-screen.

“I was reading the books to my son, Dylan, but we were going too slow, so I read them by myself,” said Malibu mom Colleen Morris.

“It’s a great story. It all comes down to the imagination of the author,” said Morris, giving an adult’s point of view on the magical pull of Harry Potter. “It will be so nice to finally visualize what I see in my mind.”

As she sat in the theater, watching trailers on the screen, Julia Pegeler noted the author’s personal achievements. Before she authored Potter, Rowling was on welfare. “Now, only the queen is richer,” Pegeler said, impressed by the writer’s ability to create a novel that attracts so much attention.

Pegeler came to see for herself if it really is the best movie of all time.

I’m insulted by Tom Hasse’s suggestion that I and the rest of the dozen Malibu Coalition for Parks and Land Bond Committee members were “agents” of any particular council member. The record needs to be set straight that the accomplished community activists who supported the bond do not have “programmable” minds and indeed were driven by what motivates most volunteers — a strong desire to help their community.

Mr. Hasse’s fingerpointing is just one more tactical diversion designed to keep people from recognizing that Malibu faces a serious problem of future commercial overdevelopment and that we’re destined to hold the dubious distinction of being the only community in the region lacking a single city-owned improvement for children, adults and seniors. Malibu does not even own a place to put a child on a swing.

Ultimately, his efforts will do little to thwart the will of the majority of Malibuites (62 percent) who recognized that investing in city parks is preferable to having “maximum commercial development.”

The fact is that Sharon Barovsky along with Mayor House, Ken Kearsley and Jeff Jennings extended the Bond Committee respect and encouragement and every measure of autonomy to achieve the formidable task of creating the bond measure and developing an information campaign to explain it. They should all be given a medal for their tireless efforts to persuade their constituents that purchasing public land is essential if we are to preserve our quality of life in Malibu.

Bonds often need to be presented more than once to the public before voters get all the correct information and they learn to discern their own self interest from the web spun by special interests. I’m quite sure that next time a few more voters will reject the shortsighted idea that the commercial overdevelopment of Malibu is preferable to owning public parks.

Anne Hoffman

Last week, nineteen Pepperdine University students went on an educational journey, not to a museum or a university, but to Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.

The “urban plunge,” as they called it, was part of the school’s recognition of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. In addition to the “urban plunge,” the Pepperdine Volunteer Center hosted a series of forums and activities designed to sensitize students to the concerns of those less fortunate.

Annalise Brock, a senior from Nashville, Tennessee, was the head coordinator for the weeklong event. She is an international studies major who holds the senior student position at the Volunteer Center.

This is not a casual operation, but rather a well-oiled machine comprised of two staff coordinators and 23 select student “staff” members who fulfill their work-study requirements by working anywhere from six to 15 hours per week. Brock is in the 15-hours plus club, in addition to her full-time student status.

Many of the involved students found themselves in unusual situations, particularly those that spent the weekend on the streets of L.A. Rhonda McDowell, a political science major from Laurel, Delaware, grew up in an agricultural community where homelessness was nonexistent. She said she felt like a “rich white girl” when she arrived downtown last week, but soon she began to feel a sense of community on the street. She felt a climate of “people taking care of their own,” but also witnessed several outbursts of violence.

The students took part in variety of activities downtown, including serving dinner at the Union Rescue Mission, collecting trash, leading a prayer service in Macarthur Park, and participating in an “Adopt-A-Block” walking outreach program.

The visitors also devised four missions designed for total immersion in the environment: McDowell’s group had one member on crutches and had to find shelter for the night (although the entire group spent the night at the Hollywood Church of Christ). Another group had to find prescription medicine for a member in a wheel chair, and other students were assigned to find a job with no home address.

Although some students found an evangelical mission to be an important part of this event, Pepperdine professor Cynthia Cornell Novak says that is not the primary purpose of the “urban plunge.” Novak believes a liberal arts education needs to include community outreach programs such as this, and that these students are provided a unique learning environment.

Sociology student Liz Lashower found the “religious angle” was important for her. She said she is moved by “the power to transform lives through religion,” and hopes to work with inner city teens in the future. Another participant, Jimmy Douglass, a biology major from Kenya, hopes to return to Africa and work in underdeveloped areas as a Christian missionary.

The three students returned from their urban weekend to their bucolic Malibu Pepperdine campus to join a standing-room only crowd for a “town meeting” in the Stauffer Chapel.

Panelists included directors and residents from the Union Rescue Mission, the Downtown Women’s Center, and downtown’s Dome Village. Professor Novak led the visitors in a discussion of homeless and hunger programs; students posed questions to the panelists.

The week continued with several unusual events: a craft fair with items created by residents of the Downtown Women’s Shelter, and a children’s art workshop where young visitors from the Don King Shelter worked with Pepperdine students.