Three of our four children will be participating in a Promotion or Graduation Ceremony in a few days. One for 5th, one for 8th, and one for 12th. All four have been attending Malibu schools since 1994.

Our children started off attending private school; then we moved to Irvine so they could attend what are considered some of the best schools in the country. After two years there, we moved to Germany for three years, where they went to German schools, which pride themselves on a very traditional, highly academic curriculum.

We were always in search of a school environment that was academically sound, creatively stimulating and one which involved the surrounding community. We came full circle and ended up finding just that in Malibu.

It’s true, we have been vocal critics in the past (and probably will be in the future) but the truth is that the majority of what is going on in the Malibu schools is exceptional. If it weren’t, there would not be so many exceptional people involved in the education of our community’s children.

As we approach this milestone in our lives, we would like to thank so many who contribute: 1) The dedicated and hard-working teachers and administrators who truly go above and beyond to educate every child and offer a curriculum that is intellectually challenging and creatively nurturing; 2) The service organizations (Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary, Optimists, Women’s Clubs) that value, encourage and reward virtues of commitment, hard work, success, and overcoming obstacles; 3) The religious organizations that work hard to plant seeds of faith that grow into foundations for life of strong moral character; 4) The businesses that give so generously to the many youth activities in our community; 5) The newspapers that chronicle and enthusiastically report the events in the lives of our children; 6) The City Council that searches for ways to improve life and offer more opportunities for youth, as well as supporting existing programs; 7) The parents, volunteers, and taxpayers, many of whose children are grown and out of the system, who give so much of themselves.

All of these, combined represent a community that recognizes the value and importance of investing in our future – which is our youth. You do it generously and joyously with your time, money and voices. And what is the reward? Take a look at the bright, young faces graduating this year. They hold the promise of hope and success for the future, solutions to problems, both seen and unforeseen, and the endurance of virtues and values that began in this community.

Thank you all (times 4)

Wolter and Patti Mehring

We feel that it is very important to respond to several anonymous letters that have been distributed through the neighborhood, which have misrepresented the facts regarding our second story addition.

The project as proposed is well within the applicable guidelines allowed by the City of Malibu Municipal Code.

In the letters, it was stated that the Malibu West Architectural Committee rejected our project based on a “feeling” that the overall project does not comply with the “neighborhood standards” and is significantly “out of character” with the rest of the neighborhood. Specific and definitive reasons should be addressed. Our proposed project is well within the second story standards, which is the proper criteria to make a comparison. We are located at the end of a cul-de-sac where many of the two story homes in Malibu West are located. The project is certainly in character with the neighborhood, as it will blend seamlessly, keeping the “ranch style” architecture. We are still in the process of working with the Architectural Committee and we are awaiting a meeting with the committee and any neighbors who are concerned with the scope of the project so that we can come to a mutual agreement.

There is concern precedence is being set, but how could that be when many of the homes in Malibu West have already added second stories. No precedence is being set. In fact, if one looks at similar cul-de-sacs (which is the location of the proposed property), the majority of the homes are second story. It is a very sensible and ideal location for the proposed project.

The proposed project is accused of dramatically infringing on the view and privacy of two homes. Part of the proposed project is to plant significant vegetation, which will completely sustain any privacy which may be lost. We have invited these neighbors to come and look at our project, and have given our written word that we will do everything necessary to sustain our mutual privacies. We do not want to lose our privacy either.

The letters have also stated that if projects like ours are allowed to “flourish” in Malibu West, they will significantly decrease the value of your home and diminish the value of your neighborhood. These statements, too, are misleading. Improving one’s property does nothing but increase the value of that property and those in Malibu West.

We have been accused of taking our “case” to the City. This is untrue for there is no “case” to take to the City. If anyone in Malibu would like to build or add onto their house or property, they, by law, are required to submit their plans to the City of Malibu in order to secure a building permit. We are just obeying the law and taking the required steps necessary to improve our property.

In no way have we tried to go behind the Malibu West Architectural Committee. We submitted our plans to the City and Architectural Committee at the same time. We have been very open with all our neighbors regarding this project. We have invited them over to our home to look at our architectural drawings and to look at the second story addition from the roof line. We could not have been any more up front and open with everyone and it saddens us that these anonymous letters have been distributed throughout the neighborhood behind our backs (We never received one, but were informed by other supporting neighbors. )

We invite those who have written these letters or anyone else who has concerns with the project to please contact us so we can discuss the concerns and come to an agreement. We believe that when a homeowner presents their property for modification, it is very important to look at the individual property. Our property is unique as it is located in one of the most low profile locations in the neighborhood and our project could be done with very little impact to anyone. We only have positive intentions for this neighborhood and hope we can work the difference out to everyone’s satisfaction.

Brian and Cindy McConnell

What it is that drives people to go above and beyond, to strive, to achieve, to give of themselves and their time as a volunteer outside their normal nine-to-five?

For Ron Bloomfield, who created the Malibu Team Sports program in 1981 and has run it in his off hours ever since, the inspiration, in a (then) town lacking any real organized sports for children, was simple: “I had a five-year old.”

So for the past 19 years, after leaving work at his Bloomfield Financial Group in the early afternoons, he has worked to create a place for his and all children in Malibu to play sports–an activity he endorses as a way to “keep these kids off the streets, [by] creating a positive environment and interaction for them.”

With his excited and eager way, Bloomfield talked over lunchtime sushi about starting the soccer program, the basketball and baseball leagues (boys and girls) and getting funding and sponsorships from parents and local businesses. He makes the monumental project sound easy, preferring to tell funny little tales about children having fun playing sports, rather than the somber admission of long hours, five days a week, year in year out, and the inevitable dealings with overbearing parents.

In the unique position of founder, director, and head of the program, he has always been the man in charge, the one behind it all. “I like to call myself a benevolent dictator,” he says, smiling. “I had my way, you know. I always ran it my way.”

But with that freedom of power and leadership there also came responsibility. A program of this size (at last count the soccer program alone was fielding 600 kids a season) requires money and strong backs.

Bloomfield dismisses that pressure with a revelation of his Malibu version of Machiavellianism. “You know how I got support?” he asks, with a wink of an eye. “My referees were high school athletes that I was paying a lot of money to. They were paid well. They always came back. Loyalty.”

So is it going to be strange for the dictator to give up the post when the City of Malibu steps in with its athletic commission in six weeks?

“No, no,” says Bloomfield. “You know, I’ve always told parents and everyone that if you would rather do this, c’mon. No one ever did. I only did this because no one else would. And Malibu really should run the program.”

But the important detail is the fact that he did continue to run the program, rain or shine, for 19 years.

Amy Crittenden of the Malibu city sports and recreation office, who is taking over for Bloomfield, is wildly impressed by his legacy. “The fact that he kept running [the program] even after his kids had gone through and grown up just shows that he’s done it because he cares about Malibu’s kids,” says Crittenden. “He wanted to make sure that they had the opportunity to play sports.”

Bloomfield affirms this, saying, “The fact is these kids just need the chance to play and compete while they can. You know, they’re not really the next Michael Jordans; only one Malibu kid has ever gotten a professional contract for sports. So you gotta play while you still can.”

Bloomfield has a way of being humble and straightforward–he just smiles when he is told that former Malibu Mayor Tom Hasse called him “incredible,” his work “invaluable and amazing.” But Bloomfield is well aware of how important his work has been. This past March the city handed him its highest honor, the Malibu tile, at a special ceremony in his honor, and on June 16 a farewell party will take place for the parting dictator of local sports “to thank him for his unselfish work and his ability to coordinate a great participatory program in a city full of individuals,” according to friend and Malibuite Steve Karsh.

Bloomfield says that the real affirmation has come from former players, “not just with thanks, but when I see them and they are doing well in everything they do, it’s just great to see. It makes me feel like we had a positive influence.”

The positive influence is as well entrenched in the city, as it is the former players. Crittenden, who Bloomfield refers to playfully as the “heiress,” said that the strong, consistent tradition Bloomfield has created “has made my job so much easier. I just walk in to this well-established program, a community program, which I already feel apart of.”

And as the passing of the torch nears, what will he do now with all the extra time?

“I don’t know yet,” he answers. “I’m sure I’ll figure something out, but, you know, you really ought to come to that party on the 16.”

A Malibuite since the early ’80s, Timothy Treadwell has played the role of the “Grizzly Man,” endearing himself to locals.

In fact, Bill Sampson of the Optimists Club says, “He is one of the better things to happen to Malibu.”

Treadwell, an environmental activist and accomplished photographer, was recently in Malibu conducting a fundraiser for his next trip to Alaska, where he goes every summer to study and work at protecting the grizzly bear.

While in Alaska, Treadwell literally lives among the grizzly bears. A barren landscape, three times the size of Yellowstone, a minuscule tent, and a barrel of food supplies nearby is Treadwell’s home for four months every year. To most people, this would be a frightening experience, but to look back on Treadwell’s life, it can be easy to understand how he could do what he does.

As a young man, he was addicted to drugs and alcohol and it was as he was lying on a hospital bed after a drug overdose, thinking he was dying, that he decided to take a 180-degree turn and make something out of his life.

That he was passionate about bears was already known. He had confided in his best friend that he wanted to go “very far away,” if he survived, and “live among the wild animals.” His friend suggested Alaska, and so, the Timothy Treadwell legacy began.

As the bears come out of hibernation, he is there to greet them. They have all been given names. Tabitha, his favorite who he rescued twice from poachers, Aunt Melissa, Saturn, Taffy, Booble, Downey, to name a few. Another, Quincy, who was near death after a summer that saw no salmon spawning in the Columbia River, miraculously came back to life. Treadwell does not feed the bears. He calls himself “their protector.” According to him, there are 30,000 grizzlies in existence and poachers kill 1,500 every year.

The poachers come by plane and with guns aimed at the bears, Treadwell rushes to block their shots by stepping out and waving them off their targets. The bears are killed primarily for their paws, which are cut off and used in very expensive Asian meals, and their gallbladders, which are used for medicinal qualities. Pointing to laws in Alaska that allow hunters to take only a bear’s head and hide and leave the meat behind, Treadwell said to kill an animal and not consume it is evil.

Treadwell considers himself a hard-core conservationist and feels that people should be inspired to conserve personally at home. “Our true problem is consumption and gas guzzling SUVs.”

He says that the current president’s constituency wants jobs, fuel and income. Treadwell, however, feels it is a shame that animals have to suffer should oil drilling in Alaska proceed.

“I will not rest,” he vows, “until the last grizzly bear is free from the harm of man.”

Treadwell’s other overall mission is to educate people, especially young children, about bears and their habitat. He has lectured to 10,000 Malibu elementary and junior school children during the past 10 years.

Treadwell said he tries to inspire children to stay in school and learn as much as possible about “Nature, art, geography and conservation.”

Treadwell is considered a master at photographing these majestic creatures and making them accessible to children and grownups. He sells the prints in order to raise funds for his expeditions.

Peter and Sarah Dixon of Broad Beach, who are television writers and producers, saw Treadwell’s photography work in ’93 and together they created “In the Land of the Grizzlies,” a documentary for the National Audubon Society in 1995.

In talking to him, it is evident that he does not like the “business” side of his life, but he mentioned that he has several benefactors or “angels.” One such angel is Robert Towne, a former Malibu resident, who wrote “Chinatown” and has worked on many movies.

“The people [of Malibu] are very wonderful and kind and extremely successful, which helped me to rise to their level,” says Treadwell of his local friends.

Treadwell has written “Among Grizzlies; Living With Wild Bears in Alaska,” with Jewel Palovak in 1999. He is currently working on a children’s book and just produced his sixth documentary for the Discovery Channel, which aired in May. He also appeared on “Late Night With David Letterman” in February and has even named one of the bears he regularly sees in Alaska “Letterman.” He lectures extensively and has recently spoken to groups at the Sierra Club, The Sea Shepherd Society and Heal The Bay.

We are a group of teachers at Point Dume Marine Science School in Malibu, Calif. We are writing to protest the distribution of “bonuses” for teachers who are employed in schools where the SAT 9 test scores have increased.

We have recently learned that we are to receive approximately $590 each due to our increased API (Achievement Performance Index). While we appreciate that members of the California Legislature wish to show appreciation to teachers, we feel that this form of compensation is inappropriate and counterproductive.

Research clearly shows that students living in poverty, second language learners, students with learning disabilities, and students attending overcrowded schools are at a great disadvantage in a system that rewards and punishes students and teachers based on a test score.

We need our politicians to respect and support the complexities of the teaching profession. Just as governmental officials would not use one standard measure on which to base all judgment and decisions, so teachers must not be judged by one score on a standardized test.

Parental involvement, class sizes, student motivation, administrative support and access to resources all impact student achievement.

We have entered the teaching profession as public servants. We celebrate the personal fulfillment that comes from this profession. We rejoice in the small achievements that our students make every day. We are indebted to our colleagues in other public schools who have the harder jobs: those who work to make a difference for students who live in areas of higher crime and poverty. They face a great challenge and need all the support and resources possible.

Bonus awards will not increase actual learning in our schools. It demoralizes us with the message that a test score is the most important measurement of our teaching. It gives young and experienced teachers incentives to seek out high achieving school districts for jobs.

We suggest that politicians explore more productive ways to improve performance, such as, providing more financial support, providing more teaching support, and expanding efforts to attract experienced teachers to those lowest-performing schools.

Point Dume School Teachers: Jane Woodwell, Kelley Matthews, Ken Harris, Kris Jennings, Vonnie VanNote, Beth Levin, Cindy Johnson, Kerrin Gruber, Tammy Mackey, Margo Dunn and Gina Armfield

hour nightmare

Traffic engineering/traffic management on Pacific Coast Highway does not involve rocket science, brain surgery or complex mathematical formulas. I have been traveling twice a day on PCH for over 26 years at least five times a week. During the last five years, the traffic on PCH during rush hour between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. and between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. has become unbearable.

The traffic nightmare begins at the McClure Tunnel and continues through Topanga Canyon. To me, the solution is simple. The southbound traffic during the rush hour period should have at least three lanes, and the northbound traffic during the night rush hour should have a least three lanes.

I have experienced reverse land traffic in the City of Los Angeles, on the Golden Gate Bridge, and throughout other crowded areas of the state. Why can’t we have the same type of traffic control on Pacific Coast Highway during the morning and evening rush hour periods? Is that asking too much of Caltrans?

Malibu is such a beautiful place to live, but it is such a difficult place to enter or exit during the rush hour time periods. We have had one study after another by Cal Trans, but we have never had any significant changes to alleviate the traffic jams during rush hours.

Isn’t it time to give the residents of Malibu a break?

J. Patrick Maginnis