A survey says that taxpayers work the first three hours every day just to pay their taxes. The years have passed and my memory has become bewildered, but as I recall, from the various news articles and my personal involvement, Malibuites spent in 1981 over $1,000,000 of their personal funds and volunteer labor to construct a six acre Malibu Bluffs Regional Park.

In the first several years this local park was run and maintained by the Malibu community service clubs with no funds from any governmental organization.

In 1989 the County of Los Angeles spent $2,500,000 of taxpayer money to rebuild the Malibu Bluffs Regional Park erecting a community building, parking lot, grounds keepers building, concrete walkway, new access road, general usage athletic and picnic areas and water and sprinkler systems. The entire park and general usage facilities was structured for persons with disabilities. Handicap parking, bathrooms, picnic area, meeting rooms, and play areas are fabulous features of this regional park.

The highlight of the park was the donation of a dolphin and whale watching station designed for the disabled by actor Pierce Brosnon in memory of his wife. This viewing stage area is the only one of its kind in the state of California.

In 1999 the City of Malibu spent on the Malibu Bluffs Regional Park an additional $300,000 of Proposition “A” monies, which in fact had cost the Malibu taxpayer a supplementary $4,000,000 in a 20-year property tax bond. The City of Malibu used an additional $238,000 from their general budget to complete the project.

Bureaucrats are storytellers. I’m an algebra storyteller. I figure two good lies make a positive and the numbers look positive. Let us see, positive $1,000,000, plus positive $2,500,000, plus positive $238,000 in over runs equals…equals…equals, $5,038,000 of local taxpayer dollars to establish a six acre regional community park for the enjoyment of the whole West Los Angeles County area.

Thus when the California State Parks director, Rusty Areias, whose department was at each and every dedication and re-dedication of the Malibu Bluffs Regional Park, writes the City of Malibu and expounds, that it is time for the City of Malibu to take the initiative and select new sites for their recreation programs. I am bewildered. With its unique setting on Santa Monica Bay and the California coast and special needs facilities for the disabled, director Areias says that the Malibu Bluffs Regional Park must remain in the hands of State Parks and returned to a more natural state for the use of all Californians. His intent is to tear down and un-develop the entire locale with additional taxpayer money.

Gone will be the Michael Landon Center, general recreational area, whale and dolphin watching station, parking, picnic areas and general use walking paths.

I wonder if Areias’ memory of who employs him is as confused with age as mine is bewildered by his actions? On the other hand, I could spend quality time with my grandchildren at the California Ano Nuevo State Reserve and watch the massive 3-ton northern elephant seals battle for mates and breed. Yea, right.

Doug O’Brien

First I would like to send my condolences to the Carmichaels. Losing a sweet pet whether you have had it for six weeks or six years is heartbreaking. We live on Dume and have also felt concern during pick up and drop off times.

However, there seems to be some loss of perspective. In the years we have lived on the Point we have seen the bodies of more than three people on PCH right here, plus numerous accidents. There is a stop sign on Fernhill, yet I have yet to hear statistics on the number of accidents that occurred there. How many accidents have occurred on Fernhill. Ten, five, one? Does anyone have this information? I personally have had numerous close calls on PCH and none on Fernhill. Six patrol cars for Malibu might better serve the community where there is the most need. The speed bumps were a hazard for fire trucks.

The silent minority.

Pat Sneed

Thanks to Craig Sap, lifeguard/peace office in the Angeles District/Malibu West Sector, my mother and I had the most memorable Mother’s Day I can ever remember. Craig met us at the handicapped parking space (wearing a smile that could light up the darkness) at the entrance to the Point Dume Reserve.

His department has two beach wheelchairs that are available to anyone who calls him at 457-1234. After my 90something mother got into this large, cartoon-like vehicular wheelchair (the yellow tires are enormous), I pushed her to the lookout at the base of the Point Dume Headlands for a spectacular view I’d always wished I could share with her and now, thanks to the State Department of Parks and Recreation — and Craig Sap — I was now able to provide her. Did she enjoy it? You bet! Did it make me enormously happy? You bet your bippy it did!

I hope your readers who are handicapped read this letter and avail themselves of the same wonderful experience my mother and I had on that glorious day.

Marlene Matlow

We Californians don’t like nuclear power plants. We don’t like power plants of any kind. We don’t like oil refineries or power lines either. And, of course, we don’t want our beautiful state marred by those ugly oil wells and pumps. However, there are things that we do like.

We love our SUVs, our computers, VCRs and TVs. Our kids spend hours in front of the television playing Nintendo, Play Station and every new power dependent toy that Japan can produce while the sun is shining outdoors.

We have a problem. Those selfish people who live with oil refineries, power plants, and miles of power lines won’t share their energy with us. Didn’t we offer to trade oranges for oil?

Agnes Peterson

ART SMART

And in the category of outstanding performance in hospitality . . . the Oscar/Emmy/Grammy/fill-in-the-blank goes to . . . David Foster and Linda Thompson. The Foster and Thompson duo lived up to their reputations as Malibu’s most gracious and generous hosts after a three-day whirlwind celebration that drew everyone from superstars to environmentalists to local cops.

After opening their doors for a Sheriff’s Department fund-raiser one Friday evening, they cleared the tables and set up for the Baykeeper ball the following Saturday and capped it all off on Sunday as they rolled out the red carpet for Pepperdine University and its Center for the Arts.

The center and its outreach programs use performing arts, dance and music as a way to educate, inspire and enlighten children from various backgrounds. “The arts have taught me so much about discipline, goals and teamwork,” said Ellen Weitman, “and the Fosters have been amazing. They’ve done so much, especially for the kids.”

The center also works to fill a void that exists in many school programs. “The arts are the first thing they cut in public education,” said Susan Runnels Noel. “The arts are what our world is built on. We have to step in because these kids are our future.”

After a silent auction and champagne on the lawn of his elegant Malibu estate, David took the stage to preside over the kind of top-drawer entertainment program he is famous for. His surprise guests spanned the musical spectrum with everyone from Pat Boone, sporting an eye-popping electric tangerine sports jacket, to an elegantly clad Marilyn McCoo who delighted the crowd with standards like “Up, Up and Away” and “One Less Bell to Answer.”

The evening’s highlight came as wacky “Will & Grace” star Sean Hayes burst on the scene with a tribute to his TV idol, Cher, and gave a special rendition of, what else, “Believe.” Not exactly poetry in motion, but very, very funny. What could be better? Well, how about the real Cher taking his place and performing the real thing? After a grand finale with pop’s most popular diva in fine form, the 400 or so guests left with a smile on their faces and a song in their hearts knowing they had done their part for a worthy cause.

Of course a memorable evening such as this can only draw words of praise for the people who made it happen. “David and Linda are so great,” says Runnels Noel. “They’re always giving back to the community, and giving back is what it’s all about.”

Reference is periodically made to the Economic Study conducted by Applied Development Economics for the Economic Advisory Committee. The study indicated “A significant segment of Malibu’s citizens want the civic center area to remain open space.”

“Accordingly, the city should commission a study of all tools that can be used to protect the area as open space (i.e. down-zoning, property acquisition, etc.) and implement the study’s recommendations. This study should include a cost estimate for purchasing the property, and a fiscal analysis of the city’s ability to allocate the required funding. Timing is critical.”

The conclusion of the Economic Study was “Open space should be zoned Open Space and not commercial uses with development being stopped by the city’s permit process” There should be no question. Please go to the next City Council meeting on Monday, May 28, and express your views!

Ozzie Silna, member

Economic Advisory Committee

(Saturday, 6 a.m.) I arrived at Leo Carrillo State Beach. To my surprise there was a surf contest taking place. I’ve seen this before, but never before have I been threatened with citation and surfboard confiscation if I did not leave the water. Upon notification by a LA County lifeguard who paddled out to me in the water, I begrudgingly complied and exited the water. On the beach, I was heckled by surfers from parts unknown who had taken over our local Malibu jewel.

Later, I asked one where he was from. San Diego, he said. That would explain people sleeping on the beach. Doesn’t that go against County ordinance? Similarly, the litter strewn about by the outsiders represents another infraction in our beautiful city.

This letter was spawned by my growing frustration on this matter.

The Constitution guarantees “Liberty, equality and justice for all.”

I was denied “equality” in my own city, and treated as second class. If I were to go to the towns/cities where these people were from, would those cities close down a park on my behalf and deny entry to its local residents? The lifeguard (who was just doing his job) told me that his supervisor had signed a document and it had been posted, notifying everyone of the beach and water closure. Furthermore, he admitted that this type of closure was a first. How can the water be closed when the states’ jurisdiction only goes only so far as the median tide mark.

Even when there is a public health problem, beach and water closure is not mandatory, it is merely a suggestion. Under those conditions the government does not strip us of our civil liberties to use publicly funded open spaces. Is it not the state’s obligation to provide “public access” to the beach? If the State were to close Leo Carrillo to the public for a Disney company picnic, I can assure you people would be up in arms.

This beach closure sets an upsetting precedent and raises many issues: including Constitutional questions and the ethics of public officials.

Lee Walmsley

Meals on Wheels is a volunteer program that delivers two meals a day, five days a week to the ill,

elderly and other homebound people in the Santa Monica, Malibu and Pacific Palisades areas.

Monday is Memorial Day, when we honor our veterans of war, wounded and dead from countless encounters throughout our history.

For many Americans of a certain age, Memorial Day has personal meaning, but for many others, particularly younger American men and women, it’s just another Monday holiday with little emotional impact. They were too young to know World War II, or Korea, or to even remember Vietnam and its aftermath and how it tore our country apart.

With the opening of the movie “Pearl Harbor,” the country seems momentarily focused on that day, Dec. 7, 1941, which President Roosevelt called a “day that will live in infamy.” The Malibu Times also decided to focus this week’s Memorial Day issue on that day, when the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor. Asking around if anyone in Malibu was there on the day of the attack, our staff found three people who were there. I’m sure there are probably more that we don’t yet know about.

Jim Cowan was an 18-year-old college freshman at the University of Hawaii.

Russ Philbrick was serving on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lexington, which in one of those peculiar quirks of luck or fate left Pearl Harbor just before the attack to ferry some airplanes to Midway. The Japanese failure to find their prime targets, the American aircraft carriers in Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7 probably changed the course of the Pacific War and most certainly changed Philbrick’s life.

A couple of weeks ago, in the same kind of coincidence, Margaret “Bunty” Prabhu walked into The Malibu Times office, clutching an old family photo album and said, “I think you might want to see this.” She was 10 years old on that fateful day. She described going to the top of a nearby hill, with her older sister Marilyn, then 13, and her younger 8-year-old sister Pat (now Pat Cortazzo), and watching the attack, the planes swooping down and the smoke, and what life was like on the island after the attack. After the air attack that morning they were certain the Japanese were going to come back and invade the islands. It wasn’t until months later, when they were finally evacuated to the mainland in a convoy accompanied by two destroyers, that she felt safe again, as their ship passed under the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco harbor.

I have my own little postscript to add. In the very early 1960s I was a young Naval officer stationed on a salvage/diving ship in Pearl Harbor. It was 20 years after the attack, long before the Arizona Memorial had been built. Every time we went to sea we would pass the Arizona, which is still there lying on the bottom of the ocean. All you could see as you passed by was the outline of the superstructure just under the surface of the murky water. Every once in a while a group of air bubbles would break the surface, as if the 1,000-plus men entombed in that ship were still alive. That sound always made me shudder.

This Memorial Day issue is far from complete. Another longtime Malibu resident, Hal Tucker, came in to tell me about his younger brother, William Edward Tucker, called Tuck. Tuck served on the cruiser Houston, which went down in early 1942. He survived 16 hours in the water, but was captured once he reached land. He was sent, along with many other allied prisoners of war, to work on the notorious jungle railroad line, later made famous in the movie “Bridge on the River Kwai.” He survived for two and a half years, finally succumbing to blood poisoning caused by tropical ulcers on August 8, 1945.

We offer our homage to these men and women, who are not just a sea of crosses or stars in a military cemetery. They were someone’s brother, father, uncle, sister, or friend, and we should stop for a moment on Monday and remember them.