Last week’s letter from a city official epitomizes the core issue in Malibu’s current Code Enforcement crisis–when challenged by facts that don’t support their position, city officials often simply make things up. Their public statements frequently contain a great deal of misinformation designed to form public opinion and persuade people that unreasonable practices are reasonable.

As a matter of public record, city officials have said that they aren’t forcing children to be evicted–and they are; that they are allowed to enter people’s property without permission–and they aren’t; that all cities require permits for minor repairs and pre-existing structures–and they don’t; that these regulations are required by state–and many are not; that inspectors don’t go out looking for violations–and they do; that the code enforcement records are not public information–and they are, and that all these regulations serve the public welfare–and many do not.

The letter argues that the home occupation ordinance does not criminalize business meetings. In actuality, Malibu’s law (read IZO) states that a resident with a home occupation must obtain a Conditional Use permit, subject to the review of the Planning Director, and that it is illegal to have a business visitor, assistant, customer or client related to your home occupation at your residence. How can a business meeting be legal at your home if it’s against the law for your business visitor to be there? Why should it be the choice of the Planning Director whether or not you are allowed to work at home alone on your computer? Why should you have to pay for a Use Permit (different than a business license)? For many in Malibu, the right to work at home would be protected if the ordinance were modified to remove these absurdities and legalize a business visitor or assistant now and then, as is already taking place, while continuing to keep neighborhoods peaceful.

This points to a second technique often used to convince the public that the zoning code is perfect the way it is–officials always say that we don’t have to worry about these potentially intrusive laws in Malibu, because usually they are in a good mood and won’t enforce them. Except when they’re in a bad mood and give citations to little old ladies for things like planting the wrong kind of plants, building a playhouse, or placing stepping stones from Home Depot on the ground without planning approval, all of which have happened.

The letter states that in each of the three current home office cases, complaints were received by neighbors. At least one of the residents under investigation contradicts the official position by revealing that none of the neighbors have complained and the city refuses to allow the resident to see a copy of these so called complaints “without a court order.” It would be a lot easier to trust our city officials regarding this issue if they would produce the evidence to support their claims.

The more important question is–when will the city stop standing firm to defend the status quo and start responding to the public’s desire for a change in code enforcement as expressed in the recent election.

Anne Hoffman

(The following letter was sent to Councilman Jennings by Boys Scout Spencer Cary)

I am sending you a letter about the kids of Malibu. The kids of Malibu think that there should be more things for them. The only thing that the city has provided for the kids is Bluffs Park and the skate park. These are only some of the things that the kids want. Like me, I think that us kids should have something more than that. Some things that kids would like would be batting cages and a park. The Bluffs Park keeps being taken away from us. We have already lost a field and soon losing the whole park. I overheard my parents talking about putting a park over by Busch and Merritt. But from what I heard, the neighbors don’t want that because of the noise and the lights.

With the skate park the kids don’t like to go because they only get to skate for two hours. And the park is only open for a little bit. I like going to the beach, but you can only go there during the day time. The kids of Malibu need something to do at night. In the next week I am moving over the hill to Westlake Village because of these very reasons. Maybe if the city does something about it I might move back. But at this point, the city has gone over the edge. I hope that the whole City Council hears about this and if they don’t, I will go to them myself and say do something about this fast. I hope that this letter is clear.

Spencer Cary

Public apologies seem to be in

If you’re sorry, we’ll forgive you

No matter the sin

Now everyone seems to be eager to do it,

To apologize then admit that they blew it.

“I’m deeply sorry” our president said

“But I didn’t lie, I only misled”

Guiliani with regret and deep remorse

Publicly announced he would get a divorce

The Park Service in response to public ire

Apologized for starting the Los Alamos fire

The Argentine president said he did rue

The harboring of Nazis after World War Two

Pope John appearing in a mood of contrition

Apologized for the Inquisition

If the sons have to pay their fathers’ dues

Should the Egyptians apologize

For enslaving the Jews?

So you’ve erred. You are human!

Don’t wallow in the doubt of it.

Apologize, say you’re sorry,

And just snap out of it!

If there’s something I said

And you feel I’ve offended

I apologize, I’m sorry.

No offense was intended

Geraldine Forer Spagnoli

you can not choose your

relatives, they just “come with”

like “soup or salad”

the same holds true for

your neighbors, they just “come with”

the neighborhood – but,

wouldn’t it be nice

if we could choose our neighbors?

know what I would do?

I would carefully

select only those who live

by the Golden Rule,

get your permission

first, then park in your driveway,

and maintain quiet

on weekday evenings,

save your mail, water your plants,

keep an eye out for

loitering strangers

when you are on vacation,

return borrowed things,

keep your housekey for

repairmen when you’re not home,

shop when you are ill,

listen to your gripes,

donate to your charities . . .

reciprocal things

that you would do for

them – in other words, neighbors

just like you and me

you say it’s too bland

making a neighborhood that

homogeneous

where’s the spark, the fire

the differing points of view

that forge consensus?

the raw exchange of

honestly held ideas

other than your own?

the interactions

between divergent cultures

that help all to grow?

sharing holiday

traditions with each other

eating ethnic foods?

taking lots of Tums

supporting a good cause at

neighborhood picnics?

maybe you are right

there is a lot to be said

for diversity

the melting pot made

our country unique among

all other nations

I think I’ll accept

my neighbors, warts and all, and

teach them how to be

the perfect neighbor

by setting an example,

I owe them that much

Ray Singer

The Malibu Farmers’ Market–Civic Center parking lot, every Sunday 10-3–is bringing something new and vital to Malibu–a lively sense of community. From the live music, to the fresh produce and flowers, it’s a friendly environment in which folks can make purchases, chat with their neighbors, have a cup of coffee. And it’s great public entertainment for summer house guests, adults and children alike.

Please, if you’ve already enjoyed the Market, don’t take it for granted. For our market to succeed and become a regular fixture that we can count on, it needs our active support. (We don’t want it to die the way the markets in the Pacific Palisades and Topanga did.) And if you haven’t yet experienced the market, I encourage you to take a Sunday stroll. You’re in for a pleasant surprise.

Jo Giese

Mayor Tom Hasse’s traffic fines and tickets. Give me a break! Let’s look at the real issues behind the individuals that are distributing this as “SCANDAL.”

Your editorial mentions that someone was distributing the Reuters article through e-mail to the community including city employees. I have asked someone who has received this e-mail spam, and we’ve identified Nidia and Sam Birenbaum as the people sending this e-mail through their local Cookie Cutter/Sam Birenbaum TV show web site.

Nidia Birenbaum as you may recall was fired by Tom Hasse as a Commissioner, and the retaliation continues. You’ve nailed the others promoting this so called scandal as those losing the election, and opposing the development agreement.

The article also leads one to believe that Councilmember House and Hasse were holding hands with the deep pocket developers. Mayor Hasse’s traffic fines proves this to be absolutely FALSE, because if he was chumming around with developers, these fines would have been paid and would have never surfaced in a story.

Mayor Hasse has once again proven that he can effectively govern our city in spite of these angry people attacking him.

James Scott

I wish that the City Manager would tell city employees like Victor Peterson to stop wasting the city’s money advocating the zoning code that was written by a previous administration who wrote one of the most restrictive and abominable set of property regulations in the country. Mr. Peterson doesn’t even live in the city of Malibu and I think it is outrageous that he is using my tax dollars to reprint a city law that I can look up myself, and to tell me why it’s for my own good when I think it should be thrown out. As far as expecting the Code Enforcement Task Force to make any difference, it was appointed by Carolyn Van Horn and Walter Keller and that tells me all I need to know.

Lee First

The time a father spends with his family in the contemporary Malibu family is very insignificant, particularly if he commutes to work on PCH.

The thing that impresses me about Malibuites is the way the parents obey their children. On this Father’s Day I wish to tell my son I love him even though I found it strenuous to obey him. Saying I love you is not as easy to do when your baby is 26 as it was when he was six-years-old.

My son, John, had a great deal of difficulty teaching me how to be a father and how to show my love, but I think he enjoyed it. I still take pleasure in his company and the infrequent games of golf or pool, now that he is married. I still delight in hearing his “I love you dad.” It makes life so much easier because he says it at just the right time.

I have become skilled at many things learned from my son over the years. Things like frankness, a sense of worth and consequence. Things like a king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 square-foot house four inches deep. That if you whirl the crystal chandelier to see the dancing colors on the wall it will in due course become unscrewed from the ceiling support and crash on the dining room table. That a three-year-old’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42-pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a superman cape. I learned that a ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way and the glass in windows (even double pane) doesn’t stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

John taught me that when you hear the toilet flush and the words “Uh-oh”, it’s already too late. He established that Legos could pass through the digestive tract of a four-year-old and into the septic tank where they will later jam the pumping services hose along with a missing electric razor. As a six-year-old he showed me that you could start a fire with a flint-rock even though a 32-year-old father, me, says they can only do it in the movies. He proved that a magnifying glass could singe a slumbering dog’s hairs even on an overcast day. He demonstrated that Play-Dough and Microwave should never be used in the same sentence. That Super-glue is forever. Or no matter how much Jell-O you put in the fishpond you still can’t walk on water. Or that goldfish do not like Jell-O.

I learned from John, that garbage bags do not make decent parachutes. That marbles in hubcaps make oodles of noise when driving. Or that from a nursery school a youngster can get suspended. That a parent should always look in the oven before you turn it on and that plastic toys do not like ovens. That fire station #71 in Malibu has a five-minute response time to our house. Finally, the spin-cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy, but it will, however, make cats dizzy and that cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

Maybe, there is no lastly, because I’m still gaining wisdom from John. Fatherhood is an expedition and excursion. With John as a son, it has been an escapade.

On this Father’s Day resolve to become skilled at being a dad who satisfies the souls of your children as well as their stomachs. Be a dad who kisses their hurts and dresses their spirit. The values I used in raising my child are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Monsignor Sheridan. I stole them from Jesus. I even pilfered a few from Doug O’Brien. The Lord knows that my wife had regulations of her own. If you don’t like their rules, who’s rules would you use. Happy Father’s Day.

And that is all I have to say.

Tom Fakehany