• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Public Policy by E-mail: Malibu Style

BY ANNE SOBLE

It isn’t always easy to roust Malibuites from their comfortable abodes to come down to City Hall to take part in the municipal political process. But if late last week and the weekend are any indication, people who are loathe to sit through what can be a stuffy discussion, will happily glom onto their computer keyboards to participate in policy discussions until their fingers are worn to stubs. The first e-mail messages started drifting our way Thursday evening, and the pace picked up as more of the almost 100 participants jumped into the fray. There was fervor, savvy and, yes, some misinformation, but such is the case at any town hall. The topic—adhered to more or less—was the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy plans for increased utilization of its holdings, especially the use of specific sites for overnight camping. On the one hand, the vast majority of Malibuites have a strong tradition of supporting public acquisition of open space. On the other, there can, on occasion, be a clinically bipolar approach to how these lands are utilized by the public that creates the types of friction that have earned Malibu a mostly unfair reputation in the outside media as xenophobic. While this may be true of a handful of beachfront dwellers, it does not apply to the community as a whole. Certainly, one can find little fault with opening areas to individuals with physical disabilities, those still saddled with the unfortunate term of handicapped. Any of us who have volunteered at community functions for adults and children with impediments of any kind will testify to the enriching, if not healing, impact of nature on those too often artificially sheltered from it. Many of them know nature only from the vantage point of a computer keyboard.

Saying this in no way downplays the sincere and very genuine concerns of those adjacent to conservancy holdings who fear a greater threat of wildfire, vandalism, traffic and other public safety problems if parklands are open overnight. Rather than conjure up demons that may never materialize, the emphasis should be on requiring safeguards to assure the safety of those who live here, as well as those who visit. The next round of e-mails will then assume a different tone.