• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Malibu’s Bite May Be Worse than Its Bark

BY ANNE SOBLE

Political campaigns have become slicker and slicker, and, too often, pander to and nurture the worst aspects of human nature, doing so with an air of condescension and the smarmy smirk of those who regard the electorate as a bumbling mass to be manipulated in whatever ways attain the desired objective. Regardless of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s Measure R having passed, a case in point is a flyer on behalf of the school parcel tax proposal. This was one of the most offensive political mailings to come to my household in the Feb. 5 campaign. The double-sided, coated 8 1/2” by 11” flyer was from the group calling itself Campaign to Protect Quality Public Schools. CPQPS waged a pull-out-all-stops campaign on behalf of Measure R, concentrating its substantial budget and people power on the voters of Santa Monica who can outnumber Malibu voters by as much as eight to one. The address side (shown above) of the mailing features a boy, who could be my son at elementary school age, or anyone else’s son, telling his pet dog to “stay”—the term in canine obedience training that to command an animal to remain in place and not move. It’s an authoritarian command that connotes subservience. Some might think that the graphic is cute, but for the fact the dog symbolizes the school district voters who are being told to “stay,” or be obedient, i.e., do what they are told by a district that regards them on a par with domesticated animals in need of obedience training.
The mailing also reiterates the pro-Measure R contingent’s disingenuous contention that the proposal does not increase the present tax rate, but “simply renews local funding that is already in place.” This is not the case, as the measure does not sunset, as do existing tax measures, and the parcel tax is subject to annual COLA increases, which has not been the case with any of the previous measures on the ballot. The school district cannot expect an electorate that is equated with a dog to not snap back if it is mistreated. Dogs will be faithful, even to those whose actions deserve reproach, but they know the difference between good and bad behavior. That faithfulness has limits and negative rumblings are bound to continue in Malibu. If secession proves to be financially and politically feasible, efforts to form a separate school district can only be bolstered by underestimating Malibu voters. Measure R’s passage may mean that the district has won the battle, but could lose the war if the community decides that it has had enough. Whoever approved this ad for Campaign to Protect Quality Schools owes the voters in the school district an apology. If that individual, or those individuals, is/are at this Thursday evening’s school board meeting at Malibu City Hall—one of only two meetings slated to be held in Malibu that is on the district calendar through June (that’s “equal access” in the SMMUSD)—they should publicly apologize for this mailing. The district needs to show respect for its voters. If the school district thinks it’s acceptable to tell voters to “stay,” the voters may contemplate telling the district to “heel.”