• The Publisher’s Notebook •

A Case of Malibu Park and Switch?

BY ANNE SOBLE

The noises reverberating through the halls of the municipal office complex Monday night were not the usual clash of political interests. In a way, the section of the meeting that addressed items not even agendized for council action may have shed more light on local politics than some of the traditional special interest battles that follow the usual pro-or-con development lines. Before we consider weighing in on the Trancas Park fray, let’s get one thing out of the way quickly. I am a fervent soccer fan. This is the “football” that I grew up with and still cheer. And I think the youth soccer program is children’s athletics at its best. In short, we are not talking about substance when we raise the issue of how park public policy is being made. We are talking about process. Any number of other public issues could generate the same questions by residents who are concerned that their views are not only being ignored but that they have also been misled by city officials about the plans for Trancas Park. Opponents of unrestricted use of the playing fields at the park site in western Malibu contend that they were given one set of policy parameters to assess by city officials who had decided to approve alternate intensive-use plans from the very beginning.
These residents perceive themselves to be the victims of a municipal shell game. Was there a policy of purposeful deceit? Are conflicts of interest involved here? People involved in youth sports are ideal prospects for recreation panels. Citizens who devote time to these activities make major contributions to the community, but is it fair to expect them to subjugate those interests when faced with an opportunity to add new facilities to the community? Whether blueprinting a park, or overseeing retail development, there may be times when decision-making requires a special panel of objective voices. The decision of a blue ribbon group might still be that there is such strong community need for more regulation playing fields that local opposition should be overruled. But under those circumstances, differences are less likely to deteriorate into charges of “bait-and-switch.”
People adapt to change of all kinds but if any bitterness is created by a perception of the lack of integrity on the part of representatives of the city, it won’t go quietly into the night. There is already reason to be concerned about growing negativity toward local government in Malibu. All aspects of Trancas Park decision-making have to be brought out into the open. Malibu needs as large a pool of citizens willing to participate in governing as possible, but the rules of fair play have to be agreed upon in advance.