From Steve Lopez in L.A. Times: Dueling millionaires and ex-mayors. Foaming mad celebrities. Cries of corruption. Stolen campaign signs. Mayhem in City Council chambers....Good Lord, youve gotta love Malibu, which finds itself at war over a November ballot measure that proposes to put a chokehold on development and save Shangri-La from ruination... ...In some ways, whats happening in the Bu is a typical community battle over growth, development and traffic. Its the same story in hundreds of towns. Except that in those other places, you dont go to a slow-growth rally headlined by producer-director Rob Reiner, with Dick Van Dyke in the audience, Doors drummer John Densmore sitting next to you, and lots of buzzing about a $100,000 campaign donation from Victoria Principal, who never saw feuding this rancorous while starring in Dallas. Already, total spending on the initiative in the town of 13,000 has surpassed $500,000, the vast majority in support of the measure. Donations have rolled in from moguls and luminaries Tom Hanks, James Cameron, Barbra Streisand, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. If theres one place in America where theres enough money and clout to slow growth, it may be Malibu. This is a town that rejected a sewer system for years to limit building, despite evidence suggesting that septic tanks were fouling the beaches. Briefly, heres how Measure R came to be: Reiner lives in Brentwood, but has long had a home in Malibu too, and he tells me he would like to settle there one day. Except that he cant get in or out of the place on PCH for all the traffic. Thats partly because of all the high rollers with two homes 10 miles apart from each other, one could argue, but I digress. The point is that Reiner and many others are tired of the traffic and the growth, and he says City Hall doesnt seem inclined to control either, so he sponsored an initiative the city labeled Measure R, as in Reiner. If Measure R passes, voters would essentially become city planners. They would be able to weigh in on any commercial development bigger than 20,000 square feet, and chain stores would be limited to 30% of the space in new shopping centers. What strange writing. The author, twice, and the headline once, make funny thing about Calabasas. I assumed he was reporting what someone involved in the fight said. But no one written about in the article said anything about Calabasas. Then the author writes, Except that he cant... So whats so bad about that? Read more: latimes/local/westside/la-me-1019-lopez-measurer-20141019-column.html
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 19:10:10 +0000
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