Hope For Malibu Rises in Realtor's Exit

The blackout by the SCE of the City Council meeting Monday never came until later, and the welcomed swearing-in of a new councilperson, Haylynn Conrad, and incumbents, Bruce Silverstein and Steve Uhring, proceeded with their own wind-storm of pronouncements.
.
They were welcomed, specifically Silverstein’s commitment to pursue reforms in the spirit of the city’s enlightened environmental vision, Uhring’s refreshing brevity and humor, and Conrad’s magnanimous presence, if only that her garnering of votes in part defeated Paul Grisanti.

Unfortunately not blacked out and sending blasts of hot wind over the proceedings were tributes to the exiting councilperson Grisanti, who was defeated in his run for reelection in which dirty tricks and big buck developer donations supported his duplicitous pollution of the campaign.

Be their allegiance rooted in the promise of personal profit or loftier to a free market philosophy that trumps concern for a livable Malibu, several of Grisanti’s sycophantic supporters wrapped in a cloak of amiability at a reception after the meeting took exception to any stray comments critical of his tenure.

“Be nice, Sam,” pleaded a likeable former mayor.

Yes, but is hard to forget let alone forgive the real and projected damage Grisanti’s base support for dubious developments have wrought to a fragile Malibu.

These include the disfiguring of the Bluffs while screwing over the skateboarders, the heedless approval of bloated building projects and almost anything with a promise of increased profits to real estate interests.

The blurring between his terms as mayor and his real estate pursuits were an embarrassment to the city.

For this he was given a framed certificate of service to the city when he should have been tarred and feathered and run out of town.