The Machine attempts to muscle control by shutting out members of the community who could have valuable input on the new Santa Monica College satellite campus that will be located in the Civic Center.
In an all too common theme, “The Machine” continued to quietly bulldoze pro-preservation behind the scenes by locking out key stakeholders and educators with valuable input from the SMCC Collaborative Brain Trust Strategic Planning Session that took place on March 6th at City Hall.
The pro-preservation majority, who resoundingly elected three council members into of ce last November, was not represented at this meeting, nor were the other two other local news publications (The Local and Surfside News) made aware of this planning session touted as seeking the community’s input.
No amount of spin is going to change the fact that “The Machine” got the memo with the usual cast of characters included. Showing up in full force; Sharon Barofsky, Carol Randall, and Karen York ( Malibu Times ) along with council members Laura Rosenthal, Lou LaMonte, and few other carefully chosen individuals.
While all council members were invited, newly appointed council member Jefferson Wagner could not access his city email. He communicated his frustration and disappointment to City Manager, Reva Feldman, for the lack of communication and inability to access information on the strategic planning session which would have allowed him to attend.
Upon hearing about the meeting and the absence of outreach to the pro-preservation contingent, The Local contacted Malibu City Manager Reva Feldman to inquire as to why key stakeholders in the community (and press) were not recognized and asked to participate in the strategic session.
After a long email thread with Feldman, which yielded no answers to our questions regarding the issue, The Local received a phone call from SMCC President, Dr. Katherine Jeffrey, (whose staff was included in the email thread). Dr. Jeffrey apologized for the absence of proper outreach regarding the first meeting and expressed her regret that key stakeholders were not well represented. Dr. Jeffrey expressed her desire to have better communication about these strategic planning sessions going forward. On March 13th, the same day Dr. Jeffrey reached out to The Local, she went in front of City Council to express her apology publicly.
the meeting was inconsequential, brief.
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