Waiting In The Malibu City Hall Wings

If the earthquakes rumbling Malibu recently were not disturbing enough, more alarming was the reported appearance of controversial former City Manager Reva Feldman, presumably preening for another pig out at the City Hall trough.

No surprise that the shameless Reva was seen lurking at a meet and greet for the equally ignominious Paul Grisanti, hosted by Sharon Barovsky, the undisputed puppet master of the ever-avaricious Malibu, build crazed, environment corrupting, crowd.

Picture the Barovsky house as a den of iniquity, where dancing around the proverbial witches fire is a cluster of Malibu’s realtors and developers dreamily contemplating a pro-growth Council majority, with an open back door at City Hall, under-the-table approvals of projects, and expense account lunches at Nobu.

Her presence makes one shudder to think that the manipulative Reva just might be planting the thought among her acolytes of a return to City Hall and a rerun of the Malibu as-a-monopoly game, where select realtors and developers win and residents lose in a haze of amiability and promises not kept.

To think that less than four years ago she was given a parting gift of $300,000 over her $375,000 salary and benefits as a thank you by the bald Council majority, presumably for favors, junkets and smiles. This while she abused Malibu’s governance, in particular perverting the Rebuild program to favor friends and a mayor.

As observed back then, the Kool-Aid or whatever spiked drink she served City Council to lull them into a stupor also contaminated many on the city’s questionable payroll. And that coming following her abysmal Woolsey Fire performance.

Sounds paranoid? Maybe Reva’s return just might have been wistful, prompted by an innocent nostalgia, a friendly gesture to Grisanti, who had voted to gift her as she departed.

But don’t take the chance of him voting for her again, as an overpaid, under-performing City Manager, to be sure in return for some favor or other. Save the City money and aggravation, just don’t vote for Grisanti.