Not in the groove for Groveman

The question of wasteful spending at Calabasas City Hall has become the cornerstone of Barry Groveman’s campaign. It’s an issue that demonstrates how little he knows about what has helped make the quality of life so desirable in Calabasas. Yes, the city spends a lot on services and consultants. Citizens have come to expect a city hall that responds to their requests, which cuts to the heart of this question.

In no city I’ve ever seen have citizen commissions been so involved in the daily life of their community. There are no less than nine city commissions: Communications & Technology, Community Policing, Education, Environmental, Library, Parks & Recreation, Planning, Traffic & Transportation, and the Tree Board.

The city hires many consultants at the urging of one commission or another. Take, for instance, the current Parks Master Plan being directed through staff and the Parks & Rec Commission, or the Mulholland Highway Master Plan supervised again by staff, under direction from the Traffic & Transportation Commission. When city staff is generally overworked, which they are, consultants are necessary to fulfill the commission’s bidding in a timely manner.

Who among us would do away with citizen commissions? By even suggesting that there is waste at city hall, Groveman does an extreme disservice to those citizen commissioners who give generously of their time and energy to help make Calabasas a better place to live. The city council incumbents, Janice Lee and Dennis Washburn, helped create and have been long-time advocates of proactive citizen involvement. Both were active in the community well before they ran for council.

While Groveman has cultivated a reputation in a larger political arena, he has no record of community service to this city, and, based on county voting records dating to 1997, he doesn’t even vote in Calabasas city elections. Perhaps if he served a term or two on the Environmental Commission, he might better understand why the city spends what it does.

Mireille Neumann,

past member, Community

Policing Commission

Calabasas