Legacy Park Wins Water Reliability Award

Marshall Thompson October 10, 2012 at 11:58 am

The "not-a-park" wins a water award and the very nice Mayor Lou la Monte flies to Louisiana to collect it for the City of Malibu. I hope my friend Lou paid for the trip himself because I can't imagine a worse use of City tax dollars than sending a representative to collect some puffy award. Tax dollars are scarce, the State is broke. Perhaps the next time some worthy organization gives us an award or knighthood or whatever Lou will say, "Thanks for the nice award, fellas, would you mind FedExing it to us?"
Funny how government never has to economize like the rest of us. I enjoyed a recent visit to the upper Malibu City Hall. Man, that place is Zanadu! No recession there.

hellwood October 10, 2012 at 02:54 pm

"capable of capturing up to 2.6 million gallons per day of stormwater and urban runoff for treatment and disinfection. The clean stormwater is then reused for irrigation of the park"
wasnt this system declared a failure because of the high content of impermeable clay, and its inability to absorb any substantial amount of water?

Lester Tobias October 11, 2012 at 11:38 am

I would love to see the data proving that Legacy Park is actually is doing what it was designed to do. It's getting a lot of awards for only being around a few years...dry years, as a matter of fact....

Hans Laetz October 11, 2012 at 11:47 am

Notice how none of the awards are from parks agencies?
These awards are either "pay to play" vanity awards, or meaningless certificates from some arcane backwater agency. "The West Basin Municipal Water District"??? Really? Wowser.

Len Simonian October 15, 2012 at 12:25 am

Legacy Park has actually won many awards, including:
(1) The Had Your Pants Negotiated Off by the Seller Award for the City's purchase of the land for $25 million and its agreement to prohibit all physical activity therein. (2) The Least Useful Park in the United States Award. LP beat out a host of rural fields that were filled with garbage and abandoned appliances for this one. It was determined that Legacy Park was superior in uselessness to the runner-up because a local being chased by a pack of coyotes was able to run through the other field to save himself. This type of physical activity is banned at LP, meaning one being chased by a pack of coyotes would have to walk through Legacy Park, or risk arrest. (3) The Least Used Park in the United States Award. At the award ceremony, the committee stated that it surveilled Legacy Park before making the award. During that 12 month period, a total of six humans and nine dogs entered the park, mostly by accident or due to having lost a bet. (4) The Best Man-Made Mounds Award. This victory was truly an upset, as all previous winners had been Beverly Hills plastic surgeons. In breaking with tradition to honor Legacy Park, the award committee stated that it was swayed by the unique manner in which, at a cost of mere millions, Legacy Park turned a flat field of weeds into a bumpy field of "much better" weeds. We must appreciate this great treasure that was foisted, er, bestowed, upon us!

austin hardy October 15, 2012 at 01:44 am

Marshall Thompson raises an important point. Did Mayor LaMonte travel to accept this silly reward on the city's dime? And, if he did, how much did it cost? The $35 million Legacy Park may be the most expensive municipal project ever created solely for the enjoyment of insects and weeds. Perhaps it could be the starting point for Jerry Brown's trillion dollar bullet train to nowhere. Both projects are symbolic of why California is broke and why our political leaders are devoid of common sense.

Marcia Hanscom October 15, 2012 at 02:19 am

The West Basin Municipal Water District is located in southern CA; I think it's in El Segundo. So how was the award presented in New Orleans???

Max October 15, 2012 at 02:21 pm

We love the park. Does every park have to be a cookie cutter copy of all the others? It's the diversity of the parks that make them attractive to the most people. We all have different tastes. No one design is "better" than any other design. Some people love an outdoor venue (the Hollywood Bowl), while others prefer the acoustics of the Music Center. Is one "better" than the other? I personally like the "mounds" of dirt, my doggies and I did not lose a bet or get lost in locating the park. Frankly, I enjoy the serenity, natural beauty and calmness that the park offers. Of course, if you want to cheer on the kids (whose parents don't clean up the peanut shells, candy wrappers, chewing gum and plastic bottles), help yourself to the other parks. BTW, I also enjoy those parks... just making a statement on how parents don't teach their kids to clean up the mess they leave. On parent went so far as to say "The taxes we pay cover the cost of the city to clean up." Now, there's a model citizen. But I deviate from the main issue here: There are myriad parks in our wonderful town that satisfy our many tastes. Let's keep it this way, please (and, tidy, next time, also).