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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

AHMANSON—Babbitt Is Controversial Choice for Ahmanson Role

Opponents of the planned 3,000-home development known as Ahmanson Ranch say the recent hiring of former U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt as a consultant for the controversial project is a transparent effort by the developers to deflect criticism and a sign of their impending concession to environmentalists. Ahmanson representatives, however, say Babbitt will bring eight years of experience with environmental affairs to the table, clearing the way for better understanding of the project that now has local residents and government officials fighting a powerful out-of-state banking group. Babbitt, who served in the Clinton administration, joined the Washington D.C.-based law firm of Latham & Watkins in January. The firm is representing Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc., which owns Ahmanson Land Co., developer of the proposed project on Ventura County’s eastern border with Los Angeles County. According to Ahmanson spokesman Tim McGarry, Babbitt will serve as a liaison between Ahmanson developers and environmentalists, including those who have waged a bitter and very public campaign against the project since it was approved by Ventura County officials in 1992. “We hope that Mr. Babbitt will help us communicate the facts of the project to these groups accurately and encourage them to have an accurate understanding of what the project is all about,” said McGarry. McGarry added that Babbitt’s eight-year tenure as secretary of the Interior affords him a high degree of experience with controversial environmental issues and that Ahmanson hopes to draw upon that experience to effectively present its project in the most environmentally friendly way possible. “It’s also reciprocal,” said McGarry. “We hope that he has something to bring to us to provide us with a more accurate understanding of the concerns of the environmental side.” Project opponents say Babbitt’s decision to work for Ahmanson demonstrates his about-face on environmental concerns and a strong indicator that Washington Mutual realizes it is fighting a losing battle. “What Mr. Babbitt’s appointment means is we are gaining ground on them,” said Joe Behar, a Woodland Hills resident and president of the West Valley Community Coalition, a coalition of local homeowners groups formed roughly four years ago. “They are getting so desperate that they have to go out and hire a person like Bruce Babbitt to do their dirty work for them,” said Behar. “As far as I’m concerned, the only thing ‘green’ about Bruce Babbitt is the money he’s getting from Washington Mutual.” McGarry said Babbitt’s appointment should be viewed as an effort by Ahmanson and Washington Mutual to cool the overheated rhetoric on the project, not inflame it. “Clearly there has been a determined effort to castigate Mr. Babbitt for taking on this role and to portray it in very unfair terms,” said McGarry. “It’s certainly ironic that we’ve taken the step of enlisting someone to essentially serve as an ambassador to the environmental community and that the reaction is so negative.” Prominent environmental attorney and Thousand Oaks City Councilman Ed Masry said Babbitt’s involvement is analogous to “putting the Surgeon General to work for big tobacco.” “There is no miscommunication about this project involved here,” said Masry. “Washington Mutual, for its own greedy purposes, is transforming the last real vestige of beautiful parkland to a development that is going to choke the 101 (Freeway) and surrounding communities with traffic. And to say Mr. Babbitt is going to be a liaison, or to cloak him as the white knight, is ludicrous.” Babbitt did not return repeated calls for comment. Washington Mutual was forced earlier this year to submit an updated environmental review on the project because of the increase since 1992 of projected traffic through the 101 corridor. It has been estimated that the project would place an additional 45,000 cars on the 101 Freeway each day, most flowing south toward downtown Los Angeles. The project area includes roughly 2,800 square feet of rolling hills that is also home to the San Fernando Valley spineflower and the California red-legged frog both said to be near extinction. Groups like Behar’s and Save Open Spaces Santa Monica Mountains (SOS) have long pushed to convince Washington Mutual to sell the land off as park space. And, as part of their effort to block construction of the project, which includes plans for a golf course, country club and 300-room hotel, they have been hoping to get federal approval to place the frog and the flower on the federal government’s endangered species list. On June 11, SOS, the city of Calabasas and other environmental groups opposed to the project filed a suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to get listing approval. SOS Director Mary Wiesbrock said Babbitt’s involvement won’t have an impact on her group’s efforts to kill the project. “We really believe that they are desperate and they have spent so much money trying to destroy Ahmanson Ranch,” said Weisbrock. “We’ve already concluded that it would cost the developer close to $2 million just to bulldoze the land in preparation for construction, so it doesn’t really pencil out for them and they should just stop their lawsuits and sell it as a park.” McGarry said the spineflower suit wouldn’t have any bearing on Ahmanson’s plans to break ground by 2003. He added that the project area includes 10,000 square feet for park space and a plans for new habitats for the frog and spineflower.

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