A message from Topanga resident and delegate Dorothy Reik:

On the surface Calabasas is the ideal SFValley community: clean, wide streets, up-scale shopping malls, a brand new middle school, well kept lawns, securely gated communities. But under the surface all is not well. There is a move to complete the gentrification of Calabasas at the expense of the homeowners of Old Topanga and Calabasas Highlands and anyone who speaks out can expect a visit from the housing gestapo – the proverbial jackbooted thugs who invade homes in search of violations, deny to “dissidents” retroactive permits granted to other homeowners, slap substandard liens and lawsuits on helpless, financially strapped homeowners, even destitute widows trying to sell their homes. All this at the hands of the Calabasas City Council and their co-conspirators at the building department. I am not going to name names right now. Because Calabasas incorporated the County and the State cannot do much. Stay tuned. We in Topanga will have to help our neighbors many of whom were once part of Topanga and didn’t heed our warnings when Calabasas came calling. The people in Calabasas should not be living in fear – but they are. For further information you can check out the Topanga Messenger archives and the articles written by Anne Marie Donkin. Stay tuned.