Rob Reiner is taking off his director’s beret and getting in front of the camera once again. The television actor turned director is now trying to stop retail chain stores from expanding into the beach town of Malibu California and will publicly debate developer Steve Soboroff on the issue.
Even if you have never been there you still must know about how Malibu has beautiful beaches from all of the movies and TV shows that have been filmed there. Many a celebrity has owned a beachfront home in the town located right by the heart of Hollywood.
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The director of such classics as A Few Good Men and The Princess Bride lives full time in nearby Brentwood, but owns a house in Malibu. He proposed California’s new ballot initiative Measure R, which would block chain stores from opening branches there.
The leader of the opposition to Reiner’s campaign is the Whole Foods development proponent, former Malibu Village owner and LAPD Police Commission President Steve Soboroff. He has already spent $50, 000 of his own money to fund the “No on R” campaign. This is after the proposition’s proponents have raised $330, 000 to support it.
The two men will now square off in a debate this Sunday at 5 PM at the Malibu City Hall, which will be streamed over the Internet. It comes after they engaged in a volatile exchange of e mails. “I will face every single person of Malibu on their TV, computer, Youtube, but a big part of your crowd is unruly. You don’t need the security blanket of the roudies [sic] that follow you around all the time, you are a professional actor, ” Soboroff wrote in an e mail that was copied to the media and cited in the Malibu Times.
Reiner responded in an e mail of his own saying, “I am willing to face the voters of Malibu. You seem to be frightened of them. First you want someone to hold your hand during the debate, then you want it behind closed doors.” The last remark was in regards to Soboroff’s reported attempt to close the debate to the public.
Soboroff might want to be cautious about debating Reiner. Older people remember that Reiner first became famous for his Emmy winning role as Michael the son in law on the top rated 70’s sitcom “All in the Family.” He already has a great deal of experience performing in front of live audiences.
