News
Lawmaker backs executive director in Coastal Commission dispute
The coast at La Jolla. Photo: Dancestrokes)A North Coast lawmaker has come to the defense of Charles Lester, the executive director of the California Coastal Commission who has come under fire from a number of commissioners seeking his ouster at the panel’s meeting next month in Moro Bay.
Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, said the commission staff, led by Lester, had prepared the commission’s first detailed strategic plan, resolved long-standing cases, got a $3 million budget increase to help support local conservation planning and climate change issues, among other achievements.
“I urge the Commissioners to consider their own actions first before hastily pointing fingers at Commission staff,” said Levine, the chair of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee. He was referring to commission decisions to approve actions opposed by some environmentalists, including a major hotel project at Monterey Bay Shores and a sand-replenishment project on Broad Beach in Malibu
Levine’s comments were contained in a Jan. 27 letter to Commission Chair Steve Kinsey with the other commissioners copied in.
Lester, who has served as executive director for nearly five years, succeeded Peter Douglas, the commission’s long-time executive director and an author of the voter-approved law that created the commission.
The 12-member panel has authority over 1,100 miles of California coast, and frequently comes into conflict with builders, property owners and developers over public access to the coast and environmental rules. The commission’s voting members are appointed, four each, by the governor the Assembly speaker and the Senate Rules Committee.
Several commissioners have complained about Lester’s leadership, saying that projects have been delayed unnecessarily and that the staff has been ill-managed.
Lester’s supporters, however, said that the staff is aggressive in enforcing the Coastal Protection Act, which has angered some members of the commission.
The commission plans to meet in Moro Bay from Feb. 10-12, and a discussion of Lester’s status is expected to be held on the first day. Lester also may address the commission.
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Gee what a great idea – the commission should be a policy board and not the staff. BTW Peter Douglas was not the author of the legislation – Peter was Staff and the author was senator Alan Sieroty And Assembmemer John
Dunlap
and the legislation was based on a prior initiative proposition 20 of 1972 .
Jerry Brown signed the California Coastal Act. It is disturbing to see his appointees to the Commission attempting to undercut its mandate with a political lynching of the executive director.
Its disturbing to see that every single article in my Google news feed calls for saving Charles Lester. Why is some staff bureaucrat defended so broadly in favor of the actual political appointees on the Commission? Usually its just “developers and Malibu celebrities” painted as bad guys. Now the Commissioners themselves are bad guys attacking the coastal environment as well? That is ridiculous. If the CC wants to fire Lester, so what? Don’t worry, he will be replaced with another permanent staff environmental activist.
This is a perfect example of “regulatory capture”; where the regulators end up essentially serving those who they regulate. Except in the case, the regulatory body has been captured by the environmental lobby, totally and completely rather than private industry. There is no reason that the employment status of a non-public figure should be covered so broadly or that anyone outside Mr. Lester’s house should care. The fact is the Mr. Lester and his staff work so regularly hand-in-glove with environmental organizations, that these same organizations are out on the warpath to keep him in place. God forbid that anyone on the staff be accountable for anything.
Seriously, is the actual Coastal Commission just supposed to keep rubber stamping everything that their staff puts in front of them?
There IS a perfect example of regulatory capture developing right under your nose here, JSM, but you haven’t yet sniffed it out.
As have stated before the magnitude of this issue warrants something
along the lines of re conveying the Council of Trent with Siitings in each
of the Coastal Districts.
The Governor of course does not come to the issue with Clean Hands.
In a matter now under review by the FBI @ USDOJ,in spite of,uncontroverted evidence,including,but not limted to that provided
by the Long Beach Police Department(Then headed by the HIGHLY
credible Jim Mc Donnell..now LA County Sherriff..earning well deserved
High Marks for making headway into cleaning up the BACCA mess el)..
Governor Brown turned a BLIND EYE(Either that or he was ill served
by his Staff…sensing his earlier pot smoking days had caught up with
him) to CRIMINAL CONDUCT of then Coastal Commissioer Robert
Garcia ( Councilperson/Vice Mayor/ Chair of LB Public Safety Committee..Later sworn in as SITTING MAYOR..by SHE the U.S. 9th
Circuit so FEBUKED for the “EPIDEMIC of CRIME ” she ENGENDERED..after which the duo CUT MORE than a RUG..evidenced
by a QUID PRO QUO…for NOT PROSECUTING GARCIA for his
THIRD RATE CRIME…ie GIFTING $330 GRAND of T I D E L A NDS $$
he would support his new “Auntie ” in her pursuit of her WET DREAM
to become US Senator.
The $300k was just to raze a long standing much needed re purposes
Coastal Support structure yielding Coastal access.New residents
buying homes near two decades after said structure was built..wanted it
razed to improve their investment portfolios..via bettter view of water.
Judtification to so raze? The Structure Marine Stadium 2S was
an epi center of noturnal crime.NOT SO!!NOT SO AT ALL say LBPD
REPORTS..and two near 200 LB IRON DOORS..with STEEL LOCKS
and CHAINS…
Recognizing the state of KLEPTOCRACY,Harris’s EPIDEMIC has
evolved into a 2016 version of ARCHIBALD COX…will soon be
knocking on the doors of:
Brown./Garcia/ Harris…and probably the new Speaker of the
Assembly who two weeks ago GAVE HIS MIDDLE FINGER to the
FBI and U.S. Attorney General…when he came out in support of
HARRIS..reasoning ..WHO BUT A CROOK would SUPPORT a CROOK
One is to encouraged to listen to the TAPES played at the above 9TH
Circuit which so enraged the Court..revealing HARRIS not prosecuting
crooked Judges..not prosecuting other crooked Judges….one of her
Deputies sits on Coastal Commission and ignored then COmmissiomer
Garcia’s Criminal conduct.
The California Coastal Commission should replace Dr. Lester ……..
Comment on California Coastal Commission’s ED Charles Lester’s Dismissal Public Hearing, February 10, 2016
——– Forwarded Message ——–
Subject: Consideration of Dismissal of the Executive Director, Agenda Item W8-10, February 10, 2016 Coastal Commission Meeting
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2016 16:20:22 -0800
From: Douglas Deitch
To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Ddeitch
Subject: Consideration of Dismissal of the Executive Director, Agenda Item W8-10, February 10, 2016 Coastal Commission Meeting-Comment from Douglas Deitch, Executive Director-Monterey Bay Conservancy, Santa Cruz, California … a 501c3 Monterey Bay Water Policy Thinktank since 1996
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2016 04:18:23 -0800
From: Douglas Deitch
To: California Coastal Commission, Governor Brown , Mark Cowin/DWR , Natural Resources Secretary John Laird
In re: Dr. Charles Lester’s Job performance, results, and retention as ED …
Dear California Coastal Commission et al,
Query: In the Monterey Bay, is there any coastal resource more critical and necessary to every aspect of our lives, survival, prosperity, and “sustainability” on the coast than our tragically and now permanently salt water intruded and decades long massively “Big Ag” defiled and mined out coastal ground water commons?
It’s a real simple decision, California Coastal Commission …
“The mission of the Coastal Commission (CCC) is to: Protect, conserve, restore, and enhance environmental and human-based resources of the California coast and ocean for environmentally sustainable and prudent use by current and future generations.”
Instead of this, here’s what Dr. Lester did and told us in 2009 he erroneously believes and understands the “mission” and “mandate” of the CCC to be …
… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRld8TH-KEs
… in response to my numerous pleas (eg. please see: 2009: http://www.begentlewiththeearth.org http://www.ourinconvenienttruth.com , https://www.facebook.com/MontereyBayConservancy/photos/pb.177055962316509.-2207520000.1453917109./882368621785236/?type=3&theater
, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyYd603w-5A , http://www.douglasdeitch.com , http://www.lawandorderliberal.com , http://www.dougdeitch.com ) from 2007 through 2011 to the CCC and Dr. Lester, CCC and Coastal Conservancy staff, and supervisor/CCC commissar Mark Stone, in particular,
… to please recognize and enforce our 1987 Gary Patton “Well Ordinance and Local Coastal Plan” which, unique in the State of California, by law (www.pogonip.org/ord.htm , http://www.pogonip.org/alm.htm), forbade/forbides ANY overdrafting/water mining of our Santa Cruz County aquifers.
The CCC, Dr. Lester, and the late Dr. Douglas refused in 2009 and any time thereafter to this moment … and here’s what we here in Santa Cruz and the entire Monterey Bay ended up with instead, as I testified we would in 2010 …
… The entire CCC was “complicit in the greatest environmental catastrophe (ie the tragic and permanent decimation and waste of our local coastal Monterey Bay ground water commons) in the history of the Monterey Bay”
… ( @ 3:35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-UlINUmEE ,
https://www.facebook.com/dougforassembly/photos/pb.1591961497709889.-2207520000.1450709303./1640504249522280/?type=3&theater )
… ending up this month, officially, Folks, as the most tragically overdrafted and mismanaged ground water commons in the once Golden State:
https://www.facebook.com/MontereyBayConservancy/photos/a.215880731767365.54128.177055962316509/983979478290816/?type=3&theater
Res ipsa loquitur.
Respectfully and regretfully submitted,
Douglas Deitch
Executive Director, Monterey Bay Conservancy
501 Mission Street, #1
Santa Cruz, California, 95060
831.476.7662
http://www.thebestthatmoneycantbuy.net
http://www.thinklocalactlocal.com
(on linkedin.com: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/california-coastal-commission-should-replace-ed-dr-charles-deitch?trk=prof-post)
ps/btw … I have noticed an op-ed in a number of papers, LA Times, etc., by Mr. Steven Blank, former CCC commissioner 2007-2013, lauding Dr. Lester’s performance and advocating his retention. Maybe if Mr. Blank had been paying a little closer attention and respect (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyZoEfZfuG0), along with Commissioner/SC supervisor Mr. Mark Stone, ESQ., in particular) during his CCC tenure, he might have a far different view of Dr. Lester’s performance AND the Monterey Bay’s ground water commons (along with the rest of our invaluable though now critically threatened and failing natural coastal resources and systems) and Dr. Lester’s and his own tragic failure to protect, steward, and sustainably conserve them?
ps/btw II: Gary Patton FB post 3/2015: … https://www.facebook.com/MontereyBayConservancy/photos/a.215880731767365.54128.177055962316509/943298669025564/?type=3&theater
ps/btw III: My 2009 Santa Cruz Metro Op-Ed on our undeclared by our Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors’ ground water emergency … : http://www.metrosantacruz.com/metro-santa-cruz/09.23.09/news4-0938.html