SACRAMENTO — Vowing to restore the public’s trust in the state Coastal Commission — which voted last week to fire its director — Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins introduced legislation Tuesday that would force consultants trying to influence commissioners to register as lobbyists and disclose whom they work for.
Current law doesn’t require consultants who lobby the commission to publicly report much of anything about their business. And that lack of transparency unfairly gives consultants hired by developers “an edge” when they’re seeking approval of coastline construction projects, Atkins said.
“Coastal advocates, environmental groups and newspaper editorial boards across the state have all called for a brighter spotlight on the Coastal Commission,” said Atkins, who unveiled Assembly Bill 2002 at a Capitol news conference alongside several Bay Area lawmakers.
Those calls came flooding in last week after the commission voted 7-5 to fire executive director Charles Lester despite his supporters’ repeated pleas at a daylong meeting in Morro Bay.
Visibly frustrated with that outcome, Atkins on Tuesday called the vote “murky.”
Environmentalists fear that the commission — a powerful agency established by voters in 1972 that regulates development along California’s 1,100-mile coastline — has become too cozy with developers and that the vote to oust Lester was a coup of sorts.
Many environmentalists on Tuesday cheered the proposal. “This is a really good idea, and it’s long overdue,” said Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California.
Phillips noted that liberal Democrats have failed to pass similar legislation several times before. But this time, she said, Atkins and her coauthors would be able to take advantage of the outrage over Lester’s firing to get results.
Commissioners who voted to remove Lester insisted that his firing was a result of his management style. They said he wasn’t responsive enough to their concerns and didn’t do enough to foster diversity among the commission’s staff.
Commissioner Wendy Mitchell, one of those who voted to get rid of Lester, called AB2002 “a good first step” toward improving the way the group operates.
“It’s clear that we need more transparency,” Mitchell said. “The public needs to know more about how decisions are made at the commission and who is working to influence those decisions.”
Of the 12 commissioners, four are appointed by the governor, four by the Assembly and four by the state Senate.
All four of Gov. Jerry Brown’s appointees — Mitchell, a political consultant from Los Angeles, Del Norte County Supervisor Martha McClure, Pismo Beach City Councilman Erik Howell and Effie Turnbull-Sanders, a Los Angeles attorney — voted to fire Lester.
Asked repeatedly in recent weeks whether he supported Lester’s firing, the governor declined to comment. His office called the action an internal matter for the commission to decide.
More public disclosure is the only way to restore the public’s confidence in the commission following the vote to oust Lester, said Assemblyman Marc Levine, a Marin County Democrat who coauthored AB2002 along with Assemblyman Mark Stone, a Democrat from Santa Cruz County.
“The public has a right to know who is trying to influence commissioners’ votes,” Levine said. “This legislation will bring desperately needed transparency to the perception of backroom-deal-making at the commission.”
Contact Jessica Calefati at 916-441-2101. Follow her at Twitter.com/Calefati.
