Gearing Up for Interior Secretary : Cities Fighting Ocean Drilling Hire Advocate

A coalition of four Orange County coastal cities opposed to further oil and gas exploration off their shores have hired a coordinator to develop a strategy to get their anti-drilling message across to Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel.

Representatives of Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and San Clemente hired Denny Freidenrich, a Newport Beach community relations and fund-raising consultant, at a strategy session on Tuesday, city officials said.

“We haven’t given him much in the way of guidelines yet,” said Laguna Beach City Councilman Robert F. Gentry, one of two Laguna Beach representatives to the as yet unnamed coalition.

Moratorium Is Goal

“But the goal for us is to preserve the whole (oil drilling) moratorium area of Orange County until the year 2000, to make that very clear to Mr. Hodel when he comes to visit on Aug. 31,” Gentry said, referring to a two-hour public forum Hodel will attend in Newport Beach.

At issue is a tentative compromise reached last month by Hodel and members of the state’s congressional delegation over a four-year-old moratorium on oil and gas exploration in federal waters off California. In exchange for a moratorium through the year 2000 on nearly 98% of the state’s coast, the agreement would open for lease 1,350 square miles offshore, including 54 square miles off Orange County.

The agreement, disclosed July 16 by Hodel, spawned a furor among local coastal cities and residents, including a Laguna Beach group called Save Our Shores (SOS), which has gathered nearly 16,500 signatures on petitions and hopes to have more than 500,000 to present to Hodel.

The four cities, the county Board of Supervisors and the City of San Juan Capistrano have passed resolutions in opposition to opening any Orange County lease tracts for oil drilling. Other local review boards are expected to consider similar resolutions in the next few weeks.

Persuading Interior Secretary

The coalition has banded together to try to persuade Hodel, when he comes to Orange County as part of a statewide tour of potential coastal drilling areas, that the economic risks to Orange County are too great to consider further oil exploration here.

“Our specific strategy still is being discussed,” said Freidenrich. “But at this point, we know we have a certain amount of time to prepare, and I want to be able to organize that time to be able to effectively communicate to Hodel the economic impact of the proposed offshore drilling to the lifeblood of Orange County.”

Freidenrich said he will be paid a retainer fee of $6,000, from about $23,000 in funds expected to be raised among the four cities and Orange County. City councils in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach have each appropriated $5,000 for the coalition’s campaign, and the San Clemente City Council has donated $3,000. Laguna Beach and Orange County are expected to approve donations of $5,000 each at meetings next week.

Freidenrich, 36, ran state Supt. of Schools Bill Honig’s Orange County campaign in 1982 and Irvine City Councilman Larry Agran’s reelection campaign the same year. He has also raised funds for the Newport Harbor Art Museum, among other local cultural and civic groups.

Seeking Support

Gentry said the coalition members will be meeting next week with Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy to discuss their concerns and seek his support.

In addition to seeking support among local elected officials and private industry, Freidenrich said he hopes to develop “special lobbying efforts with leaders in Washington.”

In the meantime, public hearings were planned in Newport Beach at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and a rally was slated Saturday in front of the Laguna Beach City Hall.