Senate Committee Drops Coastal Commissioner

The Senate Rules Committee has quietly terminated the appointment of controversial state Coastal Commissioner Leo King, a Baldwin Park city councilman targeted for removal by conservation organizations.

The action of the five-member committee occurred Wednesday behind closed doors without public notice. No replacement was announced although the committee had been wrestling for months over whether to reappoint King or make a new appointment.

“Mr. King’s term is not continued,” a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) said Thursday. The agency will meet Feb. 24, but the spokesman said the committee did not indicate when a new commissioner will be appointed.

Earlier Split Vote

In December, the committee split 2 to 2 with one abstention over retaining King or naming Huntington Beach City Councilman Peter Green to replace him. Green was endorsed by environmentalists for the seat, which is also sought by interests favoring expanded coastal development.

The term of King, who was appointed in 1982 as a representative of local governments in the South Coast District and who was often regarded as a swing vote, technically expired in January, 1986, but he kept his post at the pleasure of the Rules Committee.

However, his reappointment to another term was opposed by environmental protection organizations who charged that he is biased in favor of offshore oil development and additional coastal construction. The Sierra Club said King voted 24% of the time last year on its side of the issues.

“We have been lobbying to remove him and replace him with a good environmental vote,” said Paula Carrell, a Sierra Club lobbyist.

King, 58, a retired flood control engineer who calls himself a conservative Democrat, expressed disappointment at the committee’s action but said, “I’ve had a good five years (on the commission), and that’s longer than most have served.”

‘Only Four Friends’

In Carrell’s view, however, removal of King did not necessarily signal a reason to rejoice. She noted the current 11-member commission can approve or reject projects with a simple majority of six votes. “There is an anti-environmental majority on the commission, and we have only four friends we can rely on,” she said.

Carrell noted the reappointment of King had been before the committee for months without action and voiced concern that failure to immediately name a successor to King may mean that the committee is considering a pro-development appointee.

As for naming an environmentalist, she said: “I have hope, but not faith.”

In addition to Green, other prospective nominees include John Kanel, a Cypress city councilman; Mayor Barbara J. Doerr of Redondo Beach; Ruthelyn Plummer, a Newport Beach city councilwoman, and Ron Cawdrey, a Redondo Beach city councilman.

The Roberti spokesman, Robert Forsyth, said a successor was not named immediately because the committee “wants to take a look at other candidates and not rush into it.”

The governor, Assembly Speaker and Senate Rules Committee each have four appointments to the commission.

As a commissioner, King voted for the two most recent and controversial offshore oil platforms, Chevron’s Platform Gail in the Santa Barbara Channel and City Services Inc.’s Platform Julius north of the channel near San Luis Obispo. On the latter project, he swung the 7-5 vote.

In an interview, King said Thursday that he was approached last month by a majority of the commissioners who suggested they would support him for the chairmanship over current chairman Michael Wornum, a former Republican assemblyman from Marin County.

He said he wanted the post but because he had not been named to a new term by the Rules Committee, it was decided to postpone the election.

Carl Ingram reported from Sacramento and Ronald B. Taylor from Los Angeles.