Coastal Panel Member Fired
Why did the article on the coastal panel dedicate almost two columns to the Senate Rules Committee’s “hardball” firing of a commissioner but not one word to the contemptuous behavior of commissioners witnessed by hundreds of citizens assembled?
Did your reporters not see the 12 commissioners sit glued to their chairs during the Occidental presentation transfixed by every word, then drift away to gather into small groups rudely conversing in competition to the witnesses, during the no-Oil presentation?
Imagine a court trial where the 12 jurors listen attentively to the plaintiff’s arguments, then wander away during the defendant’s response. That’s what half of the 12 commissioners did, when 10 million annual beach visitors’ health and safety were on trial.
Elected senators finish the job: Fire the commissioners who bow before Mammon, but turn a deaf ear to the pleas of the people.
IRVING L. UTTAL
Pacific Palisades
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