Shoring Up Coastal Commission

Two bills that are vital to restoration of the integrity of the California Coastal Commission will come up for a critical public hearing in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee during the coming week. Both deserve committee approval, passage by the full Legislature and the governor’s signature.

One measure--AB 4639, sponsored by Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Tarzana)--would bar ex parte discussions between any of the 12 commission members and those who have business to come before the commission. The measure would put a halt to the private casual lobbying that has occurred between developers, or their paid representatives, and commissioners about pending commission affairs. The commission’s business should be done in public, and only in public.

The second bill--AB 4122, by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica)--would provide for the appointment of commissioners for two-year terms. A commissioner now serves at the pleasure of his appointing power--the Speaker of the Assembly, the Senate Rules Committee or the governor--and can be removed whenever the appointing power desires. Last year one member was fired minutes before he was to vote on a controversial project merely because Senate President pro tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), the chairman of the Rules Committee, feared that he was going to vote contrary to Roberti’s wishes.

The Coastal Commission is a quasi-judicial regulatory body that is deciding today the future of the California coastline for decades to come. Its decisions are among the most sensitive and far-reaching actions that are taken by any state agency. The commission must be set free from the blatant and inappropriate political influences that have undermined its independence in recent years. These two measures would provide an important step in that direction.