Clarifying Role in Channel Gateway

The recent letter (Times, Aug. 12) by the erstwhile president of the Venice Town Council contained a number of factual errors and erroneous assertions, which need to be corrected for your readers.

It is stated that I “(made) sure” that the Coastal Commission held its hearing on Channel Gateway in Eureka instead of waiting a month for a meeting in the Marina. Wrong.

The Coastal Commission makes its own decisions about scheduling and, as it happens, obeys the state Coastal Act in doing so. That law says that the Coastal Commission is obliged to hear every appeal within 49 days of its being filed.

A Venice resident filed an appeal on Gateway on July 13. According to the commission staff report, the last day to hold a hearing is Aug. 31, several days prior to the Marina del Rey meeting in September. Without permission of the project applicant, the hearing can’t be postponed. The applicant would not grant a postponement, so by law it has to take place in Eureka.

Regarding the assertion that I have “sold out every principle (I) ever claimed to believe in” in order to provide affordable housing, my entire career as a community activist is marked by strenuous efforts to work within the system to provide new affordable housing in the Coastal Zone. There are dozens of affordable units on the ground to prove it, and hundreds more in the pipeline as a result of my continued efforts since being elected to the council.

As for what’s happening to the community as a whole, the record clearly shows that commercial development applications in Venice are down by about 50% and approvals down even more than that, compared to what was going on before I took office in 1987. Claims to the contrary are merely politically motivated rhetoric from people unwilling to make the tough choices required to create affordable housing on expensive land in tight financial times.

Finally, regarding reelection campaign offers, I continue to adhere to my long-standing policy of neither soliciting nor accepting campaign contributions from developers with controversial projects pending in my district. If one comes in unsolicited, I return it. This policy will keep my campaign fund anything but full. By the way, my campaign finance reports are on file with the City Clerk and available for public review.

RUTH GALANTER

Councilwoman, 6th District