Coastal Panel’s Director Keeps Job : Environment: State commission votes 10 to 0 to retain Peter Douglas. The decision follows weeks of maneuvering by two members to oust him.

In a decisive victory for its top official, the California Coastal Commission on Friday voted unanimously to retain Peter M. Douglas as executive director.

The 10-0 vote followed weeks of behind-the-scenes efforts by two of the 12 coastal commissioners to oust Douglas from the $70,000-a-year post. Commissioners David L. Malcolm and Mark Nathanson were said to be unhappy with Douglas’ performance and were reportedly angered by his opposition to legislation that would permit the Walt Disney Co. to fill up to 250 acres of Long Beach shoreline for a proposed $3-billion theme resort and amusement park.

But when it came to the long-awaited showdown, neither Nathanson nor Malcolm voted. Nathanson was absent and Malcolm, although present, allowed his alternate to cast the vote.

The vote brought an end to what Douglas called “painful” weeks of “anxiety and distress.”

“I can’t do my work,” Douglas told reporters shortly before the meeting at the Huntington Beach Civic Center. “The distraction and energy that have gone elsewhere in the last couple of weeks just has been incredibly draining for everybody.”

Douglas, who has held the post for six years, is often applauded by environmentalists for his efforts to protect the coast. But he has been criticized by developers for his strict interpretation of the California Coastal Act.

In the end, what had begun as an effort by Nathanson and Malcolm to oust Douglas was transformed by Chairman Thomas W. Gwyn into the commission’s first detailed performance evaluation of its executive director.

“To get Peter on track, it pulled (the performance review) out of the political arena and put it in the management arena,” Commissioner Lily Cervantes of Salinas said later.

The commission’s performance evaluation gave Douglas overall high marks--as well as new directives to step up recruiting of ethnic minorities and women for staff positions and to accelerate efforts to complete local coastal plans.

Douglas also was urged to supplement the agency’s bare-bones budget by persuading private foundations and environmental groups to underwrite the costs of certain commission programs.

Douglas promised a written report to commissioners on how he would meet their concerns. As for the Disney controversy, Douglas repeated statements he made a week ago that the entertainment giant had nothing to do with his job review. Disney issued a similar statement.

Gwyn said Friday he set aside “non-meritorious” issues, including personality and policy differences, and focused on “meritorious issues” such as management style.

But the lopsided vote appeared to settle, at least for the next year, Douglas’ status with the commission and to refute any suggestion that more than a few commissioners were dissatisfied with Douglas.

During the past weeks, some commissioners and the commission staff reported that Nathanson and Malcolm worked to garner support from fellow commissioners to fire Douglas. But, as Friday approached, it became apparent they did not have the votes.

“It was a showdown at the OK Corral but the showdown was settled before we all got here at the corral,” former Commissioner Mel Nutter quipped. Nonetheless, Nutter said, “It appeared to me there was a very serious run on Peter Douglas.”

Bob Sulnic, executive director of the American Oceans Campaign, a Santa Monica-based coastal protection interest group, said, “There was a real attempt to oust Peter by pro-development commissioners. It failed. Community impact made it fail.”

Malcolm defied reporters to prove he was involved in an attempt to oust Douglas, saying only that he “had concerns about Peter.”

Asked why he did not take his seat and vote, Malcolm said his alternate, San Diego City Councilman Wes Pratt, wanted to vote on an item that came up first on the agenda concerning a San Diego freeway.

In voting for Douglas, Pratt described him as a “loyal” official who had “exceptional expertise” and enjoyed “very positive” relationships with other government officials.

Nathanson did not return telephone calls from The Times.

Commissioners applauded the performance evaluation, saying it was the first time that their executive director’s activities had been subjected to a detailed review. They said it will be done each year, although it will not necessarily involve a vote on whether to keep Douglas.

Referring to the ethnic minorities and women on the commission, Vice Chairman Steve MacElvaine told Douglas, “We want to see a mirror of this commission when we look out there (at the staff).” Most of the senior staffers at the meeting were white males.

Dea Lee Harrison, the commission’s chief of administrative services, said in a telephone interview from San Francisco that of the commission’s 26 managers and supervisors, all are white except one, a black woman. Twelve of the 26 are women.

Commissioners also ordered Douglas to speed up work on local coastal plans prepared by cities and counties so that they can all be approved within five years.

Douglas was directed to have a five-year plan in place by next March. Under the California Coastal Act, coastal cities and counties assume the commission’s decision-making authority once they have an approved local coastal plan.