Last Dig at the Coastal Panel

Although a spokesman for Pete Wilson denied that the governor’s last-minute appointment of Mike Ryan to the California Coastal Commission is “a finger in [the] eye” of the panel, the selection seems to be exactly that.

Ryan, a San Luis Obispo County supervisor, took his seat this week as one of Wilson’s four appointees to the 12-member coastal board. Ryan’s antipathy to the panel’s aims is well known. He has played a leading role in his county’s continued resistance to the Coastal Commission on the scope of the Hearst Corp.’s property development along the Central Coast.

Given that history, Ryan’s appointment can only be interpreted as a parting shot by a governor whose long-running guerrilla war with the commission has impeded coastal protection, to his discredit.

When Gov.-elect Gray Davis takes office in January he should remove Ryan and appoint commissioners whose goal is to enhance and preserve, not degrade, California’s coastline.

The coastal panel was created in 1972 when voters approved Proposition 20. The measure called for tough protections and authorized the commission to control seafront planning and ensure public access to the state’s 1,100 miles of coastline. That mandate has often pitted the commission against cities, counties and developers with big beachfront plans.

San Simeon is a good example. Last January the commission rejected an effort by San Luis Obispo County supervisors to ease protection along the Central Coast, paving the way for a 650-room oceanfront resort and golf course near the Hearst Castle. Ryan’s election as supervisor in 1996 provided the key pro-development vote on the county board.

Following the coastal panel’s rejection of the plan, the county had six months to come up with a new one. Now, nearly a year later, there is no new plan. Perhaps the supervisors were counting on Dan Lungren winning the governorship and stacking a commission that would approve development. That didn’t happen, and the Coastal Commission proved its worth once again. Ryan should go.