Coastal Group’s Chief Quits Lobby

The director of an Orange County conservation group resigned this month from a lobbying firm that represents developers amid criticism from local environmentalists that his dual role represented a conflict of interest.

Garry Brown, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Orange County Coastkeeper, said he gave up his part-time position at Iger & Associates, a government relations firm that counts many builders among its clients.

“I’ve worked too hard to build [Coastkeeper] to put it through some type of mess or perception thing or have people misunderstand,” said Brown, who added that his work at Iger “really wasn’t a big deal.”

Several weeks ago, local environmentalists became alarmed that Brown might compromise the independence of Coastkeeper by working for Iger.

“To say you’re going to represent one day the environment and then decide to sit at a table with developers, you just can’t do it. It’s impossible,” said Bob Caustin, director of Defend the Bay, which has worked to preserve Newport Bay.

Brown, 54, of Huntington Beach, was unapologetic about his three-month stint with the company and denied there were conflicts between Coastkeeper and Iger clients he worked with.

He joined the company in January as an environmental consultant with expertise in land-use and water-quality matters. Brown, who estimated that he worked 10 to 20 hours a month for the firm, said he hoped to get more developers to exceed current water-quality standards. He declined to say what he was paid.

Iger & Associates is headed by Christine Diemer Iger, a former director of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California’s Orange County chapter. The BIA is a trade organization and lobbying arm for developers.

Brown founded Orange County Coastkeeper in 1999. The group often focuses on storm-water management and urban-runoff issues -- areas of contention between environmentalists and developers.

Coastkeeper is part of the New York-based Waterkeeper Alliance, an international environmental organization headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. There are 132 Coastkeeper, Baykeeper and Riverkeeper chapters in the alliance.

“I don’t have any problems dealing with the development industry because we have been doing it consistently for six years,” said Brown, a former executive director of the Building Industry Assn.’s San Bernardino County chapter. “There is a perception that is erroneous that businesses and developers have a black hat and somehow environmentalists have white hats.”

Bruce Reznik, board president of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, an umbrella organization for Coastkeeper and Baykeeper chapters in the state, said Brown’s chapter has a good program and no conflicts of interest related to Iger clients.

Nevertheless, Reznik, who is director of San Diego Baykeeper, said he was concerned whether Brown’s position at Iger would hurt public perception of the organization.

“An appearance of conflict can be problematic, even with protections in place,” Reznik said. “Will that appearance cause us any heartache?”

Reznik said he discussed the situation with Brown, and Brown assured him that he would resign from Iger to avoid jeopardizing Coastkeeper’s reputation.

But leaving Iger isn’t enough, some environmentalists say. Many expressed concern about the wider implications of Brown’s association with Iger.

Environmentalists “always say we have enough problems in the world, that we don’t need to feed on our own,” said Roger von Butow, Clean Water Now director. “But to me, he was never one of us.... He can’t be trusted.”

Shirley Dettloff, a former member of the California Coastal Commission who sits on the board of Orange County Coastkeeper, defended Brown, saying he has accomplished a lot since he founded the chapter.

“Because of his background, he is able to move in both circles. He understands that world. That is his strength,” said Dettloff, who was instrumental in preserving the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach. “Not many environmentalists can sit down comfortably with the Irvine Co.”