Readers React: It isn’t too late for Jerry Brown to save the Coastal Commission

To the editor: Thanks to columnist Steve Lopez for staying on this story and revealing the workings of the California Coastal Commission that threaten the well-being of our coast and fair access to it. (“Forget El Niño — California’s coast is in danger from a soulless commission,” April 16)

One can only hope some conscience in a high place will be pricked and moved to action. (Gov. Jerry Brown, it is never too late to act in matters of conscience.)

Lopez’s bearing witness is a powerful thing, and I salute him, The Times and the many people who are coming out to meetings to shed light on all the questionable activities of these Coastal Commission members who’ve been entrusted to act in the best interests of the public and the coast, but who’ve apparently chosen to let their consciences be bought by self-serving entities.

David Charles, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Lopez’s article confirms my assessment from the early 2000s: The Coastal Commission is an elitist group.

As a real-estate broker, I had the experience of witnessing a developer’s attempt to build a single-family home on five acres zoned for agriculture at Point Piedras Blancas in San Simeon. He told me the only avenue to building his single-family residence was to hire consultants to the tune of $100,000 to $150,000 who would meet with the commissioners in the hallways outside the meetings.

It came to me that longtime property owners hoping to have a house on their land would never have a chance unless they had the big bucks to pay the consultants who had the commissioners’ ears.

I am in favor of land preservation, but there is something rotten in the “state of Denmark” when only the very wealthy get their way — and Lopez confirms it.

Becky Adams, Cayucos, Calif.

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