1/20/16
The powerful California agency that manages development along the state’s fabled coastline may soon oust its top executive, setting up a battle between environmentalists and developers who frequently clash over projects large and small.
The potential shakeup at the California Coastal Commission raises questions about the direction of an agency often caught between property owners and conservation along the 1,100-mile coast.
The commission’s chairman, Steve Kinsey, notified Executive Director Charles Lester in a letter released Wednesday that the panel will consider whether to fire Lester next month.
“Alternatively, the commission has offered you the opportunity to present a transition plan for your replacement as executive director,” Kinsey’s letter states.
Commission spokeswoman Noaki Schwartz said in an email that Lester was not available for comment and that he has exercised his right to have a public hearing on his possible dismissal, which will take place Feb. 10.
Lester has held the post since 2011, and no reason was given for the proposed dismissal in the letter.
Kinsey did not return a phone call or email seeking comment. However, environmental activists suspect some commission members want to push out Lester to make way for management that would be more welcoming to development.
Humboldt Baykeeper Director Jennifer Kalt described Kinsey’s action as “an attack on the Coastal Act” and stated that the commissioners behind the proposed power change are those that “consistently vote to not uphold the Coastal Act.”
“They just want to see development at all costs,” Kalt said. “They don’t want to see sensible, sustainable development.”
Susan Jordan of the California Coastal Protection Network said Lester’s ouster would leave the agency in turmoil and intimidate its staff.
“It’s not just about the homeowner who wants to build on the bluff. We are talking about billion-dollar projects,” Jordan said.
The commission has been at the center of fierce battles over beach access in celebrity enclaves, and it’s facing a lawsuit after banning SeaWorld from breeding captive killer whales at its San Diego marine park.
Attempts by the Times-Standard on Wednesday to reach the commission’s North Coast representative Martha McClure — also a Del Norte County supervisor — were not returned.
Having been a coastal county co-chair on the California State Association of Counties when Lester was appointed in 2011, Humboldt County 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace said the association fully supported Lester’s appointment after former executive director Peter Douglas stepped down due to the lung cancer diagnosis preceding his death in 2012.
While Lovelace said he had yet to hear from the commissioners about their proposed power change, he said there has been no obvious evidence that would possibly justify Lester’s removal.
“If there are specific accusations, I assume those would center around having provided information that led to improper decisions,” Lovelace said. “I haven’t heard any, which leads me to believe that this is more politics than substance.”
For Lovelace, Lester has been very accessible to coastal communities, having held several joint meetings with coastal counties and cities and helping to secure grant funding for local jurisdictions to update their local coastal plans, including $90,000 for Humboldt County in 2014.
“He has absolutely changed the tone and relationships in regards to local governments,” Lovelace said.
Kalt said Lester helped to spearhead the development of a guidance document on sea level rise — a topic of significance for the Humboldt Bay area.
“They kind of had to adapt some of the laws put in place back then to meet that challenge,” Kalt said. “I think it’s very forward thinking — not stuck in 1972.”
The move to replace Lester comes in the midst of a long-running review of a proposed development of nearly 1,400 homes, a resort and retail space known as Banning Ranch in the Newport Beach area. Companies involved in the project include real estate firm Brooks Street, Cherokee Investment Partners and Aera Energy, which is jointly owned by affiliates of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp.
“The timing of this may be very relative to the Banning Ranch case,” said Steve Ray, executive director of the Banning Ranch Conservancy, which wants the 400-acre site to remain open space.
“This is the last, large piece of unprotected open space left on the Southern California coast. This is the last big battle,” Ray said.
Lester, quoted in a media report last year, was skeptical of the project. Coastal Commission staff had recommended denial of the plan and thought developers didn’t work hard enough to identify sensitive habitat.
“This site is incredibly rich in biological resources,” Lester told the Orange County Register in October. “Despite its history of oil development, it deserves a more sensitive and creative effort to address the Coastal Act requirements than we have seen to date.”
