Coastal Commission ouster spawns new legislation

STATEWIDE — It did not take long for an attempt to legislate change to rise from the aftermath of the California Coastal Commission’s decision to ouster Charles Lester as executive director. Assembly members Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley) announced plans to introduce legislation prohibiting lobbyists from wooing a commissioner’s support without the public’s knowledge. The state legislators hope the law proposal would help restore faith in a Coastal Commission currently suffering from a battered image after firing an executive director who doubled as an environmental steward. The decision to fire Lester on Feb. 10 was made behind closed doors; neither the 12 commissioners who voted nor Lester himself offered any explanation as to why the executive director was being fired. There were hints Lester was relieved of his duties for failing to return commissioner phone calls and not providing commissioners with a consistent policy direction to help guide their votes. Not revealing the reasons for Lester’s firing and a 7-5 vote occurring behind closed doors despite overwhelming pleas from the public for an open hearing caused many to believe the commission’s ouster of its executive director was motivated by special interests – specifically developers seeking to build larger projects...