The California Coastal Commission is a powerful citizen-initiated land-use planning agency aimed at protecting the coastal environment, including marine life, and providing for citizen access to the coast.
Now, the Commission is once again under severe attack from development interests, this time in an effort to oust the Executive Director, Charles Lester, for maintaining Coastal Act standards for any coastal development. Big oil, real estate interests, and the state Chamber of Commerce are eager to emasculate the Commission’s environmental land use planning and control.
And there is every likelihood that SeaWorld is also involved, urging state leaders and Coastal Commission members to eject Lester and appoint a new Executive Director more amenable to development interests. SeaWorld is suing the Commission over a new order barring breeding of captive orcas in their SeaWorld San Diego facility and transferring orcas into or out of California, effectively leading to a phase out of captive orcas in California. Earth Island and other organizations strongly backed the conditional amendment.
The Commission has set consideration of removing Executive Director Lester for their February 10th meeting in Morro Bay, California. The agenda item is set early on the morning of Feb. 10th.
Some claim this is an issue of performance by Lester. It is not. Instead, this is a power grab by development interests. SeaWorld alone spent $140,000 lobbying the California legislature in both 2014 and 2015, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
If successful, the effort to fire Executive Director Lester will result in weakening coastal protections and likely overturn the Commission’s ban on breeding of orcas by SeaWorld.
The public needs to loudly object to this political attack on the Coastal Commission and the coast environment.
Please call or email the following:
- Emails to the California Coastal Commission on this subject: StatusOfExecutiveDirector@coastal.ca.gov
- Governor Jerry Brown is a key player, as he appoints four of the Coastal Commission’s 12 members:
- Governor Jerry Brown: Phone: (916) 445-2841; Fax: (916) 558-3160
- Email Governor Brown using this form: https://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php
Let the Commissioner and Governor Brown know you support the retention of Charles Lester as Executive Director and urge them to vote to support him.
Urge Commissioners to support the SeaWorld decision banning breeding of captive orcas.
You can also contact your own California state Senator and Assemblymember in Sacramento voicing your disapproval of ousting Lester and urging support for the Coastal Commission ban on breeding of orcas.
Please contact them supporting Executive Director Charles Lester -- the bottom line is that this is not about Lester; this is about control of the coast. It is the development community that is seeking to destroy the independence of the Commission and turn the coast over to energy and development interests.
Consider sending an email to your local newspaper complaining about the political effort to oust Executive Director Lester from the California Coastal Commission and allowing more development of the coast.
Make every effort to attend the hearing of the California Coastal Commission Feb. 10th at the Inn at Morro Bay, 60 State Park Road, Morro Bay, California. The debate about Charles Lester (some of which will be done by the Commission in Executive Session) is scheduled for the morning of Feb. 10th.
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Thank you for your support for the California coast and captive orcas!