(The following letter was addressed to the mayor of Newport Beach)
Mr. Mayor, in the name of your people, you must decide on the rejection of the California Coastal Commission (CCC). Stop courting Coastal commissioners and “commissionists.” You will never appease them, even with a signed Local Coastal Program (LCP). Each year, the CCC will come back to review your LCP and impose more lion-like conditions. They do that all the time; they are unappeasable.
Do not trust those who pretend to be able to reduce the CCC’s permit conditions, fees and fines because they claim to have political “friends.” The more the CCC preys on us, the more these “middlemen” will make money. It looks like an organized racket. You do not need that kind of service from Coast Keeper’s CEO, Gary Brown, who associates with Commissioner Sara Wan and Commissioner Pedro Nava’s wife. The L.A. Superior Court found Gary Brown to be a fraud and condemned him for embezzling donations made to the Boy Scouts of America.
Save the city millions of dollars by not doing business with the CCC – the plans, permits, studies, travels, meetings, monitoring they require are a huge waste of time and money. You will save more money than you will ever spend in a legal defense if attacked by the CCC.
Trust your staff. They will make better plans for the city than the plans that the CCC’s agents are capable or willing to do. When the city has its plans made, according to the laws, tell the CCC “approval is due” and govern the city with or without the CCC’s approval.
If the CCC is foolish enough to litigate, go to court, Mr. Mayor, and win!
Rodolphe Streichenberger
Newport Beach