Charles Lester replaces the controversial Peter Douglas as the commission’s executive director. City officials vary in their opinions of how the appointment will affect Malibu.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
The California Coastal Commission promoted within, voting unanimously last Thursday to replace long-standing Executive Director Peter Douglas with Charles Lester. Lester has worked at the commission since 1997, and has served as executive director on an interim basis after Douglas stepped down last month due to complications from lung cancer.
Lester inherits the job of guiding the powerful state agency, which is charged with interpreting and enforcing the California Coastal Act, the landmark environmental legislation passed in 1976. The Coastal Act gives the commission broad authority over development in coastal cities such as Malibu.
“I am deeply committed to implementing the Coastal Act, but I am also a problem-solver, and I look forward to bringing people together around environmentally sustainable solutions that protect coastal resources and provide maximum public access to the coast for all Californians,” Lester said in a statement.
Lester becomes only the fourth executive director for the commission since its creation in 1972. He first started working for the commission in 1997, and has served as senior deputy director since 2006. Prior to working with the commission, Lester was an assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Douglas, who has been executive director for 26 years and is almost synonymous with the agency, was adored by environmentalists but often clashed with developers and individual property owners. Critics of the commission under Douglas contended the commission and its staff often violated the law in rejecting permits and ignored the economic impacts of their decisions. There had been talk that Douglas’ opponents would push for an outsider to lead the commission who would enforce the Coastal Act less strictly, but the choice of Lester has the appearance of Douglas handpicking his successor.
Malibu Mayor John Sibert said that while he had not met Lester he did not expect a departure from the commission’s relationship with Malibu, which has in the past been adversarial.
“I don’t expect much change as far as Malibu is concerned,” Sibert said. “It would be nice if we could build a stronger relationship with him.”
Douglas butted heads with Malibu city officials multiple times throughout the years. In 2008, Douglas’ support for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s controversial plan to override the city’s Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan to allow overnight camping at its Malibu properties resulted in the city slapping Douglas with a lawsuit.
Douglas also had a hand in creating that very same LCP. The Coastal Commission, under Douglas’ leadership, wrote and passed an LCP for the city in 2002 after what it viewed as Malibu dragging its feet in getting one written.
“The Coastal Commission-and Peter, of course, who wrote the legislation that created it–believes that visitor serving is its highest mission,” Sibert said. “In a city like Malibu where we have people who live along the coast, we have to balance the two. So that’s where the tension occurred in the past.”
But Malibu City Attorney Christi Hogin, who said she has worked with Charles Lester in the past, called him “a good choice” and indicated the new head of the Coastal Commission could make a departure from the contentious Douglas.
“While he is obviously a part of the administration of the Coastal Commission, I found him to be a very straight shooter, somebody who took the time to really understand the issues that were being raised by coastal cities,” Hogin said. “I think he has a better appreciation for the role that local government can play in making sure that the Coastal Act is properly implemented.”
Mark Gold, president of the environmental group Heal the Bay, said while the perception that environmentalists were always in agreement with Douglas on issues was inaccurate, it nevertheless would be difficult to replace someone of his stature.
“Nobody cared more about protecting the coast, and preserving the Coastal Act, than Peter Douglas,” Gold said. “Following in those footsteps is like the next first baseman after Albert Pujols on the Cardinals or something. It’s just kind of a tough thing.”
Still, he expressed optimism that Lester could fill the role capably.
“He has strong experience and a strong technical background, and he knows the agency very well,” Gold said. “So I think the general consensus is although we haven’t seen him all that often on highly controversial and technical issues, that he definitely seems to be a solid choice for the job.”