Last Monday I testified for friends at the California Coastal Commission in Long Beach. My friends had been reported, so the commission said, as having a possible violation. Over the last year, these friends were put through every hoop of which the bureaucracy is capable. All the experts agreed, no violation! And that only cost my friends 60,000 plus and climbing.
At all points of their presentations, those speaking were cut on time, from the expediter they had employed to former Governor George Deukmejian, to several others, including myself. The rush on time from the chairperson had the feel of a pre-decided decision.
Of course, if the Commission didn’t find something wrong, people might think the Coastal Commission staff was vindictive. So my friends were told to get rid of their tennis court and the stairway with Malibu lights. Why? Oh, there was “no grading permit.” Therefore it was illegal! They had done no grading and had pictures from 1960 showing the land just as they built on it in the 1990s. The staff member from Ventura said, “But you must have had to smooth it out.” A whole new definition of grading had just entered my universe-just smoothing it out.
Sure enough, the decision was just as the staff had presented it. But there was a lot to be learned about how the Commission operates that day. First, you don’t have to have something to hide The Commission thesis seems to be that everyone has something to hide and we will find it at YOUR expense. Second, you are a liar until you prove yourself honest. Third, you are guilty until proven innocent. Ex post facto? What is that? Fourth, we are the commission. Our word is final except for the courts and we have unlimited funds for lawsuits. Do you?
Ben Franklin was right. “Either we all hang together or we will hang separately.”
Georgianna McBurney