• A bill by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) to prohibit private, off-the-record communications with members of the California Coastal Commission that could influence their decision-making passed off the Senate floor on a 23-12 vote. The bill now heads to the state Assembly.
Jackson’s Senate Bill 1190 prohibits “ex parte” communications with coastal commissioners surrounding key development decisions, effectively banning private oral, electronic, or written communications that do not occur in a public meeting between the commissioners and someone with an interest in a project going before the 12-member body.
“The public rightly believes that the Coastal Commission has ‘run amok’ in recent months. The removal of Dr. Lester has resulted in a high degree of public uncertainty, accusations of a lack of transparency, and concerns about undue influence,” Jackson said in a press release. “This bill will level the playing field between big-moneyed interests and those without such financial resources, remove the possibility of backroom decision-making or the perception that this is occurring, and help ensure that decisions are made more openly and transparently.”
While the bill would have originally banned all “ex parte” communications, SB 1190 was recently amended to bring the ban in line with the practices of other boards and commissions that prohibit ex parte communications when they are acting like judges in applying the law. SB 1190 would prohibit ex-parte communications for development permit approvals or challenges to development projects, which makes up the vast majority of the commission’s work.
This article appears in Jun 2-9, 2016.