County Officials Join Maneuvering : Coastal Panel Balance of Power Up for Grabs

Caught in a battle between environmentalists and development advocates, Orange County officials have joined in behind-the-scenes political maneuvering for a seat on the California Coastal Commission.

At stake, according to state and county officials, is the balance of power on the commission, which regulates development along California’s 1,072-mile coastline.

Environmentalists charge that Gov. George Deukmejian’s appointees have gradually turned the commission into a decidedly pro-development agency. The Sierra Club and other similar groups have asked state Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti (D-Los Angeles) to correct the alleged imbalance through Roberti’s own authority to appoint members of the commission. Seats on the 12-member panel are divided equally among appointees of the governor, Roberti and Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

Despite Orange County’s reputation for allowing massive new business and housing developments, Roberti’s staff says the senator is hoping that the county will supply an environmentalist, and that may be in the offing.

In the Byzantine environment of backroom politics, here’s what state and county officials say has happened:

- Environmental groups, led by the Sierra Club, have asked Roberti to remove Baldwin Park City Councilman Leo King from the commission because of his allegedly pro-development voting record. King’s term expired Jan. 25, but he has not been replaced or reappointed. He serves as the representative from local governments in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The two counties are combined into one region for purposes of representation on the commission, even though each county has its own selection committee to supply nominees.

- Roberti has asked for new names to consider for appointment to the Coastal Commission, signaling his own displeasure with King, who wants to keep his seat. But local government officials in Los Angeles County have refused to nominate anyone other than King, who enjoys their strong support.

- Partly because of the feud over King in Los Angeles County, Roberti has indicated to Orange County officials that King’s seat could go to someone they nominate.

But Orange County’s chances did not get off to a promising start.

According to county officials, Roberti rejected Newport Beach Councilwoman Ruthelyn Plummer for King’s seat because she is a Republican and also not considered an environmentalist.

“I was the wrong breed,” Plummer said last week. “Ironically, it was my desire to protect the coastal area from offshore oil drilling that led me to want to devote the long hours and hard work involved in being a commission member.”

Roberti was unavailable for comment and his aides denied anyone has been formally rejected. However, they acknowledged that Orange County officials have been asked to “expand the list” of nominees because the senator was not satisfied with existing choices for the seat.

The boards of supervisors in both Orange and Los Angeles counties can each submit names to Roberti. Also, two committees representing the cities in both counties can each nominate mayors or council members to fill the post.

Responding to Roberti’s request for new names, Ralph Clark, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, the only Democrat on the nonpartisan board, has nominated Cypress Mayor John Kanel, also a Democrat. Asked about the nomination, Kanel said he is “right down the middle” on environmental issues and believes in considering proposed development projects “on a case-by-case basis.”

Kanel was unsuccessful in a 1984 bid to unseat Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R--Westminster). He is a political protege of former Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman Paul Carpenter of Cypress, who attempted unsuccessfully through legislation to exempt the Bolsa Chica wetlands from regulation by the Coastal Commission on behalf of Signal Landmark Corp., a development firm that owns and wants to build commercial and residential units on a portion of the wetlands property.

Meanwhile Bob Dunek, executive director of the Orange County League of Cities, said last week that the selection committee representing Orange County cities may nominate Huntington Beach Councilman Peter Green, an ecology teacher who has aided the environmental group Amigos de Bolsa Chica in its efforts to protect the Bolsa Chica wetlands from development.

Green had not sought the nod when Plummer was nominated by the same committee five months ago.

However, Green said he expects to receive the support of the Sierra Club and at least one member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, whom he declined to name. He said Orange County Supervisor Harriett Wieder, in whose district he lives, had refused to back him because of his Bolsa Chica activities.

Green--who was a Republican for 30 years, a Democrat briefly and then an independent--rejoined the GOP last month.

“I’ve been told that party registration is a factor even though it’s not supposed to be,” Green said. “The Coastal Commission is a nonpartisan body. I don’t think party affiliation would be a determining factor in my case because of my credentials.”

Green faces almost certain opposition from members of the Orange County Building Industries Assn., whose executive director, John Erskine, previously worked on Wieder’s staff and who ran unsuccessfully for the Huntington Beach council in 1984. (Green, who won, and Erskine were among 16 candidates vying for three spots on the seven-member council).

“What David Roberti wants is the best list of options possible, with a strong possibility for naming an environmentalist,” said a Roberti staff member who insisted on anonymity.

“Party registration is not the determining factor, but obviously it might help. . . . He’s interested in a balancing act, and given the governor’s appointments to the commission, he doesn’t feel that there is currently the necessary balance.”

The same staff member said Roberti’s last appointee, Gilbert Contreras, a prominent San Diego builder and businessman, “can hardly be considered an environmentalist.”

An Orange County resident has not been on the Coastal Commission since 1981, when Speaker Brown fired Newport Beach environmentalist Judy B. Rosener, who had been feuding with one of Brown’s top lieutenants.