Agency challenger presses on

Paul Clinton

The local activist who took on the California Coastal Commission and

won vowed to continue his fight Wednesday as the state Legislature

works to cure the agency’s ills.

Rodolphe Streichenberger, who founded the Newport Beach-based

Marine Forests Society, blasted the state Senate’s approval on

Tuesday of a bill that supporters say would answer Streichenberger’s

criticism of its constitutionality.

The trenchant French-born activist said on Wednesday that the bill

would not solve what he contends is its illegality.

“That’s a cosmetic fix,” Streichenberger said. “It’s still

unconstitutional.”

It was Streichenberger’s lawsuit, filed in 1997, that ultimately

led to a state superior court judge’s decision four years later that

the institutional state agency violated the state’s constitution.

The appeals court agreed with arguments made by Streichenberger’s

attorney, Ronald Zumbrun.

In the various rulings, judges agreed with Zumbrun’s claim that

the agency violated the state separation of powers clause because

members of various branches could appoint or remove members.

The commission on Tuesday appealed the Dec. 30 appellate ruling to

the state Supreme Court.

The Senate, also on Tuesday, approved a bill on a 25-14 vote that

would establish fixed four-year terms for the commissioners and take

away the Legislature’s ability to remove them.

The Assembly approved a similar measure on Jan. 30 on a 49-24

vote. Both votes held closely to party lines, with Republicans

opposing them. Costa Mesa Assemblyman Ken Maddox abstained in the

vote.

On Wednesday, Assemblyman John Campbell, who represents Newport

Beach and opposed the bill, said coastal planning should be a local

matter.

“It is probably the most oppressive state agency out there,”

Campbell said. “While the Coastal Commission is being reformed, we

ought to fix it. ... The City Council in Newport Beach is fully

equipped to deal with [coastal development].”