Consultant abandons post

Andrew Edwards

Garry Brown, executive director of Orange County Coastkeeper, has

resigned his post as a part-time consultant for a Newport Beach

lobbying firm following accusations by other activists that he played

both sides of the fence.

Brown said his decision to quit Newport Beach-based Iger &

Associates, which represents businesses in their dealings with

environmental regulators, was based on an agreement he made with

Coastkeeper’s board of directors to leave the firm if any controversy

developed.

“When all of a sudden it became an issue, I fulfilled my promise,”

Brown said.

Under Iger & Associates employ, Brown worked about 10 to 20 hours

monthly, January through March, he said. Brown said he hoped he could

use his position as a consultant to convince developers to beef up

water-quality measures.

Brown said a confidentiality agreement prohibited him from

discussing his specific activities at Iger & Associates. The company

did not return phone calls for comment Monday.

Roger von Butow, a Laguna Beach environmentalist who founded the

South Orange County Watershed Conservancy, sent a critical e-mail to

Brown in March. The message, which was also sent to reporters and

other environmentalists, accused Brown of taking a job with the “bad

guys” by working for the lobbying group.

“It’s kind of like working for the public defender’s office and

working for the [district attorney’s] office at the same time on the

same case,” von Butow said, describing his impression of Brown’s

actions.

Von Butow said he did consulting work for 15 months in 2000 and

2001 for the Phoenix-based Athens Group when that company was

overseeing construction of the Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach.

Von Butow defended his own activities, saying his duties were to

ensure construction crews were not endangering water quality.

The resort’s charitable wing currently sponsors von Butow’s beach

cleanup events.

In addition to Brown’s role with Iger & Associates, von Butow and

Defend the Bay founder Bob Caustin also questioned Brown’s acceptance

of sponsorships from developers and other companies.

Sponsors for Coastkeeper’s October 2004 fundraiser included the

Irvine Co. and Poseidon Resources Corp., a Stamford, Conn., company

that has proposed a controversial desalination plant for Huntington

Beach.

“They sure wouldn’t come to one of my dinners, I guarantee,”

Caustin said.

During the early 1980s, Brown was the executive director of the

Baldy View chapter of the Building Industry Assn., which represents

builders in San Bernardino County. With Coastkeeper, Brown said he

seeks to build collaborative relationships with developers, adding

that he does not believe he has been compromised by corporate

sponsorships.

“We don’t promise them anything except to sue them if they

pollute,” Brown said.

Not all local activists think Brown’s work with Iger & Associates

was wrong. Nancy Gardner, founder of the Newport Beach chapter of the

Surfrider Foundation, said she thinks Brown had good intentions when

he took the consulting post, but acknowledged that some could see his

role in a bad light.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea to have an environmentally-eager

person in the building industry,” Gardner said. “The real problem is

the perception.”

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards@latimes.com.