Some reflection on the March 16 Coastal Commission conclave in Carmel

By Tim Moore
teemor@got.net

The California's Coastal Commission's near-unanimous decision (9 to 1) to approve the Harkins Slough site was a sham. Obviously the fix was in from the beginning. It was predetermined that the proposed new high school site should get approval. Assemblyman Fred Keeley had been meeting for weeks with city, county and school officials, plus specially selected members of the enviro-community. He got them all to agree to support the chosen site by crafting with them a phony agreement which has come to be known popularly here in the community by its acronym "MOU" (Memorandum of Understanding).

Assemblyman Keeley promises to introduce legislation at the state level that would make MOU's legally binding upon local government agencies such as the Watsonville City Council. His proposed legislation would be designed such that, hypothetically, should a councilman, say, even suggest that the terms of an existing MOU be altered or broken, he (the councilman) could be sued in court. Sounds kind of unconstitutional to me.

Constitutionality aside, the present Keeley MOU supposedly discourages urban development west of Hwy. 1. Under its provisions, a super majority (67%) of the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors, would be required. Additionally, a simple majority (51%) of the Coastal Commission would also be needed to amend the agreement to permit westward expansion. City Manager Carlos Palacios declares that with this triple protection in place it would be virtually impossible to amend the existing MOU.

I remind the reader that the City Council, the County Board of Supervisors and the CCC had already unanimously consented to the rape of Harkins Slough. Each of these entities provided far more than a super majority in agreeing to plant a pollutant-rich school atop environmentally sensitive wetlands. It was closer to a 100% sellout. In fact, practically every other government service agency in the County colluded with them in order to get the site approved. So, I ask you, Mr. Palacios, why should anyone be comforted by your "super majority" assurances?

Despite the fact that local staff of the CC had advised against the site repeatedly, in every conceivable way, over a period of six years, from early 1993 to the end of 1999, that same staff offered no resistance on the day the Commissioners met, March 16 in Carmel. All their earlier arguments against the proposed site vanished. They were putty in the hands of that dark-suited oligarchy hovering over and around them. And they were probably not a little intimated either by the busloads of citizens brought in from Watsonville to encourage the proceedings toward a desirable conclusion. Staff members and Commissioners alike stared out meekly at a sea of yellow "Yes" buttons. Instructions were clearly telegraphed before the meeting even commenced. Commission brass followed them to the letter. The final outcome, as I have said, was never really in doubt.

In the few weeks prior to the Carmel showdown, local staff came under enormous pressures from above. Anxiety, as well as necessity, can be the mother of invention. Staff quickly discovered, voila, a new "development envelope" which had, evidently, formerly eluded them. This plot surrounded by "agricultural buffers" and "setbacks" would, they testified, prove to be suitable for high school construction without significant negative impacts upon the environmentally sensitive slough habitat.

Our unctuous little Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore was obviously the crown prince of the gathering, and loving every minute of it. The Commission's Executive Director, Peter Douglas, acted as Assemblyman Keeley's eager vice-regent. Keeley had Douglas eating out of his hand. The Executive Director slobbered obsequiously all over the politician during several unsolicited verbal tributes to his great leadership abilities. Douglas, of course, recommended to the Commissioners that they vote to approve the site. So, also, did the petite, lady-like Deputy Director, Tami Grove. She slobbered more daintily. Until a very short time ago, Tami, along with CC District Manager Charles Lester, had been consistently on record against the project.

The apparently play-by-the-rules, no-nonsense Commission Chairwoman, Sarah Wan, was not about to be outdone. Her sycophancy matched Douglas's and exceeded Grove's. Keeley asked for "two additional legislative minutes" to expostulate upon some point. Ms. Wan, who had been managing the time of most previous speakers quite strictly, folded instantly. She had already slobbered shamelessly over the assemblyman in an earlier paeon of praise. Smiling and tittering, she immediately extended to him an invitation to continue.

I thought the encomiums would never end. At one point a gentleman came forward and suggested that Mr. Keeley be given the Nobel Peace Prize for his labors on behalf of humanity. (Lunch nearly came up.)

One could have hoped that Mr. Keeley, surfeited with adulation, might himself put a stop to these paroxysms of adoration. But, it was not to be. Keeley just kept the ball rolling, and, incredibly, after a brief lull, began to slobber all over himself: He agreed wholeheartedly with the characterizations of his august self as expressed by his devotees. Keeley reminded us all how truly sensitive to the coastal environment he really was; how much key environmental legislation he had written and almost single-handedly passed; that he had received numerous awards for his efforts on behalf of the environment; that he had been recognized universally ....., and on and on and on.

It was, of course, absolutely essential that Fred firmly reestablish his environmental credentials in the wake of his support for the construction of a large high school right smack dab in the middle of one the county's few remaining, and most sensitive, wetlands habitats. I sat there marveling that such an enormous ego could fit so comfortably into such a small man; and I wondered that so many had cooperated to feed it.

By the way, Fred Keeley is the assemblyman from the 27th District. He represents the 139 acre strawberry patch under dispute west of Hwy. 1. Assemblyman Peter Frusetta represents all the people who will be directly affected by the new high school should it ever be built. In other words, Assemblyman Frusetta of the 28th District represents most of the 33,000 citizens of Watsonville proper. Where was Frusetta on March 16? Where was he, for that matter, during all the closed-door marathon sessions leading up to March 16? Fred Keeley contends that his Assembly colleague knew all about the project and could have participated in the negotiations had he wanted to. Interesting!

Superintendent John Casey was a busy fellow in the days and weeks leading up to the Coastal Commission hearing in Carmel. During ex parte statements from the Commissioners, it was revealed that Casey had found time, along with other assorted officials and politicians, to pay personal visits to each of the Commissioners prior to their gathering in Carmel. Casey needs a new state-of-the-art high school to help fill out his resume. Professional 'headhunters' lured him to our community three or four years ago. (But, alas, they could not attract the rest of his immediate family to the area.) Professional headhunters will certainly spirit him away once the school is built and his market value goes up. You watch! Sources tell me that Casey is not anxious to prolong his stay here among us any longer than necessary.

In closing, I will repeat in part what I said before the Commissioners in a brief two minute presentation which Ms. Wan made certain did not extend one second beyond the time alloted for mere plebians:

The proposed new high school project at Harkins Slough is a thinly disguised ploy on the part of the City of Watsonville, with energetic support from big developers and other powerful interests behind the scenes. They are hell-bent on pushing across Highway One and extending our urban boundaries westward. A new high school would simply provide a wedge, eventually opening up that entire pristene area for the accomplishment of long range development objectives. Nobody will convince me otherwise.