The California Coastal Commission has built a barricade in a battle for access to e-mails between its members and lobbyists concerning the firing of the commission’s Executive Director Charles Lester on February 10. Commission attorneys insist that the e-mails are not subject to the state’s public records law even if the communication concerns public business since it was conducted with personal e-mail accounts or as texts on personal cell phones. An attorney for Grassroots Coalition said it would be a boon for corruption to allow that type of secret communication. (Marin Independent Journal, April 10, 2016, by Aaron Kinney)
The San Jose Mercury News is seeking the e-mails through a public records request and Grassroots Coalition is filing a lawsuit to get the e-mails released. The Marin Independent Journal, April 17, 2016, published an editorial protesting the commission’s intransigence:
“That ruling [refusing to release the e-mails] sets a disturbing double standard, sending a clear message to commissioners that if they want to engage in private deliberations, don’t use their government e-mail.
Commissioners have been less than open in detailing reasons for Charles Lester’s firing, which was seen by critics to be orchestrated by pro-development forces seeking to lessen commission restrictions on oceanfront building.”