In June 2014, the CA Attorney General's office said Garcia became ineligible to remain on the Commission as a result of his Mayoral election...since his Coastal Commission appointment eligibility stemmed from his status as a voting Councilmember. The gutted-and-amended version of AB 1759 would circumvent this by changing state law to deem Mayors of cities governed by City Charters (mainly large cities) to be Councilmembers for purposes of Coastal Commission appointments.

On August 13, 2014, Garcia traveled to Sacramento for what his office said was a meeting with Governor Brown and mayors of CA's nine largest cities...and also scheduled meetings with outgoing pro Tem/Rules Committee chair Darrell Steinberg (D;, Sacramento) and incoming President pro Tem-elect Senator de León (D, Los Angeles) as well as Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D, San Diego). Garcia's office didn't disclose the subject matter of Garcia's discussions with the Dem legislative leadership but the "gut and amend" measure materialized a few days after his Sacramento trip.

On August 28, CapitolWeekly.net reported that Garcia's "allies in the state legislature are pushing what it called the "hastily amended bill" and said critics note that Garcia "has received campaign donations from lobbyists, land-use experts, developers and others. CapitolWeekly.com said state Senator Ricardo Lara (D., Long Beach/Huntington Park) is reportedly the "driver behind the bill."

On August 18, 2014, Assembly Bill AB 1759 was quietly stripped of its existing language and new verbiage was inserted to specify that a city council member may also include a locally elected mayor of a charter city. Long Beach is a charter city.

At stake is a vote on the powerful state body that controls land use and development along all of CA's coast.. Big city Mayors typically attract campaign contributions exceeding those of Councilmembers. Garcia received 52.04% of the vote in June 2014 Mayoral runoff amid contributions to his campaign and to supportive "independent expenditure committees" exceeding all previous total sums in any Long Beach election.

In many cities, but not Long Beach, the Mayor is a rotated position among voting Councilmembers. The Attorney General's office noted that Garcia was appointed under a Coastal Act provision deeming him eligible based on his status as a voting Council member. Since as of July 15 he no longer holds that voting Council member position, he is ineligible to continue to hold that position under current law and must exit the Coastal Commission within sixty days of July 15. Hence, the gut and amend measure that attempts to change current law.

In the interim, the state Senate Rules Committee has already received the names of 15 L.A. County and Orange County elected officials who are eligible to fill the Coastal Commission seat. Eleven elected officials are from Los Angeles County; four are from Orange County. They are:

Nanette Barragan - Hermosa Beach City Council
Tony Vasquez - Santa Monica City Council
Nury Martinez - L. A. City Council
Robert Pullen-Miles - Lawndale Mayor
John Duran, Councilmember, City of West Hollywood
Bill Brand, Councilmember, City of Redondo Beach
David Lesser, Councilmember, City of Manhattan Beach
Wayne Powell, Mayor Pro-Tem, City of Manhattan Beach
Jim Knight, Councilmember, City of Rancho Palos Verdes
Lou LaMonte, Councilmember, City of Malibu
Laura Rosenthal, Councilmember, City of Malibu
Tim Brown, San Clemente (Mayor)
Ross Chun - Aliso Viejo (Council Member)
Ellery Deaton - Seal Beach (Mayor)
David Shawver - Stanton (Council Member)

The Senate Rules Committee can appoint one of the above prospective applicants, or could reject the current list of names and seek additional names.

The "gut and amend" bill could come to a final vote without substantive committee hearings in the next two days. If it doesn't pass by 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 31, it dies. It's unclear exacly when it would take effect if passed. Some say that if passed by 2/3 votes in both the Assembly and Senate and gets the Governor's signature, it could take effect immediately, but if approved by simple majorities in both houses, it wouldn't take effect until Jan. 1, 2015.

As of Friday predawn (Aug. 29), the gutted and amended measure was in the Senate Rules Committee...which also decides on Coastal Commission appointees.

In late 2012, a Coastal Commission vacancy occurred when the L.A.-Orange County area's Coastal Commission rep was elected to the Assembly. Under the Coastal Act, Long Beach Councilman (Council-chosen Vice Mayor) Garcia quietly submitted his name to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors for consideration to fill the vacancy. So did a number of other L.A. County elected officials. (OC elected officials seeking the appointment submitted their names to the OC Board of Supervisors.) The two Boards of Supervisors agendized their lists for voted approval and forwarded the names to the state Senate Rules Committee for its decisionmaking consideration.

An ad hoc committee of representatives from four area environmental groups was monitoring events and sent a letter to the state Senate Rules Committee stating that in its opinion, three of the local elected officials would be worthy appointees. One of the three local electeds it recommended was Garcia.

The state Senate Rules Committee has continued to ban the press and public from attending its Coastal Commission appointment proceedings. Accordingly, it's unclear to what extent, if at all, the items below came to the attention of the Rules Committee.

• In December 2011, Councilman Garcia voted "yes" on a 3-5 (failed) motion that would have approved a controversial proposed development at 2nd St./PCH [coverage here.] The development was opposed by a number of environmental and wetlands groups...and the Coastal Commission's Long Beach staff advised by letter that it considered the City's procedure for advancing the project problematic under the Coastal Act. Coastal Commission Long Beach staff wrote in pertinent part that "[i]n discussions with city staff over the past year, Commission staff has "consistently stated concerns relative to the proposed project at 2nd and PCH" and stated in pertinent part:

  ...[Coastal Commission] staff has recommended that any significant changes to the use and development standards for this parcel should be considered only as a component of a comprehensive review and LCP [Local Coastal Plan] update of the existing SEADIP [overall zoning plan for the nearby SE LB areas]...

  Increases in traffic at 2nd and PCH and other nearby intersections have been raised by project opponents and is certainly a legitimate Coastal Act issue relative to public access to and along the coast.

  Regarding wetland parcels we believe that it is extremely important to determine the extent of wetlands and the potential or lack of potential for development of wetland parcels...

  We are hopeful the City Council will consider our comments...and delay action on the proposed project in order to allow City and Commission staff to continue discussions on developing a comprehensive LCP [Local Coastal Plan] amendment for SEADIP.

• In November 2010, video showed Councilman Garcia typing, texting, seemingly not focused on testimony during a sworn quasi-judicial appeal by residents under the CA Environmental Quality Act, who objected to aspects of the city's planned handling of toxic contaminated Colorado Lagoon soil. Garcia went on to second a motion to deny the appeal. [Coverage, including video, here.]

In early January 2013, with the press and public barred from attending, the state Senate Rules Committee (3 Dems, 2 Repubs) chose Garcia to fill the roughly six month unexpired Coastal Commission term.

Senate Rules Committee staff has told LBREPORT.com that no recordings or minutes of the Coastal Commission appointment proceeding exists. It also denied a request by LBREPORT.com under the CA Legislative Open Records Act to view written materials in connection with the appointment.

On January 22, 2013, a Long Beach City Council item (agendized by Garcia to enable reimbursement for his travel expenses) acknowledged -- after Garcia had been appointed -- that he traveled to Sacramento on January 7, 2013 to interview with the Senate Rules Committee, met with Rules Committee chair Steinberg and the result of his trip was his Coastal Commission appointment.

LBREPORT.com subsequently learned and reported that then-Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, a former Sacramento lobbyist for So. Cal Edison, also spoke by telephone with Rules Committee chair Steinberg and voiced support for Garcia's appointment. Garcia's pursuit of the Coastal Commission seat didn't reach (and wasn't required to reach) the policysetting City Council.

In mid-2013, in a proceeding which the press and public were again barred from attending, the Senate Rules Committee appointed Garcia to a full four year Coastal Commission term.

A few months later in October 2013, Garcia's Mayoral campaign held a fundraiser miles away from Long Beach at the San Fernando Valley home of a Coastal Commission member. The invitation told recipients that "Robert is the pro-business candidate, and wants Long Beach to strengthen it’s [sic] name, 'The International City,' by making it an economically booming, world-class city that businesses want to be a part of." Coverage here.

Regardless of whether the gut and amend measure becomes law, it remains up to the state Senate Rules Committee's chair (Steinberg now, de Leon in October) whether to allow, or continue to bar, press and public access to its Coastal Commission appointment proceedings...in which it will choose a local elected official who'll vote on land use and development matters affecting all of CA's coastline.

Developing.