Section 30304 of the Coastal Act provides:

Any member of the commission may, subject to the confirmation of his or her appointing power, appoint an alternate member to represent him or her at any commission meeting. An alternate for a locally elected official need not also be a locally elected official. An alternate may serve prior to confirmation for a period not to exceed 90 days from the date of appointment unless and until confirmation is specifically refused. The alternate shall serve at the pleasure of the member who appointed him or her and shall have all the powers and duties as a member of the commission, except that the alternate shall only participate and vote in meetings in the absence of the member who appointed him or her...

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Garcia had been a full Coastal Commission member, appointed by the state Senate Rules Committee in Jan. 2013 while he was a voting City Councilmember, but was forced to exit the Coastal Commission under then-state law within 90 days of taking office as LB's non-voting Mayor. Garcia's Sacramento allies attempted to change state law in August 2014 law to let him remain on the Commission with a hurriedly offered "gut and amend" bill that failed passage. In early 2015, the state Senate Rules Committee appointed LB Councilman Robert Uranga to fill the vacant Coastal Commission seat...and verbiage was inserted in a new more open bill (SB 798, dealt with multiple subjects) that would let all non-voting Mayors serve as full Coastal Commission members and alternates.

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While the bill was pending, Commissioner Uranga candidly stated during the the July 8, 2015 Coastal Commission meeting (in discussing whether the Coastal Commission should support the bill): "As a consequence of my being here [resulting from Mayor Garcia having to step down], I did nominate the Mayor to be my alternate, and there is a holding pattern on that until we see what results from [SB 798]," Commissioner Uranga stated.

The bill passed and was signed into law...and Commissioner Uranga has done what he publicly said he'd do; in the latter part of 2015 he recommended Garcia as his alternate to the five-member state Senate Rules Committee...and the matter is now in its hands (current membership: Senators de Leon, Mitchell, Leyva [Dems] + Runner, Cannella [Repubs])

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Garcia's original 2013 appointment to the Coastal Commission -- which regulates land uses along CA's coastline statewide, raised eyebrows locally. In December 2011, Garcia was one of only three Councilmembers (of eight voting) to approve a proposed development at 2nd/PCH [Seaport Marina hotel site] that the Coastal Commission's LB office staff advised city staff not to advance on grounds it raised procedurally issues under the Coastal Act. The development was also opposed on its merits by the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust (represented by LB attorney/former Coastal Commissioner Mel Nutter) and by multiple environmental advocates.

During a Nov. 2010 quasi-judicial City Council hearing on a resident's appeal under the CA Environmental Quality Act, Garcia was captured on video typing or texting on his computer during sworn hearing testimony. Garcia then went on to second a motion to overrule the resident's appeal (which raised issues over handling of toxics in sludge unearthed in cleaning up Colorado Lagoon.) [Garcia's emailed response to LBREPORT.com at the time: "I may have sent a couple texts for probably no longer than 1 or two minutes total. It is common for me to send messages to my staff, or respond to them during a council meeting. They provide us with information and vice versa."]

In 2013, LBREPORT.com made a request under the CA Legislative Open Records Act to view materials that Garcia had submitted to the Committee in pursuing his Coastal Commission appointment; Committee staff refused to release any materials.

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In October 2013, Garcia's campaign for Mayor of Long Beach held an October 2013 event at the San Fernando valley home of CA Coastal Commission member Wendy Mitchell (first appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger, continues to serve at Governor Brown's pleasure.) The Garcia campaign invitation told recipients that Garcia was "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." [The fundraiser was privately organized and to our knowledge didn't use any state or public resources.]

The state Senate Rules Committee is one of three sources for appointing Coastal Commissioners and the only one that acts in a collective capacity. The other Coastal Commission appointers are individuals: the Governor (whose appointees serve at his pleasure) and the Assembly Speaker (whose appointees serve for fixed terms.

For years, the state Senate Rules Committee (under state Senate leaders) has routinely prevented public and the press access to its Coastal Commission appointment proceedings. The Committee doesn't publicly agendize Coastal Commission appointment proceedings, directs the public and the press to leave the Committee meeting room during Coastal Commission appointment proceedings, doesn't allow public testimony pro and con on prospective Coastal Commission appointees and doesn't release minutes or audio/video recordings of its Coastal Commission appointment proceedings.

LBREPORT.com inquired about the status of the Coastal Commission alternate matter on Feb. 16, first contacting the state Senate Rules Committee by phone, which referred our inquiry to chair Sen. de Leon's office, where a staffer took our inquiry but as of dawn Feb. 17 hasn't yet responded.

Developing.