| (July 8, 2021) -- A reliable source informs LBREPORT.com that LB City Councilman Roberto Uranga has been reappointed to the CA Coastal Commission for another four year term. (Efforts by us to confirm this with the press contact for state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (who chairs the state Senate Rules Committee which makes the appointment) were unsuccessful.
Uranga's Coastal Commission term expired on May 20, 2021 but it's not a term limited position. He was initially appointed to the Coastal Commission effective March 18, 2015 and reappointed on May 10, 2017. Uranga's initial appointment came after then-Vice Mayor Robert Garcia was appointed to the Coastal Commission in January 2013 when he was a voting LB Councilmember but Garcia was surprised to learn he was legally unable to remain on the Commission when he became LB's non-voting Mayor in mid-July 2014. An attempt was hastily made to change state law to let Garcia remain on the Coastal Commission using a "gut and amend" bill nominally carried by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D, Lakewood-Paramount) but its driving force was widely reported to be then-state Senator Ricardo Lara (D, Long Beach). After news outlets (including LBREPORT.com) reported the Sacramento maneuver, the bill failed passage (LBREPORT.com coverage here.. Uranga was then chosen for the Coastal Commission seat in a closed door session of the state Senate Rules Committee chaired by its then-state Senate President Pro Tem His reappointment was likewise made in a session closed to the public and the press by the state Senate Rules Committee's current chair, state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D, San Diego.) In May 2021 LBREPORT.com confirmed that the state Senate Rules Committee sent letters to the Los Angeles County and Orange County Boards of Supervisors and their respective city selection committees, seeking the names of L.A. and OC Supervisors, Mayors in L.A. and OC cities, and City Councilmembers in LA and OC cities, for nomination to possible appointment to the Coastal Commission seat (term expiring May 20, 2021) occupied since 2015 by Councilman Uranga. This was in accord with CA Public Resources Code section 30301.2 that provides in pertinent part that within 45 days of receiving the request for nominations, "the board of supervisors and city selection committee of each county within the region shall nominate supervisors, mayors, or city council members who reside in the region from which [the state Senate Rules Committee] shall appoint a replacement." The statute provides that "in regions composed of two counties [the Coastal Comm'n South Coast region consists of L.A. + OC], the board of supervisors and the city selection committee in each county within the region shall each nominate not less than two supervisors and not less than two mayors or city council members" and then immediately forward their names to the state Senate Rules Committee that will appoint the replacement. And after that process, Uranga was the state Senate Rules Committee's choice (effectively meaning state Senate President Pro Tem Senator Toni Atkins' choice.) On June 23, 2021, Councilman Uranga filed FPPC Form 501 ("Candidate Intention Statement") to seek a third term on the City Council (CD 7) in 2022. |
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