In the wake of the removal of the California Coastal Commission’s Executive Director, Charles Lester, the inevitable question arises of which direction the Coastal Commission will now take with regards to coastal development. In this article, Mr. Angel gives some possible insight into the agenda of one of the current commissioners, Wendy Mitchell.
“McCabe [former coastal commissioner who is now, by all accounts, the most powerful coastal development lobbyist in the state] represents everyone who wants to basically have a piece of the coast,” Angel says. “And Mitchell always votes in line with her clients.”
Shortly after the commission voted unanimously to support The Edge’s project, Mitchell posted a photo on Facebook of herself, beaming, arms around the musician and his wife, with the message: “At the Coastal Commission meeting today with The Edge and his wife, Morleigh Steinberg. They are both very nice people, I’m only sorry it took them 10 years to get approval on their home.” (Mitchell later deleted the post).
To many, it was yet another sign that Mitchell and other commissioners had an unprofessional interest in developing the coast.
“[Mitchell] doesn’t honor the fundamental purposes of the Coastal Act,” Angel says. “It’s the fox in charge of the chicken coup.”