News

Del Norte Supervisor Martha McClure accused of Coastal Commission ethics violations

5/25/16

Coastal Commissioner Martha McClure – who represents the North Coast counties of Humboldt, Del Norte, and Mendocino – is one of several Commissioners accused of ethics violations since the February 10 vote to fire the Commission’s Executive Director, Dr. Charles Lester. McClure made the motion to retreat into closed session to discuss the firing, which was done without explanation by a 7-5 vote despite overwhelming opposition from the public, elected officials, former coastal commissioners, and commission staff.

On March 11, the Los Angeles Times reported that McClure violated state law by failing to report donations from developers and lobbyists promoting projects before the Coastal Commission. McClure accepted a $500 donation in 2012 from the business and domestic partner of Susan McCabe of McCabe & Company. McClure told reporter Steve Lopez that she thought the donor and the lobbyist were “just friends” (see Los Angeles Times, Join me at the circus, I mean, a California Coastal Commission hearing). McCabe & Company has more projects in front of the Coastal Commission than any other consultant, and that donation to McClure’s local election campaign is now subject of a Fair Political Practices Commission investigation.

On May 14, Lopez exposed McClure’s unreported overnight stay at the Malibu winery villa of Don Schmitz, a consultant whose website touts that he has represented over a thousand land development projects as evidence of his “expansive, cultivated, and effective working relationships” with Coastal Commissioners. One of Schmitz’s clients is David “The Edge” Evans of U2, whose controversial Malibu complex of five hillside mansions was approved by the Commission in 2015. After reportedly unleashing a “jet stream of undiluted profanity and invective,” McClure made clear that she sees nothing wrong with failing to report her stay at Schmitz’s villa in 2011 or 2012—she told Lopez she couldn't remember exactly (Los Angeles Times: Cover your ears: Coastal Commissioner Martha McClure's on the phone).

Since the firing of Charles Lester behind closed doors, state legislators have introduced two bills designed to increase transparency of Coastal Commission proceedings. A ban on ex-parte communications – private meetings with developers and other interested parties – is the subject of a pending bill in the state legislature (SB 1190). Another bill would increase reporting requirements for lobbyists to the Coastal Commission (AB 2002).

McClure was appointed to the Commission in 2011. She quickly earned a reputation for failing to respond to calls and emails from coastal advocates in Humboldt County, including the controversial Caltrans proposal for an interchange at Highway 101 and Indianola Cutoff. She has been vocal about defending her practice of listening to developer concerns in order to assess the merits of the project and bristles at the ActCoastal 2015 Coastal Commission Vote Chart, which gives her the worst environmental voting score of any current Commissioners (see http://www.actcoastal.org/wiki/2015_Annual_Coastal_Commission_Vote_Chart:_A_Summary).

McClure is one of four Commissioners appointed by the governor. She serves at the pleasure of the Governor, meaning she can be removed from her position on the Coastal Commission at any time. In March, North Coast environmental groups, including Friends of Del Norte, NEC, Humboldt Baykeeper, and Humboldt Surfrider, wrote a letter to Governor Jerry Brown calling for her removal.

McClure is up for re-election to the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors on June 7. If the voters reject her re-election bid, she will lose her seat on the Coastal Commission, which requires that she be a local elected official.

EPA Report: Wetlands in poor condition

5/21/16

A first-of-its-kind report card on the nation’s wetland habitats shows the western U.S. is not doing a good job at keeping these disappearing ecosystems in good condition.

The report, released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this month, found only 21 percent of the 146 surveyed wetlands west of the Rocky Mountains were in “good” condition compared to about 61 percent in poor condition and 18 percent in fair condition.

Common impairments for these western wetlands and those throughout the nation are ditches and draining systems, nonnative plants, loss of native plants, and surface hardening such as road paving and other development — all of which have occurred in Humboldt County, according to Humboldt Baykeeper Director Jennifer Kalt.

“The public lands wetlands are being treated much better than they used to be and the private land wetlands are continuing to be abused and destroyed,” she said.

Bay Ball in Board's Court

Planning director opts to bypass planning commission, take bay zoning issue to supervisors

5/5/16

There's a showdown looming for the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, which will be asked by planning staff to temporarily expand the allowable uses of 118 properties around Humboldt Bay zoned as coastal dependent.

The staff recommendation recently came before the Planning Commission, which expressed a variety of concerns before declining, with a 5-1 vote, to back staff's recommendation to the board. That left Interim Planning Director Rob Wall with the choice of either bringing the matter back before the Planning Commission so that its members could try to reach a compromise measure they could support or taking the matter directly to the board without the commission's support. He chose the latter.

Gas tax shortfall delays 101 safety corridor project

5/8/16

Two Eureka road rehabilitation projects are likely to be cut, and the long-anticipated $38 million U.S. Highway 101 Corridor Improvement Project at the Indianola Interchange will likely be delayed two years, according to a report released by the California Transportation Commission.

Funding for these improvement projects comes from the state’s gas tax, which has seen massive shortfall as gas prices have plummeted and fuel efficient vehicles, including electric plug-ins, replace gas guzzlers.

How the Harbor District Found Itself in the Middle of Humboldt’s Most Bitter Political Fight

4/29/16

Last week, two elected officials got into a face-to-face, toe-to-toe, “let’s take this outside”-style argument during a break in a Planning Commission meeting. This wasn’t a personal beef (the men each told the Outpost afterward that they consider each other friends). Nor was it about a property dispute that affects either man directly.

No, the spat boiled over from a long-simmering political dispute over management of Humboldt Bay. Former Planning Commissioner Dennis Mayo and current Harbor Commissioner Richard Marks (the officials in last week’s quarrel) stand on separate sides of a philosophical and tactical divide that has gradually expanded to define Humboldt County’s most bitter political struggle — whether we should wait for big, blue-collar industries to arrive on our shores via sea and rail, or start allowing other businesses to use that land.