Subject: Fw: ALERT-COASTAL PROTECTION IS UNDER ATTACm
Date: Sunday, March 14, 2010, 12:32 PM
ed:
sorry for the rush. in a nutshell the coastal commission is under attack
and will lose it's teeth if the legislature shifts their budget from the
state's general fund. i know they have made enough dubious decisions to
fill a notebook, but they have more often than not been the one arm of govt.
protecting the coast. the coastal act is probably the finest environmental
law in the u.s. detailed information below including a sample letter. send
this to as many people as you can. hearings start THIS MONDAY!
the 2 important people to be faxed immediately (today, if possible, monday
if you can) are:
Department of Justice Fund Shift Budget Committee
Juan Arambula
sub-committee 4
fax: 916-319-2131
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a31/
Nancy Skinner
sub-committee 3
fax: 916-319-2114
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a14/
thanks,
stan zeavin
margaret goodale
Subject: Fw: ALERT-COASTAL PROTECTION IS UNDER ATTACm
THE COAST NEEDS YOUR HELP
The Coast is under attack and this time, if the proposal to require the
Coastal Commission to pay for all legal services previously supplied by the
Attorney General is approved, it will leave the Commission with very limited
ability to defend itself in a lawsuit or enforce the Coastal Act. This is
one of the most serious threats to the continued viability of California's
coastal protection program since the attack on the constitutionality of the
Commission in the Marine Forest case The commission may be unable to
initiate lawsuits to protect public access or other coastal resources. This
also effectively means that the Commission would be unable to deny any
applicant or to impose any conditions on any proposal that the applicant
opposes, based on whether the Commission could afford the cost of
litigation. It means that coastal protection as we have known it is over.
Please read the full discussion below and then take action immediately,
since this proposal is supported by Jerry Brown's Office, the Department of
Finance, the LAO and the Committee staff. This proposal is currently being
considered in the Budget sub-committee and will be acted on shortly.
Thanks for your help
Sara Wan
PLEASE HELP BY SENDING A FAX OR CALLING ASAP
Please contact Attorney General, Jerry Brown, and Senator Mark DeSaulnier,
Chair of Budget Subcommittee 4, and tell them to EXEMPT THE PUBLIC RIGHTS
DIVISION OF DOJ, AND SPECIFICALLY THE COASTAL COMMISSION FROM THE PROPOSED
INSIDIOUS LEGAL SERVICES FUNDING SHIFT. Tell them that departments, such as
the Commission, whose function is to protect the public's rights, need to be
certain they have legal representation to do so.
Senator DeSulnier : 916-445-2527 (fax); 916-651-4077 (phone)
Attorney General Brown: fax: 916-445-6749; 916-324-5437-phone
SAMPLE LETTER
Senator Mark DeSaulnier
Chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee 4
Re4 DOJ Fund Swap
Dear Senator DeSaulnier:
You have always been one of the Legislature's strongest champions of
environmental protection and public rights. Today I am writing to express my
extreme opposition to the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposal to "bill"
departments that protect our coast and environment for litigation that
defends our natural resources. The Coastal Commission, State Lands
Commission, Water Board and other public agencies that protect the public's
rights to clean beaches, clean water and access to public lands should not
have to base their decisions on whether or not these rights deserve to be
upheld based on case-by-case budget decisions made by the Department of
Finance. Funding these legal costs currently comes from the General Fund and
are written into the DOJ budget. This has worked extremely well for nearly
forty years. Why change it now and seriously harm coastal and environmental
protection?
The State Lands and the Coastal Commission do not control who initiates
legal challenges to its actions, whether oil companies, developers, or
environmentalists. They do have discretion over legal actions the bring to
enforce the law, and penalties and fines it pursues to deter law breakers
and seek compensation for lost public resources. Under threat of possible
legal action, the Commission may have to choose whether or not to deny a
project or to impose conditions to bring the project into compliance with
the Coastal Act. By shifting legal costs directly to these Commissions,
protection of coastal resources will inevitably be sacrificed. This funding
shift will abandon coastal protection to well-healed anti-protection
ideologues and deep-pocket developers who would be encouraged to sue more
often knowing the Commission will run out of money and consequently elect to
save its operations rather than protection of public rights and resources.
The State will be setting aside 48 million dollars to cover attorney's fees
for all agencies currently being served by the AG's office. This is about
60% of what has been needed in the past. To obtain funds the Commission
will have to petition for funds and compete with every other agency,
including the Department of Corrections, etc. The Department of Finance
(i.e. the Governor) will decide who gets the money while there are still
funds left. This shift, if approved, will also give unprecedented control
over the Commission's enforcement of coastal protection policies and pursuit
of Coastal Act violators to the Governor. Consider the devastating
consequences of an anti-coastal protection Governor having such control.
Please reject this proposal and confine any DOJ billing reform to the
Department of Corrections, where the real problem exists.
Thank you for your continued efforts to protect our natural heritage.
YOUR NAME HERE
Group (If you speak for a Group)
***
Big Anti-War Protest March & Rally in Hollywood!
U.S. Out of Afghanistan & Iraq Now!
SATURDAY, MARCH 20th, Noon
Gather at Hollywood & Vine
Regional Protest Coordinated with
National March on Washington
Bring the Troops Home Now!
End Colonial Occupation from Iraq to Palestine, Afghanistan, Haiti
Money for Healthcare, Jobs & Education!
March 20th is the Seventh Anniversary of the Criminal War of Aggression
against Iraq, launched by Bush & Cheney and now continued by Obama,
Biden & the Government of the United States.
One Million or More Iraqis Have Died!
People from all over the country are organizing to converge on Washington,
D.C., to demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all U.S. and
NATO forces from Afghanistan and Iraq. On Saturday, March 20, 2010, there
will be a mass National March & Rally in D.C. with joint actions in Los
Angeles and San Francisco. We will march together to say "No Colonial-type
Wars and Occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine!" We will march
together to say "Reparations for the people of Haiti!" Instead of war and
occupation, we will demand funds so that every person can have a job, free
and universal health care, decent schools, and affordable housing.
March 20 is the seventh anniversary of the criminal war of aggression
launched by Bush and Cheney against Iraq. One million or more Iraqis have
died. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops have lost their lives or been maimed,
and continue to suffer a whole host of enduring problems from this terrible
war.
This is the time for united action. The slogans on banners may differ, but
all those who carry them should be marching shoulder to shoulder.
Download March 20 flyers and posters:
http://www.pephost.org/site/PageNavigator/ANSWERLA_M20_Literature
The initiators and endorsers of the March 20 National March on Washington
include: the ANSWER Coalition; Muslim American Society Freedom; National
Council of Arab Americans; Cynthia McKinney; Malik Rahim, co-founder of
Common Ground Collective; Ramsey Clark; Cindy Sheehan; Medea Benjamin,
co-founder of CODEPINK; Deborah Sweet, Director, World Can't Wait; Mike
Ferner, President, Veterans for Peace; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to
Return Coalition; Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers
Guild; Ron Kovic, author of "Born on the 4th of July"; Juan Jose Gutierrez,
Director, Latino Movement USA; Col. Ann Wright (ret.); March Forward!;
Partnership for Civil Justice; Palestinian American Women Association;
Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Alliance for
Global Justice; Claudia de la Cruz, Pastor, Iglesia San Romero de Las
Americas-UCC; Phil Portluck, Social Justice Ministry, Covenant Baptist
Church, D.C.; Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Coalition for
Peace and Democracy in Honduras; Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico; Frente
Unido de los Pueblos Americanos; Comites de Base FMLN, Los Angeles; Free
Palestine Alliance; GABRIELA Network; Justice for Filipino American
Veterans; KmB Pro-People Youth; Students Fight Back; Jim Lafferty, Executive
Director, National Lawyers Guild - LA Chapter; LEF Foundation; National
Coalition to Free the Angola 3; Community Futures Collective; Advocates for
Indigenous California Language Survival; Companeros del Barrio; Barrio Unido
for Full and Unconditional Amnesty; Michael Berg; Action Center for Justice
- Charlotte, NC; Bay Area United Against War; Casa las Américas; Community
Organizing Center, Columbus, Ohio; CT-SAW (Connecticut Students Against the
War); Delaware Valley Veterans for America; Hawai'i Solidarity Committee;
Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination; Texans for Peace; Addicted To War
and many more.
For more information contact:
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War and End Racism
http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=a1A1LloXz0pRthCBphYBVw.
http://www.answerla.org
answerla@answerla.org> 213-251-1025
137 N. Virgil Avenue, #201
Los Angeles, CA 90004
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