Firing of Coastal Commission’s chief executive leaves too many questions unanswered

The California Coastal Commission’s decision to fire Executive Director Charles Lester is mystifying in so many ways, it’s hard to know where to begin.

We’ll start, though, with the way it was done: The decision was made behind closed doors, even though Lester had requested an open hearing and the agency’s own chief legal counsel told commissioners they were free to discuss current performance issues in public. The commission, however, decided to honor Lester’s right to privacy and went into closed session. So much for transparency.

That brings us to the bigger issue: Why was Lester fired?

Various commissioners stressed that it was not because they wanted a more pro-development executive in charge, and some made a point of chastising the media for suggesting as much:

“We have been terribly mischaracterized as developer hacks,” said Vice Chairwoman Dayna Bochco.

Yet some of the reasons that were given in public were head-scratchingly vague. Commissioners spoke of not getting the information they needed from staff and not having their questions sufficiently answered. In other words, they felt left out of the loop.

The day after the firing, Commissioner Erik Howell, who serves on the Pismo Beach City Council, gave another reason: Too many delays.

“There have been dozens of items over the past two years that have been delayed without adequate explanation,” Howell told Tribune reporter David Sneed.

There was criticism, too, of the lack of diversity on the Coastal Commission staff — a big concern, to be sure. Yet if officials in charge of state agencies and organizations are going to be fired for lack of diversity on their staffs, a whole lot of people had better start packing their bags.

We aren’t claiming Lester was perfect.

Nor are we claiming the concerns of commissioners weren’t valid. We honestly don’t know, one way or the other.

We do know Lester took protection of California’s coastline as his paramount responsibility, as he should, and that his termination was handled in a manner that appeared arbitrary and at odds with public opinion.

It’s one thing to cavalierly fire an NBA coach with scant explanation. It’s another to fire the chief executive of an agency that protects what’s arguably the state’s most cherished resource in such a way.

The California Coastal Commission did exactly what it accused Lester of doing; it failed to adequately communicate. For that, it earns a boatload of brickbats. Lester’s yet-to-be-chosen, permanent successor gets bouquets of fortitude, forbearance and luck — we have a feeling they’ll be needed.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Firing of Coastal Commission’s chief executive leaves too many questions unanswered."