SB 968 Lives to See Another Day, Heads to Assembly

Despite efforts by Khosla's lobbying team to kill SB 968 in Appropriations last week, a majority of Senators voted to pass the bill out of committee and on to the Senate floor.  Just before 5pm yesterday, the Senate passed SB 968 with a vote of 22 to 11.  The bill will move on to the Assembly for consideration.

Needless to say, we are STOKED!  Our full press release on the matter can be viewed here.

Now, to gear up for the Assembly...

Citizens can take action to support the bill in the Assembly by writing a letter to their Assemblymember here: http://tinyurl.com/pass-sb968.

Citizens are also encouraged to write their Senator in response to the Senator's vote for or against SB 968 and public beach access.  You can find your State Senator here: http://www.legislature.ca.gov/legislators_and_districts/legislators/your_legislator.html, and can find your Senator's vote on this bill here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/13-14/bill/sen/sb_0951-1000/sb_968_vote_20140528_0442PM_sen_floor.html.

Khosla Hires Lobbyists to Kill SB 968

As earlier reported, State Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) introduced an important bill earlier this year to provide permanent access to Martin's Beach.  SB 968 has passed through two Senate committees thus far, and awaits a hearing in the Appropriations Committee this Friday.

Yesterday, it was learned that Khosla, or rather Steven Baugher of Martin's Beach I and II, LLCs, hired lobbying firm California Strategies & Advocacy, LLC to try and kill this bill.  It is curious why Khosla waited this long, but in any case, this move comes just days before this key committee hearing.  If the bill does not pass out of Appropriations, it will be laid to rest until it is possibly taken back up next year.

The selection of California Strategies to lobby against the bill is intriguing.  Back in February of this year, Capitol Weekly reported on the Fair Political Practices Commission Enforcement Division's annual violations report.  2013 was characterized as one of the worst years ever in terms of the number of violations and prosecutions related to lobbying and campaign practices.  In this report and article, California Strategies and three of its partners--Jason Kinney, Rusty Areias, and Winston Hickox--are specifically called out for their violation of the Political Reform Act due to their failure to register as lobbyists.

You might think that someone with billions of dollars could hire a more reputable firm, but perhaps this was done intentionally.

The method of lobbying that this firm is (or at least was) purported to use is referred to as "shadow lobbying," which is characterized as former politicians and high-level staff members who serve as "consultants" and provide advice to decision-makers without being clear that they are actually paid lobbyists. 

We are hopeful that legislators and staff at the capitol will see through this guise and base their decisions on what's best for the public and not what's best for one wealthy individual. 

Khosla to Testify

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Barbara Mallach has ruled that Vinod Khosla, the billionaire behind the holding companies which are designated the owners of the property adjacent to Martin's Beach, will have to testify in court for the Surfrider Foundation lawsuit. 

It is unfortunate that it took a judge compelling him to appear to finally bring him out from behind the corporate veil to talk about his actions to close off access to the beach.  However, his required appearance and answers to questioning will bring some degree of satisfaction to many who have hoped for and sought after simple dialogue with the man behind the closure.

Latest indications are that Khosla will be called to appear somewhere between 3pm and 5pm on Monday, May 12.  (See "Trial Information" below)

Coastal Act Suit Goes to Trial

Who to himself is law, no law doth need,
Offends no law, and is a king indeed
- excerpt, The Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois


The California Coastal Act is a law that was put in place to regulate development in a manner which protects and conserves California's epic natural and scenic resources on the coast. The law addresses a broad swath of issues from protection of habitat, water quality, coastal dependent uses, and visual resources, to maximizing public access to beaches. Arguably, without this very important law on the books, California's remarkable coastline would have long ago succumbed to unbridled economic exploitation and mass privatization.

Indeed, the Coastal Act has been challenged by formidable opponents with deep pockets and weighty influence, who have sought to do these very things. One memorable tiff involved media mogul David Geffen and his Malibu home on Carbon Beach. Although Mr. Geffen had agreed to an access easement along his property as a condition of a development permit, he later sought to close off public access to the easement. In the end, Mr. Geffen lost the battle in court and opened the gate to the accessway.


The latest battle involves another mogul--this time of the tech sector--who has closed off and deterred access to Martin's Beach.  Vinod Khosla, under the guise of two holding companies, bought the land adjacent to Martin's Beach in 2008 and closed off access to the public soon after.  The billboard advertising access was painted over, beach closure signs erected, and a gate that once opened for the public was kept locked except to residents possessing keycards.

As offensive as these actions are, they are made all the worse with the realization that they were done with full knowledge that they were illegal.  The representative of the holding companies was made aware of the existing public access associated with the property prior to purchase of the property, and was also informed that closing or deterring access would be an activity that required a development permit from the County and Coastal Commission.  (We learned this through discovery on our lawsuit...see video) 

But, as powerful people are sometimes wont to do, the law was ignored and access was closed without benefit of a permit.  Doubtlessly he reckoned that the only way that he would have to answer to these actions and forced to address this closure was through an enforcement action or a lawsuit brought against him.

Mr. Khosla was approached early on by Surfrider Foundation in hopes that the closure could be discussed and an amicable resolution to restore access could be reached, but alas Mr. Khosla was not responsive to this approach.  Instead, he relied on his lawyers to respond, and the response more or less said that the court would need to decide.  So Surfrider took him to task and sued for violation of the Coastal Act.

We are now days away from trial of the suit, which will take place at the San Mateo County Superior Court, this coming week of May 5.  We firmly believe that the actions taken constitute development, which require a permit, and are hopeful that the court will agree. If so, the Coastal Commission will finally have the opportunity to properly consider and address the access closure. Of equal importance, a message to future potential violators will be sent: California's beaches are not to be closed to the public. [Even if you have lots of money.]

We encourage members of the public to come out to the trial and support our suit (- wear blue!).  Check back here on Monday for the trial schedule and room assignment.

 

State Legislature Steps Up to Bat

As most followers are aware, earlier in February, Senator Jerry Hill (D- San Mateo), introduced a bill to establish permanent access to Martin's Beach.  Senate Bill 968 requires that the State Lands Commission consult and enter negotiations with the property owner adjacent to the beach (Vinod Khosla) to purchase land required to provide permanent public access to the public beach.  The bill further states that if purchase cannot be negotiated by 2016, the State Lands Commission shall acquire an access easement via eminent domain. 

Surfrider Foundation is grateful for the introduction of this bill and grateful that the legislature is considering a means for addressing this very important loss of access to Martin's Beach. 

The bill has passed through the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water with a 7-2 vote. Senators Evans, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Monning, Pavley, and Wolk voting to pass the bill, and Senators Cannella and Fuller voting against it.  If you are a constituent, please consider hand-writing a note to any of these Senators to either thank them for their vote, or to urge them to reconsider their vote when the bill comes before them again.  (Contact info can be found here.  If you're not sure who your Senator is, you can find out here.)

SB 968 is to be heard today, on Earth Day, by the Senate Committee on Judiciary.   

An Open Letter to Vinod Khosla

February 3, 2014

To: Vinod Khosla

As of writing this letter, it has been 2.5 years since we first wrote to you to ask that you engage in a dialogue about your closure of Martin’s Beach to the public.   At that time, we could only guess that you were the owner, as there was no public documentation of the name of the new owner of the property adjacent to the beach, other than “Martin’s Beach I, LLC” and Martin’s Beach II, LLC”.  You opted to hide your name from the public for reasons we can only assume, like avoiding public scrutiny and outreach efforts in response to closure of the only road leading to this well-loved beach.

Now that you have been “outed,” your name and face have been associated with this issue, yet you still hide behind proxies who act and speak on your behalf.  This runs contrary to your very public persona that is constantly in the limelight, advocating for cleantech solutions or advising others on achieving success in the tech sector. 

Such behavior also runs contrary to statements made on your behalf, such as “the property owner strives to be a constructive member of the community”, despite being “very aware of the community concern about the situation.” [i]  Certainly it does not reflect that you “feel badly about the controversy surrounding Martin’s Beach.”[ii]  Shirking attempts to engage you in a dialogue reveals you to be rather disinterested in a “community conversation” or an outcome that would be “constructive.”

It almost seems like you think by ignoring the community we will go away.  Like we will forget about this beach that families have enjoyed and built lives around, or forget about the bigger picture of public access to beaches in California. 

We won’t.

Surfrider Foundation continues to hope for a constructive conversation that will result in both public access to Martin’s Beach and respect for the local private property.

We call upon you, Mr. Khosla, to step into the light and demonstrate that you are a constructive member of the community by engaging in a conversation with the community.  Dialogue could eliminate the need for litigation and lead to an amicable solution to give the public access to the beach they cherish.

Citizens wishing to join this call to action to Mr. Khosla may do so here: http://tinyurl.com/write-2-khosla

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[i] http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Surfers-lose-fight-to-access-Half-Moon-Bay-beach-4926919.php

[ii] http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2013/11/06/erin-wian-billionaire-closes-off-california-beach.cnn.html

ROCKS

Under the authority of the "emergency" project permitted by San Mateo County and the California Coastal Commission, construction of the 963 foot rock revetment has commenced at Martin's Beach. 

The construction company hired by permit holders Martin's Beach, I LLC (the front for billionaire Vinod Khosla) and the Allen Cunha Family Trust began laying the rock a couple weeks ago.  Construction continues today despite permit conditions requiring the construction to be complete by October 3, 2013. 

Observers say that the current view of the revetment from the cabin side is a few feet above grade, but that the view from the beach back toward land is, well, a big, long pile of rocks.  Far from the scenic beachscape that visitors once flocked to.

Giant rock pile, as far as the eye can see

An application for regular Coastal Development Permit, which would seek to make this revetment permanent, is now on file with both the County and Coastal Commission.  Once the application has been deemed complete, both the County Planning Commission and the Coastal Commission will consider whether or not to grant a permit to the project. 

In addition to the obvious visual impacts the rocks have on beach vistas, the rocks may have an even more serious impact to the beach itself.  Hardened structures on the shoreline prevent beaches from naturally retreating, so as the sea advances, the beach between the sea and the revetment will diminish. 

What a shame it would be to gain access to the beach, only to have the beach disappear.

If you are horrified by the rock pile and want to protect Martin's Beach for future generations, CLICK HERE to send a letter to decision-makers.

"What about the cabins?", you might ask.  The unfortunate reality is that:
a) with the encroachment of the sea, the only way to protect the cabins and the beach over the mid- and long-term is to move the cabins, and
b) Khosla is highly unlikely to keep the cabins. Can you see a billionaire living in a rustic 1000 square foot cabin?  It's not out of the question, I suppose, but chances are good that Khosla has other plans in mind for his property fronting the public beach.  This revetment, although permitted to protect the existing road, is more than likely a foot in the door for Khosla to protect whatever development he intends to construct.

So, unless you just so happen to love large mounds of arranged boulders, destruction of beautiful beaches, obstructed views, and/or giving a billionaire an extra boost toward achieving his vision of a plebeian-free seascape, please consider sending a letter.