This TV producer and coastal commissioner thinks the columnist is a conspiracy theorist - Los Angeles Times
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Column: This TV producer and coastal commissioner thinks the columnist is a conspiracy theorist

A tidal inlet reflects the surrounding landscape as a couple walk with their dog at twilight along Arroyo Burro Beach County Park in Santa Barbara.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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My first brush with California Coastal Commissioner Dayna Bochco was a bit awkward.

It was in February, at the commission hearing in Morro Bay. She was irked by a column of mine, and she told me so.

I’d written about a political fundraiser for the incoming state Assembly speaker, Anthony Rendon. It was hosted by, among others, Bochco and a hired gun who represents developers seeking commission approval for their projects.

Other lobbyist/consultants were there, too, as were reps from companies with projects in play. Some of them wrote checks to the incoming speaker, who would have the authority to appoint new coastal commissioners.

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Bochco and her husband, Steven, have produced some of television’s biggest hits, including ‘L.A. Law’ and ‘NYPD Blue.’

It was all way too cozy and an example of why we should all fear the clout and political connections of those who want to build on what’s left of the undeveloped coast.

Bochco argued that she was innocently supporting a politician she believed in.

Despite my first impression, I’ve been watching closely, and Bochco seems to be one of the more principled and least politicized members of the 12-person Coastal Commission. Unlike some of her colleagues, her vote is often difficult to predict. Currently vice chair, she could well be the next chair at a critical time in the 40-year history of coastal protection.

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So during my 1,100-mile trip down the coast, from Oregon to Mexico, I asked if Bochco would meet with me.

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She said yes.

We met up Thursday at Bochco Productions in Santa Monica. Bochco and her husband, Steven, have produced some of television’s biggest hits, including “L.A. Law” and “NYPD Blue.”

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I suggested the drama of the last eight months at the Coastal Commission could make for a juicy TV serial -- the colliding forces of ego, money and power along California’s world-famous shoreline.

She rolled her eyes.

Bochco often commutes to commission meetings in her husband’s private jet, along with other L.A.-based commissioners. Some commissioners hold or aspire to public office, and the unpaid job is a great way to build connections with potential donors, deal-makers and others. But Bochco isn’t running for anything, so far as I know, and I wondered why she took on a job that eats up a lot of time and brings no shortage of second-guessing.

You’re the conspiracy theorist.

— Dayna Bochco, to Steve Lopez

Bochco developed her love of the coast growing up in the upscale San Diego County beach town of Del Mar. She has served on the Natural Resources Defense Council’s “leadership council,” and Heal the Bay’s board, and has testified at various hearings about marine and environmental issues.

Friends put her name into contention as a coastal commissioner and then-Sen. Darrell Steinberg appointed her in 2011.

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“I thought, I’d rather be up there making the decisions’’ than trying to influence them, she said.

Bochco said Steinberg never advised her how she should vote on any matter, nor has his Senate pro tem successor, Kevin de León, she said.

She said she is unaware of any attempt by Gov. Jerry Brown to influence any development or personnel issue before the commission, including the controversial firing of Executive Director Charles Lester.

That public execution led to warnings from longtime coastal advocates, including former commissioners. They said this commission was trying to wrestle control from the traditionally independent executive director and staff, clearing the way for more development, including a huge Newport Beach project the staff had recommended against.

Bochco doesn’t see it that way. She said she believes the current commission has not been any more or less accommodating to development than previous commissions. As for Lester, she didn’t vote to fire him, but said she had lots of problems with his performance.

Bochco said Lester’s predecessor, Peter Douglas, knew how to keep commissioners at arm’s length but was also accessible if they needed him to clarify something. Lester would say, “I’ll have to get back to you,” Bochco said, and then take forever to do so.

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“We could never get anything out of him,” she said.

Lester may have been a ponderous manager, but he was admired by staff and was admirably devoted to enforcement of the Coastal Act. In the end, he didn’t have the political skills that might have saved him from the circling sharks.

I don’t doubt Bochco’s account of her issues with Lester, but she seems to suffer from her own lack of political acuity.

If she thinks commissioners will pick a Lester successor without direct or indirect input from the highest offices in Sacramento, she’s mistaken.

If she thinks Brown has no interest in promoting more coastal development, his recent plan to allow housing construction without Coastal Act consideration is evidence to the contrary. And Bochco, by the way, strongly opposes that plan.

I don’t think any of us is in the sway of anybody.

— Dayna Bochco

Last week, it appeared that a bill to ban private meetings between commissioners and developers was deliberately sabotaged by a suspicious report from the state’s Natural Resources Agency, which is under Brown’s direct control. Bochco supports the ban on private conversations and said she disagreed with the conclusions in that report, which saw costs to taxpayers that other studies had not. But she didn’t necessarily see any dark plotting.

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“You’re the conspiracy theorist,” she said.

Conspiracy theorist? I’m just looking at what’s right in front of me.

Two commissioners are targets of ethics investigations related to campaign donations they received from the business partner of a lobbyist who represents some of the biggest projects on the commission docket.

One of those same commissioners admitted to me that she has stayed at the home of a lobbyist who often does business before the commission.

Another commissioner paid a fine earlier this year for an ethics violation on a conflict-of-interest vote.

Yet another commissioner is a political consultant who voted on a project involving one of her clients.

The commission chair has twice failed to report private on-site visits with developers of the massive Newport Banning Ranch development up for approval next month, and he also urged the staff to reconsider its designation of the property as an environmentally sensitive habitat area.

I could go on, but I’m running out of space.

“I can’t defend any given behavior that may have crossed a line,” Bochco said. But she stuck up for her colleagues. She conceded that some are more political than others, but added:

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“I don’t think any of us is in the sway of anybody.”

Once again, I don’t doubt that Bochco really sees it that way, or that she is driven by anything more than a love of the coast and a desire to work on things like guaranteeing public access, protecting orcas and planning for sea level rise.

But I strongly disagree with her about one thing.

She’s the expert, sure. But I still think this dark political potboiler would make for great TV.

[email protected] | Follow on Twitter: @LATstevelopez

Weigh in at @JerryBrownGov #SaveYourCoast and (916 445-2841) or email [email protected].

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