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.
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.
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.”
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.
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A woman takes a break from riding her horse on Imperial Beach, one of only a few places along the coast where horses are allowed.
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Palm fronds reveal a surfer, a couple and children taking in sunset at Windansea Beach in La Jolla.
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The tide splashes up on the beach at sunset on a warm summer evening at Windansea Beach in La Jolla.
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Backdropped by San Diego’s skyline, former Sen. James Mills, 89, stands at his Coronado apartment with the bike he rode from Sacramento to San Diego in 1972 to promote Proposition 20, which created the Coastal Commission and led to the Coastal Act.
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Children camping at Campland on the Bay paddle around on body boards in the warm waters of San Diego’s Mission Bay.
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A view from the Torrey Pines Gliderport cliffs, overlooking Black’s Beach and Torrey Pines State Beach in La Jolla.
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A California sea lions basks in the evening sunlight while resting on a rock in the La Jolla Marine Reserve, one of 11 California marine protected areas (MPAs).
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A bod surfer is upended amid the crashing shorebreak at Windansea Beach in La Jolla.
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A surfer heads in by a fire pit, hammock and palapa at dusk at San Onofre State Beach in San Clemente.
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Mila Renieri and Diego Merli of Milan, Italy, play on a homemade teeter-totter at San Onofre State Beach.
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A “no beach access” sign is posted at Dan Blocker Beach scenic viewpoint. The beach is one of several in Malibu that don’t allow public access.
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RV campers have an ocean view, just across from Pacific Coast Highway at the Malibu Beach RV Park in Malibu.
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A kayaker checks out the clear waters of Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach.
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A snorkeler swims around a reef/ rock formation at Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach.
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A snorkeler looks for fish at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach.
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Garibaldi, the California state fish, swim and feed on rocks at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach.
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Small fish swim at the reef at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach.
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A surfer rides a wave at sunset at “Old Man’s” surf break at San Onofre State Beach.
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A bodyboarder rides a wave at Crescent Bay, Laguna Beach.
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Anders Hamborg rides a wave before his shift working as a Huntington Beach city lifeguard on a warm summer day in Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A view of the beach through a telescope at Pacific City, a new 31-acre mixed use development in Huntington Beach, also known as Surf City U.S.A.
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The site of the proposed Banning Ranch development now before the Calif. Coastal Commission.
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The tide rolls in at twilight at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) nuclear power plant located on the border of San Diego County and San Clemente.
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A view of the AES Huntington Beach Generating Station, where an ocean water intake pipe is located that uses a technique of once-through cooling that is harmful to marine life scheduled to be phased out by 2020. The California Coastal Commission is holding a hearing on the proposed Poseidon Huntington beach Desalination project September 7/8. Poseidon would operate next to the AES power plant and use it’s ocean water intake pipe.
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A dolphin leaps out of the water with a view of south Laguna Beach in the background on Aug. 12, 2016.
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A pod of dolphins leaps out of the water with a view of south Laguna Beach in the background on Aug. 12, 2016.
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The Spirit of Dana Point, a traditionally built replica of a 1770s privateer schooner used during the American Revolution, takes a sunset cruise past The Headlands, center, and The Strand at Headlands development, left, in Dana Point. The Coastal Commission approved the 121-acre development known as The Strand at Headlands in 2004, but only after a decades-long fight between conservationists and the developer.
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The orange glow of the setting sun shines through palm trees on a warm summer evening in Heisler Park, Laguna Beach.
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Beach combers enjoy a warm summer evening exploring the ocean and coastline of Main Beach, Laguna Beach.
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Couples enjoy a sunset on a warm summer evening in Heisler Park, Laguna Beach.
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Beach combers are silhouetted by the sky’s glow while exploring the rocks at sunset on a warm summer evening in Heisler Park, Laguna Beach.
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Children run along the beach at twilight near the Crystal Cove Beach Cottages.
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The sun sets over the Crystal Cove Beach Cottages in Newport Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Kayakers take a scenic cruise in Monterey Bay on a summer day in Monterey. In the background, sand dunes line the coast where the proposed hotel and condominium Monterey Bay Shores development in Sand City.
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Isabella, 9, and Holden, 7, roast marshmallows over a beach fire with their parents, Steve and Amy Knuff of Aliso Viejo at twilight at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages.
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Incoming tide rolls onto the beach at twilight at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A photographer captures the sunset over the ocean in Rancho Palos Verdes. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The Point Vicente Lighthouse illuminates the landscape at twilight in Rancho Palos Verdes. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A person climbs up the giant Point Mugu Sand Dune, across from Thornhill Broome Beach State Park in Ventura County.
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Taylor Geer and Marissa Acosta of Thousand Oaks relax on top of the giant Point Mugu Sand Dune, across from Thornhill Broome Beach State Park in Ventura County. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Kids play on a stand-up-paddleboard at Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Vivienne Lee, 7, of Thousand Oaks, jumps across rocks under the arches of a rock formation while watching the tide roll in at twilight at El Matador State Beach in Malibu. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Keenan Yoo watches the waves crash at twilight at El Matador State Beach in Malibu. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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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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A Blue Heron flies over the Naples State Marine Conservation Area. Phil McKenna, president of the Gaviota Coast Conservancy, says the portion down-coast of Point Conception contains approximately 50% of its remaining rural coastline.
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A man fishes in the ocean at sunset at Arroyo Burro Beach County Park in Santa Barbara.
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A deer takes a break from grazing to look out over the meadow in Cambria.
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A man walking his dog is viewed underneath a Cypress tree canopy over the beach boardwalk along Moonstone Beach in Cambria.
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A surfer rides a wave near a rock formation in Morro Bay.
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The sun, filtered by forest fire ash and fog, goes down at the Morro Bay Marina, with a view of Morro Rock and sailboats.
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Surfers walk down the beach after surfing in front of Morro Rock.
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A windmill lines an undeveloped stretch of coast along Cayucos’ Estero Bay with Morro Rock visible in the background.
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A child bundled up in a thick wetsuit, cap and life jacket, skips to the water’s edge with an adult taking them body boarding in Morro Bay.
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A child toting sand toys heads across the sand dunes at Morro Bay State Park in Morro Bay.
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The tide fills in between jagged rock and cliff formations at Montaña de Oro State Beach in Los Osos.
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The tide fills in between jagged rock and cliff formations at Montaña de Oro State Beach in Los Osos.
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Elephant Seals battle one another on the beach rookery at Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve, San Simeon.
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A scenic view of the setting sun shining through the fog along the Big Sur coastline. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A scenic view of a waterfall spilling onto the beach at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur coastline.
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A scenic view of an iconic California coastline gem, the Bixby Bridge, Big Sur.
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Tourists sit together at a lookout point while exploring the Big Sur coastline.
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A scenic view taken from Rocky Point, looking out over the Big Sur coastline.
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Elephant Seals gather on the beach rookery at Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve, San Simeon.
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Kayakers take a scenic cruise on Monterey Bay.
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A scenic view of Garrapata State Park in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
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A view of Carmel Sunset Beach on a summer day.
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A child climbs a dune on the site of a proposed, nearly 400-unit hotel and condominium development in Sand City.
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A Western snowy plover, a threatened species protected under the Endangered Species Act, stands amid critical habitat at the site of the proposed Monterey Bay Shores condo and hotel development in Sand City.
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Amid fog, Mark Massara, a decades-long coastal steward, surfs in front of Shark Tooth Rock at Martins Beach, where an access gate remains locked despite a judge’s order to landowner Vinod Khosla to to open the private gate and allow public access to the beach.
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Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez revisits Santa Cruz, where he surfed as a boy.
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Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez surfs in Santa Cruz.
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The sun illuminates the incoming tide as a child plays in the water near Twin Lakes State Beach in Santa Cruz.
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A harbor seal lets out a yawn while relaxing on the rocks at Pigeon Point Light Station near Santa Cruz.
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A sailor heads out to sea from Santa Cruz.
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A mural on a beach cottage wall at Martins Beach, where an access gate remains locked despite a judge’s order to landowner Vinod Khosla to to open the private gate and allow public access to the beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The sun sets as a crew team glides through the water near Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz.
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A tourist takes in the coastline scenery at Pigeon Point Light Station near Santa Cruz. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A view of the scenic Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park in Pescadero.
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Sailboats and stand-up-paddle boarders share the water off Lighthouse Point in Santa Cruz.
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Ash from a nearby forest fire creates a yellow-hued sky at sunset at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz.
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A view of one of California’s most beloved coastal gems: the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco skyline from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
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An egret searches for breakfast on a foggy morning at Bolinas Lagoon Nature Preserve in Stinson Beach.
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A family walks across the beach amid the fog at Dunes Beach in Half Moon Bay.
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A man checking the surf is silhouetted by evening sunshine reflecting off the ocean amid fog at Dunes Beach in Half Moon Bay.
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Harbor Seals relax in the mud at low tide on a foggy morning at Bolinas Lagoon Nature Preserve in Stinson Beach.
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A crab crawls through the mud at low tide at Bolinas Lagoon Nature Preserve in Stinson Beach.
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White pelicans and sea gulls perch on a sand bar in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore.
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Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, left, gets a kayak tour through the eel grass from Amy Trainer, right, deputy director California Coastal Protection Network.
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A coyote hunts for food along the shore in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore.
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Tom Baty, a local environmentalist, has a collection of Japanese glass fishing floats he found on the beach over the years. They are used to hold up fishing nets.
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Tom Baty has been involved in the fight to close the oyster farm on Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore.
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A harbor seal checks out kayakers in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore.
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Steve Lopez, left, gets a kayak tour from Amy Trainer, in white kayak, Brett Miller and Cicely Muldoon.
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Remnants of oyster racks are part of a restoration project to remove 470 tons of marine debris and 5 miles of oyster racks in Drakes Estero
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Amy Trainer, deputy director California Coastal Protection Network, kayaks past oyster racks in Drakes Estero.
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Amy Trainer, deputy director California Coastal Protection Network, kayaks past oyster racks in Drakes Estero.
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The tide pools at the scenic Shell Beach in Sea Ranch, Calif. Sea Ranch rallied a generation of coastal stewards demanding public access to the rugged and scenic beauty on the Sonoma County coast.
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A view of flowers overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Bodega Head, Bodega Bay.
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A blue heron perches on a branch at The Hole in Bodega Head that was meant to hold a nuclear power plant. Photo taken at Bodega Head, Bodega Bay, Calif.
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A view of the rugged beauty of the Sonoma County coast.
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Couples take a scenic walk on the beach in Crescent City.
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The rocky coastline of Shelter Cove.
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Fog partially obscures the high cliffs of the Lost Coast, where early conservation activists fought development in Shelter Cove.
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A woman watches the tide roll in on Black Sands Beach in Shelter Cove along the Lost Coast.
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A woman walks along Black Sands Beach in Shelter Cove.
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An evening view of the Mendocino County coastline in Northern California.
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A full moon rises at dusk over the protected Ma-le’l Dunes in Arcata, which contain eight distinct habitats.
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Sunset illuminates Battery Point Lighthouse and sea stacks in Crescent City on July 18, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A surfer heads out at sunset to catch a wave near a sea stack in Crescent City on July 18, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Flowers overlooking Enderts Beach near Crescent City on July 19, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The Battery Point Lighthouse illuminates the night sky near sea stacks in Crescent City on July 18, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A couple walks along the beach at Pelican Bay State Beach after crossing the California border from Oregon on July 18, 2016.
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Empty half-acre lots and paved roads are now part of the Lake Earl Wildlife Area on July 18, 2016.
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A blue heron lands on a tree branch amid the rich habitat of the south Lake Earl Wildlife Area, which was formerly private Bliss Ranch and is now public land near Crescent City on July 18, 2016.
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Water ripples among reeds in the near-empty half-acre lots and paved roads that are now part of the Lake Earl Wildlife Area.
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Sunset illuminates sea stacks and the coastline at False Klamath Cove in Redwood National Park near Crescent City on July 18, 2016.
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The sun sets behind trees at False Klamath Cove in Redwood National Park near Crescent City on July 18, 2016.
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A view of the Smith River National Recreation Area in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park on July 19, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Times columnist Steve Lopez, right, kayaks with Grant Werschkull, left, co-executive director of the Smith River Alliance, on the Smith River National Recreation Area in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park on July 19, 2016. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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An elk grazes in the meadow at sunset in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park on July 19, 2016.
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Patterns formed by the wind and bird footprints in the sand at the Ma-le’l Dunes North, which contains eight different habitats, in Arcata on July 19, 2016. The dunes are highlighted as a victory for the coast after a years-long fight by conservationists to keep off-highway vehicles off the unique sand dunes.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 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.
“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.
“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.
“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:
“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.
steve.lopez@latimes.com | Follow on Twitter: @LATstevelopez
Weigh in at @JerryBrownGov #SaveYourCoast and (916 445-2841) or email governor@governor.ca.gov.
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