State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s bill to ban private meetings between private lobbyists and members of the California Coastal Commission was thrashed last week, defeated by an overwhelming majority in the State Assembly. Jackson’s bill garnered only 12 votes of support — Assemblymember Das Williams being one — as lobbyists for developers and unions worked energetically and effectively against a measure Jackson said was necessary to restore trust to the embattled public agency that oversees development along 1,100 miles of California coast. Jackson’s bill came in response to the firing of Coastal Commission executive Charles Lester earlier this year, which sparked a wave of public concern over undue influence of private lobbyists.
