Page 2

The landmark Coastal Act, passed by the legislature in 1976 as a result of a 1972 voter initiative,
Proposition 20, mandated protection of the fragile California coast and created the California
Coastal Commission to oversee its implementation and enforcement

In 1996, the make-up of the Coastal Commission was such that coastal protection was in danger of being
ignored. Then-Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle had appointed commissioners whose agenda was to
undermine the Coastal Act. Vote the Coast was created in 1996 in response to this threat and to bring the
protection of the California coast to the forefront of electoral politics and to counter attempts to undermine
the Coastal Act. In the 1996 election, Vote the Coast was credited with helping to elect pro-coastal
legislators and change the Assembly leadership. In 1998 Vote the Coast again worked on the election of
coastal friendly candidates including the Govenor, Attorney General, State Senate and Assembly races.
Unfortunately the protection of the coast is a never ending battle. With term limits, re-apportionment, the
ever increasing cost of elections and the current conservative climate, coastal protection is again under
attack and we must work even more to elect candidates that support protecting the coast at every level of
government--state and local.