San Diego Coastkeeper

San Diego Coastkeeper Concerned with Governor’s First San Diego Water Board Selection of New Term

SAN DIEGO, CA - With his first appointment to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board of his second term, Governor Schwarzenegger has proven that working with the local environmental community is not his first priority.

The Governor appointed David King, 36 to the Regional Board, the agency charged with protecting and restoring the region’s water quality. King is a San Diego lawyer and former Deputy City Attorney. "I hope to work cooperatively with Mr. King," said San Diego Coastkeeper Executive Director Bruce Reznik, "but I am concerned with his close ties to the Lincoln Club, an extremely pro-development political group."

While environmental community members may withhold judgment on the Governor's appointee, they are not happy with the appointment process. "We went out into the community, sought well-qualified candidates, and gave the Governor seven names of those ready, willing, and able to serve," said Coastkeeper Staff Attorney Gabriel Solmer, "As far as we know, none of those candidates has even been contacted."

The Governor has also not reached out to the environmental community. Requests for information from his Appointments Secretary were politely but firmly declined.

The new appointments come at a critical time for the Regional Board. Three vacancies exist on the Board with another two Board members considering stepping down for personal or time commitment reasons. The last full Board, mostly appointed by former Governor Gray Davis, was known as a staunch defender of the environment, a board that adopted strong permits and undertook enforcement actions that helped reduce sewer spills by 83 percent and beach advisories by 75 percent, setting national precedent for regulating water pollution.

However, since becoming Governor, Schwarzenegger has replaced six of the nine board members, mainly with industry representatives. Enforcement actions are down 87 percent. Fines for major pollution and spills are whittled down to slaps on the wrist. Clean-up plans for San Diego Bay and other toxic waterways - once close to being enacted - are now stalled with no movement in sight.

"We are hopeful that Mr. King will turn out to be a good appointment, but we’re also sick of sitting on the sidelines," said Reznik. "We want the Governor to listen to the groups fighting for environmental protection on the local level. It’s time for him to show the 'green' credentials that got him re-elected, and appoint candidates with strong environmental and community protection backgrounds."

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San Diego Coastkeeper protects the region’s bays, beaches, watersheds and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them. We balance community outreach, education, and advocacy to promote stewardship of clean water and a healthy coastal ecosystem.