San Rafael, CA – Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who has a long track record of protecting Marin’s coastline, promoting coastal agriculture and protecting fisheries, on Wednesday was unanimously voted as chair of the California Coastal Commission.
The Forest Knolls resident and District 4 representative on the Marin County Board of Supervisors has been the North Central Coast region commissioner since being appointed in 2011 by the Senate Rules Committee. Kinsey, previously the organization’s vice chair, was nominated as chair by Central Coast representative Carole Groom. Kinsey replaces public member Mary Shallenberger as chair; public member Jana Zimmer replaced Kinsey as vice chair.
Kinsey, 61, has lived in West Marin since 1978 and was first elected to the County Board in 1996. He represents all of West Marin plus Corte Madera and parts of San Rafael, Novato, Larkspur, Homestead Valley and San Quentin Village. Kinsey has served on the boards of several conservation-related organizations including the Marin Agricultural Land Trust and co-founded the Fishery Network of Central California and Coastal Counties (FishNet4C).
At Wednesday’s Coastal Commission meeting in San Francisco, Kinsey’s comments reflected his strong interest in customer service and dedication to coastal resources and public access to lands.
“I encourage the commission to work as a body because our strength depends on all of us doing our part,” Kinsey said. “I want to strengthen the operations and efficiency of the organization and place an emphasis on partnerships with local governments and public advocates.”
The California Coastal Commission, established in 1972, is a quasi-judicial state agency that decides upon permits along the immediate shoreline and three miles out into the ocean for development ranging from home remodels to offshore oil platforms. It also rules on appeals from decisions of cities and counties in a broader zone under their Local Coastal Programs (LCPs), and on amendments to those plans. The Commission is reviewing amendments to the Marin LCP, which was submitted in November. Officially, the commission’s mission is to “Protect, conserve, restore and enhance environmental and human-based resources of the California coast and ocean for environmentally sustainable and prudent use by current and future generations.”
The Coastal Commission is composed of 12 voting members appointed by either the Governor, Speaker of the Assembly or the Senate Rules Committee. Six of the commissioners are locally elected officials and six are appointed from the public at large. In addition, there are three non-voting members.
Kinsey will serve one year as chair.