The Fleener Report: Toll Road edition

THE FLEENER REPORT

I braced myself for a boring dog and pony show

This morning is the first time I’ve woken up proud to be an American. What I witnessed yesterday can only be described as The Greater Good and the Power of the People. I never thought I’d live to see such a display of energy and commitment. I’m getting a tear in my eye right now just thinking about it. This was my first time attending a Coastal Commission meeting, and I braced myself for a boring dog and pony show. I feared the glow of Super Tuesday and the empowerment of the voter booth would end in a predictable and depressing thud, like it always does when the whore-meisters of Big Money force themselves on Mother Earth, and once again rape the land in the name of “progress”. Yeah, just what we need: another toll road, a quick fix, a desecration passed off as “management”.

First big surprise came as I entered the Del Mar parking lot, with two five dollar bills clutched in my hand, and saw no parking attendants taking cash. I followed a group of people, and as we passed a bunch of huge tour busses, I saw a bunch of guys with orange t-shirts standing around a guy who holding a sheet of paper and talking to them. I assumed they were employees of the racetrack, but the people behind me began to hiss and whisper. On closer inspection, I saw their shirts that read, “Southern California District Council of Laborers-Local 652”. Someone behind me said, “They paid them to be here”. Another said, “I wonder if they have their Green Cards with ‘em”. When we entered the courtyard outside the building, I could immediately tell the opposition to this toll road was well organized, and when I entered the building I was astounded by the sea of people, all who took time out of their schedules to be there and fight, and lemme tell ya, there weren’t any shrinking violets in this crowd.




It was festive, yet serious

I found a seat in the bleachers, so I could get a good view. The hundreds of seats were already filled with people, almost all wearing the blue shirts that said “Save the Park”. Volunteers were handing out smaller signs to anyone who wanted one, people were making their own signs on the spot, and the more creative types had fashioned signs out of surfboards and boogie boards. It was festive, yet serious. I asked two women sting next to me how long the meeting would be. “Oh we expect we’ll be here until 5pm, but we’ll stay here all night if we have to.” Then the booing started from one end of the room, and in walked Local 652 with big signs that supported the toll road. There were 3-4 dozen men, all about 60 to 80 pounds overweight, cocky and obviously well coached. They sat in the bleachers next to me, and the taunting began immediately. “Your surfboard is waiting for you”, cried one. They started chanting, then the crowd started a counter chant: “YES!”…”NO!”…”YES!”…”NO!”…then one Big Mouth in my section yelled out, “I’m not being paid to be here, amigo!” There were plenty of racial slurs on either side of the fence and many guys were uttering dirty Spanish phrases. I really was afraid a fight was going to break out, and had to wonder if that’s why all these guys were built like refrigerators. It certainly would have been a good way to break up the meeting, but cooler heads prevailed, and after a while, the guys around me realized they were being baited.



The meeting began with a lousy sound system, and the panel of commissioners approached the podium. The typical profile: power suits and vanilla complexions. Their fist decision was to have a 30 minute closed executive meeting, so they all rose and left their seats to a standing room only crowd. Big Mouth started yelling at Local 652 again, who were only more than happy to yell back, then they started chanting, “Toll Road YES!” People began waving signs that said “THEY’RE ON THE CLOCK”, and a guy in a Ronald Reagan mask walked by their section and waved merrily at the Union guys. Children walked by with their signs and young girls waved their fingers in shame at Local 652. I noticed a couple of the guys stopped chanting. Maybe they thought of their own daughters and were embarrassed.

Oh, there was another group of maybe 2 dozen pro-tollsters in the seats waving small pink signs that said “YES ON 241” and “DRIVE LESS- LIVE MORE”. Their impact was minimal. They were outnumbered 200 to 1, easily. By 9:45am, the place was packed like sardines. I hadn’t seen protest like this since the late 60s’ and what a joy it was to see all the kids! It felt like a rock concert, but the look on their faces was serious. A lot of old souls who realized The Party’s Over, and it’s time to wake up-or else. You could tell they realized they were in the midst of a historic moment and that’s a feeling that never goes away. How fortunate that they were there, and how fortunate their efforts resulted in a positive outcome.



However, we still had to wait. This was a public meeting after all, so there were two agenda items that had to be voted on before the main course was served. One issue was an artificial reef at San Onofre and the San Luis River restoration project. What struck me was that all the speakers were either politicians or city staff or representatives of companies BEGGING for money. Not one private citizen spoke for either issue. Then the commissioners took another 5 minute break, and the crowd started chanting again, but by this time, Local 652 and the Pink signs realized they were totally outnumbered. About six brave souls sat with Local 652, holding their “SAVE THE PARK” signs above their heads. Fortunately, there was no drama, and both sides ignored each other.



At 10:45 am the meeting resumed and finally, the issue of toll road 241. It started with a staff report from several people addressing issues such as endangered species, pollution, anthropological impact on the native sites of the Acjachemen people, water quality, beach access and most importantly, the fate of the Trestles surf spot. You could’ve wiped the floor with my jaw, because EVERY single staff report was against the toll road!! I asked my friend Carolyn, what was going on. “See?” she said, “Even their own staff knows it’s a terrible scam”. Terrible isn’t the word for it. Imagine 41 million cubic yards of fill and dirt, 530 acres of exposed slopes, removal of top soil, vegetation and millions of animals we cannot see entombed underground. And the solution proposed to reduce noise pollution from this project and the toll road traffic and cars? All solved with the construction of a wall, 4000 feet in length and 16 feet high. Lovely.



You could’ve heard a pin drop

At one point, the staff discussed Trestles, and a picture was shown on all three giant screens. You could’ve heard a pin drop. I saw grown men wiping the corners of their eyes. We all felt it. It was as if the spirit of the place was crying out for our help. Even the big bruisers in the orange shirts felt it, I know they did.

The meeting was adjourned for lunch at 12:20pm, but as I was leaving the crowd erupted in a loud cheer, and was warned by the panel, “We have to ask you to stop doing this or we’ll be here all day, and if you continue, we’ll have to postpone the meeting.”

“Hey Man,” yelled a guy next to me…“This is emotional!!”



Back in the saddle at 1:30pm, the crowd seemed more controlled and it was obvious that the meeting would go on a lot longer than expected. The place was still packed, maybe 10% less people, but still SRO. The commissioners mentioned they’d received over 10,000 Emails and there were hundreds of people who filled out speaker slips. “I’m sure we’ll be here until 8:30pm”, said the chairperson. I knew I couldn’t stay all night, but I wanted to see the face of The Enemy and that was the TCA, the Transportation Corridor Agency. But first, each commissioner would comment and relate their research concerning the toll road. Another surprise: as each commissioner spoke, it was clear that the local politicians didn’t like the idea of 241, were opposed to it and had actually listened to their constituents. I was beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. “This isn’t going to pass”, I said to myself. Unlike the Coastal Commission, politicians are elected and their support could result in them not being elected again. When Mary Shallenberger said 241 was “…a creeping abuse of our state parks”, I was elated.



It was classic Orwellian double speak

Then came the whores for TCA. The ugly face of Corporate Greed. Right there in the open, with their legs spread shamelessly, reveling in their sick arrogance. They would be allowed an hour, then the organized opposition would be allowed an hour, then comments from the public. There is a special place below for these swine. I don’t believe in Hell, but if I did, I would invent tools of torture for these selfish bastards that would make even the Devil himself envious. The first speaker, Thomas Margro, used classic cult pandering in his verbiage and tone of voice. “There are so many MYTHS”, said he. It was classic Orwellian double speak, however, the crowd kept their composure and let him pimp his wares. Then the big screen flashed a bunch of pretty corporate logos, just to remind us how little power we have. “This is a REAL collaboration”, Margro proclaimed. And what were the myths? Aw, dontcha know, there’s no REAL threat to the environment, there’s no REAL threat to the endangered species, there’s no pristine habitat, there’s no REAL sacred Indian sites. Hell, to hear Margro tell it, there’s no beach and possible no surf at Trestles, either. What a dick!

Then another fat cat got up and tried to play the “hipster” angle, acted like he knew about all the breaks, and used the phrase “Perfecto point”, when describing Rincon. “There are many surf spots with a road very close to the beach, and there’s no impact at all.” He also said Trestles gets 30 foot waves. ”That’s Maverick’s, you idiot,” yelled someone behind me.

it was quittin’ time for the paid protesters

A couple more goons got up, and it suddenly occurred to me that this was a LOT like an episode from THE SOPRANOS, especially when it came to light that the TCA offered 100 million dollars to the State of California. They called it a “State Parks Package”. No wonder Arnold the uber governor was backing it. Anyway, the last speaker was a lawyer who was very boring and not at all as entertaining criminal element that spoke before him. I don’t think he enjoyed his three minutes very much. Not ONE citizen spoke in favor of the toll road. By this time it was 2:30pm, and the people with the pink signs and Local 652 got up and left. Guess it was quittin’ time for the paid protesters.

After I watch 6 or so speakers representing the “Official Opposition”, I left and offered my silent thanks to all who stayed and would eventually be there until late at night. I had a good feeling.

As I walked out the hall, I found the two crumpled five dollar bills I was going to use for parking, walked over to the Surfrider booth, and put them in the donation jar.

watch the final vote,


OC Weekly Blog CC meeting roundup.

Surfer magazine photo gallery of the CC meeting.

Surfline.com coverage.