Mary

Shallenberger, Chair, California Coastal Commission 45 Fremont Street, Suite 2000 San Francisco, CA 94105-2219 October 28, 2013 RE: Coastal Commission Staff Ranks Among Top State Agencies on Transparency and Accountability Dear Ms. Shallenberger: I am writing as the President of Californians Aware (http://calaware.org/), a nonprofit organization established to help journalists and the public to keep Californians aware of the transparency and public accountability of state and local agencies. Our mission is to support and defend transparent government, an enquiring press and a citizenry free to exchange facts and opinions on public issues. I understand that the California Coastal Commission will discuss new measure to increase transparency and public accountability by staff as they implement the Commissions Strategic Plan. As part of your deliberation, I want to report that over a five-year period of 2006-2011, Californians Aware performed audits on the California Coastal Commission and 30 other state agencies. The audits were intended to evaluate the transparency and responsiveness of these public agencies. The first audit was in January 2006. The combined results for 31 agencies resulted in an overall average grade of F. As a result, Governor Schwarzenegger issued an Executive Order requiring public records retraining for all his executive departments. One exception was the California Coastal Commission, which received a grade of A-. Immediately after that training, a second, identical audit in August 2006 revealed an average grade of C+, but still five of the agencies received F grades. The California Coastal Commission received a B- in the second audit. In January 2011, Californians Aware preformed a third audit. The average grade across the same 31 agencies was C+, precisely the same as the second audit of five years prior. In our third (2011) audit, the California Coastal Commission ranked among the best of all the State agencies surveyed and received an A+ grade. In conclusion, Californians Aware commends the staff of the California Coastal Commission for their compliance with open government. The performance of Commission staff over a five-year period measured by Californians Aware reflects professionalism, transparency and commitment to the publics right to know about how their government works. As you assess possible additional transparency measures, please consider the fact that the performance of your staff already exceeds that of almost every other state agency. Respectfully,

Donna Frye
Donna Frye, President Cc: Vice- Chair Steve Kinsey Executive Director Charles Lester

Addendum
The 2011 audit consisted of two parts which are described below. Part 1 Results - Request made in-person to view a Form 700 and receive a copy of the Guidelines: (a) Despite the passage of five years, mandatory public records training, and two previous audits that focused attention on their records access problems, the most striking discovery was that more than one-third (35%) of the State agencies failed to provide a copy of their own Guidelines for Accessibility of Public Records when requested, and 32% failed to post those Guidelines in the area of their main offices where the Auditor was directed to make his records request; both responsibilities expressly required by the CPRA. (b) When asking to view the FPPC Form 700 for a top-ranking employee of the agency, 13 of the 31 agencies (42%) could not produce the Form within one hour, and more than one-third (35%) could not produce it within one day, despite the law requiring Form 700s to be available for inspection during regular business hours. (c) Equally distressing was the number of agencies that placed requirements on the Auditor or requested personal information from him before he could see a copy of the Form 700 or receive a copy of the Guidelines for accessing the agencys records. Employees at nearly half of the agencies (45%) wanted to know something about the Auditor (his name, who he was working for, or why he wanted to view the record) or placed some other requirement on him before he was allowed to see the Form 700. Part 2 Results - Request by e-mail for copies of a Settlement Agreement and Salary Document: When requested to provide a copy of a document showing the total annual compensation of that state agencys top-ranking employee, 1 in 4 (26%) could not supply that record within 10 days, with a similar number (29%) unable to provide their most recent settlement or court order within the 10 days.