Next week’s Coastal Commission meeting will be live on the Web

The next meeting of the California Coastal Commission, Feb 14 to 16 in San Diego [agenda], will be webcast live and gavel-to-gavel at http://www.cal-span.org

The public will also be able to download and view past meetings, which will be archived on the website. All meeting coverage will be gavel to gavel each day, but an advanced indexing system will allow viewers to go directly to items of interest, skip to the final vote or view the staff report.

The commission will hear an appeal of a permit to construct desalination test wells on San Simeon State Beach, a permit for a volleyball tournament in Hermosa Beach, an appeal of a cell phone tower on Trinidad Head in Humboldt County, numerous seawall applications and an annual permit review for off road vehicles use at Oceano Dunes, and dozens of other items.

There is an archive of selected meetings on the site as well.

Click to read the press release.

COASTAL COMMISSION GOES LIVE VIA INTERNET

For the first time in the 30-year history of the California Coastal Commission, interested members of the public and the media will be able to watch and listen to the Commission’s monthly meetings, live, via the internet, thanks to a budget augmentation approved by Governor Schwarzenegger. For the next year and hopefully beyond, all Commission meetings will be broadcast over the internet, gavel to gavel at www.cal-span.org.

"Because the Commission meets monthly in different coastal locations from San Diego to Eureka, it has been historically difficult for the public to really follow the Commission’s actions and all of the interesting, complex issues it deals with," said Commission Chairman, Pat Kruer. "This technology will significantly increase public access to the Commission itself, and we expect it to be a valuable educational tool." The public will now have access to the deliberations and actions of the Commission on literally hundreds of coastal development issues, from proposed LNG terminals offshore Ventura to new public access trails in Malibu, to desal facilities in Orange County and championship golf courses on the Monterey Peninsula.

The $100,000 pilot project was initiated by the Legislature and authorized by Governor Schwarzenegger in the 2006-07 budget, and is part of his ongoing effort to expand electronic meeting coverage of all state agencies. The public will also be able to download and view past meetings, which will be archived on the website. All meeting coverage will be gavel to gavel each day, but an advanced indexing system will allow viewers to go directly to items of interest, skip to the final vote or view the staff report. "It’s the ultimate public outreach" said Steve Mathieu, of AGP Video which won the contract to cover the Commission meetings. "We’ve pleased to increase public awareness of the California Coastal Commission, recognizing that it has does such important work to keep the coast physically and visually accessible to all."

When the Coastal Commission meets in San Diego February 14-16, it will hear an appeal of a permit to construct desalination test wells on San Simeon State Beach, a permit for a volleyball tournament in Hermosa Beach, an appeal of a cell phone tower on Trinidad Head in Humboldt County, numerous seawall applications and an annual permit review for off road vehicles use at Oceano Dunes, among dozens of other items.

To view the Commission meeting beginning at 9:00 a.m. each day, go to: www.cal-span.org, or the Commission’s website at www.coastal.ca.gov