TRANSCRIPT:
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Dave Fallon: There was a lot of effort, resources behind the call for reform. Many grassroots activists were pushing for it. So why didn’t it happen this time?
Topher Hamblett: The CRMC reform bill did not pass this year, I think in the end, because legislative leadership and the governor were not enthusiastic about it. Without those key players, reform will not happen.
Fallon: They were not enthusiastic from a cost sense, right?
Hamblett: No, I think the cost issue was really a red herring. During the session, back in April, the sponsor of the House bill, state Rep. Terry Cortvriend, requested a fiscal note that would lay out the costs of changing the structure of the CRMC, but the only major cost associated with that — and you couldn’t even call that major, really — was replacing the cost of a contract that is currently paid by the council to a private practice law firm to a staff attorney. So currently, the council is paying a private practice law firm about $194,000 per year for its services. The cost of a full time staff attorney is estimated to be at about $174,000.
Fallon: So what’s the real issue?
Hamblett: Well, the real issue in this case, the fiscal note that took 6weeks to produce, came out with 14 additional positions in the agency, which were not in the bill that was being considered by the Assembly.
So to be blunt about it, we think that that fiscal note was put out simply to block reform.
Fallon: Now, the issue has always been not with the staff of the CRMC, which has always been judged to be very professional. It’s with the politically appointed leadership. Is that correct?
Hamblett: That is correct. The council of the Coastal Resources Management Council is a 10-member body. Nine members of that body are political appointees appointed by the governor with the approval of the Senate. By law, those appointees are not required to have any expertise in coastal matters whatsoever. And the other issue is that that body is not accountable to anyone. So, despite its many missteps in recent years, and its violation of its own rules, and its operating outside the law on several occasions, the Governor and the General Assembly have not held the council accountable for its misdeeds.
You’re right in that the staff of the agency enjoys a solid reputation, but the problem is that the big decisions on coastal development are made by this council. So the staff has experts in marine biology, coastal geology, policy, planning, et cetera, but they can be overridden in effect by these council members who aren’t required to have any experience in anything. Therein lies the problem.
Fallon: Yet we are at a situation with climate change, with rising seas, with coastal erosion, with stronger storms where you might think more expert leadership is needed.
Hamblett: We agree with that, Dave. The demands on the agency staff have only increased in recent years for the reasons you gave. There’s also the challenge of the growth of the aquaculture industry and the siting of aquaculture leases around Narragansett Bay. The issue of shoreline access — that is, access to the shore and along the shore — has also put additional demands on the staff. It’s quite frustrating for those of us who work very hard to protect our coasts that the budget for the agency has essentially been flatlined for a long time. And when the issue of reform comes up this session, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, this fiscal note comes out with an additional 14 staff members, again, beyond what was called for in the bill itself. It’s an agency that needs resources, but above all needs to be reformed. The Rhode Islanders don’t trust the council. They don’t trust the agency. They don’t have confidence in it. I think people rightfully feel that, oftentimes, votes on development proposals are cooked before the council meeting even happens. And that’s just the reality of it.
Fallon: I would think, running down some of the growing serious issues that we just talked about, that at the top of an organization, you need knowledge based strategic thinking.
Hamblett: You do, and that’s there at the staff level, but not at the council level. So, why is the council there in the first place? As it’s structured and as it plays out, the council remains this unaccountable body with immense power to control what happens on Rhode Island’s coast. As Rhode Islanders are seeing their coastline change dramatically because of climate change and seeing different pressures on the coastline and on Narragansett Bay, they want to have confidence that their coastal agency Is making decisions based on the expertise of its professionals and not on who is connected to who and who wants what development where.
There’s an ongoing issue with the Quidnessett Country Club in North Kingstown. Last year, they knowingly built an illegal structure — a wall, if you will — along the shoreline of Narragansett Bay. They knew darn well that they had to request permits to do that kind of activity, but they didn’t. I think that they would not have done so if they weren’t confident that the council would give it a hearing and probably go along with it. And here we sit today where the council is actually entertaining, basically, letting that go. In the meantime, the Army Corps of Engineers has issued a notice of violation against Quidnessett Country Club for building this structure and filling the waters of the state of Rhode Island, in effect, because the structure goes out into the waters of Narragansett Bay.
Fallon: So what do you do now in terms of attempts to reform the CRMC; wait for the next session or try some intermediate effort?
Hamblett: Well, we’re going to do two things. We’re going to continue to shine a light on the problems with the council itself. Right now, there are only seven members sitting on the 10 member council; a quorum is six. Just this past week, they had to cancel a council meeting because of lack of a quorum. We are going to be watching the Quindnessett issue very closely. In the short term, it’s to keep a bright light shining on the council itself. Over the long term, between now and the next General Assembly session, we will work very closely with members of the General Assembly and the Attorney General and others to continue to build the case for reform. I think we’ll get there, but this is a very challenging issue because you’re going right at the roots of political power in the state of Rhode Island.
Fallon: We’ve been speaking with Save the Bay’s Executive Director Topher Hamblett. Thanks for your time.
Hamblett: Thank you, Dave.
