Last Oct. 18, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stood on a cliff at Point Lobos and pledged to protect coastal waters.

His decision to restart the California Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process, which had been put on “indefinite hold” because of budgetary constraints, was lauded by environmentalists on both sides of the political isle.

A nine-member blue ribbon task force, created to meet the objectives of the reinvigorated MLPA Initiative, was scheduled to meet in Monterey on Feb. 22 and 23. The group was supposed to issue findings and make decisions regarding the boundaries of the initial Central Coast study region and a revised stakeholder plan.

The task force met, but they didn’t make any decisions.

When the group convened last week at the Portola Plaza Hotel, it was five members short of a quorum.

As a result, task force Chair Phil Isenberg, along with members Meg Caldwell, Susan Golding and Catherine Reheis-Boyd were forced to postpone any decisions until the next meeting—April 11 and 12 in Southern California. Members Dr. Jane Pisano, Douglas Wheeler, William Anderson, Dr. Fernando Guerra, and Ann D’Amato were no-shows.

The task force members, who are unpaid but receive remuneration for travel expenses, are “expected to attend all regular meetings of the task force,” according to the organization’s draft charter. Last week more than half of the group cited illness, rain, vacation and other schedule conflicts as reasons for their failure to attend.

Dr. Jane Pisano, director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, told the Weekly she was “sick as a dog and advised by the doctor not to fly.”

According to his assistant, Dr. Douglas P. Wheeler, an attorney at the largest law firm in Washington, DC, was “on vacation.”

William Anderson, who heads one of the largest marina design and development companies in the world, said he had to appear in court. “I take this seriously,” he says, “I simply had public commitments.”

Ann D’Amato, chief of staff to Los Angeles’ city attorney, told the Weekly, “I was at the airport with boarding pass in hand when I got a phone call from my husband. The rains were torrential down here and there was a danger of a mudslide at our house.”

Dr. Fernando Guerra, who heads the Institute for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount, was unavailable for comment.

Although most of the decision-makers didn’t show up, many ocean enthusiasts did.

The meeting wasn’t a complete wash, says Paul Riley, senior marine biologist at the Department of Fish and Game, because the public had its say.

“They did distribute a budget to the members of the public,” says Riley, the regional coordinator for the MLPA Initiative, who has been involved in the process since its inception in 1999. “And the public comment was probably the most important aspect of the two days. They heard a great deal of testimony from all kinds of constituents. It was an excellent forum.”

The task force is scheduled to meet every eight weeks through Nov. 2006. It is charged with overseeing preparation of a statewide guide for developing a protected marine area master plan; creating a pilot project along the Central Coast; developing a strategy for long-term funding; and making recommendations for improved coordination of protected marine areas with key federal agencies.