Californians made their voices heard loud and clear in support of the state park at San Onofre at a public hearing before the U.S. Department of Commerce in Del Mar, California.
The day started with a rousing rally headlined by several elected officials who support San Onofre, including Santa Monica City Councilmember and former State Park and Recreation Commissioner Bobby Shriver, State Senator Christine Kehoe, and State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, just to name a few.
Advocates for the road comprised a much smaller group, but they cheered and booed enthusiastically and stood out in the crowd in their bright orange T-shirts. At the afternoon break, parks supporters gladly left the sweltering convention hall and rallied outside in the cool coastal breeze.
Soon it was back to the hearing. Despite the burdensome restrictions imposed by Commerce, which I wrote about on Monday, the eventual turnout was huge - a testament to how much Californians care about this special park.
After a long day, organizers held a brief post-hearing rally to thank everyone for taking a day off of work to show their support for our state parks.
