Dear COAST supporters:
In light of the impending sale to a foreign national real estate speculator of the NOAA property on our precious Asilomar coast, we urge you to send a message expressing your concerns to the federal Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB) at: Paul Walden <fastainfo@pbrb.gov>
For your convenience, we provide the following example:
Dear members of the Public Buildings Reform Board:
I live in Pacific Grove, CA and I am outraged that our community and its representatives were not consulted before the PBRB determined that the Lighthouse Ave property in our city was eligible for inappropriate inclusion as a "high-value asset" in the FASTA sale process. Our City Council passed a resolution requesting that the property be conveyed to us for "public benefit" four years prior to the passage of the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act (FASTA) of 2016. The City Council has since passed two subsequent resolutions in 2021 and 2022 to halt this FASTA process and have the property conveyed to our keenly interested community. The General Services Administration (GSA) has ignored the repeated requests of our Congressman Panetta, as well as Pacific Grove’s Mayor and City Council. It has also ignored Native American claims on this unique property to whom it is sacred, despite fervent efforts that include their "Land Back" call recently staged at the property to protect its important Indigenous burial site.
I was greatly upset upon learning recently that the GSA did not remove this property from the auction block after the PBRB itself determined that it should not have been eligible for the FASTA process from the beginning. When I subsequently learned that the winning bidder is a foreign national, I am immediately led to the burning question: If the GSA and PBRB are not here to serve the interests of local communities and the American people – then who exactly are you serving?
Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
Please send your message ASAP as the sale will likely reach completion over the next few weeks.
Thank you for your critical support,
COAST Steering Committee