The California Coastal Commission unanimously voted Supervisor Steve Kinsey, who has been the state agency’s North Central Coast regional commissioner since 2011, as chair on Wednesday. Mr. Kinsey, a Forest Knolls resident who served as vice chair before his new appointment, will serve as chair for one year, during which time the county’s Local Coastal Program amendments, officially submitted last month, will come before the body. “I want to strengthen the operations and efficiency of the organization and place an emphasis on partnerships with local governments and public advocates,” he said in a press release. In February, Mr. Kinsey joined 11 other commissioners in a unanimous vote that found Drakes Bay Oyster Company had violated state law and ordered that it develop a plan for closure if the family business failed to prevail against the federal government in its attempt to remain operating in Point Reyes National Seashore. “While the Commission’s actions were appropriate under the law, I was distressed that both staff and the conservation group critics felt compelled to paint a very dark view of the operation, when that is not true,” Mr. Kinsey wrote in an email at the time. In April, he advocated for Lagunitas Brewery owner Tony Magee’s ultimately successful effort to secure commission approval for his brandy distillery in Marshall. The California Coastal Commission, a 12-member panel established in 1972, permits development along the coast and hears appeals of decisions by cities and counties falling under local coastal plans. Six commissioners must be locally elected officials and six are appointed from the public at large; all are appointed by either the governor or the state legislators.