Gary Patton is an environmental attorney and coastal advocate in Santa Cruz, California. He was active in the 1972 Proposition 20 campaign that created the California Coastal Commission, and became involved in Santa Cruz politics the following year as the attorney for the Save Lighthouse Point campaign. This campaign stood as one of the first tests of coastal regulation in the city. It also launched a twenty-year political career for Patton, who would serve as a Santa Cruz County Supervisor from 1975 to 1995. His pioneering work in coastal regulation and land use policy earned him the honor of being named one of the most influential people in Santa Cruz during the twentieth century. In this interview, he discusses a range of issues related to the Coastal Commission from the vantage point of both a County Supervisor and early member of the Central Coast Regional Commission.