I'm reading on here that people don't like that people break the rules, and let their dogs run on the beach. That seems to be confused with thinking that the only people who do this are tourists. I see plenty of dogs on the beach, and most belong to locals. The majority are not on a leash, or at least not held by the human with the dog. Yesterday, a sweet, wet, old local dog walked over to my clean dry towel with his leash held in his mouth (not held by the owner), and covered my towel in wet sand. No big deal really, because the dog was just trying to say hi to me. However, I would have more respect for other people if that were my dog. I like dogs more than I need a clean towel, but I'm not your average Joe, and somebody is likely to freak out on the dog owner.
Especially on the beach, but in all public areas, people should clean up the poop of their pets. There is little excuse for not doing so. However, forcing someone to buy a permit, will not make any pet owner more responsible. Doing so will not make them clean the poo, nor leash their dogs. Also, I think it is about stupid that we have allowed the government to con us into believing that we need a permit to walk our dog ANYWHERE. If all dog owners were following the basic rules of courtesy and picking up their dog's poo and keeping them on leash so that they don't disturb other beach goers, we wouldn't be concerned about whether or not they had a permit. It is not the permit with which we should be concerned -- It is the behavior of the dog owner that should concern us.
Regarding the BCC blindsiding us, I think you are right. There was even a County representative who posted on SoWal.com to announce that the dog permit and beach vehicle permit were solely about how one would show proof of ownership before obtaining a permit. At the BCC meeting, it was thrown in that at the urging of one person, dog permits should not be excluded to local residents only. The twist is that for the item on the agenda just prior to this one, it was stated by Grant B. that we needed to REDUCE the number of beach permits for vehicles. Limiting nor expanding of permits, dogs or vehicles, was never on the agenda to be discussed for public opinion.
Just remember, that if the dog owners who bring their dogs to the beach, follow the existing rules, all of the "dog problems" noted in the many posts above, wouldn't be an issue. Permits or no permits, behavior won't change. People are people.