Dana Point Boaters Association eNews
January 10, 2010
 
BoatsOrange County Harbor Patrol
The OC Harbor Patrol Department, with a total of 47 staff at 3 harbor locations, reports into the ~1500 employee OC Sheriff's Office, and serves all 42 miles of the OC coast line.  The Dana Point location has a staff of ~13 staff.
 
Similar to the Sheriff Department, its land based counterpart, OC HP's mission is public safety, law enforcement and education.  An overwhelming 89.2% of the over 400 Dana Point Boaters surveyed by DPBA was at least satisfied with the services provided.
(See chart & analysis below.)
 
 

Dear ,

Tomorrow the Orange County Board of Supervisors (OC BOS) will publicly discuss the current charter for the Harbor Patrol, as well as future funding ideas.  Harbor Patrol funding is in reality a complex set of issues related to the role, responsibilities, costs and service policies which has been investigated many times over the years by various departments, including OC BOS.  The latest report was triggered by two major financial shortfalls:

  1. Severely declining County General Fund revenue
  2. Runaway costs for public safety employee retirement funding
While the Harbor Patrol operations in Dana Point are already fully funded by annual transfers out of the Tidelands Trust (Fund 108) totaling 3.7 million dollars, this is not the case in the other two County harbors, especially Newport Harbor.  There the scope of Harbor Patrol operations is much broader due to a more complex, urban setting, with a correspondingly larger staff and facility so the County wide funding shortfall is significant.

Your DPBA leadership will of course attend the OC BOS meeting to represent considerations important to Dana Point Habror and Orange County boaters.  We encourage area boaters to also attend this meeting and share your thoughts directly with the Board.
 
Here are details and specifics regarding what described as a "Discuss and File" topic.
 
What:  Orange County Board of Supervisors Meeting
 
When: Tuesday January 12, starting at 9:30 am

Where: Board Hearing Room, 1st Floor, Hall of Administration Building
           333 W Santa Ana Blvd/10 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701

Report to the Board:
The Harbor Patrol Working Group, chaired by Professor Mario Mainero, until recently Chief of Staff for Supervisor John Moorlach, prepared a report regarding Harbor Patrol issues and funding opportunities which has been released by Supervisor Moorlach in a memo to the Board.
 
Stakeholders with knowledge of the facts, who offer constructive suggestions and realistic solutions do add significant value to our democratic decision making process.  This is the surest way to protect our interests as boaters.
 
Are Dana Point Boaters satisfied with Harbor Patrol services?
DPBA Boater Survey - OC Harbor Patrol
 
A while back DPBA surveyed over 400 boaters regarding various aspects of the operation of our harbor.  Regarding Harbor Patrol services, the message was clear.  Dana Point Boaters highly value the services provided by our Harbor Patrol!
 
89.2% of boaters were at least satisfied with the services provided and 39.4% were more than satisfied.  Less than 3% were completely unsatisfied, while seven times that number, 21% were very pleased overall.
 
Without question, the Dana Point Harbor Patrol deserves our full support.  It is not broken and should not be "fixed". 
 
What about budget related opportunities?
We agree with the study group point that there may be ways to economize, reduce Harbor Patrol costs and/or increase revenues, especially outside Dana Point where there is already a funding shortfall.  In the spirit of good governance, especially during these difficult economic times, DPBA would support further careful study of potential means to improve efficiency and lower operational costs for the Harbor Patrol operations, in all County harbors, just as we would also support such efforts were they focused on land based Sheriff Office operations.
 
However, any further study of Dana Point operations must, we repeat, MUST feature participation by a wide cross section of boaters with boats in Dana Point Harbor, as well as many of those tens of thousands of recreational boaters from throughout Orange County and Southern California who launch their boats at Dana Point Harbor.
 
What about additional funding alternatives? 
Regarding the interest expressed by one County Supervisor in eliminating County General Fund funding of the Harbor Patrol, to instead have only the coastal cities where harbors are located foot the bills, we are frankly at a loss as to how this idea could even be rationalized.  As just mentioned, boaters (and non-boaters too) come from far and wide to use our harbors and ocean.
 
Further, it seems obvious that some also may not understand that the jurisdiction of the Harbor Patrol extends well outside the harbors in which their facilities are located.  Let's set the record straight.  This small team, which hasn't grown in 20 years despite huge growth in County wide population, is solely responsible for local on-water homeland security and drug enforcement (to the extent it is today being addressed within Orange County), as well as public safety and other on-water law enforcement services on the more than 126 square miles of ocean waters within Orange County.
 
An important observation: Orange County has 789 Square miles of land area and ~126 square miles of water area.  The Harbor Patrol has 47 staff, slightly less than 0.4 officers per square mile of jurisdiction.  The Sheriff department has ~1500 staff, or 1.9 officers per square mile.  Of course most of Orange County is no longer under Sheriff Department jurisdiction so the real number is many times 1.9.  
 
The point? When saving taxpayers' money is the apparent agenda, it would seem to make a lot more sense for OC BOS to focus instead on much larger savings "opportunities" elsewhere.
 
DPBA Recommendations
As was stated early on above, the source of OC BOS concern is County wide revenue shortfalls and runaway public safety pension funding.  These are obviously not boating specific problems. 
 
We therefore recommend that OC BOS continue to stay focused on solving these County wide problems.  Not get sidetracked trying to make cuts within one very small, highly regarded department.  
 
We also recommend, as a second priority with longer term potential payback, that OC BOS invest in public outreach, especially amongst recreational boaters, to better understand / appreciate harbor and coastal patrol issues.  Do this rather than simply filing another report as has been done in the past.  We firmly believe that this better understanding will benefit all County Government stakeholders as well as Orange County recreational boater taxpayers.
 
Your Board of Directors,
The Dana Point Boaters Association 
 
 
Questions should be directed by email to (Officers@DanaPointBoaters.org).  Or call us at (949) 485-5656 and leave a voice mail and we'll get back to you soon.

Dana Point Boaters Association
P.O. Box 461
Dana Point, CA  92629
www.danapointboaters.org
Join Our Mailing List