As you know from our prior eNews Bulletins, the Dana Point Boaters Association is closely monitoring progress in Santa Ana regarding issues associated with the role and funding of OC Harbor Patrol, especially the operating unit based here in Dana Point Harbor. But there is another angle we have been working on that you need to be aware of:
Starting
this fiscal year, 3.7 million dollars is being illegally misdirected from the
Tidelands Trust (OC Accounting Fund 108 which is Dana Point Harbor). This 3.7 million dollar annual withdrawal represents
over 20% of gross boater slip and dry storage rents today, and worse, this
number is expected to grow even more next year due to unfunded County worker
pension commitments.
We say "misdirected" because the Harbor Patrol provides a majority of its services outside Dana Point Harbor so Dana Point boaters should not be expected to fund these operations in entirety. We say "illegal" because of directly applicable case law. This very issue was settled by litigation in 1982. As we have said, over and over, "Money earned in the Harbor must stay in the Harbor!"
This illegal misdirection has a dramatically negative impact on recreational boating opportunities in Dana Point Harbor, as evidenced by over 130 current slip vacancies. We're not nuclear scientists of course (we're just boaters) but it seems obvious to us that if these funds were not illegally misdirected, then slip and dry storage fees could be immediately be reduced by over 20%.
Please be sure to let Your Supervisor and OC Dana Point Harbor know where you stand on this matter.
Want to learn more? The links below provide the full story:
Letter to County Counsel Nicholas Chrisos
Letter to County Supervisor Patricia Bates
Email to OC DPH Director Brad Gross
Survey of Government Owned Harbors In Southern California 
