STATUS UPDATE
Harbor Patrol Performance Audit
As we advised previously, the final report on this extremely important topics for all Dana Point boaters was aired at the November 9th County Board of Supervisors meeting in Santa Ana. As agenda item number 69, it was a long, long day before your DPBA leadership had the opportunity to be heard. This wasn't all bad however as it was also an opportunity for hall conversations with the OC Deputy CEO, OC Sheriff, Supervisor Bates Chief of Staff and various others. Each time we delivered essentially the same message and received what we interpret to be positive feedback. We didn't rehash or debate topics within the report, but simply pointed out the obvious, as follows:
The Dana Point Harbor Patrol operations serve a long list of beneficiaries beyond Dana Point boaters. Indeed, they could easily be called the "Ocean Patrol" instead. That said, and as Sheriff Hutchens pointed out, at Oceanside Harbor they call their "on water" law enforcement department the "Harbor Police". In other words, in the lingo in play here, "Policing" refers to Law Enforcement on the water inside a harbor. "Patrol" refers to Law Enforcement on the ocean. Got that? (We're learning too!)
So just how big is that ocean area that Dana Point Harbor Patrol oversees?
Dana Point Harbor Patrol services are deployed across a really huge geographic area that runs from the San Diego County line. (Remember, Oceanside Harbor Police stay inside their harbor, and no wonder their slips fees are so much less.) Coverage is all the way to an imaginary line half-way to Newport Beach, going 3 miles out to sea officially (and unofficially more like 10+ miles).
This represents a total of 63 square miles of Open Ocean at the minimum (and arguably more like 210 square miles).
What does Dana Point Harbor Patrol actually do out there?
The Dana Point Harbor Patrol operations provide public safety services as the preeminent theme in their mission statement. Public services like:
1. Illegal Drug Law Enforcement
2. Border Patrol / Immigration Law Enforcement
3. Homeland Security
4. General Law Enforcement
5. Public Safety and Medical Assistance Services for all in need
These services are primarily provided out in the ocean, not in the harbor. The Performance Audit Final Report clearly points this out, with comments like "little to no Dana Point Harbor Patrol activity occurs on weekends". It seems pretty obvious to us that weekends are the peak periods of demand for policing service within a recreational harbor, yet the report says there is little need. It also seems obvious that there is lots of Drug and Immigration control as well as Home Security needs during the week when boaters are working to pay for their slip fees. Our point here is that the action is, duh, out on the ocean!
As we pointed out and others in Santa Ana privately agreed, it really sounds like the Dana Point Harbor Patrol, already a department within the OC Sheriff, provides the very same services that other OC Sheriff departments provide on land. On land they just use "Land Cruisers" instead of Patrol Boats!
So then, it follows that the costs for these 5 services should be recovered via a taxing method that works the same way on land.
Why does this all matter to Dana Point boaters?
Sheriff Department services on land in County areas are paid for by OC taxpayers at large (including Dana Point Boaters who are also taxpayers), as well they should be. Indeed, and frankly it's not too surprising, in the other two harbors in OC (Newport & Sunset/Huntington) the Harbor Patrol ends up being paid the very same way (albeit with regularly recurring squabbles between budgeting government departments along the way).
However Dana Point Harbor is the dramatic and glaring exception: In Dana Point Harbor the freight is exclusively being born by boaters alone!
Our Tidelands Trust is apparently the County's piggy bank.
About 4 million dollars (a 2009 number which is rapidly rising each year) is siphoned off into the County coffers every year!
What would happen if the funds siphoning stopped?
All other considerations aside about how this found money (Dana Point boater money) might otherwise be spent (for example to build reserves to rebuild our docks), our slip and dry storage fees would drop by 25 percent!
As we have pointed out to the State Lands Commission, and they agree, there's even more at stake because the Harbor Patrol never paid rent for all for the land area, dedicated parking and docks that they occupy within Dana Point Harbor.
That's why this fight is so important to every single Dana Point Boater!
What's next for the DPBA team of directors and advisors?
The Board of Supervisors "received and filed" this latest report, on November 9th. Sadly, this was the 17th in a series of reports going back almost 40 years. (We wonder how many taxpayer dollars those 17 reports represent?) But the good news here is that Supervisors Bates and Moorlach, the two County Supervisors representing districts with a coast line, were directed to meet with Sheriff Hutchens and CEO Tom Mauk and then report back to the full Board.
We had a meeting scheduled with Tom Mauk on November 19th that is being rescheduled. We are also waiting to hear back directly from Supervisor Bates. Obviously we will continue to make the arguments above while also continuing to pursue compulsory solutions via the State Lands Commission (SLC).
Regarding SLC, please stay tuned. We'll provide an update of our progress soon.
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To learn more about OC Harbor Patrol Performance Audit Report and review it for yourself you can go to our website and click on the document links on our Home Page, http://danapointboaters.org.
