Harbor Patrol Funds Focus on Park Equity

Should $5.6 million in annual OC park funds be spent patrolling Newport Harbor? Should $5.6 million in annual OC park funds be spent securing yachts in Huntington Harbor? Should $5.6 million in annual OC park funds be spent on fire protection for beachfront mansions?

These questions are part of an ongoing discussion by the Board of Supervisors. The answers are clear. Police and fire functions in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach are the responsibilities of those cities. Scarce County park funds should be spent equitably for public recreational facilities that benefit all of Orange County.

Since the 1950s the Orange County Sheriff’s Dept. has been patrolling OC’s harbors. This may have made sense when they the harbors were in unincorporated areas directly under county jurisdiction. It no longer does.

At the September 13 Board meeting, First District Supervisor Lou Correa and I proffered a motion to remove the $5.6 million in annual park funds spent on the Harbor Patrol and use this money for park projects equitably benefiting the entire county.

We did not get a third vote and our motion failed. The Board instead directed county staff to study this issue further and return with funding alternatives. The time for studies is over. It is time for the Board to address the inequities and inefficiencies in the Harbor Patrol funding.

Supervisor Correa and I represent over 40% of OC residents. Yet our districts have barely 1% of the total acreage in the County park system. Virtually all North and Central OC parks are city owned and operated. The $5.6 million in park funds currently spent on Harbor Patrol must begin to address this inequity.

Three specific reforms should be made:

1) The $5.6 million in park funds should no longer be spent on the Harbor Patrol.

2) The $5.6 million in park funds should be distributed equally throughout the County to benefit both inland and coastal residents.

3) Harbor Patrol responsibility should be transferred to the cities wherein they are located.

Orange County has three harbors—Huntington, Newport and Dana Point. The cities of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach should be responsible for their police and fire functions, including that of their harbors. The can incorporate that function into their city operations or contract with the Sheriff’s Department’s Harbor Patrol. They should not continue to receive this service at county expense.

Dana Point Harbor is a county-owned facility and all fees and rentals accrue to the County. Revenues generated from Dana Point already cover the costs of policing that harbor.

The Harbor Patrol serves a vital function. It guards against boat theft and vandalism. It rescues distressed boaters and swimmers. It operates a fireboat to extinguish marine fires and protect bayfront estates. Tiny Bay Island in Newport Beach, for example, has 22 homes without vehicle access and relies totally on the OC Harbor Patrol for fire protection. But this is a city—not a county—responsibility. County taxpayers expect their park funds to be used for ball fields, open space and bike trails—not to protect yachts and bayfront mansions.

Some see our harbors as regional recreational facilities that deserve regionally funded public safety, since boat owners live throughout the county. Yet the same is true of Anaheim Stadium or the Pond. Fans originate from a wide area, but their policing is still Anaheim’s responsibility.

Harbor residents and boat owners have reaped huge benefits from the Sheriff’ Harbor Patrol. Fairness now requires that those who reap the benefits also shoulder the costs. Taxpayers in park-poor inland areas need their park funds used locally—not to continue to subsidize the harbors.

The Board will look at this issue again when we consider our strategic financial plan within the next three months.

Coffee with Waters

I met last week for coffee with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) to forge common ground on the issue of eminent domain. Maxine (as she prefers to be called) shares my views that the power of eminent domain has long been abused to benefit private interests.

Her South-Central constituents are particularly vulnerable, with most lacking the political clout or legal resources to challenge eminent domain takings. She is very supportive of congressional guarantees to restore property rights lost by the Supreme Court’s Kelo vs. New London decision.

Allies on this issue can be found across the political spectrum, as polls show over 90% of the public supports the use of eminent domain for only public projects—not for private gain.

Hornets-Dons Battle for Key

This Saturday marks the 83rd game between Fullerton and Santa Ana Colleges, the nation’s longest junior college football rivalry. The game is at Santa Ana Stadium at 1:00 p.m. My tailgate party (at Sixth & Flower) will start at noon. Both teams are 2-0, so it should be an exciting game.

Both Supervisor Correa and I hope for a close game, as whose team loses must do push-ups according to the margin of victory. My first Hornet-Don game was in 1959, when the game was traditionally a “Turkey Day” tradition every Thanksgiving. Now the two teams play for a large symbolic key—the Key to the County—as the perennial trophy, with game scores inscribed back to 1922.

Playing for the Hornets will be a childhood acquaintance form my old Hillcrest neighborhood—Marty Reichman. At 45, Marty is the nation’s oldest collegiate football player! Go-o-o-o Hornets!!