SUCCESS:Troubled waters in harbor issue

In my July 5 article, I raised the question, "Who had the best recipe for success for Newport Harbor, the Sheriff's Department's Harbor Patrol or the City of Newport Beach?"

That article sparked many discussions about this topic. Mayor Steve Rosansky has stated that the city has no intentions of taking over the sheriff's current harbor duty but was quick to comment that the deputy sheriff's union representative made "veiled threats" to get involved in the next local elections. He also talked about the deputy sheriff's Harbor Patrol flyer sent to residents. I read it, and after researching the issue for over a month for my first article, I felt the flyer was right on.

Last week, Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau sent a letter to residents saying that this flyer was "misleading," and that the county would need to reimburse the city for the Harbor Patrol duties before they'd consider taking them over.

The "City Council intends to work with the county to explore the option," he wrote. Well, if the county is looking to delete $5.8 million from their budget, what makes the city think they'll reimburse them? My guess is it's not going to happen, especially after listening to the county representative for Supervisor Norby at the Speak Up Newport meeting dealing with this subject. He made it quite clear that the county was looking to Newport to absorb the cost. Our city is also not supporting AB1597.

This is the Assembly bill in Sacramento that would mandate the Sheriffs Department provide Harbor Patrol duties throughout Orange County — basically keeping the status quo. the Huntington Beach City Council voted to support this bill.

Do they know something we don't … or are they sending a message to the county that they have no interest in paying for Harbor Patrol duties they now get for free?

So, if the Deputy Sheriff's Union had told the mayor they would support him in the next election, would he then welcome their involvement?

Special interest groups are heavily involved in local politics. Just look at the California Secretary of State's website and see how many special interest groups form Independent Expenditures (IEs) Campaign Finance Committees. These committees circumvent the laws on campaign funding limits to candidates and are heavily involved in our local elections. It's an eye-opener.

The harbor issue has already been studied seven times. Not satisfied? The county CEO is preparing a "Harbor Study Scope" and wants the Harbor Patrol, Newport and county to split the cost.

The Sheriff's Department's Harbor Patrol does a great job in our harbors. The whole county pays for these services through their taxes. So why fix it when it isn't broken? When 80% of the boating public using Newport Harbor is not from Newport Beach, what makes the county think we should foot the bill?