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Friday, May 12 , 2017
  
 
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BREAKING: Dana Point Harbor Advisory Council Approved  
 
As you know, Dana Point Harbor is now a division of OC Parks.  Last night the OC Parks Commission approved the creation of the Dana Point Harbor Advisory Council.  DPHAC will be comprised of volunteer citizens representing the various interests of Dana Point Harbor and will perform non-binding oversight over harbor operations.  This is big news.
 
The Dana Point Boaters Association proposed the DPHAC last year to 5th District Supervisor Lisa Bartlett and OC Parks leadership.  We did this to create a forum for public discourse and consideration of issues affecting Dana Point Harbor.  We believe this to be especially important as the County prepares to hand over redevelopment and operations of our harbor to a private developer/operator under a 66-year master lease.  Your boaters association believes strongly that all matters affecting our publicly-owned municipal harbor must be undertaken transparently, even when managed by a private entity.  The Dana Point Harbor Advisory Council will review, discuss, debate and vote on various matters affecting the everyday life of Dana Point Harbor.  Recommendations will be made to OC Parks for review and action.  All of this will be done in plain view of the public.  While the recommendations made by DPHAC will be advisory only, we believe transparency maximizes accountability.  This will be the Dana Point Harbor community's public forum for discussion and consideration of what matters to all of us in our harbor.
 
This wasn't easy and there are many to credit for making this happen.  First, our gratitude to Supervisor Bartlett for her quick and enthusiastic support of this project, and to OC Parks Director Stacy Blackwood and her team for working so patiently and diligently with us and other stakeholders to formulate how to make it work most effectively and successfully.  And Dana Point Harbor is a diverse community and this couldn't have happened without the input and endorsement of so many others, in particular our merchant and commercial harbor partners.  In so many meetings, phone calls and emails, there was true unity and cooperation in making this happen.  Finally, we thank the OC Parks Commission for approving this important oversight council.
 
So, what's next?  The council will be comprised of 11 members: Two OC Parks commissioners and nine members to be chosen by the OC Parks Commission from applications submitted by interested representatives from the harbor stakeholder groups listed below.  Applications can soon be found on the OC Parks website.  We expect the first meeting of the DPHAC to be scheduled soon after membership is finalized, likely by early summer.  We will distribute agendas and seek your input prior to each meeting, and of course provide updates as we go along. 
 
The following is excerpted from the approved DPHAC bylaws and describes the council membership:
 
DPHAC Membership will be comprised of representatives from the following categories:
1. Two (2) Wet Slip Tenant Boaters: Dana Point recreational boaters whose vessels have been stored in a boat slip, excluding commercial boat operators.
2. One (1) Dry Storage Tenants, Trailer Boaters, and Small Craft Operators: Dana Point recreational boaters whose watercraft have been stored out of the water, such as on trailers or dry racks. Also includes human powered craft users (e.g. stand-up paddleboard) as well as other day-use customers. Excludes commercial boat operators.
3. One (1) Restaurateurs: Proprietors of restaurants as well as catering operations, operated within the boundaries of Dana Point Harbor.
4. One (1) Landside Merchants: Proprietors of all other non-restaurant, landside businesses located within the boundaries of Dana Point Harbor.
5. One (1) Waterside Merchants: Proprietors of Dana Point Harbor waterside services businesses, such as yacht brokers, boat repair operations, boat tours (e.g. whale watching) operators, ferry services, commercial and charter fishing.
6. Two (2) Education, Non-profit, and Social Organizations: Groups and organizations dedicated to Dana Point Harbor public interests and activities such as harbor walking and park users; canoe, paddling, kayaking, sailing and fishing clubs; youth sailing operations; community-service; and environmental or marine-educational organizations.
7. One (1) At-large: A regular Dana Point Harbor visitor or other interested individual not represented by the preceding categories.

For the Board of Directors of The Dana Point Boaters Association,
James Lenthall, Vice-President  
    
So why not do your part too, be a donor, and give us a hand? It doesn't take much and you can have confidence that you are making a difference.
 
Also, please contact us if you have any comments or if we can answer any questions by clicking here to submit them through our Boater Liaison Program.

    
MISSION STATEMENT
 
The Dana Point Boaters Association advocates the preservation, enhancement, and expansion of affordable recreational boating resources.  We work to improve the family friendly atmosphere and breadth of water-oriented actives we all enjoy in the harbor.  We serve as the watchdog by ethically protecting the rights of all boaters and representing them when collective action is most effective.  We actively gather information and communicate our views to educate boaters, external interests, and public officials.  We build and maintain constructive, working relationships to achieve common goals with other harbor stakeholders.  We will pass on our harbor to the next generation of recreational boaters in better condition than it is today.

Dana Point Boaters Association 
P.O. Box 461, Dana Point, CA  92629
http://www.danapointboaters.org

Phone: (949) 485-5656