His statement below:
After 15 years of volunteer advocacy for the Dana Point Harbor community on matters affecting our beloved harbor, most notably the Harbor Revitalization Plan, I have retired from my positions as President of the Dana Point Boaters Association and Chair of the Dana Point Harbor Advisory Board, effective Monday, January 25. This comes at a moment when I remain enormously proud of the achievements these two teams have made over the years, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to the legacy of this very special place.
In 2006, with zero expectation to become an advocate for the community, I attended my first public forum held by the County of Orange as plans were presented for the renovation of Dana Point Harbor. I quickly found reward and a sense of community in championing the interests of our Dana Point boaters. For the first few years as an independent citizen, I testified often at hearings by the California Coastal Commission, Orange County Board of Supervisors, and Dana Point city council and planning commission meetings. In 2011 I was invited to join the board of the Dana Point Boaters Association, then later elected its president. In this now official role, I continued to strive to represent boater interests in day-to-day harbor operations and governance, as well as in the slowly evolving plans for the $300 million revitalization of our harbor. In close collaboration with other harbor stakeholders, particularly the Dana Point Harbor Merchants Association, as well as County and City officials, our Boaters Association contributed significantly to shaping the next generation of Dana Point Harbor. In 2017, as plans were announced by the County to partner with a private developer to undertake the Harbor Revitalization Plan, I worked to co-found the Dana Point Harbor Advisory Board to establish a forum to represent the interests of all harbor stakeholders and to serve as a central voice and resource for our community during this hugely transformative era. I was appointed to a three-year term as a boater representative and elected as its inaugural chair. Throughout 2018, DPHAB served as the primary platform for community input on the vetting and selection of a private developer and their plans for renovating our harbor, setting us on the course we undertake today.
While it hasn’t always been smooth seas or without adversity, I believe we are on the best path for the successful future of our harbor, while protecting the charm and character that define Dana Point Harbor. I am tremendously grateful to the Dana Point Boaters Association and Dana Point Harbor Advisory Board teams, as well as our many collaborators, for the opportunity to serve and contribute to charting this course we are on. I am hopeful and excited to observe these two teams in their continued work to protect and advance the interests of our harbor community. I will be their biggest cheerleader. And I’m not going anywhere; Dana Point Harbor is my home, and I intend to remain an active member of our boating community.
To all of you with whom I have collaborated over the past 15 years, my sincerest thanks for an experience that I will cherish forever. More than anything, I am rewarded by and grateful for the friendships I have made along the way. And these I intend to keep. Thank you!