Panel Splits on Plan to Extend Marina Lease : Harbor: The proposal would have renewed a private firm’s control of the Huntington Beach facility.

SANTA ANA —  An evenly split Harbors, Beaches and Parks Commission declined Wednesday night to endorse a proposal that would extend a private firm’s long-term control of one of Orange County’s few publicly owned marinas.

The 3-3 vote by the commission places in limbo a proposal to grant a new, 30-year lease to the firm operating Sunset Marina Park at Huntington Harbour.

Critics of the proposed lease renewal were buoyed by the commission’s vote.

“It’s a victory,” said Edward N. Bynon, president of the Sunset Aquatic Marina Boatowners’ Assn.

The proposed lease deal has come under fire for a variety of reasons:

* It would renew Goldrich & Kest Inc.’s control eight years before its current lease expires--without competitive bidding. Critics have said that the county could get a far better financial package if it waited until 1999 and accepted competitive proposals.

County officials pointed out again Wednesday that the proposal would bring more money to the county than the existing lease. And, the proponents said the new lease would speed expansion of boat storage and provide other amenities.

* Goldrich & Kest of Culver City has been cited repeatedly by county inspectors for substandard maintenance of the 99-acre marina complex. Commissioner Larry Luera, after reading aloud from a Sept. 8 Times article that detailed Goldrich & Kest’s maintenance shortcomings, said: “They have a pretty bad record.”

* Goldrich & Kest from 1989 to mid-1990 was represented in its lease-renewal negotiations with the county by Lee E. Wieder, the son of county Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder. Supervisor Wieder, whose district encompasses Sunset Marina, has said that she has tried only to get the best deal for the county, while ensuring fair treatment for Goldrich & Kest.

John W. Sibley, chief deputy director of the county Environmental Management Agency, said after Wednesday’s vote that at an undetermined time, he and his staff would “make an appropriate recommendation” to the supervisors, who have the power to approve or kill the new lease deal.

Clearly, the vote was a setback for Goldrich & Kest. Asked afterward what course his firm would now take, President Jona Goldrich said, “We really don’t know at this point.”

Winning the commission’s backing had been considered crucial by officials familiar with the lease proposal. Privately, they expressed doubt that the Board of Supervisors would give final approval to the lease deal if the seven-member commission, composed of five of their appointees, did not concur.

Voting to endorse the pact were Commissioners Shirley Dettloff, an appointee of Wieder; Ronald B. Hoesterey, an appointee of Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, and Edna Wilson, a Seal Beach City Council member appointed by the League of California Cities. The commissioners who voted not to endorse the new lease were Luera, an appointee of Supervisor Roger R. Stanton; Sally White, an appointee of Supervisor Don R. Roth, and Commission Chairman Ed Conway, an appointee of Supervisor Thomas F. Riley.

“My confidence level in G & K is still at a very low point,” said Conway, who cast the final and tying vote.

For their part, Goldrich & Kest executives have said that the proposed lease renewal would be equitable for them and the county. At Wednesday night’s meeting, the executives again pledged to do a better job of maintaining the marina.

“We have invested our life (for) the last 20 years in that marina,” said Sherman Gardner, a Goldrich & Kest spokesman and partner. Regarding maintenance, Gardner said, “The facility is 110% different than it was several months ago.”

Goldrich offered to establish a “maintenance guarantee fund” of up to $125,000--if his firm won the 30-year lease renewal.

The fund, Goldrich said, could be used by the county for the duration of the existing contract to pay for any maintenance deficiencies that Goldrich & Kest did not fix promptly.

Critics, however, remained unswayed.

“The (proposed) lease is a farce as far as I’m concerned,” said James W. Bequette, a retired accountant from Santa Ana. Bequette and Thomas A. Comstock, a Fullerton lawyer, said that the proposed terms are far too generous for Goldrich & Kest.

“You have a duty to do prudently what you would do if they were your assets,” Comstock said.