Save our department
MIKE WHITEHEAD
Ahoy.
The attack on the state’s Department of Boating and Waterways is
on again, led by the Department of Parks and Recreation. Parks and
Recreation seems unwilling to give up its attempt to merge Boating
and Waterways with its department, and for one purpose -- money. Your
letter-writing campaign stopped the merger earlier this year, and now
Parks and Recreation is trying again with the new administration of
Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger.
On my “Boathouse” radio show last Sunday, Ray Tsuneyoshi, director
of Boating and Waterways, called in to discuss how Parks and
Recreation is aggressively trying to absorb his department only for
monetary reasons, as Parks and Recreation officials view the boating
department as a cash cow.
Boating and Waterways receives all its funding from you, the
boaters, through a fuel tax and loan repayments. Parks and Recreation
receives its funding from the infamous black hole called the General
Fund. If Parks and Recreation absorbs Boating and Waterways, then its
funding would eventually be dumped into the General Fund with little
accountability for how its being spent. Already, Parks and Recreation
is slowly pecking at Boating and Waterways’ dedicated funding, and
this fiscal year, Parks and Recreation has been able to take $26
million from the boating department that was suppose to go back to
you, the boater. Is Parks and Recreation spending this money paid by
boaters for boating?
The Boating Needs Assessment Study details that in the next 10
years, more than $800 million is needed for renovations of marinas,
launch ramps and facilities.
“Across the United States, California is the cutting edge of
taking care of the recreational boater,” Tsuneyoshi told my radio
listeners. “If the Department of Boating and Waterways merges with
Parks [and Recreation], the money will dry-up [for boating
projects].”
Boating is not just a recreational pursuit; the marine industry
employs approximately 284,000 people in California.
If the merger happens, “the ones to lose are the boaters,”
Tsuneyoshi said.
Russ Robinson, president of Recreational Boaters of California,
has confirmed that the Department of Parks and Recreation is pursuing
the merger of the Department of Boating and Waterways into Parks.
Recreational Boaters of California has issued a call-to-arms;
below is the sample letter for you to sign and let the Schwarzenegger
team hear from as many boaters as possible. Recreational Boaters of
California is emphasizing that this time, it is important to generate
even more letters and communications than ever before.
Robinson is asking everyone to print and sign the letter below,
and send it to Recreational Boaters of California via fax (916)
441-3520, by e-mail to rboc@rboc.org, or by mail to 925 L St., Suite
220, Sacramento, CA 95814. The letter is on the Internet at
https://www.rboc.org/save
DBW_10-15-03.html.
California Gov.-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger
Schwarzenegger Transition Office
831 L St.
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Gov.-elect Schwarzenegger,
I urge you not to propose the merger of the Department of Boating
and Waterways into the Department of Parks and Recreation.
The Department of Boating and Waterways and its vital,
boater-funded programs are critical to:
* Safety on the waterways for more than 3 million boating
enthusiasts;
* Environmental protection for the state waterways; and
* Stimulation of the state’s economy through loans and grants for
boating facility construction.
The Department of Boating and Waterways does not receive monies
from the state’s General Fund. Boater-generated fuel tax dollars and
interest earned from loans of those funds, support Boating and
Waterway activities.
Boaters are already contributing to the Department of Recreation
and Parks. For several years, the state’s boaters have been supplying
more than $11 million per year in boater fuel-tax dollars for a total
exceeding $100 million, to Parks and Recreation. In the current
fiscal year, the amount is $26 million.
It is also quite important that this state’s more than 3 million
boating enthusiasts, who support a $17 billion per year boating
industry, continue to have the leadership, accountability and
dedication that are ensured by a boating department with a director
whose principal focus is boating. Since becoming a department in
1967, Boating and Waterways has proven to be an effective, efficient
and model department.
Please decide not to propose a merger of the Department of Boating
and Waterways into the Department of Recreation and Parks.
Sincerely, name and address
Remember, you can listen to me every Sunday from 4 to 5 p.m. on
KCBQ AM (1170), and you can call in with you nautical questions or
comments during the show to (888) 344-1170. This Sunday, our roving
reporter Eric Hovland will be calling in from the “Hooked”
sportfishing exhibit at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum.
Safe voyages.
* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist. Send
him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story suggestions by
e-mail to mike@boathousetv.com or visit https://www.boathousetv.com.
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