San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury says time for Harbor District to dissolve

San Mateo County Times/Aaron Kinney, 7/9/14. "San Mateo County grand jury blasts 'embarrassing' harbor district, calls for dissolution."

Harbor District is expensive,
and the current Board is dysfunctional

"REDWOOD CITY -- The San Mateo County civil grand jury issued a scathing report Wednesday calling for the dissolution of the county harbor district, citing problems with the district's finances and an overall pattern of dysfunction.  "It is abundantly clear," the grand jury wrote, "that the citizens of the county would be best served, both financially and in terms of better service, if the district were dissolved and its operations assumed by the county and other successor agencies."

The report zeroes in on the budgeting practices of the independent district, which owns and operates Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay and manages Oyster Point Marina in South San Francisco. The grand jury claims the district relies too heavily on property tax revenue it collects from the county to cover operating losses that over the past five have totaled roughly $18.3 million. Meanwhile, the elected five-member board of commissioners that oversees the district is unable to govern "effectively and collegially," according to the report, which notes that meetings are often marked by open antagonism, even shouting matches, with armed sheriff's deputies sometimes brought in to ensure order."   Read article.

Reference:   San Mateo Harbor Commission.   San Mateo County Harbor District Marinas Directory.  "The San Mateo County Harbor District was established in 1933 by a Resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the County of San Mateo. Under that certain Act of the Legislature of the State of California entitled "An Act Providing for the Formation, Government and Operation of Harbor Districts, the Calling and Conducting of Elections in such District of Harbor Commissioners, defining their powers and duties, and providing for the issuance and disposal of bonds of such Harbor District, and providing for the assessment, levy and collection of taxes for the payment of such bond and for the ordinary annual expenses of such Harbor District," approved June 10, 1931, and found in the Statutes of 1931 at page 1483."  Note Harbor photograph from this article. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh