Harbor patrol control debated

The Orange County Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. is getting proactive in its attempt to keep harbor patrol duties in the sheriff’s jurisdiction.

Some Newport Beach officials might even use the word “threatening.”

A brochure that hit Newport Beach mailboxes Thursday, paid for by the association, warns residents they’ll “pay more and get less” if the city tries to take over patrolling its own harbor.

The mailer isn’t the only step the group has taken. Newport Beach’s mayor and city manager said deputies assn. leaders told them to stay out of the harbor patrol debate or the association would get involved in future City Council elections.

“Basically they said, ‘We’d like a statement from the city saying we’re not interested in taking over the harbor patrol,’” Newport Beach Mayor Steve Rosansky said Friday. “The conversation was fairly threatening as far as they were concerned.”

Wayne Quint, president of the deputies assn., said he didn’t try to intimidate anyone.

“We said they should stay out of it or we’re going to educate the public about this issue, and this issue is about tax dollars being spent on less public safety,” he said.

At the heart of the issue is who will provide harbor patrol services to Newport Beach. City leaders have said they’re willing to do a study to see if they can provide the services at a lower cost, and county supervisors agreed to discuss it.

The deputies assn. maintains public safety will suffer if Newport takes over because the city would offer less service.

The Sheriff’s Department runs the harbor patrol for $10.4 million a year with 65 positions and help from volunteers, said Rick Dostal, director of financial and administrative services for the department.

Deputies cover 48 miles of coastline to three miles out at sea, and they serve Dana Point harbor and Huntington Harbour as well as Newport, where the harbor patrol is headquartered.

The ongoing debate over patrolling Newport’s waters intensified this spring. The deputies assn. ran ads in the Daily Pilot touting their services, and Sheriff Mike Carona backed pending state legislation that gives him the right to decide who runs the harbor patrol. That decision now lies with county supervisors.

Quint argued that his first concern is public safety, and Newport officials have said they would use “different staffing models,” meaning they wouldn’t offer as much service as exists now. They would also have to raise taxes to pay for a city-run harbor patrol — the mailer estimates at least $4 million — while they get the county service essentially free, he said.

“If you do an honest, apples-to-apples comparison, they can’t do it cheaper — and if they can, they deserve it,” Quint said. “If these guys think this is the only piece of mail we’re going to put out to educate the public, they’re wrong.”

So far, the issue has moved slowly. City officials brought it up in 2003 and nothing came of it, so they raised it again in December, when Supervisor John Moorlach took office.

Moorlach is waiting for Newport to make a move, but City Manager Homer Bludau said since the harbor patrol belongs to the county, county officials should instigate the study.

To Bludau, the fact that there’s no analysis of a Newport Beach city harbor patrol makes Quint’s arguments ridiculous.

“How can he say it’s going to be a reduction in service when we haven’t even done a study?” Bludau said. “It’s really about maintaining jobs in the Sheriff’s Department.”