[Bboa-members] RE: Marina Security

[Paul Kamen]

On 8/12/2006 at 11:33 AM Lois wrote:
>I've been on this mailing list since the beginning, reading everyone's comments, complaints and suggestions.

>Now I'm wondering if the City of Berkeley has penalized us for complaining about rent increases by eliminating the police presence that we used to have.

Actually, it was surprising how little objection was raised to the berth rate increase this time around. We (meaning the Waterfront Commission, and I believe staff as well) expected much more protest expressed to the Commission and to the Council. So I'm pretty sure there's nothing punitive about the cutback in police patrol. At least the marina fund is not being charged for services not being provided, which is progress of sorts. I was afraid that the City would "forget" to make the adjustment. 
>It does not look like this marina is in any position to build a guard shack or even hire a security guard when the city has recently decided that we don't even warrant police patrol.  
See my previous response to Tom, copied to the BBOA list. The annualized expense isn't much at all, compared to our $4 million budget and the proposed expenditure on the private security service. 

It's not that the City thinks that we "don't even warrant a police patrol." There is a shortage of police officers right now. What they don't think we warrant is any greater protection than any other part of West Berkeley. Something we may or may not agree with.  
>The city has many reasons to raise the berth rents, one of which no one has ever mentioned:  this marina has no trouble finding willing berthers if some of us leave for Richmond or the Oakland Estuary or wherever the rents may be a little cheaper.  The rents are still cheap enough here to be competitive, and this is one of the best sailing marinas in the bay -- and it's very underutilized.  

>I imagine the marina would like to say good bye to some of the less serious boaters (who let their boats float for years in a mildewed state) and encourage the real sailors who take good care of their boats to move in.

Clearing out some problematic long-time berthers may have been part of the motivation for some past dock rebuild proposals, when there were different people running the marina (two or three Harbormasters ago, at least). I don't think that's the case now. Ann has expressed a lot of concern that no berthers should have to leave the marina during the dock construction. I think she has a good plan in place to find temporary space for everyone. 

I have mixed feelings about pricing out the boats that seem to be using the marina for long-term storage. It does make sense for boats that never sail to be berthed in less desirable marinas with less convenient access to the Bay and less perfect sailing conditions. On the other hand, if all the boats in the marina were sailed more, there wouldn't be nearly enough parking. But it's not clear if we'll have the luxury of making that policy decision. The cost of replacing 40-year-old docks is driving us to a market-rate pricing policy, like it or not. And the only objective way to determine "market rate" is to monitor vacancy rate. We will know we are there when there is a small percentage of vacancies in all size categories. (Although market response time might also be an issue - we have to make sure the vacancy rate has stabilized before evaluating...)

>Even on the slight chance that the city were to raise fees so much that several berths were vacant, they'd still win by having fewer boats to move around when the docks are rebuilt!

>I remember seeing the officer sitting at the entrance to the marina at night, and another one patrolling the parking lots.  I miss them.  We had lots of break-ins and car thefts then, and more now.  At my parking lot, I see broken window glass in a different parking place every week, sometimes more than once a week.  Ask around, and you'll find out that break-ins happen even in broad daylight here all the time.

>I've had my car stolen from here once, and broken into more than once.  Here's my only advice: use a club on your steering wheel.  It will prevent theft, and it even prevents break-ins, since the thieves think you're savvy and won't be leaving anything valuable in your car.

Not a bad idea. I have a club, and should probably use it more just for that reason. 

>Honestly, this is the only suggestion I have, unless you prefer another marina that has less wind or better amenities.

>Happy sailing . . .




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---------
Paul Kamen
Chair, Berkeley Waterfront Commission
510-540-7968  510-219-8106 (cell)
pk at well.com   www.BerkeleyWaterfront.org

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