THE LUCKHAM COMPANY

1001 BRIDGEWAY, SUITE 201

SAUSALITO, CA 94965

(415) 457-3300 FAX (415) 457-3368

 

June 14, 2001

 

Al Boro, Mayor

City of San Rafael

1400 Fifth Avenue

San Rafael, CA 94915-1560

 

Re:      Canal dredging Dear Al:

 

First, I want to thank you and Dave Bernardi for your prompt action on the sidewalk issue at Pickelweed Park. I passed Dave’s letter on to a Pickelweed board member and they are very happy to know that the City of San Rafael is addressing the problem.

The real subject of this letter is the problem of dredging the San Rafael Canal.

As you may already know, last Saturday a meeting of parties interested in the dredging issue was held at the Pickelweed Community Center. There were 50-60 people in attendance, more than have previously shown enough concern about the problem to come to meetings. Canal Area resident Bill Jones organized the meeting. Attendees included representatives from yacht clubs, marine businesses, canal front homeowners from both sides and the usual representatives of the Canalways project.

In contrast to earlier positions taken by some, there appears to be a growing consensus that we can no longer rely on the congressional budgeting process, and Army Corp of Engineers, for dredge maintenance, and, that a permanent solution lies in the creation of a tax district for dredge maintenance.

I have long held the position that dredge maintenance of the San Rafael Canal is a matter of local interest with little to justify reliance on federal help. There are some very clear constituencies involved, including the owners of canal front homes, marine related businesses, yacht harbors, yacht clubs, and non-marine related businesses that do,

or could, derive added value from a lively life on the canal. There are also the government agencies including the City of San Rafael, County or Mann, and perhaps others.

It appears to me that time may be ripe to, once again, approach the canal dredging issue from the perspective of creating an assessment district for the purpose. This was attempted at least once in the past. It failed, as I understand it, because there was a perception that the distribution of benefits and burden were inequitable.

The first big hurdle, where the benefit and burden are not plainly equal for all the subject parties, is to develop a plan that a sufficient majority of the parties consider fair and equitable. As with the creation of any tax district, there is then the matter of convincing a sufficient number of the subject parties that passing a tax measure is in their best interest. But, developing a plan that is perceived as fair and equitable is the key step. There are consultants who could develop such a plan.

A consultant(s) would:

o   Identify the geographic boundary of a proposed dredging district parcels

o   Identify and classify the parcels subject

o   Identify and define canal use criteria

o   Identify and define governmental use

o   Identify and define budgetary requirements for maintenance dredging

o   Develop 2-3 taxation models that could meet maintenance dredging needs

o   Draft proposed legislation and ballot measure based on the model(s)

 

Of course a hat could be passed among the interested parties to collect money for that purpose. The problem with doing so is that the burden would not be shared fairly, and most people would want to see some sort of fiduciary entity created for the purpose. That just adds to the time and cost required to accomplish the real mission.

I would like to suggest that the City of San Rafael take a leadership role in developing a permanent solution to the maintenance dredging of the San Rafael Canal by hiring a consultant to develop a couple of alternative models which might become the basis of creating either a port district or a special assessment district. I expect that the cost would probably not be a great deal more than has already been spent on past lobbying efforts with the federal government, and that the result would be more satisfying.

Clearly the City of San Rafael has an interest in seeing the canal dredged regularly. Having San Rafael take on this “honest broker” role would enable all the interested parties to get the bail rolling. And, more importantly, it would overcome the obstacle of creating a financially responsible entity agreeable to a diverse set of interests.

            If this approach seems to make sense I would like to arrange a small meeting with representatives of some of those interests, as well as appropriate city staff, to talk about how we might proceed.

Thanks for your consideration.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

L. H. Luckham