Our view: Perfect timeto mull futureof the harbor

Leave it to county Supervisor David Finigan to be the bluntest of public officials when it comes to speculating about the future of the Crescent City Harbor District.

Finigan has been the one local elected leader who seems genuinely open to investigating all possibilities regarding cooperation between the city and county governments, even the possibility of consolidation into one government — a prospect that leaves some politicians and bureaucrats worrying about their own hides rather than those of the taxpayers they serve.

So here's the supervisor's right-to-the-point assessment of the third branch of our local government: "The harbor is one of the identified lynchpins of our economy. Through no fault of its own, the harbor has no resources. Let's have a real heart-to-heart on how to turn it around."

While some critics may disagree that harbor commissioners bear no blame for the district's difficulties, Finigan's call for a no-holds-barred "heart-to-heart" comes at the perfect time. Four of the five commission posts are up for grabs in the November election. While one commissioner runs unopposed for a two-year term, the other three incumbents face six challengers in a battle royal with the top three vote-getters winning four-year terms.

Now is indeed the time for wide-open public discourse about the harbor's future. (Those nine candidates for three Crescent City Council posts are among the folks we're looking forward to hearing from on this issue.)

Today's front-page article lays out the challenges: Once the center of a bustling fishing industry, the harbor has fallen on hard times. Battered by tsunamis and worn down by a neglect stemming from lack of money, its facilities are decrepit. It's in danger of losing its last fish processing plant. The district has alienated another high-profile tenant, the Crescent Harbor Art Gallery, by seeking to signifcantly increase its monthly rent payments. Dredging is so overdue that boats run aground with regularity. The fishermen on those boats are hindered by a seemingly endless wave of ocean fishing restrictions courtesy of the state and federal governments. And yet …

We're still a working port with the biggest Dungeness crab harvest in California. In a good year, our commercial fleet's total catch is worth close to $20 million. Plans are in the works for a $22.8 million project to replace the inner boat basin, with the state picking up three-quarters of the tab. Our congressman is pushing his colleagues in Washington, D.C., for money to dredge the federally owned channel.

Meanwhile, the community seems to have reached a consensus that the harbor should be a key attraction in a tourism-based economy. It's often referred to as a "hidden gem" waiting to shine with an infusion of retail shops, a museum, a visitors center and an attractive boardwalk. And consider the synergy of all this occurring just across the coast highway from Elk Valley Rancheria's new casino/resort complex.

How can we ensure that the harbor of our future retains its working-fishery status and realizes its potential as a tourist destination? The election season is a great opportunity to hear the voices of all the stakeholders: the candidates, the fishermen, the economic-development visionaries, and yes, the current harbor tenants infuriated over the district's attempt to start righting its economic ship at their expense.

Now is the time to listen to these voices. Come November, we need to make decisions that allow us to all start pulling in the same direction.