In a rare appearance from the public speaker microphone, two Harbor Commissioners, unrelated, separate and distinct from one another, stepped away from their respective seats and addressed the other four commissioners. Commissioners Gerhard Weber and Brian Stone expressed frustration and dissatisfaction on different issues to their colleagues and the public audience.
Commissioner Weber spoke first. Weber distributed to those in the audience what appeared to be campaign literature. Weber said he stands for integrity, transparency, competency and common sense. Weber was not announcing his candidacy, quite the contrary. It became clear why he chose to address from the public speakers dias; he was speaking as a private citizen. “This is what I stand for…(competency, common sense, integrity and transparency)” and shared his frustration, his long-standing plea for transparency to the public were being ignored. “Since January 2023, I’ve been asking for the posting of Harbor business on the public website.” Weber asked for month-to-month profit and loss reports, the disclosure of a balance sheet on the website and the disclosure of CCHD cash flow. To no avail… Weber’s requests have frustratingly not been addressed, until now! Thomas Zickgraf is Harbor Comptroller and the person responsible in keeping Weber and his colleagues well- informed; this responsibility falls upon his shoulders. Zickgraf responded by expressing his appreciation of Commissioner Weber’s commitment to transparency, “ I regret Commissioner Weber chose to raise his concerns through an act of political theatre rather than discussing them with me. I look forward to continuing to work closely and collaboratively with Commissioner Weber to ensure his and the community’s concerns are addressed. (As of April 3) The Harbor District has updated its website and is working to improve it as a community resource. The Harbor District has recently expanded the financial reports available which can be found at ccharbor.com/district-transparency.”
Weber underscored his ability to keep constituents advised and make intelligent well-informed decisions was severely compromised due to this lack of information. Apparently this “public shaming” worked. After Tuesday’s meeting, much of Weber’s requests, Tuesday suddenly appeared on the Harbor website, Wednesday. Coincidence? Maybe, but, alas, Commissioner Weber was partially satisfied.
Stone was also prepared to look at his colleagues eye to eye. First, he moved the dais a few feet away from Harbor president Harry Adams. Apparently, Stone was adhering to some kind of order To be no closer than 10’ from Adams. There was no record of a court order of physical separation on record.
Stone spoke about the debt the Harbor has found itself mired in and he was not shy on passing along some sobering cash flow issues. He shared these concerns with the public. Here are Stone’s revelations:
• Fashion Blacksmith, including buyout of the remainder of Lease: $4,520 000 with a yearly payment of $531,000
• USDA Loan for Tsunami damage $5,200,000 with a yearly payment of $262,000. The total Harbor debt is $9.720 million with an annual debt service of $793,000.
• Cash flow reveals unpaid debt payments total approximately $766,000 per annum.
• Stone states employee wages total about $83,000 monthly with cash on hand as of 4/1 totaling just under $61,000.
• Even with the $1.4 million proceeds of the Dutra law suit forthcoming, the (negative) CCHD cash flow monthly is over $78,000.
Stone contends the financial crisis will culminate in just under five months.
The Harbor meets again Tuesday. April 16 at 2pm at 101 Citizens Dock Rd.
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