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Old 07-11-2014, 03:56 PM   #1
Spearforfun
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WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Several of you who have been on this board for a while will remember Tanc's post about getting a ticket for diving in the Vicente Bluffs area of PV. Tanc was brave enough to not simply pay the fine but to show up in court and fight the ticket. Although we have a strong case for access and indeed, the Coastal Commission and Department of Fish and Wildlife have guaranteed us access via the bluff trails in that area of PV, the City park rangers feel otherwise. The park rangers stated in court today that there is no access to the water in the Vicente Bluffs area. Tanc did a masterful and eloquent job of refuting this in court. He really did a great job of representing us and I am proud to have him as part of our community. Unfortunately, there was no jury and the "traffic court" court commissioner the case was assigned to did not want to deal with a non-traffic case. The court commissioner didn't even let Tanc call his own witnesses but summarily ruled guilty after Tanc's impassioned plea.

This obviously raises a significant issue for our community. The WA, through member clubs including the Fathomiers and the San Diego Freedivers had representatives working with Tanc along the way. Paul R. was kind enough to take time off of work to show up along with myself to testify on Tanc's behalf. We also built a significant record of access rights in PV including letters from the Coastal Commission warning the City of RPV that they cannot close the bluff trails. Several of you contributed thoughts and statements supporting the historic access rights of our community as well. I am proud to see the community rally around one of our brothers in standing up for our rights and I am likewise very proud of Tanc for standing on principal rather than meekly paying his fine and pleading guilty.

Next Steps:

Obviously, the continued erosion of our access rights cannot stand. The Watermen's Alliance will be having a discussion with several member clubs who are interested in the situation and will be working to rectify this issue. We want to make divers aware of the situation and the fact that they may be cited for diving in the Vicente Bluffs area if they use the cliff trails. I do not want to discourage you from access but want you to be aware of the potential consequences and encourage you to be prepared if you do choose to dive that area until we have this situation resolved.

After talking to the member clubs, the Watermen's Alliance will be reaching out to various Agencies and decision makers if appropriate and will be working to reverse this decision. At this point, we expect that the WA will help coordinate and participate in discussions with the City of Rancho Palos Verdes to explain the problem.

I encourage individuals who live in the area or who dive in the area to reach out to the RPV city council. Emails are provided here: http://www.palosverdes.com/rpv/citycouncil/index.cfm
Feel free to let them know how you feel in a polite but firm manner. We may also start a petition and ask for members of our community to join us at a Council meeting to speak up for our rights. We will keep you in the loop about our approach and plans after we have had a chance to discuss with our member clubs.

Bottom Line..... These issues are exactly what brought our community together in the first place to form the Watermen's Alliance. We will continue to fight to preserve our fishing rights individually and collectively. If you feel strongly about this issue, please thank Tanc for taking the time out of his (very) busy schedule to fight for our rights. He did an impressive job. Thank you also to all of those who contribute time and money to the Watermen's Alliance.
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Old 07-11-2014, 04:11 PM   #2
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Way to go man, thanks for the efforts.
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Old 07-11-2014, 04:19 PM   #3
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Thanks to everyone who has helped in the effort to keep access open. I'll be writing to the city counsel as soon as I'm off work....
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Old 07-11-2014, 07:24 PM   #4
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Personally I'd like to thank Justin, The Waterman's Alliance and Paul for providing me with such incredible support, it's really those guys who deserve all the credit.

Frankly I was surprised in the way it all went down, especially considering she didn't allow me to use our witnesses (who were both far more versed in the subject matter than I).

I think it's a cause worth fighting because it sets a nasty precedent. In essence what they're saying is if there's a fence or railing of any description or even if it is not clearly marked as a designated trail it is off limits. Period. From what I gathered (in the way the judge handled the case) the onus was not on the council to prove that the trail was off limits but on us to prove that it was designated.

The actor in me wishes I was allowed a second take but I doubt it would have altered the outcome.
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Old 07-11-2014, 08:20 PM   #5
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

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Originally Posted by aussie View Post

The actor in me wishes I was allowed a second take but I doubt it would have altered the outcome.

The judge had already determined your fate before you even arrived at court.
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Old 07-11-2014, 10:34 PM   #6
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Thank you to everyone involved... Unfortunate and sad to hear the results. Will be shooting off some e-mails here shortly
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Old 07-11-2014, 11:44 PM   #7
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Thanks for all your efforts, it is very much appreciated. I'll be sending an email and would like to be present if possible at the council meeting. We can't keep letting our coast get taken from us. Thanks again.
-Eric
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Old 07-12-2014, 12:45 AM   #8
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

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Originally Posted by norcalsurfer View Post
The judge had already determined your fate before you even arrived at court.
Personally, I do not feel this way. He had her at one point.....


The setup was pretty simple and straightforward; a typical traffic court session. When it was Tanc's turn, he started pretty well. (First time before a judge, he started out very well!) When he questioned the park ranger about a pertinent point, she answered his question, but then proceeded to dig and ramble on with a lot of information that in reality could have been disputed very well by Justin.
The ranger went on for a good bit, and when it was Tanc's turn to retort, he was a little flustered, and the reality was, we gave him about 9pounds of stuff to fit in a 5pound bag; he had trouble being able to re-direct the discourse because the ranger had filled the air with the smoke of nondescript verbal void filling. The judge had really had enough from that one session, and wanted this to be OVER. She simply stated witnesses and all this time spent is not the purvey of traffic court. (Which, while true, she should have offered him access to a higher court to hear the complaint.) In the end, Tanc had her until the rangers' second very long winded explanation of trails and designation, rather than sticking to legal access. She guided it away from that, and the judge drifted with her.

I was happy to be there with Tanc; I am certain as he looks back on this, as he stated- a second take would have been different. We always learn from our experiences, and Tanc learned a lot. (Thank you for standing up to the man...... er woman, as it were.) A whole lotta Rosy..............

It DOES give us a position to work forward from, so in this respect, its' a critical part of our complaint to the Coastal Commission now; much more than just a grievance. For this, I thank you very much for your willingness to head into the fray Tanc!
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Old 07-12-2014, 12:45 AM   #9
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

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Originally Posted by Lompoc Local View Post
Way to go man, thanks for the efforts.
x2 justin is an oak.
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Old 07-12-2014, 03:36 AM   #10
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Quote:
Originally Posted by aussie View Post
Personally I'd like to thank Justin, The Waterman's Alliance and Paul for providing me with such incredible support, it's really those guys who deserve all the credit.

Frankly I was surprised in the way it all went down, especially considering she didn't allow me to use our witnesses (who were both far more versed in the subject matter than I).

I think it's a cause worth fighting because it sets a nasty precedent. In essence what they're saying is if there's a fence or railing of any description or even if it is not clearly marked as a designated trail it is off limits. Period. From what I gathered (in the way the judge handled the case) the onus was not on the council to prove that the trail was off limits but on us to prove that it was designated.

The actor in me wishes I was allowed a second take but I doubt it would have altered the outcome.
The good news is that this decision in traffic court, while it sucks to lose no doubt, doesn't set any precedent. Nobody will ever hear of it again and if they did, it'd have no precedential value anyway. So I wouldn't stress about it beyond how lame paying a fine for a BS reason is.

The only way to get the Parks Agency to do something they don't want to do is to get the court to tell them they have to do it. This means filing a lawsuit in real court. I'm not an attorney yet or I'd help for free but I'm sure some guys on here are and would be willing to give their time to help the cause!
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Old 07-12-2014, 03:51 AM   #11
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Way to stand up man. Screw the sheep. They'll never understand....
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Old 07-12-2014, 09:59 AM   #12
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

terrible news

thanks for stepping up on our behalf guys. I'll email the city council (thanks for providing the link) and will be available to show at a meeting if you need the help.
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Old 07-13-2014, 01:25 AM   #13
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

you can send your opinion on this issue to the RPV mayor: jerry.duhovic@rpv.com....my complaint is enroute....
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Old 03-13-2019, 02:06 PM   #14
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

I've been out of the loop for a while. Has anything changed with this area it used to be one of my favorite spots
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Old 03-13-2019, 04:08 PM   #15
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Re: WA announcement- PV fishing rights and access

Appeal the decision/ruling. Simple.
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