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Double Standards & Double Talk

Following accident, Lake Norman explores boat rental ordinance

March 14, 2012 
   After an accident left a woman with serious injuries following a day on the water with an inexperienced boat operator last summer, the Lake Norman Marine Commission accelerated its action to create an ordinance regulating boat rentals on the North Carolina lake.

The commission had previously discussed an ordinance to ensure rented boats are operated safely, but it was boat rental operators who brought it to the forefront and spurred it into action, said Ron Shoultz, chairman of the committee.

The commission formed a committee of both rental operators and law enforcement that will have three months to create proposed rules for rental boat companies.

“We are really trying to get people that are familiar with the industry and get their feedback,” Shoultz said. “We are not going to make up rules or regulations that boat operations will say, ‘What are you doing?’ We want it to be self-policing.”

Brian MacArthur, owner of Saltshaker Marine, which rents powerboats on Lake Norman, attended a recent meeting by the commission and said he is in favor of the ordinance – as long as it is within reason.

“I am all for regulation of safety on the water and do not approve of boat rentals that jeopardize anyone’s safety. I know my company does follow the proper procedures,” said MacArthur, whose company uses a safety checklist that covers operating and safety procedures with the operator.

Following last year’s boating accident, Shoultz said boat rental companies, many of which use processes similar to those at Saltshaker Marine, received unfair criticism from the media. The ordinance is aimed to ensure all boat rental companies are mandating safety to the best of their abilities.

“You can have the best boater and instructor in the world, and [tragedy] can still happen,” he said. “We are not going to say, ‘to rent a boat you have to take this nine-hour class.’ The bottom line is to improve safety and ensure a standard that all boat rental companies would adhere to.”

Since 2008, boat rental companies in the state of Washington have adhered to a process similar to what has been discussed for Lake Norman.

Washington is gradually transitioning to an ordinance that mandates boater education for boat owners, which is already in effect for boaters under the age of 40.

However, rental companies are only mandated to use a dockside checklist that takes approximately 10 minutes to walk through with the operator.

Jim French, boating education specialist for Washington State Parks, said requiring boater education for the rental community would deter tourists and customers who spontaneously decide to rent a boat. Therefore, the checklist ensures an understanding while taking a reasonable amount of time, according to French.

Similar to at Lake Norman, French said Washington depends on its law enforcement to ensure the checklist is preventing dangerous boaters from hitting the water.

“The local law enforcement that patrols the waterways notice a novice behind that boat, they can tell us the rental checklist needs a few items added on,” French said.

Our view from the helm:

The story opened with “After an accident left a woman with serious injuries following a day on the water with an inexperienced boat operator….”

The simple fact of this story is that the only fault that can be assigned to the boat operator is that he failed to control the actions of his passengers. The woman that was injured chose to jump out of the boat while the engine was still running and the driver was attempting to position the boat in order to tie up to other boats out on the lake.

If they are going to have an ordinance that is worth more than the paper its printed on they need to have something with some teeth like mandatory boat safety education for all boaters including those who rent boats. A dockside checklist is not sufficient to ensure that a renter has been adequately instructed as to the proper use of the boat. They should also tie any penalties or fines directly to the boat operators drivers license.

The double standard is that you can't rent a car without a valid driver's license but you can rent a boat or PWC that can do in excess of 50mph without anything more than a credit card.

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Get Off My Beach!

Englewood woman guilty in turtle tampering case

Manasota Key property owner Juanita Schultz is clashing with the Charlotte County Sheriff's office to keep trespassers off of what she claims is a private beach. Schultz says the sheriff's office is neglecting their duty to enforce the law. ( Photo/ Matt Houston )

Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 4:27 p.m.

PUNTA GORDA – An Englewood woman known for zealously defending her stretch of beach from visitors was found guilty Tuesday of damaging an endangered loggerhead sea turtle nest.

A Charlotte County circuit court jury convicted Juanita Schultz, 75, of wounding a species protected by the endangered species act, a third-degree felony that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 30. Schultz has no prior felony convictions and is unlikely to receive a prison sentence, said Martina Hedvicek, the assistant state attorney who prosecuted the case. Schultz most likely faces fines and probation, Hedvicek said.

Loggerhead sea turtles are considered at risk for extinction and are protected by state and federal endangered species laws.

The prosecution hinged largely on the testimony of a neighbor who reported seeing Schultz damaging the nest.

“It was important that citizens stepped up to protect sea turtles,” said Gary Morse, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Sea turtles belong to everyone and they're an important resource of the state.”

It is unclear whether Schultz will appeal. She could not be reached at her home phone and her Fort Myers attorney, Andrew Banyai, said he did not feel comfortable allowing her to talk to reporters before sentencing.

The case dates back to June 2010, during a period of heightened concern over sea turtles as oil from the Deepwater Horizon blowout slicked the Gulf of Mexico.

A loggerhead crawled onto Schultz's beachfront property and dug a nest that was later marked by stakes and tape by volunteers, state officials reported. State laws allow permitted volunteers to mark nests on private property as a way to protect the fragile eggs from foot traffic.

Schultz reportedly removed the stakes and, according to a neighbor who testified against her, also kicked sand over the nest and placed a lawn chair on top of it.

Schultz and her tenant, Mary Cammarano-Richards, were both arrested for tampering with the nest. Cammarano-Richards entered into a plea deal with the state, avoiding trial.

At the time, Schultz contended that her neighbor called wildlife officials out of spite because they had sparred over trespassing issues.

Schultz is staunchly protective of her beachfront, citing a deed that says her property line ends at the water, not the high-tide line. She has frequently called police to boot unwitting beachgoers from lounging on her stretch of strand.

Jurors heard the case on Monday and part of Tuesday, reaching a verdict in less than three hours.

The case is rare. Hedvicek said she was not familiar with another similar case involving sea turtles in Charlotte County within the past five years.

“Most private property owners are excellent stewards of our wildlife, so it's not all that common where we have a private property owner disturbing sea turtle nests,” Morse said.

EARLIER…

Juanita Schultz, the woman notorious for running people off her beachfront property in Englewood, was found guilty in Charlotte County circuit court Tuesday of harming a sea turtle nest two years ago.

The felony conviction by a jury could bring up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, although the sentence is not likely to be that severe.

Martina Hedvicek, the assistant state attorney who prosecuted the case in Charlotte County circuit court, said Schultz would likely get probation. That could include community service requirements and fines.

In June of 2010, Schultz removed the stakes and tape that volunteers used to mark off a sea turtle nest on her property. Volunteers are licensed by the state to mark nests on private land.

It is illegal to tamper with sea turtle nests because they are a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Our View from the Helm: Some people are just plain mean and bitter and we wonder what would ever make a person turn out this way and do things like Juanita Schultz has done.

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Department Of Common Sense?

State threatens suit against boat hobbyists

Posted: Feb 08, 2012 6:27 PM EST  Posted by Nancy Amons

MURFREESBORO, TN (WSMV) -The Tennessee Department of Revenue is threatening court action against a Murfreesboro man who built a small wooden boat in his garage with his 7-year-old son. 

The state says that makes him a boat dealer and subject to paying extra taxes.

The boat is 14 feet long and made of wood. The family ordered the plans over the Internet because 7-year-old Carter loves to fish with his dad.

But when the Kings registered their boat and paid the boat registration fees, the nightmare started.

Letters from the Tennessee Department of Revenue say that because the Kings are boat dealers and manufacturers, they have to pay $539 dollars in taxes on the boat.

Johnathan King thought there was a mistake, so he called the auditor assigned to his case.

“I explained to them that this is just a wooden craft built in the garage, and they indicated that they knew that that was what this was,” King says.

Revenue didn't back down from insisting they were dealers, and warned the family the state could get injunctions or even pursue misdemeanor charges if they didn't pay the taxes.  

“If we don't, they could file liens and levies against the craft,” King says.

“To say it politely, I think it's quite silly,” he says.

How could something you build in your own garage for your own use make you a dealer?

We asked the Department of Revenue for an interview. They said  they couldn't discuss the cases of individual taxpayers, and said that no one was available to speak about the issue, even in general terms.

Johnathan King says there's no way he's a dealer; this boat is intended to be a family heirloom that will be passed to his son's children. 

“It'll never be for sale,” he says. “He would be very upset, yes.”

Our view from the helm: We all know how this story will end. The  Tennessee Department of Revenue will back down from their ridiculous position and the King family will not face any legal action from the state.

   What we always wonder about with stories like this is what government nimrod thought that they would actually get away with trying to enforce a law that is clearly intended for situations other than a family building their own boat from a mail order kit and using it for their own personal enjoyment? 

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Sticker Shocked!

Senator seeks sticker system for boat inspections

Posted on 07 February 2012

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., recently asked the Coast Guard to meet with marine trade groups, boating safety advocates and local law enforcement officials to discuss the implementation of an official inspection sticker system that would better coordinate boater patrols on the Hudson River so boaters are not repeatedly stopped.

Creating a sticker system that all levels of law enforcement recognize has the support of the boating community, and several Hudson Valley law enforcement agencies have expressed a willingness to participate, Schumer said.

He noted that not only will the use of a widely recognized inspection sticker minimize hassle for boaters, but it also would free up law enforcement officials and allow their positive influence to be spread more widely throughout the community.

“With spring boating season fast approaching, it is time to jump-start an official boat inspection sticker program, which will help prevent repeated boat stoppages on the Hudson River, which are as annoying as they are inefficient,” Schumer said in a statement. ”I am urging the Coast Guard to take the lead on this important initiative by coordinating a meeting with state and local authorities, as well as boater trade and advocacy groups, so that this coordinated inspection program can get off the ground.”

Rather than screen one boat six times, we need to develop a program to screen six boats once, he added.

Schumer is urging the Coast Guard to meet with stakeholders this month.

Last summer, he sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert Papp after a series of media reports documented concerns about a lack of coordination among federal agencies that resulted in recreational boaters being stopped multiple times by different agencies on the same day.

Our view from the helm: To be blunt the placement of an inspection sticker on a vessel should not take the place of law enforcement. To us this would be no different than putting a Police Benevolant Association sticker on your car bumper and expect that it will give you immunity from being pulled over by the police. Part of living in a free society is that we have rules and regulations and in a post 9/11 world this is just something that we'll have to put up with.

   Instead of a sticker system it would seem to us that communication among the different law enforcement agencies patrolling the waterways would be a more logical place to start. If a vessel is pulled over and inspected a description of the vessel including the registration numbers could be broadcast to all patrolling agencies and barring that vessel or the people on it doing something hazardous, it could then be left alone.

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There Ought To Be A Law

Panel votes to make boat hit-and-run a felony

By Lee Davidson The Salt Lake Tribune  Feb 03 2012 03:53PM

After witnesses said boaters at Pineview Reservoir left a swimmer to bleed to death after they struck her last summer, lawmakers advanced a bill Friday to make leaving the scene of a boating accident clearly illegal.

The House Transportation Committee voted unanimously Friday to pass HB92 and send it to the full House. It requires people who have “reason to believe” they have been in a boating accident to remain at the scene. It makes it a felony to flee the scene when someone is killed, and a misdemeanor in other cases.

Its sponsor, Rep. Richard Greenwood, R-Roy, said it comes in response to an Aug. 21 incident where Esther Fujimoto, 49, a University of Utah researcher, died after being struck by a boat on Pineview Reservoir.

A witness told deputies that men in the boat yelled at the woman to see if she was all right — but then fled without offering aid. Her screams were heard by another passer-by, who rowed to her. As he called 911, he was unable to pull her into the boat, but held her head above the water.

Rescuers arrived and performed CPR, but Fujimoto — who suffered lacerations to her torso from the motorboat’s propeller — died before she reached shore.

Our view from the helm: It is truly sad that our government needs to pass legislation that makes “boat hit-and-run” a felony because of man's inhumanity to man, chilling indifference, or just outright selfishness.

 In short things like what happened to Esther Fujimoto should never happen to anyone, anywhere. Get it together people!