Operators Not Docked for Marina Problems : Contracts: Despite history of poor maintenance of facility, private firm appears likely to win 30-year county lease renewal.

The private operators of Sunset Marina Park, who stand to win a 30-year renewal of their county lease without competitive bidding, have repeatedly been cited for substandard maintenance of the Huntington Harbour facility, records and interviews show.

Officials say that the litany of deficiencies found over the years at Sunset Marina are unique among the five county-owned harbors.

“It’s a sore thumb,” said Harbors, Beaches and Parks Commissioner Larry Luera. “It sticks out there.”

As recently as June, inspectors found problems at Sunset Marina that, according to county records, once again placed the operators at odds with the requirements of their lease with the county. Deficiencies found by county inspectors have included inoperable electrical outlets, overflowing barrels of waste oil, leaking restrooms and deteriorated docks.

Representatives of Goldrich & Kest Inc. of Culver City, which operates Sunset Marina Park, have recently attributed the recurring problems to a “communication” breakdown and have pledged to be more vigilant in coming years. Executives of the firm did not respond to telephone messages over the past week seeking further comment.

County government officials who want the lease renewal say it would bring the county a greater share of income from Sunset Marina Park. The officials also point to Goldrich & Kest’s efforts over the past two months to make repairs and to their pledges to perform better. The park consists of 99 acres of docks, lockers, parking lots and a handful of picnic tables.

The existing county lease requires Goldrich & Kest to operate the park “in a first-class manner and at least comparable to other first-class operations.” Goldrich & Kest has operated Sunset since its opening, in 1969.

And, despite the years-long maintenance problems, Goldrich & Kest--with the backing of Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder and other top county executives--could be close to winning a 30-year renewal of its county lease.

The chief deputy director of the County Environmental Management Agency and Jona Goldrich, the president of Goldrich & Kest, signed a letter of intent in June, agreeing to the basic terms of the new pact. And the county official, John W. Sibley, is continuing to recommend approval of the new lease deal.

The focus now is on the Harbors, Beaches and Parks Commission, which has been asked by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to review the new lease deal. The commission on Aug. 28 at first voted 4-2 not to endorse the proposal--but then on Sept. 25 voted unanimously to reconsider it. With two commissioners apparently solidly for the deal and two firmly against it, the outcome remains uncertain.

If the proposed pact wins the seven-member commission’s endorsement, it would then go to the Board of Supervisors for final consideration. All five county marinas--Sunset Marina, two at Dana Point and two at Newport Beach--are operated by separate firms that hold long-term county leases.

Wieder and Sibley say the proposed lease renewal at Sunset would be good for the county because it would boost the county’s share of income and would, within a few years, expand the marina’s boat storage capacity. Sibley has said those provisions amount to a “significant public benefit.” Unless such benefit is shown, Orange County requires its long-term leases to run until expiration, followed by competitive bidding.

The proposed renewal with Goldrich & Kest has also generated controversy because of a report by The Times in June that the firm from 1989 through mid-1990 employed Supervisor Wieder’s son, Lee E. Wieder, as its lobbyist in the lease negotiations. Supervisor Wieder, whose district encompasses Sunset Marina, has said that she has sought only the best deal for the county and fair treatment for Goldrich & Kest.

Now, some of those who oppose renewing the lease under the terms proposed--including Harbors, Beaches and Parks commissioners Luera and Sally A. White--say that Goldrich & Kest’s maintenance record, alone, should disqualify the firm. The firm’s lease to operate Sunset Marina would otherwise expire in 1999.

“I feel they’re poor tenants,” White, a member of the commission since 1980, said in an interview. “The way I feel about a poor tenant is, you get rid of them. . . . You don’t give them another 30-year lease.”

Said Luera, a commissioner since 1981: “I feel like at the next (commission) meeting, that we ought to cease negotiations completely with G & K.”

If the county decided to seek competitive bids in 1999, the existing lease could still give Goldrich & Kest the “first right of refusal” to re-lease. However, the agreement states that Goldrich & Kest’s eligibility would hinge on whether the county believed that the firm “fully and in good faith performed all the terms, covenants and conditions of this lease” from 1969-1999.

In an interview, Sibley said that despite the recurring maintenance problems, he is satisfied with Goldrich & Kest’s recent strides toward making necessary improvements and its executives’ pledges to do better. Sibley also said he believes that the new agreement would make it easier for the county to terminate its lease with Goldrich & Kest if there were further problems.

Supervisor Wieder, speaking through an aide, expressed a similar view. “She feels that the proposed agreement adequately addresses the issue of maintenance by G & K,” said Kathleen Campini, Wieder’s spokeswoman.

Sherman Gardner, a Goldrich & Kest executive, has acknowledged the maintenance deficiencies. Speaking at the last Harbors, Beaches and Parks Commission meeting, Gardner attributed the problems to a “communication” breakdown.

“We are not computers, we are human beings,” Gardner said. “. . . We have made mistakes--we acknowledge that. . . . I am involved now, and that facility is going to look like my home.”

A review of county records dating to 1983 shows the litany of maintenance problems at Sunset Marina. According to the records, Goldrich & Kest over the years has ultimately made the repairs demanded by the county in exchange for winning slip-rental increases, but county inspectors found that the problems recurred. For instance:

* Oct. 23, 1983. County Harbors, Beaches and Parks Director Robert G. Fisher urged Goldrich & Kest’s managing partner to pave the marina’s corroded parking lots and to repair electrical outlets, rub rails, inoperative gates and dilapidated restrooms.

“It is vitally important that the identified corrective actions be completed in an expeditious manner and that maintenance of the facility be upgraded to a level consistent with the level of public service called for in the lease,” Fisher wrote.

* Feb. 13, 1985. A county inspector informed Goldrich & Kest of the following findings: “parking lot resurfacing (needed) for boat repair yard; landscape refurbishment; replacement/repair of electrical outlets; replacement/repair of gate latches; general painting of dock surfaces; repair of restroom plumbing leaks and general lack of maintenance.”

* March 21, 1985. In a memo to the Harbors, Beaches and Parks Commission, a county executive officer, R. F. Wingard, recommended the immediate cancellation of a 9% increase in slip rental rates imposed by Goldrich & Kest. “The new slip rates do not reflect (the) expected level of public service required by the lease,” Wingard wrote.

* April 8, 1985. County Environmental Management Director Murray Storm informed Goldrich & Kest that he was rescinding the slip-rate increases because of the firm’s poor maintenance of Sunset Marina. “Your lease . . . and the terms therein are very clear as to the lessee’s responsibility to maintain a first-class marina,” Storm wrote.

* July 17, 1985. Wingard reported in a memo to the Harbors, Beaches and Parks Commission that “staff investigation indicates that maintenance and operation of the (Sunset) marina by lessee is not in compliance with terms of the lease. . . . Staff is of the opinion that adequate time has elapsed for repairs to be completed.”

* Sept. 10, 1985. The Board of Supervisors authorized a finding that Goldrich & Kest was in “default” of its lease-required maintenance obligation. A follow-up letter from county staff to Goldrich & Kest’s managing partner ordered the firm within 90 days to:

“Replace badly damaged sections” of docks; install wrought iron security gates; “replace badly alligatored asphalt” in the parking areas; replace “deteriorated or non-operating” electrical fixtures on docks; and begin regular landscaping and pruning of trees.

As of spring, 1986, Goldrich & Kest had taken remedial steps to satisfy the county.

* Oct. 29, 1985. Supervisor Wieder, in a letter to a slip holder, said, “I have felt for some time that the best way to persuade G & K Management decision makers to be more responsive was to constantly remind persons of authority in that organization of the degree of dissatisfaction among slip renters.”

* Jan. 20, 1987. Wingard said in a memo to the Harbors, Beaches and Parks Commission that Goldrich & Kest was granted a 20% increase in slip-rental rates in April, 1986, based on the firm’s contention that it needed the added income “to operate and maintain the marina in the condition required by the lease.” But, Wingard told the commissioners: “(The) maintenance program as directed by the Commission . . . in 1986 has not been successfully or adequately implemented. It is apparent that the marina has not been maintained in the condition desired and required by the lease.”

* Sept. 21, 1990. After touring Sunset Marina, a county inspector wrote to Goldrich & Kest: “Oil storage drums were full and overflowing at this visit. . . . Please correct deficiencies within 30 days.” Inspectors reported similar problems again the following December and January.

* March 18, 1991. Another inspection report provided this update: “Oil waste disposal containment area very messy. Overspill due to not sufficient pick-up schedule. Public leaves containers of waste oil at location creating a toxic water hazard.” Inspectors complained about the barrels again on June 17.

* June 27, 1991. Fisher, the county’s director of Harbors, Beaches and Parks, informed Goldrich & Kest that he would not approve the firm’s request for slip-rate increases until maintenance problems were rectified. “Despite numerous contacts among staff of Harbors, Beaches and Parks and G & K representatives,” Fisher wrote, “the premises still are not in a condition satisfactory to the County.”

Fisher said in a July 31, 1991, letter to Goldrich & Kest that, with the exception of the unpaved areas, the firm had made “excellent progress” toward repairing the other items. Yet critics, including the president of the Sunset Marina boat owners’ association, Edward N. Bynon, say that the firm’s long-term record should not be ignored.