Marina del Rey : Nominee’s Residency at Issue

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has postponed action on the nomination of David Boran to the county Small Craft Harbor Commission while county lawyers study whether the Orange County resident can serve legally.

County regulations require that members of the commission, which advises the supervisors on management of publicly owned Marina del Rey, must be residents of Los Angeles County. Boran lives in Huntington Beach.

As an appointee of former Supervisor Pete Schabarum, Boran served on the commission for 17 years, including 10 years as its chairman, until he was replaced last summer by Supervisor Gloria Molina.

Eager to return to the commission, Boran was nominated by Supervisor Mike Antonovich to replace Beverly Hills real estate broker Mark Nathanson, who abruptly left the commission last month.

Nathanson, a member of the California Coastal Commission, is the subject of separate political corruption investigations by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and the U.S. attorney in Sacramento. Through his lawyer, Nathanson has denied any wrongdoing.

A vote on Boran’s appointment was postponed for at least a week Tuesday so the county counsel’s staff can research the residency issue. Antonovich spokesman Peter Whittingham said there may have been an “implied waiver” of the residency requirement because Boran previously served on the commission while an Orange County resident. If not, he said, Antonovich “obviously has to look elsewhere for an appointment.”