Dana Point Harbor: What’s next?

DANA POINT — Dana Point Harbor was rocked last month by the retirement of its director and the recent publication of a report by the Orange County Auditor-Controller revealing a hotel discount program was widely taken advantage of by city and county employees, raising questions of institutional control. The audit report and director retirement were the latest events surrounding a heavily-scrutinized county-operated harbor revitalization project, which has been in play since 1997 and cost taxpayers $20 million but with no work to show for the time or money spent. The audit report’s findings raise several questions. Were there other programs city and/or county employees overused or failed to properly report? What will the county auditor’s impending reports reveal? More specifically what is the connection between discounted rooms at a county-owned hotel and the Dana Point Harbor Revitalization Project? Former Harbor Director Brad Gross, one-time harbor employee Paul Lawrence and recently convicted county contractor Brian Cleveland Dunn have already been implicated by the county auditor’s report. Lawrence, once an operations manager at Dana Point Harbor, approved requests for employee discounts at Dana Point Marina Inn, according to the county auditor’s report. Lawrence is now the lead manager at Oceanside Harbor. Dunn was a county...