I had a thought.:mix: It doesn't happen often and it usually gets me into trouble but here goes. What are your thoughts on a political association organized for the sole purpose of representing the rights of the people who enjoy Lake Havasu but have no voting rights. "UNITED WE STAND" type of thing.
Like many of us on these boards, I own a home in LHC and spend many weekends there. And like even more of us, along with spending weekends there, I spend a lot of my hard earned cash and contribute to the local economy. I care what happens there and have a vested interest in the decisions made by the Mayor and City Council. Even though I own a house there and pay property taxes, I live in Dana Point, CA and I do not have a vote or any kind of influence on the decisions of the local government.
I've been a participant in the Lake Havasu scene for over thirty years and still love the place. I've seen a lot of changes good and bad. But what I continue to see is the local government slowly taking away the privileges of boaters as an answer for their inability to do their job. First the answer was to shut down CC on holidays, then Sandbar. The latest is the restrictions on the channel. What's next, close the channel completely to boaters? Imagine 600 boats floating in Thomson Bay. But then they would shut that down too.
Just a thought. Please give me your thoughts.
Good idea BUT I think it has been brought up before and it is hard to get it started. If enough people got involved I believe we would see some positive changes or at least have a voice to be heard. I would join. It is easy to bitch about the city council and all the other laws that either directly, or indirectly affect us, but nothing will change unless we organize. I also own a home in Havasu and am concerned about the future of our lake.
Strength in numbers, let's make it happen somehow :idea:
I think an Organization like a Surfrider Foundation (I know totally different ideals) that was formed to protect the rights of boaters would be great. But, organizing such an organization would be a huge endeavor. Imagine the power of some lobbyists in the small time political arena. With enough backing, we could ensure that politicians that had the boaters interests in mind were elected.
Just a huge undertaking, that would require an attorney (big costs) to get off the drawing boards to become a reality.
Fantastic idea, I just don't know if it is feasible.
What ever happend to this group, seems that they are still making it work
http://www.ijsba.com/ijsba/index.cfm
There are many boaters that own companies (incl. Boat Mfg's) that are very wealthy, and probably wouldn't mind dumping some cash into a well planned and organized endeavor as what is being proposed.
I am guessing that guys like Gibson, Teague, Leach and such that benefit from us the consumer and who also boat on Havasu may be in a position to do something. I also heard that Steve Shugrue was furious over what happened the prior weekend as it dramatically effected his business and livelihood.
I think a lot of the local merchants in town would have an interest in supporting something like this to protect their businesses. Where we buy our gas, restaurants, where we buy our beer, etc. I think there are better ways of dealing with the problems and we (the ones who it effects most) need a voice in how the problems are solved. The way it stands now, we're at their mercy. We're forced to live with whatever decision they make without any consideration given to us whatsoever. So far all we've heard from the Mayor and City Council is close it down. If there is some interest, I'll voluinteer to investigate with an attorney how much effort it would take.
Good Idea and count me in!
I like it. Where do I sign up?
Should it be limited to Havasu?
Expanded to the Southwest maybe? To inlcude all of So Cal, AZ, Nevada and New Mexico ?
Or perhaps limited to the Colorado River to include Powell Mead and Mohave as well as the lower river down to Yuma?
Too big and organizing gets tougher, but too small and fundraising will be tougher...
Contact lakeracer on the boards. Art has looked into doing this before when the Lake Havsu Marina issue was at it's peak.
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