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They’re At It Again

Remember the persistence of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in The Terminator? Nothing could stop him from his mission to kill Sarah Connor. And it appears he’s just as motivated to kill the Department of Boating and Waterways, also known as Cal Boating. Last month legislators rejected a proposal to eliminate DBW and transfer all its functions to the tragically mismanaged Department of Parks and Recreation. It took the Governor all of three seconds to launch another attack, looking for blood.

"The Governor’s plan to give CPR to state government translates to distress signals for boaters," said Dave Breninger, president of Recreational Boaters of California, whose awareness campaigns and lobbying efforts have helped save DBW time and time again from pick-pocketing politicians. "The plan would scuttle Cal Boating, although it would not save the state any general fund dollars. Each side of this issue agrees that the proposed elimination of the independent Cal Boating would not save the state general fund a single dollar. It is up to us boaters to ensure that the proposal is recognized as a maneuver unrelated to the budget crisis."

As frustrating and time-consuming as it is to keep writing the same letter over and over again, we can’t stress enough how important it is for every California boater to tell those who will decide DBW’s fate how you feel about the issue. Though the names have changed, the same letter on RBOC’s Call to Arms page should be sent to the following members of the Budget Conference Committee:

Assemblymembers Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills), Bob Roger Niello (R-Sacramento) and Jim Nielsen (R-Biggs); and Senators Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego), Bob Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga), Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Hills).

Letters can also be sent to RBOC by email (be sure to include your name and address at the bottom) or fax at (916) 441-3520 — they’ll be hand delivered to the committee.

We can’t help but feel that Kyle Reese, in a surreal fit of prescience, was really talking to DBW instead of Sarah Connor when he uttered these lines from the film: "Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."

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