Ahoy Peninsula Community,

I have withdrawn my candidacy for Port of Peninsula commissioner. I pledge my continued support to the a commissioner, the Port of Peninsula board and staff.

I fully support our port manager and board in their efforts to continually improve the operation of the facility. Having worked in the marina industry and as a life-long boating enthusiast, I know firsthand the complexities of running a public entity that is subjected to the varieties of weather, tide and current, let alone the wide variety and urgency of constituency needs. The costs associated with running a marina, especially one with a large commercial customer base, are exponential to a land-based operation.

I my opinion, our Port of Peninsula is running at a high level of efficiency and service. The innovations that the Port team have developed for new floating dock systems and dry dock vessel service provide many marina customers with essential infrastructure at a competitive cost. This is highly unusual for a facility located as remotely and as exposed to the elements as our port. These are just two examples of the many innovative systems they have recently developed. To be sure, there are operational and infrastructure challenges facing the administration, but I believe the team in place is doing the best they can to addresses these issues given time and budget.

I encourage everyone on the Long Beach Peninsula to visit the port, see for themselves the operation in action and become better aware of the valuable asset we all share.

STEVE KOVACH

Ocean Park