P Hummer (Harbor Patrol Supervisor)
This past
August 2014 while still living in Idaho Falls, ID… I began packing limited
possessions as space allowed into my 28ft RV for my trip to Ventura, CA.
Planning to travel there with my 3 dogs to take part in the Ventura Comedy
Festival this past September…
Arriving in
late August and falling in love with life on the beach… The Comedy Festival
long since over… My dogs and I are still here… I’ve taken a part time security
job at a Ventura Harbor marina… We’ve made many new friends and been embraced
by a beach community of troubadours, musicians and misfits… Many different
people with different backgrounds and different stories all leading to a place
of common ground… The beach…
It’s an
idyllic life… ALMOST…
What leads
people to resent it??? To lash out against it??? I fall short of the words as I
also fall short of explaining their possible reasons why… Why some… Unhappy
with their own miserable existence would make false charges against people they
don’t even know… Troupadours, musician and misfits happily living their lives…
This could be discussed without answers for hours…
Experiencing
this personally Christmas Eve morning… I was “visited” by the Ventura Harbor
Patrol at approximately 930am, while legally parked on Spinnaker Road at the
Channel Islands National Park, in response to a “call” they allegedly received
that my dogs were running unattended, unsupervised and defecating… While I
allegedly ignored cleaning up after them…
While I have
no way of confirming the alleged call was actually received… I can confirm that
I was confronted by a Harbor Patrolman who had already decided the charges were
correct… Guns blazing and in my face… Threatening to kick me out of the park… I
quote… “We’ve kicked people out of here before… We can do it again”… Though I
was legally parked and no dog droppings were found in the area of question… I
was “just another dirt bag living in an RV at the beach”…
Let me now
take the time to set some things straight… Since your Harbor Patrolman
neglected to take the time to find anything out about me… His mind already made
up that I was a “just another dirt bag living in an RV at the beach”…
I am a 9yr
US Navy submarine veteran… I’ve walked on the Polar Ice Cap (It’s not melting,
btw), crossed the International dateline, swam at the equator in the Indian
Ocean and seen the Rock of Gibraltar while standing topside on a submarine
transiting into the Mediterranean Sea… I’ve transited the Panama Canal and
travelled all across the world…
After
serving I enjoyed a more than 20yr career as an operator at a nuclear reactor
plant in Upstate NY… They don’t give those jobs to “dirt bags”… Following my
career there… I enjoyed another 7 plus years on the road as a contractor at
nuclear power plants all across this country… Including the Idaho National
Laboratory… They don’t give those jobs to “dirt bags” either…
During my
working career I also served as a volunteer fireman… Serving one year as Company
President and another as Assistant Chief… “Dirt Bags” don’t do those jobs
either…
During my 7
year stretch as a contractor I also began pursuing my dream of performing
standup comedy and thus eventually arriving here for the Ventura Comedy
Festival as previously stated this past August…
I am now 58
years old… Having earned my right to take an early retirement… I am pursuing a
dream… Part of which is living and travelling in my RV with my 3 dogs… Being
unfairly judged about a choice I earned the right to make was/is NOT part of
that dream…
While I now
regret not committing his name to memory… What has the Harbor Patrolman in
question done in his life that gives him the right to unknowingly judge mine???
While I understand that he’s required to follow up on every call… I would
expect it to be done professionally… Not with his badge out in front of his
bigoted, prejudiced and judgmental attitude towards “just another dirt bag
living in an RV”…
While I also
completely understand his very possible lack of job satisfaction chasing down
dog turd complaints… Maybe he should have chosen a different career… His lack
of satisfaction gives him no right to drive around bothering people…
I understand
and hopefully I am correct that this individual represents only himself and not
your entire department… But while wearing the uniform and performing his duties…
He does represent your whole department…
For your
added information a copy of this email has also been sent to the Ventura County
Star and Ventura County Reporter…
Thank you
for your prompt attention to this matter… I would hope no one is ever to be
treated like this by anyone in your department again…
Sincerely,
Steve
Natarelli
xxx-xxx-xxx
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