March 24, 2006

Braun v. BORever Mob Court Hearing April 18th

FRANK A. IWAMA, SBN 045377
67 Wessex Way
San Carlos, CA 94070
Tel. (650) 591-6200
Fax (650) 508-8689

Attorney for Plaintiffs
and Counter-Defendants

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

(San Francisco Division)

OSCAR BRAUN and ANDREA BRAUN,

Plaintiffs,

v.

GALE NORTON, in her official capacity as the SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; JOHN W. KEYS, in his official capacity as the COMMISSIONER OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION; MICHAEL R. FINNEGAN,  in his official capacity as the AREA MANAGER OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION; PEDRO “PETE” LUCERO, in his official capacity as the PARK MANAGER OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, and Does 1 through 10,

Defendants.
  
Case No.  C-05-3777 MJJ

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Defendant/Counter-Complainant

v.

OSCAR BRAUN and ANDREA BRAUN,

Plaintiff/Counter-Defendants.
  
DECLARATION OF OSCAR BRAUN IN OPPOSITION TO UNITED STATES’ APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF ASSISTANCE

I, OSCAR BRAUN, do hereby declare under penalty of perjury, that the following is true and correct to the best of my knowledge:

1.My wife, Andrea Braun, and I are the owners of mobile homes and personal property located at two permittee sites (Nos. 95 and 96) at Pleasure Cove Marina, Lake Berryessa.
At the time my wife and I signed site rental agreements for Pleasure Cove Marina (formerly Pleasure Cove Resort), we were assured by the concessionaire and BOR that, as permittees, we would have clear and safe access and cooperation to remove our mobile homes from the federal estate.
        
2.Within days after receiving notification of the court’s order granting partial summary judgment on February 8, 2006, I retained the services of Victor Smith, a certified mobile home hauler, Smith Mobile Home Services, Vallejo, California, to relocate and remove our mobile homes and personal property from our permittee sites at Pleasure Cove Marina in the effort to comply with the court order.
 
3.Shortly thereafter, Mr. Smith contacted me and reported that he had personally visited our permittee sites at Pleasure Cove Marina for the purpose of assessing the job assignment to relocate and remove our mobile homes and personal property.  Upon completion of his site inspection and assessment, Mr. Smith advised that the relocation and removal of our mobile homes required applications and permits from local and state agencies.  He further advised that the job could not be completed without other required permits to be procured by the Bureau of Reclamation (“BOR”), the owner of the federal estate, and badly needed repair of the deteriorated access road at Pleasure Cove Marina to safely relocate and remove our mobile homes.  In addition, overgrown trees and shrubs would need to be trimmed, cut or removed to provide adequate clearance to safely complete the assignment.
 
4.Mr. Smith subsequently advised Pedro Lucero, BOR Park Manger at Lake Berryessa, about his site inspection and assessment and the need for permits and the physical impediments at Pleasure Cove Marina that had to be addressed and resolved before the completion of the relocation and removal of our mobile homes.

5.On February 12, 2006, I telephoned Terry Sparkman, General Manager, Pleasure Cove Marina (the concessionaire at Pleasure Cove), to request access to the resort property for the purpose of discussing the relocation and removal of our mobile homes and personal property.  Mr. Sparkman’s staff took my telephone request and message.  Approximately an hour after leaving a message, I received a telephone call from Rjay Lloyd, in-house counsel for Forever Resorts, the owner of Pleasure Cove Marina.  Mr. Lloyd stated that we had until February 13, 2006 to remove our mobile homes and personal property from Pleasure Cove Marina.  He advised Mr. Sparkman would not meet with us, and that after February 13, 2006, we would be denied access to Pleasure Cove Marina.
 
6.After February 13, 2006, we have been denied access to Pleasure Cove Marina as dictated by Mr. Lloyd, the in-house counsel for the concessionaire.  Mr. Smith, our retained certified mobile home hauler, has not been provided with the clear and safe access to Pleasure Cove Marina to commence work required to relocate and remove our mobile homes.

7.As of this date, neither BOR nor the new concessionaire at Pleasure Cove Marina (Forever Resorts, Inc. d.b.a. Pleasure Cove Marina, LLC) has initiated any of the required redevelopment permits and activities mandated in the Environmental Compliance and Facility Assessment Report, Sec. 9.3 (Attached hereto as Attachment A), Pleasure Cove, 2002, and cited in BOR’s commissioned 2002 Kleinfelder, Inc. Report.  BOR’s failure to comply with applicable local, state and federal laws prevents the relocation and removal of our mobile homes, as well as posing a public health and safety risk at Pleasure Cove Marina and Lake Berryessa.
 
8.My wife and I are placed in the difficult position of wanting to timely comply with the court’s order but at the same time are restricted by BOR’s failure to comply with applicable law required to facilitate the relocation and removal of our mobile homes from Pleasure Cove Marina.  

Dated this 24th day of March, 2006.
By: /s/ Oscar Braun