# Jennette's Pier sticks it to you



## Jollymon (May 21, 2015)

I noticed on their website that there Summer Hours were shorten , Thinking it maybe a error I emailed them to see if someone made a mistake .
In the past they'd open up at 5am. from May till September and close at midnight , Now they will open up at 6am. from May till October .
Shaving off a hour of Prime Fishing Time / Setup Time for the Pin Rigging , I was told by another regular that fishes there that the State mandated that they save money .
That's understandable with any business to save money on costs , But you don't go Alienating your business's largest Consumer Group "FISHERMEN"
Their rates have crept up over the last couple of years , things that are broken stay that way for longer than needs to be , now you have to wait till prime bite time 
before you can setup . 

Make some calls , shoot off some emails , Let folks know what this is not acceptable , Yes I know it's only a hour, but cutting a hour of payroll from 2 or 3 seasonal staffers 
isn't the answer , all the lights are on anyway , all the water flows anyway , and if your a season pass holder you're not getting a fair shake ,"Pay More Get Less "


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## 1BadF350 (Jul 19, 2006)

Next rule change......"NO PIN RIGGING"


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Y'all get that pin rigging crap outa here, dead baits and bucktails only


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## Jollymon (May 21, 2015)

Well I've learned a lot today , To start with , The cut is due in large part to the lack of quality employment applications , Being a G1 status entry level job in a economy suppressed area , 
as the State see's it , That's what they use in a urban areas so they can get a start , But it would work on a Island on the coast , Sadly no there's not enough manpower to replace those that more on ,on a regular basis , Because you can't live in OBX on 10/11 dollars a hour .
So applicants see what the hours are for the pay , and say no thanks .
I looked at the employment list on the website , made me what to vomit , 
Because of the State that's how it has to be done ,
A fine case of Government screwing up what could be profitable , they really don't have any business being in the Pier or Wedding Business


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## sand flea (Oct 24, 1999)

Annoying, but they're in a no-win situation. If they want to pay people more to work those hours then they'll have to raise fees, which will tick everyone off. Or the state could subsidize pier operations with tax dollars, but no politician wants to leave themselves open to allegations that they're blowing money on wasteful government spending. Only way around it is to try to get the attention of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to make the point that this change in hours will somehow hurt local businesses because of decreased tourism or whatever.


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## Yallweh (Aug 6, 2017)

Jollymon said:


> Well I've learned a lot today , To start with , The cut is due in large part to the lack of quality employment applications


Definitely plausible, although I don't see any postings for Dept. of Cultural Resources in Dare County right now. I worked for the state for some years, hired a lot of entry-level clerks and such, and things definitely got thin when the unemployment rate went down. It isn't just a problem on the Outer Banks, either. I've seen some really wild job postings for state positions in Raleigh over the last year or so-jobs requiring master's degrees with starting pay at $35k. LOL, no, not gonna happen. But people don't want to pay the taxes to get the salaries up(ideally public sector salaries are slightly below market rate, maybe even a little higher for entry-level jobs), and you get what you pay for.


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## DaBig2na (Aug 7, 2011)

Maybe some of the "Invaders From the North" will want a part time job that has free fishing privileges will put in an application and get hired. I don't think the management of the pier uses enough venues to get the word out of openings. Much of the staff stands around doing nothing and gets paid for it. 

I have a difficult time understanding why it takes a minimum of three behind the counter collecting money from fishermen and tourists walking out. Another minimum of three working in the gift shop. A host of different "Managers" directing underlings. Not to mention a "Security" person who is also on premises.


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## rocket (Dec 1, 2008)

It's a nice pier and all but it should never have been built using tax dollars unless there was a plan to have it eventually pay for itself. If it's going to be an ongoing tax burden for the people of North Carolina then they should get what they can for it now and sell to a private party.


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## DaBig2na (Aug 7, 2011)

rocket said:


> It's a nice pier and all but it should never have been built using tax dollars unless there was a plan to have it eventually pay for itself. If it's going to be an ongoing tax burden for the people of North Carolina then they should get what they can for it now and sell to a private party.


It wasnt built with tax dollars from what I understand. I do know that NC (crooked) Senator Marc Basnight (deceased) was instrumental in its fruition.


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## rocket (Dec 1, 2008)

DaBig2na said:


> It wasnt built with tax dollars from what I understand. I do know that NC (crooked) Senator Marc Basnight (deceased) was instrumental in its fruition.


Maybe I assume too much but I figured if NC owns it then it must have been built using public funds. Did someone privately fund it and then give it to NC to maintain?


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## NCsurffisher (Jun 27, 2004)

DaBig2na said:


> It wasnt built with tax dollars from what I understand. I do know that NC (crooked) Senator Marc Basnight (deceased) was instrumental in its fruition.


Pretty sure it was publicly funded, but it probably should have been set up as a public-private partnership, although I think there was some concern about not competing directly with the privately owned and operated piers in the area. I support/ed the purchase because we just can't afford to lose any more piers. I'm happy for my tax money going toward fishing access!!

I've always wondered who fishes on Jennette's though. I like the ambiance of a ricketty old wooden pier myself!


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## Yallweh (Aug 6, 2017)

DaBig2na said:


> I don't think the management of the pier uses enough venues to get the word out of openings.


They have very little control over that. I used to scream at our HR department to advertise more widely, they just wouldn't do it. Once they bought into an online application platform/listing site, they quit doing advertising at all for most stuff. If you hire temps you have to go through a contractor and you have even less control.


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## Yallweh (Aug 6, 2017)

rocket said:


> Maybe I assume too much but I figured if NC owns it then it must have been built using public funds. Did someone privately fund it and then give it to NC to maintain?


No, it was built using public funds. Link to the law authorizing construction below. I think the Aquarium Society might have bought the land back when the old pier was destroyed. 

https://www4.ncleg.net/sessions/2009/bills/house/html/h628v4.html

I think I read a while back that the pier has operated at a loss for the last several years, but the deficit was covered by the NC Aquarium Society (a non-profit entity) out of their fund balance, rather than the state making up the difference via an appropriation.

Otherwise, I think it's pretty clear that the days of the privately owned piers are numbered, if folks want to continue to enjoy fishing piers they are going to have to be publicly owned.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

NCsurffisher said:


> Pretty sure it was publicly funded, but it probably should have been set up as a public-private partnership, although I think there was some concern about not competing directly with the privately owned and operated piers in the area. I support/ed the purchase because we just can't afford to lose any more piers. I'm happy for my tax money going toward fishing access!!
> 
> I've always wondered who fishes on Jennette's though. I like the ambiance of a ricketty old wooden pier myself!


It is a great pier for Big Drum, especially when big surf sea conditions prevent holding with 10-12 ounces on other OBX piers. We lost Kitty Hawk, and Jennettes has filled the void. There is a whole cadre of new Drum fishermen who have learned on Jennettes .....reality is that more Drum were caught on Jennettes this fall than all the other OBX piers combined.

It is a great pier for the ESA Championships. No other Pier would even allow the surfers on site, much less set up on the beach for a 3-4 day event.

It is also a great pier for families with children to enjoy, a lot of people unrelated to fishing come for a few hours and visit.

Nice having a security guard ride you and your gear out to the T in a State Owned Golf Cart, no other pier offers this service.

There are a lot of NC State Owned operations that are run on deficits, my preference is a nice pier to visit during drum season. 

Did not see any fisherman waiting for the gates to open this morning, must be the late morning opening hours or perhaps it was 28 degrees with a hard 15-20 MPH NW wind.

P3 Partnership would have $15 charge to park during the summer and they would fire the nice ladies in the gift shop and get rid of four Security Jobs, leaving a void in 6 OBX families income. Plus the woman who monitors the Pee Cams in Raleigh would lose her job too....


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