When tennis players return this week to South Olive Park, roughly six months after the courts were closed for a $2.5 million facelift, any celebration will be muted.
Those who have seen the revamped West Palm Beach center marveled at the shimmering blue and green surface that covers the once cracked and crumbling hard courts. The addition of three courts means recreational players are less likely to be turned away when the center’s competitive women’s doubles teams are practicing or lessons or other events are underway.
But, while the 12-court center at the south end of the city looks good, many claim its future doesn’t.
“Everyone is just so sad,” doubles player Chrisana Blanco said of proposed changes that she and her teammates fear could ruin the popular center. Recreational players, meanwhile, bristle at the likelihood that they will be forced to pay to play on courts that have long been free.
In a move that has rocked the city’s tennis world, West Palm Beach officials are planning to remove South Olive’s longtime tennis director Skip Jackson and turn the operations over to USTA Florida.
Mark Jones, the 20-plus-year director of the recently rebuilt Howard Park Tennis Center, would also be replaced by the Orlando-based arm of the national governing board of tennis. Once $14.8 million worth of improvements are finished at Gaines Park early next year, USTA Florida also would run the expanded eight-court tennis center there.
Since the move was announced on Nov. 17, supporters of Jackson and Jones have rallied to change the decision.
“It’s bullshit,” said Amber Grow, who plays competitively at both South Olive and Howard parks. “Here’s Skip and Mark who lobbied for years to get these courts in shape. Now that they are, they’re taking them away from them. It’s sad and unfair. And the way they did it is just so shady.”
More than 460 people have signed an online petition, urging the city to keep Jackson. Another 270 have signed a separate petition, demanding that Jones be allowed to keep his job.
Bid protest references sexual assault lawsuits
Not willing to throw his fate to public support, Jackson has filed a formal bid protest.
In the 10-page document, prepared by attorney Bernard Lebedeker, Jackson accuses USTA Florida and the city of various misdeeds that he claims skewed the selection process and hurt not just him but the four other bidders.
USTA Florida, for instance, failed to disclose two cases in which the USTA was sued after young players in Orlando and California accused coaches of sexual assault, Lebedeker wrote.
In its submission to the city, USTA Florida claimed it had “no pending lawsuit, and/or past litigation relevant to the subject matter of this solicitation.”
Records show a federal jury in Orlando in 2024 ordered the USTA to pay $9 million in damages to Arizona tennis player Kylie McKenzie, finding that she was sexually assaulted by a coach at the national USTA training center in Orlando, next to USTA Florida’s headquarters. The USTA is appealing the decision.
The other case involved Stevie Gould, a 9-year-old rising California tennis star, who also claimed he was abused by a coach at a USTA-affiliated club. Like McKenzie, Gould claimed the USTA allowed the coach to continue working long after allegations of abuse surfaced.
The suit was settled in 2021 for an undisclosed amount. The coach, Normandie Burgos, was separately sentenced to 255 years in prison after being found guilty of 60 counts of child molestation.
To further underscore what Lebedeker called a “culture of sexual misconduct” within USTA Florida, he said that its 29-year executive director was permanently banned from the USTA by the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Douglas Booth, who resigned his position in 2017, was sanctioned after the independent watchdog agency said he engaged in “egregious” forms of misconduct involving minors.
There is no evidence in state or federal court files that Booth was charged with a crime.
USTA says it can’t respond to allegations
Lebedeker said the pattern is disturbing and USTA Florida’s failure to divulge it should disqualify it from getting the contract to run the city’s three tennis centers.
“Settlement of civil lawsuits around cases of sexual assault and child molestation surely violates the city ethical standards,” Lebedeker wrote.
USTA Florida officials declined to comment on the allegations, saying they are prohibited from talking about anything to do with its bid until contract negotiations are complete.
“Due to the quiet period, we are not able to comment at this time,” Nishanth Prathab, communications director for USTA Florida, said in response to questions from Stet.
However, according to city documents, bidders are prohibited from talking to city staff and elected officials.
Another bidder, Palm Beach resident Cameron Lickle, who runs Let’s Play Tennis, also declined comment, saying only that he and his partners have also filed a bid protest.
The protests would first be reviewed by the city’s procurement officer. If either Jackson or Lickle don’t like the decision, they can appeal to the City Commission.
In the bid protest Lebedeker filed on behalf of Jackson, the attorney said it is likely USTA Florida officials will argue that the lawsuits involve their parent organization, not them.
But, he said, that would be disingenuous.
In its bid, USTA Florida repeatedly mentions its connection to the national organization, Lebedeker said. They share a campus in Orlando. The USTA provides money to the Florida operation.
“The connection with USTA Florida and USTA National is not hidden,” Lebedeker wrote of USTA Florida’s proposal. “In fact, it is embraced.”
Construction is underway at Gaines Park to resurface six old courts, add two more and build a clubhouse. (Photo: Jane Musgrave/Stet)
Free play may no longer be free
In addition to its failure to divulge the sexual assault cases, Lebedeker claims USTA Florida failed to follow other rules.
For instance, it didn’t name those who would run the three tennis centers so city staff would be assured that the facilities would be in good hands.
It also inflated how much money it — and therefore the city — would make on the contract, Lebedeker said.
Currently, like nearly all public hard courts in the county, people can use the ones at the three parks for free.
USTA Florida proposes charging $8 for city residents and $10 for nonresidents to use the courts — the same amount people now pay to use the seven high-maintenance clay courts at Howard Park.
Through fees for court time, lessons, clinics and leagues at the three parks along with annual permits at Howard Park, USTA Florida says it can raise $1 million annually.
Lebedeker said the estimate is inflated. In its bid, USTA Florida didn’t explain how it made its calculations.
How much does the city get?
Howard Park, the only center with clay courts, is also the lone one that charges for court time or offers annual passes.
Reopening in late February after its yearlong $2.5 million renovation, which included two hard courts and the addition of four pickleball courts, it collected about $32,000 in permit fees in the six months ending Sept. 1, city officials said.
Overall, Jones collected $71,104 in fiscal year 2023, the last year the center was open for a full year. This year, from February through August, he collected $52,330, city officials told bidders.
City officials said they have no idea how much Jones spends to run the center.
Jones shares 15% of the revenue he earns with the city and keeps the rest, according to city documents. The city also pays $1,700 monthly to maintain the clay courts at Howard Park.
Jackson, who pays 10 tennis pros, writes a monthly check to the city for $400 to rent the hard courts at South Olive and keeps the revenue he earns, city documents show. The city doesn’t pay a maintenance fee.
USTA Florida proposed a 90%-10% revenue split with the city. The city would also pay it $6,000 monthly, $72,000 annually, to maintain the three facilities.
If USTA Florida’s revenue estimates are off, Lebedeker said the city could end up losing money. If, for example, the facilities only bring in $700,000, the city will earn only $70,000 while paying out $72,000, he wrote.
Jackson, who submitted four bids — one to run all three facilities and three others to run each of the centers — offered more attractive terms, Lebedeker said. In one bid, Jackson offered an 85%-15% revenue split. In another, he asked for no maintenance payment from the city.
Evaluation panel’s uniformity raises skepticism
Lebedeker said more questions should have been asked by the five-member selection committee, which included Assistant City Manager Armando Fana and Parks Director Leah Rockwell.
“Without understanding the revenue stream for (Howard Park) alone, the city couldn’t possibly make an informed decision about the viability of (USTA Florida’s) offer or the likelihood that they could meet or exceed their estimates,” he wrote.
He said Fana and two other committee members gave all six bidders nearly identical scores, suggesting that they worked together to assure USTA Florida would get the contract.
“Such uniformity in scoring is highly unusual and raises questions as to whether evaluators conducted independent assessments or whether scoring was influenced by factors outside of the proposals’ merits,” Lebedeker wrote.
City officials didn’t respond to questions about the allegations.
Rebuilding South Olive
Jackson said city staff told him to bid on all three centers. But, he said, he would have been happy to get the contract to continue to run South Olive.
“South Olive is my baby,” he said.
When he took it over in 2002, it was a wreck. A building that had been used for offices and a makeshift pro shop was falling down. Many of the courts were unplayable. It was more attractive to homeless people than tennis players.
Having grown up in West Palm Beach, Jackson said he remembered its glory days when people waited in line for courts.
“I went to the city and told them I wanted to take over. I told them I thought I could turn it around,” he said.
And, loyalists say, he did.
Grow, who played at South Olive in high school, remembers how shabby it looked when Jackson took over. “The place was in disrepair,” she said. “It was empty. It looked abandoned.”
Some 19 years later, she decided to pick up a tennis racket again. “I came back to this thriving community with a beautiful pro shop, junior programs, women’s teams and special events,” she said.
Jackson said the key was building support. “The community helped me develop it,” he said. “It’s not just me. It was the community.”
The rebuke from the city stings. “How is this happening?” he asked himself. “I guess it’s the old story, you get everything built, get everything all done and they hand it off to someone else.”
Howard Park no longer ‘a really ratty facility’
The history of Howard Park is similar. In the 1990s, director Mike Boone invested his own money to turn around the once grand center that had fallen into disrepair.
When Boone retired, Jones took over.
Those who play at Howard Park laud the unpretentious West Palm Beach native who they said works tirelessly to attract players and build tennis programs.
“I think the city should be rewarding a native son who has done so much to develop this program,” said Nancy Kinnally, who plays on one of the four competitive doubles teams Jones established. “He’s just given so much back to the community that raised him. We were all just heartbroken and crushed when we learned he did not win the bid and, frankly, perplexed.”
Juan Cunningham, who has played regularly at Howard Park for six years, voiced similar views.
“It’s a sad statement that someone who has put so much effort into helping the city would be left in a lurch,” Cunningham said. “Mark stood with them when they had a really ratty facility. Now, suddenly, the rug is being yanked from under him? Shame on the city and the Parks and Recreation Department for treating people this way.”
Susan Kirkpatrick, who has played at Howard Park for more than 30 years, said Jones has done a phenomenal job under difficult circumstances. He works nonstop and needs help, she said.
She said she has been told that USTA does a good job managing tennis centers and is sensitive to the unique needs of each facility.
“I don’t want Mark to lose his job,” she said. “Maybe when USTA takes over, Mark could work with them.”
In a statement, Jones said he won’t fight the city’s decision.
“While I am disappointed that I was not awarded the contract to continue managing Howard Park tennis, I will abide by the city’s decision, and I am open to working with USTA should that be an option they want to discuss,” he said.
Jackson, in contrast, said that’s not an option for him. “It’s not my vibe,” he said. “It’s not my thing. The community doesn’t want me to do that. I don’t want to work for someone. I want to be who I am.”
Mike Williams, a retired West Palm Beach firefighter who for years has run a tennis program at Gaines Park as a volunteer, said he sympathizes with Jones and Jackson. Both should be allowed to continue to build on their successes at South Olive and Howard parks.
New direction needed at Gaines Park
But, Williams said, the situation at Gaines Park is different. Under the decadeslong stewardship of the legendary Jimmie “Doc” Horne, it was once a magnet for Black tennis players, including Venus and Serena Williams. The tennis center is named after Horne.
But, after Horne’s death in 2008, the tennis program languished. It hasn’t had a tennis pro for years, Mike Williams said.
A member of the Gaines Park Tennis Association, Williams has tried to fill the gap, holding clinics for youngsters and adults. But, he said, more structure is needed.
For years, he said he tried to persuade city officials to ask the USTA to take over the facility. “I would love to see someone like the USTA provide a tennis pro there with tennis programs,” he said.
One of the national organization’s stated missions is building the sport by starting programs, particularly in urban areas. But, Williams said, it shouldn’t be allowed to take over established, successful programs.
He bristled at the idea that people would be charged to play on hard courts. “That’s malarkey. That’s crazy,” he said, adding that he fought against such fees more than 30 years ago.
Splitting the management of the three facilities simply makes sense, Williams said. Each facility is different, with different needs.
“My grandmother always told me, ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’” he said.
City points to bond financing
But, Cunningham and others said they suspect that was the city’s plan from the start.
City officials claimed they had to put all three management contracts out to bid because the improvements at the tennis centers were paid for with proceeds from a 2020 voter-approved bond issue.
Steps have to be taken to assure “a management contract does not result in private business use of property financed with governmental tax-exempt bonds,” according to IRS regulations. The complex rules don’t require that existing contracts be rebid. But, if contracts are flawed, the tax-exempt status of the bonds would be at risk.
City officials insisted that the contracts had to be rebid to satisfy federal regulations.
But, critics said, they suspect the goal was to hand management of the centers to USTA Florida.
“Maybe we’re all conspiracy theorists at this point,” Cunningham said. “But I know full well that when the city put out the (request for proposals) they had to have a good sense of what was going to happen before they went down this path.”
