RE_ Tennis in Boulder 9_RedactedFrom:Thornton, Jonathan
To:Rhodes, Alison
Cc:Woulf, Mark; Huntley, Sarah
Subject:RE: Tennis in Boulder
Date:Thursday, May 16, 2024 10:47:49 AM
Attachments:image001.png
Thanks for sharing and letting me review. I made some minor edits, but what you’ve
written captures the status of the Court System Project, the context for how we’re taking
care of the entire BPR system, and has an empathetic, understanding tone. Good job.
I’ll add this to our “community response template” folder. Have you passed this along to
Mark, Tina and Charlotte? I can, if you’d like.
Jonathan
From: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 4:59 PM
To: Thornton, Jonathan <ThorntonJ@bouldercolorado.gov>
Cc: Woulf, Mark <WoulfM@bouldercolorado.gov>; Huntley, Sarah
<Huntleys@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: re: Tennis in Boulder
Jonathan,
Per the below thread, I've drafted the below update for City Council. I welcome your input and
thoughts on it by noon tomorrow, when I'd like to send to City Council in advance of their
meeting.
RMTC Council Info 051524.docx
Thank you!
From: Woulf, Mark <WoulfM@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 3:37 PM
To: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>; Huntley, Sarah
<Huntleys@bouldercolorado.gov>; Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <Rivera-
VandermydeN@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: RE: Tennis in Boulder
Hi all,
@Rhodes, Alison I agree with you that we should simply prepare a message that clarifies what we
have done, what is under our control, and what we are planning to do. I believe some of your
previous messages directly to these folks capture these sentiments. It would be great to be able to
have something ready to share with council so they have to be able to reference prior to public
comment tomorrow. Let me know if you need any help!
Mark
From: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 3:02 PM
To: Huntley, Sarah <Huntleys@bouldercolorado.gov>; Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <Rivera-
VandermydeN@bouldercolorado.gov>; Woulf, Mark <WoulfM@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: Re: Tennis in Boulder
I can ask. I am concerned that anything we write that doesn't include giving them land or a
partnership is going to feel like further lip service - I'm not sure there's a win for us here.
Instead we may just be best trying to correct the record to clarify what we have done and what
we plan to do.
From: Huntley, Sarah <Huntleys@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 2:01 PM
To: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>; Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <Rivera-
VandermydeN@bouldercolorado.gov>; Woulf, Mark <WoulfM@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: RE: Tennis in Boulder
I agree we could benefit from a consistent and thoughtful response. Ali, could Jonathan work
on something? I will note, however, that none of these emails are coming in through the
council correspondence form. They appear to be going to council members’ individual email
addresses, so we will need to develop a way to capture them and distribute the response ….
From: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 1:59 PM
To: Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <rivera-vandermyden@bouldercolorado.gov>; Huntley, Sarah
<Huntleys@bouldercolorado.gov>; Woulf, Mark <WoulfM@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: Re: Tennis in Boulder
Oh good - thank you for sharing.
Goodness, this is disheartening. I don't share their perspective on the chain of events,
however, I very much appreciate their concern about the change in their access to tennis this
winter. This email campaign is very specific to RMTC's pending loss. I had heard from
someone connected to this project that they were going to "rile folks up" in hopes to be able to
stay at CU South. CU allowing them to operate there has given them hope that they could stay.
From: Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <rivera-vandermyden@bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2024 1:40 PM
To: Rhodes, Alison <RhodesA@bouldercolorado.gov>; Huntley, Sarah
<Huntleys@bouldercolorado.gov>; Woulf, Mark <WoulfM@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: FW: Tennis in Boulder
And to my earlier email…
Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde
City Manager
(pronouns: she/her/ella) What's This?
O: 303-441-3090
riveravandermyden@bouldercolorado.gov
City Manager’s Office
1777 Broadway | Boulder, CO 80302
BoulderColorado.gov
From:
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2024 9:02 PM
To: Brockett, Aaron <BrockettA@bouldercolorado.gov>; Adams, Taishya
<adamst@bouldercolorado.gov>; Benjamin, Matthew <benjaminm@bouldercolorado.gov>;
Folkerts, Lauren <folkertsl@bouldercolorado.gov>; Marquis, Tina <marquist@bouldercolorado.gov>;
Schuchard, Ryan <schuchardr@bouldercolorado.gov>; Speer, Nicole
<speern@bouldercolorado.gov>; Wallach, Mark <wallachm@bouldercolorado.gov>; Winer, Tara
<winert@bouldercolorado.gov>; courts@bouldertennis.org; Rivera-Vandermyde, Nuria <rivera-
vandermyden@bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: Fwd: Tennis in Boulder
External Sender Notice This email was sent by an external sender.
Dear Mayor, City Council and City Manager,
I am a member of the tennis community. I am writing to plead for help and for you to
listen to what’s really going on. Boulder prides itself on equity and access, but now we're
becoming a country club town where only the privileged can participate.
For years, Parks and Rec has said it is on top of the collapse of the supply of tennis
courts. More than two dozen are going away. This will be the first winter in decades with
no publicly-accessible winter tennis. Seniors and families are left out in the cold.
Wheelchair tennis has no home. The tennis community in Boulder, filled with families,
children, parents and hardworking taxpayers, is being disenfranchised.
We have begged, pleaded and warned Parks and Rec. We've gotten lip service. Our
efforts to reach Parks and Rec go back many years. More than 18 months ago, on Nov.
11, 2022, Parks and Rec Director Ali Rhodes told the city council that she was in talks
with local partners to work on a solution. She said:
“I have had multiple meetings in the last six months, probably, with folks at RMTC, with
folks at Coburn Development, who are the developers at the Millennium, with folks at
the Boulder Tennis Association and the newly formed BOCO Pickleball Club. We have
told all of them we are interested in this conversation, that we would love to determine if
and how we should partner on a racquet facility in Boulder.”
That was 18 months ago. No action has taken place. AND that very month, the city got its
wish to annex the tennis courts at CU South, eliminating another 12 courts at the end of
this year. Added to the loss of 15 courts at RMTC, we are losing 27 courts in the span of a
year.
The answer of Parks and Rec? It says it will add a net of three new courts at East Boulder
Rec Center in the next few years, with NO winter courts. There is talk of plans at Valmont
Park more than 5 years from now. Talks, exploration, words, inaction. When community
members ask for action, they get crocodile tears and condescension that we don't
understand the process, or how long it takes. This is so unfair, even mean, given that
Parks and Rec has known for years this was coming. It has already been a long time!
Now, the crisis moment is here. There will be no publicly-available tennis next
winter. CU Women have no home. Wheelchair tennis has no home. Seniors and
families will not have the recreation for many, many years because Parks and Rec
and the City of Boulder decided not to act and continues to study and delay. Are we
to be the home where only the country club members participate in recreation?
We ask this: demand action from Parks and Rec. Do not accept empty promises as we
have now realized that’s what we’re being given. We no longer will accept these
promises. You have our full attention. It’s time to stop stringing us along.
Sincerely,
Sent from my iPhone