WHAT:

L.A. County has made a little known or advertised decision to remove the East tennis court at Farnsworth Park, in Altadena, turning it into a "Pickleball ONLY" court.

The East court will no longer be shared with tennis players as it is currently. This is scheduled to take place in fiscal year 2021 which begins in July.

By signing this petition, raise your voice to our L.A. county officials regarding the secretive and "non-public" manner in which this decision took place, and ask for a meeting in which the Pickleball community AND the Tennis community can be heard and this can be discussed in a public forum.

THE LOW DOWN:

There was no public call for discussion or input, but rather a brief meeting was held where there was no input from our San Gabriel Valley tennis community and Altadena residents. The Pickleball players had the opportunity to advocate for a dedicated "Pickleball ONLY" court, and they did. The result was a decision made without anyone from the tennis community present to speak into the issue.

By signing this petition, we are objecting to the lack of communication and the one-sided input process that did not hear from the full public. Your voice was not heard. My voice was not heard. Let's alert our county officials regarding the process and lack of communication that resulted in the decision that we’re seeing evidence of.

WHAT WAS THE LACK OF PROCESS?

Tennis players know (as signage is clearly posted) that tennis courts are swept every day at 7 a.m. They know that courts are washed every Wednesday at 7 a.m. All these fairly mundane details are known and public knowledge, but there was never a public announcement or posted notice to let the tennis community know that removing 50% of the Farnsworth tennis courts was under consideration (removing one of the two tennis courts). Had we been notified, the tennis community could have spoken into this process and topic. Very few tennis players knew of this being in the works prior to the decision being made. Again,signs were never posted inviting input and consideration from our Altadena and San Gabriel Valley tennis community. The decision took place with the tennis community being not being a part of the decision making process.

WHAT WE AREN'T SAYING:

We are not against Pickleball.

Our tennis community is in support of the pickleball players. We collectively affirm and champion their need and this opportunity for L.A. County parks to do something for them. But, we would ask that it not be at the expense of the tennis community and the needs that are regularly exhibited for both courts to be available to the public.

BOTTOM LINE:

Make your voice heard today. By signing this petition, you communicate to the L.A. County officials that our tennis community wants to have input into this decision and public issue so that we can together find a solution for our thriving tennis family AND support and advocate for our Pickleball players as well.