Rowing nonprofit at the center of a fight over White Rock Lake's resources sues Dallas

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While the Dallas Park Board deliberates the future of its relationship with White Rock Boathouse, the nonprofit has sued the city, arguing that the renewal of its two contracts for ten-year terms is automatic and doesn't need city approval.

For the past seven years, the nonprofit has faced criticism for a lack of financial transparency from rowers and participating families, some of whom arrived at Thursday's Park Board meeting to urge the city to revisit its partnership and accused the organization of being unable to broaden the sport's reach to the broader Dallas populace.

The rowing outfit, established in 2003, has partnered with the city for two decades to provide youth rowing scholarships to students, making it accessible to disadvantaged children. It is also responsible for maintaining city facilities such as the White Rock Boathouse, which it built using private dollars worth $2.7 million, and has undertaken renovations on two other structures near the lake.

"(The renovation and construction) project was completed at no cost to the city. Through its operations, WRB has contributed an additional $500,000," the nonprofit told The Dallas Morning News. "Now, after accepting these benefits, the city is refusing to uphold its end of the bargain."

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City officials said only one contract -- a development agreement that allows the rowing organization to use the Filter Building as a multi-purpose event space and manage the Boathouse -- can be automatically renewed.

The other, an agreement to use the T&P Hill Boathouse or the "Boomerang" to store launch and safety boats for rowing coaches, can be renewed at the discretion of the park director and the Park Board.

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The provision that allows the nonprofit to automatically renew its own contract was unpopular Thursday with some Park Board members who questioned whether it benefited the city.

City officials recently asked for four years' worth of meeting minutes in an attempt to understand the management and operation of the leased city facilities. The nonprofit submitted redacted documents on Sept. 2 to protect confidential information, and park officials told The News on Tuesday they were still reviewing the minutes.

Growing scrutiny

Council member Paula Blackmon, whose district includes White Rock Lake, said she had been seeking information about rowing and sailing operators for months.

Last year, during a December parks and trails committee meeting, the District 9 council member asked park officials to review the city's contracts with the rowing and sailing clubs and come up with ways to raise more dollars and tamp down budgetary pressure.

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She complained that the City Council was not receiving memos related to projects such as the White Rock Lake master plan, erosion containment and Fair Park -- even though the Park Board does. "I've gone back and forth with your department on that, and I'm sorry, but we're still the governing body," Blackmon said last year.

Dallas United Crew and White Rock Rowing, affiliated with the nonprofit that's suing the city, are the two rowing outfits that call the lake home.

Dallas United Crew pays the city $6,200 annually and is expected to provide a minimum of $25,000 in scholarships through its needs-based scholarship program for various high and middle school students. It is also expected to host a minimum of four recruiting events in schools and conduct introductory rowing classes for youth and adults.

White Rock Rowing, on the other hand, leases and maintains three city-owned facilities at its own expense: the T&P Hill Boathouse that's used to store kayaks and canoes; the 26,500-square-foot White Rock Boathouse and the historic Filter Building. It's also expected to give a minimum of $25,000 in scholarships as well as conduct introductory classes for youth and adult rowers.

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As part of the agreement, Dallas receives 10% of the nonprofit's revenue from the Filter Building and the Boomerang. As of Sept. 2, the city collected just over $31,300 from the rowing clubs this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

"Is 10% normal?" asked District 14 Park Board member Rudy Karimi on Thursday, adding that most nonprofits in his district tend to give the city back 90% of their revenues. The provision of automatic renewals also gave him pause, he said.

Brett Wulke, a park official, said the percentage was low across all other nonprofit partners the city had and was part of the department's review of the viability of all contracts.

Chip Northup, one of the founding members of White Rock Boathouse, said the nonprofit should not be allowed to automatically renew its leases.

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"The plaintiff invokes the founders' intent and donations as the basis for their right to retain the leasehold," Northup emailed park officials Thursday. "As one of the co-founders, I donated $440,000 to the development of the T&P Hill Boathouse and the main boathouse. After I left the WRB board, they have consistently and willfully been in default of both leases -- and I have brought this to the [attention] of [the Park and Recreation Department] in writing on several occasions. Under no circumstances should the leases be renewed."

Increasing access

Much of the political football involving the two rowing clubs centers on the idea that White Rock Rowing, despite its subsidies and control of the city facilities, services fewer rowers compared to Dallas United Crew, which had nearly 400 rowers and was operating out of a tent as of December last year.

Also, White Rock Boathouse has long been in the city's crosshairs.

In 2019, the city conducted an audit that highlighted the nonprofit's lack of bookkeeping and the absence of a promised master plan to maintain and operate the Filter building, docks and sedimentation basins. All recommendations were adopted by the nonprofit, according to a recent follow-up audit.

For years, the nonprofit has also borne scrutiny from avid rowers and their families, said Ken Adams, a parent whose daughter was a member of White Rock Rowing club.

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Adams, who arrived Thursday to speak to the Park Board, told The News he had flagged aggressive behavior from a coach toward one of his daughters to the board, but his complaints were never taken seriously, and he wondered if the board had ever investigated them.

During Thursday's public meeting, Adams stated that there were numerous issues, including a lack of minority recruiting, inequities in male and female equipment, and a lack of board transparency regarding scholarship cancellations, as well as interference with collegiate recruiting by coaches.

In 2018, the nonprofit had also come under fire for the constant turnover in coaching staff, reported the White Rock Lake Weekly.

Tamber Johnson, another rower who's been critical of White Rock Rowing, said very little has changed in the last six years since the 2019 audit. "Coaching turnover remains high," she said. "Once the kids lose the coaches, they leave the program. The high school rowers count hovers between 30 and 50 youth."

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Another parent, Scott McLaughlin, also signed up to speak to the Park Board and corroborated Adams' testimony, saying the current rowing structure was untenable.

A certified public accountant, McLaughlin said his sons have rowed with the embattled rowing club, as well as the Dallas United Club more recently, and everyone understood that the boathouse, touted as the largest of its kind in the U.S., was a unique and valuable public asset.

"It should serve the youth and community of Dallas in the most equitable and impactful way possible that requires transparent oversight and accountable stewardship," he said. "Yet this is where the current arrangement appears to fall short. Specifically, there is a lack of financial transparency and a history of financial irregularities."

Breach of contract?

Park officials asked the rowing nonprofit to send the minutes of board meetings for the past five years on June 5, according to court documents. That same month, White Rock Boathouse submitted its renewal notice, expecting an automatic renewal per the contract.

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The city had two months to respond. However, since then, officials have gone back and forth over the release of the minutes. In July, the nonprofit emailed Jenkins and said, "WRB's corporate minutes were not suitable for public release due to confidential and business proprietary information contained therein," surmising the information in those minutes was unrelated to the management and operation of the city facilities.

In August, Wulke, who is now also overseeing Fair Park as the general manager, emailed Sue Chambers, president of White Rock Boathouse, to say the city would not renew the contracts until the minutes of the meetings were submitted.

This was days after Blackmon's former Park Board appointee, Maria Hasbany, announced she was stepping down due to her adversarial relationship with the council member, which stemmed from the back and forth surrounding the rowing clubs.

Ultimately, the nonprofit submitted the documents to the city on Sept. 2 with redactions. The city, according to the rowing organization's court filing, said it was OK with the nonprofit submitting redacted documents.

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A review of the redacted documents by The News showed the nonprofit removed financial information raised from specific fundraising events and the names of potential subcontractors or people outside of the board were removed.

In notes related to a November 17, 2021, meeting, the nonprofit redacted the amount of dollars it raised during the North Texas Giving Day. In a December 9, 2021, meeting, the nonprofit redacted information related to the purchase of additional boats.

Department officials are now seeking guidance from the Park Board on next steps. Board President Arun Agarwal, who spoke with The News before White Rock Boathouse sued the city, said he was looking to improve how liaisons oversaw the nonprofits they were tasked to work with.

"There's always room for improvement," he said.

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