The Issue:

Last May, the San Francisco Rec and Park Dept (RPD) proposed  a "PAY TO PLAY ON PUBLIC COURTS" recommendation under the guise of discouraging “no-shows”. The vote moved to the Board of Supervisors for a final decision. Because many members of the community showed up to protest and strong opposing arguments were made, the B.O.S voted the proposal down, keeping public reservable pickleball and tennis courts free to use for the public. Once again, RPD is proposing reservation fees to address the city's budget shortfall and they are confident that this time it will pass.

Why It Matters:

Rec and Park is setting an unjustifiable precedent of monetizing our public courts. This proposal represents the first time RPD has recommended taxing an individual sport. Once RPD has opened the door, court fees can be increased at any time, making our sport unaffordable to many SF residents.

Under this proposal, any reservable court will incur a per-hour fee, regardless of whether a net is supplied. Many Pickleball courts currently lack nets, meaning the public will be charged for incomplete courts. Furthermore, players will be charged 50% of the fee even if they cancel in advance. There will be no exceptions for circumstances such as bad weather.

Action:

Your engagement is critical in shaping the future of public court usage.

Please show your opposition to the RPD proposal by:

·   Signing the petition

·   Sending an email opposing the fees to BOTH:

1. recpark.commission@sfgov.org - (copy your Supervisor and the following Supervisors on the Budget and Appropriations Committee)

• Walton Shamann (BOS) shamann.walton@sfgov.org
• Connie Chan (BOS)  chanstaff@sfgov.org 
• Matt Dorsey (BOS) matt.dorsey@sfgov.org
• Rafael Mandelman (BOS) rafael.mandelman@sfgov.org
• Engardio Joel (BOS) joel.engardio@sfgov.org

    2. The Mayor - daniel.lurie@sfgov.org

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Sample Email:

Subject: Keep Public Pickleball and Tennis Courts Free

Body:

Dear [SUPERVISOR/MAYOR/RPD Commission],

I am strongly opposed to paying a reservation fee to use public courts.

This is simply an attempt by RPD to tax individual sport participants for an activity we already pay for via our property and income taxes.

Please vote no to monetizing public courts.

Best,

[YOUR NAME]