Bias Denied : Club Photo Shows Female Member in ’31

In a letter to Avalon officials, the president of the Tuna Club, an all-male sportfishing club on Santa Catalina Island, maintains that the club does not discriminate against women and that it has had at least two female members.

The letter from club President Jim Martin is the third in a series sparked by the City Council’s request in December that the club submit a statement that it does not prohibit women from becoming members. The statement is needed to ensure that the club is not violating the terms of its lease of city-owned tidelands property, City Atty. Michael Jenkins said.

As proof of its having had women members, Martin has submitted a copy of the club’s 1931 catch record and copies of two photographs showing a woman identified as Mrs. Lloyd Hillman, mother of current member Bob Hillman. The photographs show her with marlin she caught as a club member in 1931 and 1932.

Hillman was one of two women members in the club’s 90 years, Martin said in the letter, which was sent earlier this month. He said he did not release the name of the second woman because he had been unable to notify her family.

Martin’s letter said that “no qualified application for membership has been rejected based on sex” and that the club “does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin in its membership policies and practices.”

Decision by May

City Manager Chuck Prince said the city attorney will make a final decision by May whether the club’s letters satisfy the city’s request for a statement that the club has not discriminated.

“On the surface,” Prince said, “it appears to provide the necessary assurance.”

But City Councilwoman Irene Strobel, who initiated the city’s inquiry into the club’s membership rules in October, said she is not satisfied with the club’s response.

“Why don’t they say who the members are now?” Strobel asked. “Why are they saying who the members were in the 1930s? Times have changed.”

Martin, who researched club records, was unable to say whether any other women have ever been members of the club. “I didn’t go through every yearbook,” he said. The club now has about 150 members, he said, all of them men.

Martin defended the club’s membership policies and its historical significance in relation to the sport of fishing. Among past Tuna Club members were novelist Zane Grey and honorary member Winston Churchill, he said.

“The club doesn’t have a lot of money,” Martin said. “A lot of people think we’re a bunch of eccentric rich people, but we’re just people who like to fish.”

Club officials said the Tuna Club is “not at all similar” to other private, all-male social clubs that have been accused of discriminating against women and minorities.

By contrast, Martin said, the Tuna Club’s members use club facilities--including a bar, kitchen, upstairs bedrooms and a dock for mooring boats--most often during summer fishing excursions. The club does not serve regular meals, he said.

“It’s not a big-city club where people discuss business deals over lunch,” Martin said.

Renegotiating Lease

The club pays the city $4,800 a year to rent the oceanfront property. Its current 10-year lease expires in December, 1989, but the club has an option to renew the lease for another 10 years, Martin said. The renewal option calls for annual rents of $6,000 from 1990 through 1994, and $7,200 from 1995 through 1999.

Strobel raised the issue of possible sex discrimination in October, when the club approached the City Council about renegotiating the lease.

Strobel, who has visited the club twice in her role as a council member, said she initiated the city’s inquiry after learning that the club has an outside entrance to the womens’ restroom and that club policy required women to enter by side or back doors. During Strobel’s visits to the club, she said, she insisted on entering by the front door.

Because the club’s lease is “below market rate,” the city is investigating whether to increase the rent, Prince said. Average rents of a two-bedroom condo in Avalon range from $800 to $1,100 a month, he said.

“If we had the option, I believe we’d be real interested in talking to them about terms and conditions,” Prince said. “It is not unusual for municipalities to lease land at a below-market rate. It just has to clearly find that there’s some public purpose for doing that. If we’re going to continue (the lease) at a below-market rate, I want to state what the public benefit is.”

In letters to the city and in interviews, club members have emphasized the organization’s environmental and philanthropic roles.

In one letter, club officials said their main purpose “is promoting the recreational, environmental and sport aspects of salt-water angling, together with a deep concern for the conservation of our ocean resources. . . . Each new member must be dedicated to these principles and have a background consistent with these objectives. Except for these practices, the club does not have any policy of discrimination.”

The club also contributes to the Avalon hospital and donates money to Avalon students and to local charities, club officials said.

Annual Dues

Prospective members must be nominated for associate membership by a current member, club officials said. To advance to active membership, an associate member must catch a fish exceeding a certain weight, depending on the kind of fish.

Annual club dues are $325 for members aged 30 and under and $650 for members 31 and over, officials said.

Most club members live on the mainland but a few have recreational homes on the island.