Country Club Divided by Discontent

Seven years ago, the members of the North Ranch Country Club bought the club for $25 million to keep the jewel of the exclusive neighborhood shining brightly in local hands.

Instead, the management, upkeep and related goings-on at the private haven for Westlake’s wealthy have become a point of contention for many country club members, some of whom worry that their jewel is beginning to lose its luster.

“It truly is one of the nicest places on the planet,” said Marc Zegar, who was recently elected to the club’s board of directors on promises of reform. “But we had a group of people who ran it into the ground.”

Other members take exception to such gloomy depictions, saying the family friendly club, while certainly in need of remodeling and better management, is more popular than ever and not nearly in as poor a state as critics believe.

“I think the people that are unhappy are definitely in the minority,” said Margaret Ellis, a member of the club’s tennis and general membership committees. “Most country clubs have an older membership. We have a lot of younger families here, and I think there is a lot of activity.

“What irritates me is that there are a lot of people who criticize the club instead of becoming active in it,” Ellis added. “There are efforts underway to make improvements to the facilities. I’m a great advocate of it.”

Whatever the case, recent events have North Ranch residents buzzing about the country club for reasons other than its tennis programs, ritzy social events and manicured greens.

* Two dozen of the country club’s waiters have filed a lawsuit contending they were cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in tips from 1993 to 1996--money that their attorney claims was going directly to the club’s restaurant manager and top administrators.

“Our contention is that they literally took 40% of the tips and kept it for themselves,” said Thousand Oaks attorney Richard Hamlish. “Half went to the dining room manager and half went to the club, for purposes that remain unknown.”

James Studer, the attorney defending the club in the case, said the lawsuit is groundless because the money in question did not come from voluntary tips but from a mandatory 15% service charge tacked on to every bill and not necessarily intended for waiters.

“We believe the lawsuit has no basis in fact or law,” Studer said. “We have asked the court to dismiss it [this month], and I believe it will be.”

* The country club’s former general manager, David A. N. Vansittart, was suddenly fired last year for reasons that remain unclear. Vansittart did not return several calls asking for comment on his dismissal.

His successor, Dan Rainey, is regarded by people on both sides of the club debate as a dramatic improvement. Rainey did not return phone calls asking for comment.

* The club decided several years ago to allow members to sell their equity memberships for less than their purchase price--which ranged from $42,000 to $60,000--under a sealed bid system. That led to a drastic devaluation.

Bernie Shapiro led the campaign to purchase the club from Prudential, the developer of North Ranch, in 1989 to prevent a Japanese group from acquiring it. Though he generally speaks in glowing terms of the club and its direction, he believes the decision not to control membership resale prices has backfired.

“That was a mistake, in my opinion,” said Shapiro, well-known in country club circles for founding El Caballero Country Club in the San Fernando Valley during the 1950s after encountering discrimination against Jews at other clubs. “The pricing got down in the low 20s at one point, and some members lost confidence in the club.”

Other members argue that the sealed bid system has worked well and is not nearly as controversial among members as critics have made it out to be. The going price for memberships is also said to be on the rebound, inching up to the original value.

Nevertheless, the current North Ranch Country Club board is considering abolishing the sealed bid system, something other recent boards had opted not to do.

* To make improvements that club members want--such as fixing a leaky roof, upgrading subpar locker rooms and adding a new fitness center--the board of directors is considering assessing members several thousand dollars apiece.

That does not sit well with some members, who argue they already pay enough in the form of dues, locker room fees and food assessments--which easily add up to more than $5,000 a year. Other members disagree with the way some recent improvements were done, such as building a men’s lounge without a vote of the membership, and remain skeptical.

“The general feeling of the people is we want a nice golf course, fine dining and a place to socialize and drink,” said one member, who asked not to be identified. “That’s all the people want. That shouldn’t take more money from us.”

But some members believe an assessment is the only realistic way to improve the aging club.

“To remain one of the top clubs in the area, we’re going to have to upgrade,” said Mel Rabinowitz, a 13-year member and former tennis committee chairman. “Things get shopworn over time. I think most people would agree with the fact that an assessment is required. The question is how much.”

The North Ranch Country Club was built in the 1970s as the centerpiece of Prudential’s upscale North Ranch development, where the median home value topped $500,000 in the 1990 census.

The club is primarily a collection of three picturesque nine-hole golf courses called the Valley, Oaks and Lakes. The Valley and Oaks courses were built in 1976, while the Lakes was added in 1988.

By the late 1980s, however, Prudential had sold nearly all its real estate holdings in North Ranch and was no longer interested in running a country club in the community, now home to about 6,000 people. It put the club on the market, and a Japanese group responded with a sizable offer.

Concerned that their neighborhood country club was about to become an exclusive hangout for Japanese businessmen and tourists, Shapiro and a group of local homeowners intervened, threatening a class-action suit.

Prudential listened, Shapiro said, and agreed to sell residents the course for $25 million. To raise the money, the group sold memberships to 400 people at $42,000 apiece, then to another 100 at $50,000 and the remainder at $60,000. There are currently about 560 members out of a possible 600 full memberships.

The club also offers less costly social and tennis memberships, and its 12 tennis courts are home to a lively tennis community.

In recent years, the decision to open the tennis facilities to the public for lessons and occasional tournaments has been the subject of controversy among some members of the club, who complain of overcrowding.

Rabinowitz, the former tennis committee chairman, said that is nonsense, considering the club only has 212 tennis members out of a possible 360.

At North Ranch, he said, there will always be dissatisfied members, minor scandals and differences of opinion--just like any other country club.

“If you get 560 members--all of them fairly wealthy, many with a personal agenda--and bring them all together, you can never get them to agree,” he said. “Right now, the good outweighs the bad, as far as I’m concerned. I think it’s a happier group now than it’s been in awhile.”