Tennis Center Fans Say County’s Plan Is Out of Bounds

The landscape along Potrero Avenue in South El Monte is Southern California industrial at its most daunting: row after row of dark, windowless complexes, only a few of which deign to display even an identifying sign.

But tucked off to the west of the road, just before it curves to parallel the Pomona Freeway, is a cherished oasis. Not the stand of grass and trees, but the concrete beyond it, divided by nets and clean white lines, emitting the steady thwack of well-hit balls.

This is the Whittier Narrows Tennis Center, 16 busy concrete courts that host professional tournaments and neighborhood matches. On one court, the former head of Armenia’s state tennis program gives pointers to a spindly teenager. Across the way, four Montebello businessmen trot out for their regular doubles game. By the pro shop, 85-year-old Ray Lyons is holding court, comparing this so-called working man’s tennis center favorably to exclusive clubs in Greenwich, Conn., and Italy.

They are all here because of Horacio Tamborini, a garrulous Argentine emigre who breathed life into the center 15 years ago and has run it ever since. When Tamborini leased the center from the county it was covered with graffiti and virtually unused, his customers say. Now players fly in from Scandinavia to play tournaments on its impeccably kept courts.

But Tamborini’s 15-year lease is up and the county wants him out. After Tamborini failed to repay a debt to the county, parks officials put control of the center up for bid, and a proposal from another pair of concessionaires beat out Tamborini’s.

Horrified customers have grumbled darkly about a rigged bidding process, signed a petition by the hundreds and packed a community meeting earlier this month to protest the decision.

And Tamborini, whose license plate reads Tenista and whose home boasts a tennis racket-shaped swimming pool and ball-shaped Jacuzzi, is staring down the death of his dream.

“Where is the sensitivity?” he asks. “It’s not like I’m working out of the Riviera Country Club here. I built this place up from nothing.”

*

Tamborini’s love affair with tennis began 22 years ago, after he broke his ankle for the fifth time in a soccer game in Griffith Park.

Then a Realtor, he decided he needed a new sport. He took to tennis and found it a natural fit for his sociable nature. Soon he was organizing charity tennis tournaments, and his travels took him to the then-forlorn courts at Whittier Narrows.

The nets were torn. Weeds sprouted in cracks on the courts. Tamborini called a friend in the construction business two days before a tournament, and they spruced things up. The tournament was a roaring success. So was the next one.

The county asked Tamborini if he was interested in running the place. Tamborini initially kept his day job, running the center in the afternoons and evenings. Eventually it became a full-time job--with a 15-year lease.

Tamborini replaced the little booth at the courts with a full-fledged pro shop. He kept the courts clean. His affable manner attracted top players along with neighborhood types, bringing professional tournaments to South El Monte.

“He’s precious. There’s no one like him,” said Sharon Hawkins, a deputy probation officer from Azusa. If a player shows up solo, Tamborini finds him a partner, she said. If someone is short a racket, he lends him a $200 Prince from his shop.

“This is not La Jolla or Claremont,” added Bob Sparks, 66, of Los Angeles. “The players are here because he’s done one helluva job.”

But however good Tamborini was at building a tennis center, he wasn’t good enough at keeping his books. A 1996 county audit found he owed the government $199,000 in back payments and penalties, which Tamborini blames on his failure to keep receipts in the early years.

The county worked out a payment schedule, but Tamborini defaulted on the final $40,000 payment last year, saying that heavy rains ruined business. With his lease nearing its end, the county decided to put operation of the center out for bids.

*

Sheila Ortega, a spokeswoman for the county parks department, says Tamborini brought it on himself. “We really went out of our way to help him catch up with this,” she says.

Tamborini was one of two finalists in the new bidding. The others were business partners who run other tennis facilities in the San Gabriel Valley. In December the county told Tamborini his proposal was not as good as the competition’s. He would be out by March.

Bill Harvey, the head of the parks department’s contracting division, said the rival proposal was sharper than Tamborini’s and included innovations such as a day-care center.

Stunned, Tamborini began to clear out, canceling tournaments, slapping “30% off” signs on his merchandise. His customers, meanwhile, organized petitions and contacted the office of Supervisor Gloria Molina, who represents the area.

More than 100 packed a meeting with parks officials earlier this month, questioning the bid process. They contended that parks officials wanted Tamborini out because of the money he owed and, in evaluating his new proposal, failed to calculate all the court improvements he offered. Harvey said Tamborini’s proposal was not clear.

Tamborini received a last- minute stay until the county auditor-controller, at Molina’s request, examines whether the evaluation was fair.

His patrons fear that forcing Tamborini out will kill the center.

“The county’s going to get a real shock if they take it,” said Lyons, the 85-year-old who still plays on Tamborini’s courts. “People are going to leave by the hundreds. I guarantee that in a month you can shoot a cannon and not hit anyone--just like at any other county courts.”