If one thought that the most publicly contentious choice facing Alameda Recreation and Park Department's leadership was the number and size of pools at the new aquatic center, then skimming city emails about pickleball vs. tennis players will put that into context.

I won't summarize the 46 pages of email correspondence attached to Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer's referral on the Sept. 3 City Council agenda. Here's one snippet to convey the level of heat around this topic:

If any of you have witnessed or been part of the arguments
that have started with rogue Pickleball players attempting to
play pickleball at [Washington Park], you know that we are doing our
best to help our community by following the responsible
route. These rogue players are not part of the Alameda
Pickleball group we assisted for eight months last year. They
are making up their own rules, which has caused much
contention over the past two years, including two police
reports and an official military demotion due to abusive
behavior.

(That's written by the community group advocating for tennis players' access to courts that are also apparently being used too often by players of the competing paddle-based ball sport.)

I'm less interested in the specific topic of tennis vs. pickleball (which I have no real experience with or opinion about) and more interested in Councilmember Herrera Spencer's toolbox of tactics that are on display:

1. When she doesn't get the response she wants from staff, she files a Public Records Act request to see staff-to-staff emails.
2. When she doesn't get the response she wants from staff on a phone call, she then emails that staffer and insists on a written response.
3. When she doesn't like the written response from staff, she copies in the City Attorney.
4. When she's still not satisfied, she submits a referral with the entire set of correspondence right before the deadline for the next City Council agenda.

I'm writing this blog post with one part sense of respect for this elected official's skill, experience, and persistence and an equal part disagreement with how she applies those skills as an elected official.

Councilmember Herrera Spencer knows exactly where she wants to go and she goes there — but all too often that involves running roughshod over city staff in pursuit of narrowly specific goals.

I don't know anything about tennis courts and pickleball courts and so on — but I do know the city has a director tasked with leading ARPD, a Recreation and Parks commission, and almost 80,000 residents whose various priorities should all be heard and balanced through open public channels and processes.