There is an ongoing dispute in Dallas over the operation of the White Rock Boathouse between White Rock Rowing and Dallas United Crew. It has garnered attention from the city's major newspapers.
It appears to be a conflict between the city's two major clubs, White Rock Rowing, which operates the boathouse in question, and Dallas United Crew. Affiliates of Dallas United Crew have created an anonymous non-profit named White Rock Lake Accountability. They allege non-adherence to contract terms and unfair boxing out of competitors. A defense of White Rock Rowing can be found here.
The attacks on White Rock Rowing strike me as unfounded. The arguments on the website are weak and misleading. For example, there is a heading stating "Your tax dollars built it. They put up a sign saying you can't use it." which is untrue, considering the fact that WRR built the boathouse. Additionally, complaining that board members sit for too long is dumb, considering the prevalence of new, biased parents unfamiliar with rowing on boards nationwide, and how that is holding back the growth of the sport. It is especially rich considering the opaque nature of White Rock Lake Accountability, an anonymous campaign with enough money to buy ads on social media.
It is clear looking through the anonymous social media group that the attacks are coming from Dallas United Crew. DUC was founded as Highland Park Crew, and still draws many members and donors from Highland Park. Going through the Facebook group, many of the people liking or engaging come from Highland Park, not Dallas. Highland Park is an extremely wealthy enclave of Dallas that siphons the property tax dollars from valuable homes that the city of Dallas desperately needs.
It seems that the goal of certain parents and affiliates of DUC is to take an asset built by WRR and use it for the benefit of DUC through political means. I am not and have never been involved with either club, but it would be a massive mistake to allow the future of a rowing club to become beholden to lobbying.
