Wellington’s Parks & Recreation Advisory Board ranked tennis pro Jeff Bingo first in its recommendation for a new Wellington Tennis Center operations and maintenance contract last week after hearing presentations from current provider Tommy Cheatham, Tennis Exclusive, Bingo and Plantation Pro Shops.
At its March 9 meeting, the committee narrowed the list of six presenters to four to conduct presentations and interviews with on March 28.
The tennis center is costing the village more than $100,000 a year, according to committee members, and the ranking was weighted with preference to fee structure.
“It’s definitely what we’re being tasked with, and it’s weighted that way,” Committee Chair Samuel Falzone said.
Bingo, originally from Rochester, N.Y., moved with his family at age 11 to Boca Raton in 1976 and grew up at Boca West Country Club, where he learned to play.
“My dream was not to be a professional tennis player,” he said. “It was to be a coach and run my own country club.”
As a teen, he met tennis player Jim O’Brien, who taught him the game, and after college, Bingo took over as coach at Lynn University. Lynn’s team won a national championship in his second year, and he continued for nine years as manager of Woodfield Country Club in Boca. In 1988, he gained national recognition for an innovative teaching approach that had students coming back for more lessons.
In 1996, Bingo took over the tennis pro shop at Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach under Craig Perna, where he oversaw a complete redesign and management of the club in 2007.
Bingo said his philosophy is to get people excited to play tennis. He pointed out that in the requests for proposals, two of the companies, including his, are not asking for money to run the center.
Bingo noted that current provider Tommy Cheatham was his doubles partner 20 years ago, and that he had no intention of stepping on people’s toes, saying he would make money through sponsorships and other activities.
Bingo added that, at age 51, he planned to move to Wellington and remain there, and to lay out up to $100,000 of his own money, not intending to ask the village for any money for operations.
“I would make it very clear that my intentions are not to disrupt what’s going on right now,” Bingo said.
He noted that he has been involved with the U.S. Professional Tennis Association for years and has a good reputation among his peers. “I love what I do,” Bingo said. “The fact now that I have to be creative is even better for the Village of Wellington.”
The committee members gave scores based on qualifications and experience (up to 30 points), approach and methodology (up to 30 points) and fee structure (up to 40 points). The village also has a local preference policy of 5 points, which only Cheatham qualified for. The proposer with lowest ordinal score was ranked highest.
Committee Member Anthony Forgione gave Cheatham 30 points for qualification and experience, 25 for technical approach and methodology and 25 for fee structure for 80 points, plus 5 for local preference, for a total of 85. He gave Tennis Exclusive 15 for qualification and experience, 20 for technical approach and 25 for fees, for a total of 60. He gave Bingo 20 for qualifications, 20 for technical approach and 40 for fees, for a total of 80. He gave Plantation Pro Shop 30 for qualifications, 25 for technical approach and 30 for fees, for a total of 85.
Committee Member Richard Christmas gave Cheatham 23 for qualifications, 23 for approach and 33 for fees, plus 5 for local preference, for a total of 84. He gave Tennis Exclusive 26 for qualifications, 26 for technical approach and 36 for fees, for total of 88. He gave Bingo 30 for qualifications, 30 for approach and 40 for fees, for a total of 100. He gave Plantation Pro Shop 27 for qualifications, 27 for approach and 37 for fees, for a total of 91.
Committee Member Jeffrey Zipp gave Cheatham 25 for qualifications, 25 for technical approach and 30 for fees, plus 5, for a total of 85. He gave Tennis Exclusive 28 for qualifications, 27 for approach and 35 for fees, for a total of 90. He gave Bingo 29 for qualifications, 29 for approach and 37 for fees, for a total of 95. He gave Plantation Pro Shop 27 for qualifications, 28 for approach, and 36 for fees, for a total of 91.
Falzone gave Cheatham 25 for qualifications, 24 for approach and 28 for fees, plus 5 for local preference, for a total of 82. He gave Tennis Exclusive 24 for qualifications, 25 for technical approach and 40 for fees, for total of 89. He gave Bingo 28 for qualifications, 26 for technical approach, and 36 for fees, for a total of 90. He gave Plantation Pro Shop 28 for qualifications, 28 for technical approach and 30 for fees, for total of 86.
Committee Member Mike Pignato gave Cheatham 30 for qualifications, 25 for approach and 30 for fees, plus 5 for local preference, for a total of 90. He gave Tennis Exclusive 20 for qualifications, 20 for approach and 20 for fees, for a total of 60. He gave Bingo 30 for qualifications, 30 for approach and 40 for fees, for a total of 100. He gave Plantation Pro Shop 25 for qualifications, 30 for approach and 35 for fees, for a total of 90.
Committee Member Christopher Fleming gave Cheatham 30 for qualifications, 25 for approach and 35 for fees, plus 5 points for local preference, for a total of 95. He gave Tennis Exclusive 25 for qualifications, 23 for approach and 33 for fees, for a total of 81. He gave Bingo 29 for qualifications, 25 for approach and 38 for fees, for a total of 92. He gave Plantation Pro Shop 28 for qualifications, 25 for approach and 33 for fees, for a total of 86.
The final ranking, transferred into ordinal points, was Bingo 9, Plantation Pro Shop 13, Cheatham 16 and Tennis Exclusive 20. The committee’s recommendation of Bingo will now head to the Wellington Village Council for a final decision.
Though it was originally scheduled for April 26, Finance Director Ed De La Vega said he would try to get the recommendation on the council’s April 12 agenda.
