Florida Yacht Club Loses State Dockage Lease Because Of Discrimination Charges

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A yacht club sheltered in one of America's wealthiest communities was stripped of its state lease for dockage yesterday because of accusations it blackballed prospective minority members.

By a unanimous vote, Gov. Lawton Chiles and five Florida Cabinet members decided not to renew the state's lease with the Sailfish Club of Palm Beach. It was the first time Florida has punished a private club for discrimination charges.

The state routinely leases land to yacht clubs for dockage - but since 1987 has insisted that yacht clubs with the leases provide proof that they do not discriminate.

The most damning testimony came from a former Sailfish Club member, West Palm Beach attorney Robert Montgomery.

Montgomery said he and other club members nominated Jewish people for membership without success. He said Sailfish member Jack Flagg put out the word that "there wouldn't be any Jew ever in that . . . club."

The club says it has some Jewish members but no black members.

Arthur Teitelbaum, Southern states director of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, urged rejection of the lease because discrimination is "a cancer on the very idea of community."

Club attorney Richard Brightman released a written statement later that said club-member Flagg "asked me to announce that he emphatically denies ever telling . . . that there would never be a Jewish member of the Sailfish Club."

Brightman was the only person who testified in the club's favor.