Just as in 2008, Parks is once again creating a 5-year plan and soliciting public input. The final plan will inform budget allocations for things like pools.

Your participation is invited at upcoming meetings, or via email:  parkslegacy@seattle.gov.  Please do speak speak for pools.

Details from Parks are here. Excerpts: 

Public Meetings

Tuesday, May 7 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
GENERAL MEETING
Seattle Parks and Recreation Administration Building
100 Dexter Ave. N

Wednesday, May 8 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
SPORTS, RECREATION, AND AQUATICS
Green Lake Community Center
7201 E Green Lake Dr. N

Tuesday, May 21 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
GENERAL MEETING
Dakota Place Park Building
4304 SW Dakota St.                   [other meetings are listed here]

What is the Parks Legacy Plan?

Seattle Parks and Recreation is embarking on a planning process to develop a strategic direction for the future. Questions to be addressed include: 

• Are our resources deployed in the most effective manner?
• What is the public view of our park system?
• What are the basic services Parks provides?

The first phase of the plan is the development of shared Vision, Mission and Values statements.

The second phase of the plan is a programmatic review, telling the story of Parks and Recreation:

• What we do
• Who we serve
• How we are funded

…Phase three will be a look to the future that provides a framework for a sustainable parks and recreation system.

Background

In 2009, Parks and Recreation concluded a strategic planning process with the publication of the Strategic Action Plan, a five-year ‘to do’ list which provided direction for stewardship of the park system. Many of the Strategic Action Plan tasks have been accomplished, while others have been delayed due to the economic recession. Five working teams continue to work on implementation. The Parks Legacy Plan will be an update of the 2009 Plan, with a focus on data collection and analysis. The 2009 plan is available here.

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Looks like a public pool at the Building 2 site at Magnuson has dropped off the Seattle Park’s Department’s community wish list.  If you are interested in getting a pool back on the wish list, this would be a good workshop to attend.  From Parks:

Strategic Development Plan Workshop for Magnuson Park

Please join us, and make your voice heard in setting priorities for the future of Warren G. Magnuson Park and the Historic District

Sat, February 11th, 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
The Brig at Magnuson Park, Garden Room
6344 NE 74th St

Strategic Development Plan Materials:

» Strategic Development Plan Workshop
» Sand Point Status Report Aug 2011
» Blue Ribbon Committee Report – Draft
» Planning Framework – Summary
» Consensus Items
» Accomplishments
» Wish List

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The preliminary news looks good for swimming and wading in Seattle – no cuts.  But we can’t be complacent. The Mayor’s proposed 2012 budget is not the final deal.  The City Council invites your comments here. Your comments are used to hammer out the final budget.

Kathy Whitman, Aquatics Manager for the Seattle Parks Department, kindly summarized the impact of the Mayor’s proposed budget on swimmers:

"Our community centers took major cuts, but pools and beaches are not currently in line for any reductions for 2012.  The public comment phase has started and final decisions are made in November, but we are optimistic that we continue with our current funding.  Pools have been working hard to reduce expenses with investment in utility conservation. We raised fees for 2011 and still show an increase in attendance above 2010 levels, which is great.

Our next focus is on getting donations for swimming scholarships to make sure that we can serve low income families. "

For more information on donating for swimming scholarships, contact the Associated Recreation Council.

Particularly cool are Kathy’s words about Mounger Pool, the public outdoor pool in Magnolia.

"Our revenue projections for Mounger for this year show that we will be close to 100% recovery for both operations and maintenance."

Neat-o.  A public facility that almost completely covers its costs.  A great model for another, future outdoor pool in Seattle, eh? 

Last-but-not-least, here’s the City’s own summary of the impact of Mayor’s proposed budget:

“…the 2012 Proposed Budget maintains investments in public safety resources for downtown parks, maintains funding for all City-funded swimming pools, maintains lifeguards on all of the City’s public beaches, maintains 2011 funding levels for wading pools, and keeps all community centers open (the Rainier Beach Community Center and pool will reopen in 2013 following a closure for reconstruction).”

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Earlier this year, the Parks Department asked for your helping in funding wading pool hours in the face of city budget cuts.

Kathy Whitman, Aquatics Manager for the Seattle Parks Department, passes on her thanks to community members whose fund-raising efforts kept wading pools open this year.  For example:

"…the Madrona neighborhood stepped up to provide funding for Saturday operation in 2011; without that support this wading pool would have been closed. 

Average daily attendance was near 200.  The cost for one day is $550 which has about 1/3 for staff and supplies… and 2/3 for water and drainage. 

Thanks to this community for stepping up to meet the challenge. "

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MyGreenLake.com just ran an article that might interest many of you – Green Lake’s Evans Pool just one of many without scholarship money.

According to MyGreenLake.com, scholarship money for swim lessons has already been used up for 2011.  Seattle Parks already reduces its lesson fees for low-income families, but even these reduced fees can be impractical for families.  $19,000 of scholarship money has already been used this year to further lower fees and make swim lessons an option for low-income families.

Parks is putting out a call for donations to keep scholarship funds available. Kathy Whitman, Aquatics Manager for the Seattle Parks Department, provides information on how to donate: SwimScholarships.doc.

Image from MyGreenLake.com

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The Seattle Parks Department asked us to help advertise their solicitation of community funds and sponsorships to support wading pools:

Seattle Parks and Recreation, which has had to make substantial cutbacks in the operations of its 25 wading pools because of budget reductions, is seeking partners interested in helping increase access to the pools during the eight-week 2011 summer season.

… Parks would pair wading pools as a way to ensure that balanced and equal recreational opportunities across our city. Under this partnership, Parks would keep the wading pool open one additional day each week in the neighborhood from which the funds came, and Parks would select a second site that the contribution would fund as well.

Resources:

• Overview from Parks (.docx)
• Details from Parks, including costs (.docx)
• Contact us if you’d like to connect with community fund raisers – we’ll put you in touch.

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The Seattle Parks Foundation has put out a survey to gain insight into our Parks Department’s maintenance funding issues. 

If you take the survey, Survey Monkey gives you an automatic tally of the results to-date. Interesting to see strong support for new funding strategies.

The survey is available until March 20, 2011.

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If you’re just visiting an area, the worldwide Swimmer’s Guide is an excellent resource for locating pools that provide single-swim admission. 

However… if you’re looking for a more long-term relationship with a pool, you’ll quickly realize that the Swimmer’s Guide leaves out about half of the pools in Seattle. These additional pools may require a long-term membership or (sigh) 10 years of patience on a waitlist. Seattle’s public pools look likely to survive budget cuts this year, but swim times, locations and capacity are limited.

To help you locate pools of all varieties in Seattle, I put together a map using a free copy of Tableau Public. Caveats:

• If the map fails to render in Firefox, try Internet Explorer.
• The mapping tool had trouble with labels, but if you roll over any location, you’ll see the name of the pool.  The zoom (arrow pointer) also helps.
• The tool insisted on including a "Null" category of pools in the key – please ignore.

The size of any dot is roughly equivalent to the size of the pool.  I had accurate size information for the public pools (gallons of water), but had to estimate for most other pools using lanes/length/depth.  The big empty spot on the map is Beacon Hill.

If you have new/corrected data, I’d be happy to revise my spreadsheet and the map.  Just email.

The next thing on my wish-list:  Wouldn’t it be great to have a walkscore for pools?

Updated October 23, 2010 with 6 more pools.

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The Mayor’s proposed 2011-2012 budget substantially spares aquatics.  Your vocal support for pools over the past six months made a difference.  The City Council can still make changes to the budget, so letters to the Council are always good insurance.

Good news:

• No closures of pools or reductions in pool hours proposed.
• Rainier Beach pool will be replaced with a modern, multi-pool facility. During construction, RB will close for 2 years.
• Life guard hours at beaches will be maintained.

The Mayor’s budget summary forecasts unspecified fee increases (as suggested by many citizen comments), plus the following service cuts:

• Wading Pools: The 2010 mid-year budget reductions to Parks closed seven wading pools and reduced operating hours for 10, while five wading pools remained open seven days a week. The 2011-2012 Proposed Budget assumes the same operating capacity for 2011 as was offered in 2010. Wading pools at Green Lake, Lincoln, Magnuson, Van Asselt, and Volunteer Park will be open seven days a week in the summer months. Wading pools at South Park, East Queen Anne, Cal Anderson, Dahl, Delridge, Wallingford, Hiawatha, Bitter Lake, E.C. Hughes, and Sound View Parks will be open three days a week. Wading pools at Ravenna, Beacon Hill, Powell Barnett, Peppi’s Playground, View Ridge, Gilman, and Sandel Parks will remain closed in 2011.

All in all, pools survived these cuts quite well.  And our predictions for the cuts were pretty good.

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Nutshell:  The 2011 budget process is underway and your advocacy can help shelter pools from budget cuts.  The city says it needs to cut $67 million (including 9-15% of the Parks budget).  Yuck.  

Didn’t we just do this in June?:  Yes, but the June cuts were stop-gap, small-potatoes cuts. The big cuts start now. In city politics, visibility has a short shelf life.

Encouragement:  Insiders say that public voices strongly helped aquatics avoid larger budget cuts in June. You’ve already built a lot of goodwill with city leaders, so take heart. The 2011 budget looks significantly less scary for aquatics thanks to you.

What to do:  Either send personal stories to city leaders or speak at public forums. If pinched for time, just remind the Council/Mayor of your June comments.

Contact options:

• Write to  the Mayor using his online form.
• Write to the City Council using their online form or seattlecitycouncil.ideascale.com.
• Attend one of three public hearings:

Wednesday, September 29
Northgate Community Center Gym
10510 5th Ave NE, 98125
5 p.m. Sign-in, 5:30 p.m. Public Hearing
 
Wednesday, October 13
The Brockey Center at South Seattle Community College
6000 16th Avenue SW, 98106
5 p.m. Sign-in, 5:30 p.m. Public Hearing

Tuesday, October 26
Seattle City Hall, Council Chambers, 2nd floor
600 Fourth Avenue, 98104
5 p.m. Sign-in, 5:30 p.m. Public Hearing

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Until the Mayor releases his budget on September 27, the best we can do is guess at what his budget may hold for aquatics:

Fee increases - likely.

• Public comments earlier this year showed that you’re willing to pay a bit more to maintain services that you love.
• Swim lessons scholarships will continue to be available, but more fundraising may be needed as fees rise.

Retention of beach lifeguard hours – a good bet.

• Lifeguards at Seattle’s public beaches made a record 103 rescues this summer.  Public safety is hard to cut with numbers like that.
• Cuts have already been made in beach lifeguard hours in recent years.

Rainier Beach Pool replacement funds – likely, but vulnerable to cuts.

• Replacement was previously budgeted, so looks hopeful.  Final construction documents are expected imminently within Parks.
• If Rainier Beach pool closes for replacement for two years, operating dollars for the pool will not be needed.  Rainier Beach is our the most expensive pool to operate because of age.
• Construction plans include a lap pool with a diving board, a leisure pool with shallow areas for lessons, a sauna and a slide.  The slide is expected to be very popular with teenagers.
• The current Rainier Beach pool has more kids in swim lessons than any of our other pools. The new School of Fish program has been highly successful in drawing both parents and kids into lessons together.

Pool closures – unlikely, but on the table.

• Strong aquatics advocacy at mid-year has significantly reduced the likelihood of pool closures.  Good work, team!
• Facility closures are more likely than across-the-board cuts in hours.  Pool facility costs are relatively fixed, so simply cutting hours will not significantly reduce costs. 
• Which pool(s) might close?  There would be tradeoffs in costs, usage and revenue for each pool.  Hard to say which one the Mayor might pick. Helene Madison Pool has the lowest revenue, but it was recently resurfaced (cool!).

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Pub chain McMenamins buying Bothell school, pool

• As part of a land deal, a private entity will fix up the Northshore public pool in Bothell and provide public access.  This is major progress for the Northshore pool community – the pool had closed for lack of funding for repairs and operations.

Long Beach woman who lived frugal lifestyle leaves behind $4.5M

• As part of her will, a gal gave the city of LongBeach $3.5 million to build a public pool.  How unspeakably cool.  What a incredible contribution to public health!

Area’s aging public swimming pools running on empty 

• Deterioration of aging swimming facilities is a growing problem in the Puget Sound area, not just in Seattle.

Mayor’s mid-year budget cuts hit wading pools, new police hires

• Strong public advocacy for aquatics prevented much larger budget cuts for pools at mid-year.  Only wading pool hours were cut.

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Significant cuts are coming to the Seattle Parks Department budget this year and the outlook for pools is not pretty.  Users of all Parks facilities will need to speak loudly and clearly throughout the long budget process to minimize cuts.  

[Updated 5/5/2010] The April/May budget hearings are over now, so here are the best ways to provide feedback:

• Contact the City Budget Committee.
• Contact the City Council Members directly.
• Contact the Acting Parks Superintendent Christopher Williams.
• Send a letter: Mayor’s Office, Seattle City Hall 7th floor, 600 Fourth Avenue, P.O. Box 94749, Seattle, WA 98124-4749
• Call the Mayor’s office: (206) 684-4000
• Fill out the Mayor’s online form.

What are the stakes?

This afternoon, Superintendent Tim Gallagher told us:

You should be aware that the entire aquatics program is in danger of being eliminated.

At the very least, it looks like hours and programs are in danger of being cut across the Parks system, this year or next year.  Given the cost of running older facilities, pools are going to need strong advocacy to tread water.  Also worrisome is the vulnerability of funding set aside for the reconstruction of the Rainier Beach pool.  That piggy bank could get broken.

The West Seattle Blog and the Capital Hill Blog started warning about cuts to aquatics 1-2 months ago.  From the Superintendent’s comments, news clearly hasn’t gotten better as the departmental budget process has progressed.

Any more bad news?

The recent resignation of Superintendent Gallagher is a wake-up call for all of us Parks advocates and a sad loss for Seattle.  Superintendent Gallagher was a determined advocate for fixing exactly the issues most challenging to our pools.  He pushed the city to identifying long-term funding solutions for repairing and operating aging Parks facilities. 

Seattle’s pools were largely built 30 years ago, making them particularly vulnerable to the scantiness of long-term maintenance funding.  Older facilities are more expensive to maintain and operate, particularly when upgrade funding has not been available.  [As you know, pool fixes weren't included in the recent Parks levy, despite your concerted efforts.] 

Superintendent Gallagher addressed the systemic funding issues for Parks in the Seattle Times today:

Four voter-approved levies over the past 15 years have added millions to the capital budget. That money, Gallagher said, has helped create more than 40 new parks, fund extensive renovations and build new community-center space.

At the same time, he said, existing operations and maintenance dollars "can’t support it."

The way he sees it, the department is faced with two options: Get out of certain operations, such as running pools or community centers. (Gallagher said he doesn’t support that.) Or create a municipal-parks district that brings in its own tax revenue. Running a parks department through the city just isn’t sustainable, he says.

Any good news?

Evergreen pool in White Center is reopening on May 1, thanks to grass-roots efforts.  Swimmers returned to the pool for a "soft" reopening on April 19th.

[Update]

Additional information is appearing swiftly on a new Facebook group — Save the Seattle Public Swimming Pools.  Kathy Whitman (Director of Aquatics for Seattle Parks) just shared the following there:

Tim Gallagher was interviewed on King5 TV tonight and indicated that he expected to see 3 pools close, most of the wading pools, some beaches, 2 community centers, etc… He indicated that the first cut would be as early as June for $2.5M for Parks and Recreation.

The budget projection also indicates that there will be… a much bigger cut coming in January. His quote in the newspaper was "the media should be focusing on the upcoming collapse of a truly great Park system"…

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Mayor-Elect Mike McGinn helped Project Seattle Pools develop a strategic plan last summer.  Pool supporters now have an opportunity to help Mike’s transition team refine its own plan.  As demonstrated by the time Mike donated to our project, he is a big believer in empowering community members to bring positive change. 

Mike’s transition web site asks for community input on three questions:

1. How do we build the strongest possible team to achieve the policy objectives and values set forth by the campaign (grass roots community involvement, transparency and neighborhood focus)?
2. How do we build public trust in the new administration?
3. What do you view as the incoming administration and the city’s greatest challenge — what should the new administration do first out of the gate?

You can answer these questions on the city site, or in one of the two web forms provided by Mike’s support team.

• Great City’s Form.  Update: Comments only are open here now.
  • This group sent Mike to advise us as part of its Neighborhood Assistance Program.
• Renee Staton’s Form.  
  • Renee co-chairs the North District Council, which kindly provided a letter of support for pools.

Please note that comments will be compiled this Sunday evening (Nov 22nd).

You’ll also have the opportunity to provide input to the new administration at three upcoming town halls across the city:

• Northgate Community Center: Monday November 30th, 7 to 9pm
• Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center: Tuesday, Dec. 1, 7pm
• Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center at Rainier Beach HS: Wednesday, Dec. 2, 7 pm

Realistically, there is a lot on the new mayor’s plate.  But it never hurts to pass on your letters about pools to the new administration!

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Parks asked us to share this invite and two associated flyers:

Seattle Parks and Recreation invites the Rainier Beach community and swimmers to the third and final meeting for the new Rainier Beach Community Center and Pool. The meeting is Tuesday, November 17, 2009 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Rainier Beach Community Center located at 8825 Rainier Ave. S.

At this meeting, Parks staff, A•R•C Architects and Counsilman Hunsker aquatic designers will present the refined schematic designs for the project, answer community questions and ask for final community input.  The concept designs were developed with valuable input from citizens.  Parks hopes to have the same quality participation at this last meeting to finalize the original ideas and create a fabulous facility for the community and swimmers. 

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Parks just asked us to share its flyer and announcement for the second design meeting for the Rainier Beach Community Center and Pool replacement:

Please join in a concept design meeting for the new Rainier Beach Community Center & Pool on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Rainier Beach Community Center. 
 
This is a great opportunity to tell us what is important for you to have in your community and aquatic center. 
 
Please come and participate in shaping this facility. 
 
Best,
Karen O’Connor
Seattle Parks and Recreation
(206) 233-7929 fax: (206) 233-3949

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Tuesday, August 18th is the last day to mail in your primary election ballot.  You’ll be choosing candidates based on their positions on many issues, with pools just one of your considerations.

In honor of election day, we thought it might be helpful to daylight candidates’ positive efforts in support of public pools.

David Miller:  As part of the committee that shaped the 2008 Parks Levy, David tried to make it possible for aquatics planning to be eligible for funding through the levy’s "Opportunity Fund."  After the committee nixed the idea of funding pool planning or improvements directly, David contacted us with his "Opportunity Fund" idea and advocated for it on the committee.  Unfortunately, changes to the Opportunity Fund’s guidelines did not pass the full committee.  Project Seattle Pools appreciated his initiative and his advocacy.

Mike McGinn:  Mike spent a very long evening last summer helping Project Seattle Pools create a strategic plan to target our advocacy efforts.

Councilmember Richard Conlin: During the summer 2008 budget deliberations, we appreciated Councilmember Conlin’s support.  He would have supported funding aquatics planning in the 2009/10 budget if the appropriate green sheet had been brought to a vote.  Furthermore, Councilmember Conlin’s staff patiently provided guidance to Project Seattle Pools when we were learning how to navigate the opaque levy and budget processes.  Even though time was tight, his staff made time to help us understand how things worked.

Councilmember Nick Licata:  During the summer of 2008, Councilmember Licata would also have supported aquatics planning if the appropriate green sheet had been brought to a vote, and if the money had come from a particular budget.

Disclaimer:  This information does not imply an endorsement of any particular candidate.  Pools are just one of many pressing issues and you’ll choose candidates based on the issues most important to you.  

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The 2009 Summer Splashtacular at Meadowbrook Community Pool on Saturday August 8th was a great success. Over 94 swimmers enjoyed a free swim from 1:30-3:00pm.

Swimmers practiced their lifesaving techniques at the life guard stations and swam their hearts out in life jacket relays. The high-dive saw lots of action and the shallow end was bustling with family fun.   Giveaways included cloth grocery bags, rubber duckies, certificates for private swim lessons, and free passes to Meadowbrook swimming pool.

Thanks go to the Seattle Parks Department, which co-sponsored this event with Project Seattle Pools, and to QFC for the donation of cloth grocery bags.  Thanks also go to the many Project Seattle Pools volunteers who helped Parks organize and staff the event.

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In April, groups of pool supporters in both NE and SE Seattle submitted applications for neighborhood matching fund (NMF) grants.  These matching grants would have made it possible to begin the long planning process necessary for adding to and/or upgrading Seattle’s public pool facilities.

The reason given for both rejections was generic.  Both NE and SE teams received the standard rejection letter sent to all rejected applicants.  We are fairly confident that our grant was not rejected based on the merits of the argument or the quality of the proposals, but rather due to the political and economic climate. Thank you for your support of these proposals and your interest in accessible swimming for all. 

There is an opportunity to resubmit grant application every year, so pool supporters are welcome to use the materials we have prepared to submit future grants independently or in conjunction with Project Seattle Pools.  The materials submitted are available here.

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Upcoming events that may interest you:

• Tomorrow: Planning meeting for the Rainier Beach Pool replacement
  • Tuesday June 9, 2009. 6:30 – 8:30 at the Rainier Beach Community Center.
  • Organized by the Seattle Parks Department, which seeks to “learn about what is important in a community center and pool for this neighborhood.”  The Parks Dept is eager for community input. Details.
• August: Summer Splashtactulars
  • Saturday, August 8th at both Meadowbrook (1:30-3:00) and Rainier Beach Pools (time TBD). [Updated 6/8/09: Time corrected.]
  • FREE admission.  Lots of fun, pool games and prizes.  Info on water safety will be available too.
  • Events are sponsored by both Seattle Parks and Project Seattle Pools.
  • Email Christine@seattlepools.org if you would like to help with either event.

Other updates:

• NE and SE pool planning grant applications submitted
  • Kudos to Christine, Aimee, Yvette and Melanie for their tireless work in submitting Neighborhood Matching Fund Grant Applications.  Details.
  • We expect to be notified of the City’s decisions on these applications by mid-July.  If awarded the grant, work to hire an urban planning consultant would begin early fall.  Public Planning Meetings would be held during the winter/spring of 2009-2010.
• Pool closures looming
  • Many pools in our region are threatened by tight budgets and overdue maintenance.  We’re tracking the list of pools here.
  • In Seattle, supporters of the UW’s Hec Ed Pool seek your support in signing a petition to keep this pool open.

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