During April and the first week of May 2008, the Parks Department will hold its second round of public meetings to solicit feedback on its strategic plan.  We expect to see a link to the draft plan on the Parks web site before April, but the draft has not yet been posted.

Please help us ensure that the Parks Department continues to hear steady, broad support for pools by attending one of the 2008 public meetings listed here:  Actions Needed

Thanks to all of you who attended public planning meetings during November/December last year.  Hints suggest that your voices were heard– congratulations! 

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We’ve had our ears to the wind to catch hints of whether the Parks Department heard our call for pools during the first round of strategic planning meetings in 2007.

Nothing concrete yet — the draft strategic plan still hasn’t been released — but we’ve seen one very good sign.  The Jan 10 Parks Board of Commissioners Meeting Summary lists pools as the second item heard at the public forums:

• "A perceived need for balance between athletic fields and open space
• A desire for more swimming pools.
• A request that Parks evaluate the potential to co-locate community centers and senior center programs.
• A need for better data systems to track and report on activities and to measure performance.
• A desire for more family oriented programs at community centers and more imaginative play for kids.
• A need to enhance our outreach strategy, public processes, and web site.
• A recommendation to increase our resources for marketing
• A recommendation that we inventory our many types of partnerships (with nonprofits, concessionaires, “friends of” groups, other agencies, etc.) and target specific partnerships to enhance service delivery.
• A suggestion that we step up our efforts to coordinate volunteer activities.
• A need to define/categorize parks
• A need to model “green” behavior
• Build on our asset management system, keep it up to date, and build relationships with other departments to ensure information and data systems can be shared.
• A recommendation that we use life-cycle costing in managing our assets.
• A suggestion that we examine our fee structure."

The meeting minutes also summarize Park’s success in soliciting public comments:

• 600 people attended 32 public meetings with Parks staff as facilitators and scribes
• The online survey garnered 1800 responses
• Four staff meetings solicited comments from 850 employees attending

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The North District Community Council recently expressed its support for pools to the Seattle City Council and Mayor.  The North District is one of 13 District Councils in the city and represents the communities located in the North region of Seattle.  The following letter, addressed to Council President Richard Conlin, was delivered to all Seattle City Council members, plus the Mayor:

Dear Councilmember Conlin:

At our February North District Council meeting, we held a community discussion about the number and adequacy of city owned swimming pools in Seattle.  It is our understanding that since the construction of the pools funded by the Forward Thrust measure of 1968, only one new pool has been built.

We are writing this letter to request that the Seattle City Council, along with the Mayor, Parks Department and appropriate board or commission, fund and carry out a study to determine if the current number of city owned swimming pools meets the needs of our citizens. 

We also request that if the study indicates a need for additional pools, a funding and planning proposal be developed, and if necessary, placed in front of the voters for approval.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

Sincerely

Renee Staton
Co-Chair, North District Council

This letter joins other letters of support available for your review on our Supporters page.

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Seattle’s Child magazine recently ran an article on Project Seattle Pools that included a great quote from the originator of the Seattle pool efforts:

“Our city has not kept up with the times. Whenever you have long wait lists (three to 12 years) and expensive fees to join private clubs ($2,000-$25,000), swimming becomes an exclusive activity,” Larsen says.

Our thanks go to Seattle’s Child for helping to get the word out about the need for pool supporters to speak for pools during the upcoming forums for the Seattle Park’s Department’s strategic plan. 

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The Seattle Great City Initiative has kindly accepted Project Seattle Pools into its Neighborhood Assistance Program.  Great City’s site describes this program as follows:

“The goal of SGCI’s Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) is to help find practical solutions to make neighborhoods better places to live and work as this city grows.  We want to be a resource for Seattleites interested in helping shape new development and seeking neighborhood improvements.”

Seems like a great opportunity to learn from pros.

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Earlier this year, the Capital Hill Times ran a nice article introducing  the new Superintendent of Parks, Tim Gallagher.  His strong interest in health and fitness is a great sign for pools.  This interest is not just theoretical — read the full article to find out how he managed to interview for his new position while trekking the Pacific Crest trail. 

Excerpt from: Tim Gallagher takes over the parks department
By Russ Zabel   01/01/2008

Environmental sustainability and health and fitness are issues that are a real concern for him, Gallagher said. On the environmental front, that includes the kinds of vehicles and equipment the department uses and how money is spent, he said.

Health and fitness - especially for kids - is even more important, according to Gallagher. "This will be the first generation in history where children are expected to die younger than their parents," he said with a frown.

Gallagher blames the loss of unstructured play and the epidemic of childhood obesity, which has reached the 35-percent mark in Los Angeles, he said: "It’s clearly not as bad up here, but it’s still horrible."

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