Nice Article in Seattle’s Child Magazine on Project Seattle Pools
25 Sep
Posted by admin as Uncategorized
Seattle’s Child Magazine Online just published this nifty article by Wenda Reed: Dress Up and Stand Up for Pools. It shares our plans for the City Council budget hearing at the on October 8th (join us!).
"If you’d like to see more swimming pools built and upgraded in Seattle, dress up in wetsuits, inflatable arm floats and brightly colored inner tubes, or just throw a colorful towel around your neck, and come to the Oct. 8 City Council budget hearing…
The advocacy group Project Seattle Pools is urging the show of costumed support to help persuade the City Council to include $225,000 for a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan in the city’s 2009 budget. The plan would address how Seattle can cost-effectively meet the needs for swimming activities and programming, including slides to attract teens and more capacity for kids’ swimming lessons. The plan would also address the fact that the Jefferson/Rainier Valley is the least served by public pools and that both of the city’s outdoor pools are west of Interstate 5….
PHOTO BY DARIN REID. Sean Anderson and Maria Coryell-Martin brace for a chilly swim in Lake Washington. Coryell-Martin and other activists are pushing the city to renovate and add to the public pool system in Seattle." More
King County Councilman Bob Ferguson Encourages the Seattle City Council to Fund Pool Planning
17 Sep
Posted by admin as Uncategorized
Project Seattle Pools would like to thank King County Councilman Bob Ferguson for his strong letter of support for pool planning. An excerpt:
"Whether providing children with a place to take swim lessons, or making space available for seniors to participate in water aerobics, public pools benefit Seattle citizens of all ages and abilities, living in all economic and geographic sectors of the city. I encourage the Seattle City Council to provide funding in its 2009 budget for the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan."
Are you part of an organization (e.g., community council, sports team, school, etc.) that might be willing to write a letter of support like this one? Instructions and letters from other groups are here. Help us build support on the City Council!
Save the Date: Costume Party at the City Council Budget Hearing: Weds, Oct 8th, 5:30-6:30pm
09 Sep
Posted by admin as Uncategorized
October 2008 holds our chance to see the Comprehensive Aquatics Plan funded via the City Budget. Councilman Rasmussen is gathering support on the Council for this funding. We’re lucky to have such an outstanding champion for pools, but we’ll need your help to support his efforts.
The top two ways to help this October:
- Email the City Council in about 2 weeks. We’ll alert you when budget season has begun. For now, use the text box on the right-hand side of this site to subscribe to updates.
- Join our Costume Party at the City Council Budget Hearing on Wednesday, October 8th, 5:30-6:30pm. Directions to Council Chambers.
A costume party, you ask?!
The budget hearings are a bit of a carnival. Both numbers and visual impact go a long way. You can help — just toss a brightly colored towel around your neck and join us! The more enthusiasm our group brings, the better we can represent the sunshine that swimming brings into all of our lives.
Costume suggestions for the more ambitious:
- Wetsuit (Message: It’s tough to swim in the lake past September)
- Inflatable swimmy arm floats (the ones your littlest kids use when learning to swim)
- Brightly-colored inner tubes (the ones shaped as imaginary sea creatures, etc.)
- CAVEAT: We recommend wetsuits instead of speedos in the interest of decorum.
No need to speak at the hearing – just stand up and show your enthusiasm when it’s our turn to testify. We’ll sign the group up early, so you won’t have to wait around. Numbers are very important at hearings like this – the levy committee was more impressed by the 14 pool supporters who took the time to attend the last levy hearing than by all of our carefully-crafted words of testimony.
You enthusiasm, combined with your emails, will make a great impression. All ages are welcome. Please email elizabeth@seattlepools.org if interested in joining the costumed campaign!
Project Seattle Pools would like to thank Powerful Schools for their recent endorsement of "the growing movement for expanding and modernizing aquatics facilities and programs in Seattle." We appreciate their support for "the efforts of Project Seattle Pools to pursue a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan for Seattle."
Powerful Schools is "a nationally recognized non-profit based in Southeast Seattle that aspires to promote student success in some of the city’s academically and economically challenged public elementary schools."
