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Pool debate reveals limited staffing at Parks and Rec
By Kelly Wilkinson
Disagreeing with both the city manager and the director of Parks and Recreation, councilmembers voted 4-3 at last week's meeting to explore the feasibility of building a new city pool. In addition to debating the practicalities of the pool study, discussion also revealed a lack of senior-level staff within the Parks and Recreation department.
The decision was a continuation of discussions from the previous week's meeting, when members of the public stayed until 2 a.m. to convince councilmembers of a pool study's necessity.
"It was a long battle just to get here, and we'll have to take a deep breath for the next round," said Holly Lofgren, advocate for the pool. "It's a shame it was so difficult to convince the city that it's a good idea."
For a one-time capital investment of $1 million, the city has the opportunity to partner with Fremont High School to build a joint-use pool. The Fremont Union School District would be responsible for a portion of the initial costs and maintenance of the facility. Community members in favor of the deal said they would find an additional corporate donor to help sponsor the project.
Officials at the district--with the help of community activists--suggested the plan in hopes of securing a larger pool.
Bill Savidge, director of facilities modernization for FUHSD, said the idea of combining forces with the city to build a larger pool has "always been floating around," but it was Lofgren and other pool advocates who helped bring this specific proposal forward.
"We have to build a new pool," he said. "And if we can do something that would provide services to a larger number of people and help the community, that would be great. Whenever we can do partner on things like that, it helps everybody."
Both city manager Bob LaSala and director of Parks and Recreation Robert Walker told councilmembers that taking on the study would strain the department.
Parks and Recreation typically has three senior managers. Now, because of attrition, it has one. "We can't graft or cobble people together to create a person or persons to take on the job," said LaSala.
La Sala said he hoped to fill the positions, but did not offer specifics on when this would be done. "If we take [the study] on, it would be at some risk and sacrifice."
LaSala told councilmembers that conducting the study would involve "cutting corners" and "jerry-rigging."
But Lofgren remained unmoved by his arguments. "I think whether we build this pool or not they'll have to address the fact that they're well understaffed," she said. "They didn't want to do this, and I think they're overwhelmed by the work they currently have, but that's not the kind of town I want to live in. Whether or not this is hard to do, these are their jobs."
Walker said that any initial resistance to conducting the study came from a "frustration of how much we have to do and who we have on board."
"But once we get a direction from council, that's all water over the damn," he said.
"We'll now pursue this with a great deal of fervor and enthusiasm." Almost all councilmembers expressed sensitivity to the Parks and Recreation's workload, which includes the new senior center and expanding the teen services budget, but several found the pool issue too timely to defer.
In leading the motion, Councilmember Fred Fowler apologized to staff for creating a heavier workload. "We have an opportunity here that will not come again," he said. The school district will start building the pool by next spring whether or not the city agrees to the partnership. It could cost the city millions of dollars to build a pool on its own.
"I'm very well aware of the burden I'm asking staff to assume and I wish there was another way to do this, but it's too important an opportunity to let go," Fowler said.
Before making his motion, Fowler noted discrepancies between the pool proponents' information and the city manager's. In order to clarify the inconsistencies, Fowler specified that the study should address the number of people who would use the pool and how much it would cost to build and maintain. Fowler also wanted the study to indicate what other projects would have to be postponed if the city went forward with the plan.
"I think it's necessary to get the facts and the only way to do that is to do the study," Councilmember Julia Miller said in supporting the motion. Mayor Manuel Valerio, Vice Mayor Pat Vorreiter and Councilmember Jack Walker cast dissenting votes and questioned whether the larger pool would serve significantly higher numbers of youth and adults.
Vorreiter restated her position from the previous meeting. Citing financial problems and other Parks and Recreation projects, the Vice Mayor encouraged her colleagues to "stand up and have the courage to say, 'No guys, we just can't do it right now.'"
John Lawrence, Parks and Recreation's leisure services manager, also targeted financial problems as the department's main sticking point. "In our experience, the funding is pretty difficult to provide," he said. "We think it's going to be very difficult to accomplish."
Lofgren sees it differently.
"I think there's an unwillingness to address their staff shortage," she said. "I didn't want our pool issue to have to encompass that, and if we have to solve that problem as well, I don't know if we can make it."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
