vision2020
more pool stuff
Visionaries,
I, too, am delighted with the new pool. The city
created a space for healthy recreation for children and adults of all ages, a
place for families to come together, and a place for the community to come
together. We also created jobs for our teens where they could learn about
responsibiltiy. I only made it to the pool a few times, but sometimes wished I
had no responsibilities and could just spend every day hanging out there with a
good book.
I am interested in the extent to which the
actuality of expenses/revenue met the predictions that Priscilla described.
(Thank you, Priscilla, for keeping the records of those discussions.) However,
my interest in those numbers is somewhat academic. To me, money is put to good
use when it can create a healthy environment for youth, families, and community.
As many of you may recall, I am on record as saying there is such value in such
a place that it should be available to our community year round. I realize not
everyone agrees with that, and therefore I think it is useful to have that
debate:
Should the positive outcomes that occurred
through the pool facility (healthy fun for children, a safe place for teens to
gather and for other teens to learn about responsibility through lifeguarding,
and family togetherness) be the financial responsibility of those who splashed
in the water, or does the community as a whole benefit, and therefore consent to
share the financial burden?
At the same time, I think it is important to
look at what about the pool didn't work. I was disheartened to hear from some of
the lifeguards that some parents were disrespectful to the lifeguards and failed
to follow the rules--such as not adequately supervising their children, and
arguing with lifeguards who enforced rules, such as who could go on the slides.
I'm not trying to be a wet blanket here, but this reflects our community and if
we don't see it, we can't change it.
So, hooray for the new pool. What have we
learned about the value we place on the intangible benefits of this kind of
community resource, and what kind of values do we want to have in this community
with regard to respect for authority?
Lois Melina
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