Dear Council members:
I am a resident of Menlo Park since 2004 and have been very happy with the aquatic services provided by Tim Sheeper and Menlo Swim and Sport. I have a long history with the Burgess and Belle Haven pools. Both of my boys swam with Menlo Mavericks when they were younger, participating in summer swim and other programming at Burgess. I had the wonderful pleasure of organizing the parent community in support of the summer youth team for many summers. My older son also participated in pick up waterpolo when he was in middle school and my younger son had the amazing opportunity to learn waterpolo with Olympic Gold medalist, Benda Villa at Belle Haven. I have also benefited from the availability of lap swim and have had a continuous membership for lap swim for over 10 years. I learned to swim laps in graduate school, (1991) and by no stretch of the imagination am I a competitive swimmer. I appreciate that on my occasions Tim has encouraged me to join the masters team but that’s not who I am, but Tim encourages everyone that is who HE is. No other community on the peninsula has what we have here in Menlo Park, complete access to amazing pools, run professionally and open almost 365 days a year. Additionally Menlo Swim and Sport provides many programs, summer camps, swim lessons and yes Master programming. While I do not participate in any of these programs I have always found the pool to be a welcoming place for me to exercise and swim my laps multiple times a week. Burgess is a thriving place of aquatic activity and we have Tim Sheeper’s vision to thank for this.
During the spring of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic shut down our community, Tim and his staff reopened the pool. They created a sign up system, it was not perfect, but I was able to reserve times to swim at Belle Haven 3 times a week. Having this service SAVED me during the closure, when I needed physical activity in a safe environment to keep me physically and mentally healthy and thus productive. Every time I went to Belle Have the staff greeted me by name. You see if you don’t use the pool you have no idea the community Tim has created at Burgess and Belle Haven.
I do not know the details of the contract that Tim has requested for the pool but one thing I know is that the city does not have the bandwidth nor the expertise in running the pool and creating the community like Tim. I urge the council to use the services at Burgess and see for yourselves.
I fully support Tim Sheeper and Menlo Swim and Sport they should be granted operator of the Burgess pool contract.
Margarita Méndez
Lorelei Lane
