HI, Council
I hate to say ‘I told you so’ but I wrote when you were considering who to have operate the city pools that Tim Sheeper was the wrong person. It’s more than just lack of financial transparency. I think that the same would be true of any commercial business: It has to make a profit. Burgess Pool is profitable. Belle Haven Pool is not.
The market can solve only problems that can be solved at a profit. But there is a whole other category of problems of which the solutions are ends in themselves. Those solutions result in an economic loss but a gain in well-being.
Either the city pools are a business that should operate only at a profit, or they are a public good that should be operated at public expense. There is no in between.
You could try hiring another operator, but you need to be working on a back-up plan of a tax-supported city aquatics program or it will not be possible to keep both pools open.
I am a regular user of both pools and would hate to lose either.
Sincerely
Nina Wouk
Belle Haven resident since 1986
