I write the City Council deeply concerned that a combative stance towards the arrangement with Menlo Swim and Sport (MSS) threatens to destroy an incredibly valuable community asset.
My wife and I are Menlo Park residents (Willows neighborhood) since 1986. For four decades, we have considered the Burgess Pool a huge asset of the city. Weve consistently participated in lap swimming, aquacise classes, swim lessons, and the masters swim team.
MSS is an outstanding operator. Ive experienced many pools. None comes close to what MSS provides: an incredibly broad range of offerings, a consistently service-oriented attitude, a highly inclusive (age, economic status, experience, interest, etc.) set of programs, and leadership whose heart is in sync with the people and community served. MSS has created, and continues to foster, an absolute gem for the city of Menlo Park.
Given the financial challenges to support the new facility in Belle Haven while maintaining programs at Burgess, the only solution is to find a financially viable path going forward. In my 40-plus professional years in corporate financial planning and valuation, I know how difficult it is to accurately project revenue and costs for a new facility or business. With the economic uncertainties and broader political challenges that Belle Havens community faces, financial projections for the pool face deep uncertainties. It is no surprise that Belle Havens pool finds itself underused versus projections.
MSS has proposed options to restore the financial viability of Belle Havens aquatics programs. These well-thought out and reasonable proposals have been denied by the Council, without viable alternatives suggested.
I ask that the Council shift from combativeness to collaboration. Work with MSS to adopt realistic solutions that maintain a 20-year relationship that has been a huge benefit to the city. MSS has proven that it has the experience, the creativity, the know-how, and the heart to ensure that Menlo Parks aquatic programs, both at Burgess and at Belle Haven, thrive.
Thanks, Rick Schwartz254 Santa Margarita AvenueMenlo Park, CA 94025650-218-6977
