Dear City Council,
I am a resident of Mills Court and an enthusiastic user of Menlo Park's public pools. I understand that you are considering several routes for the future management of our pools.
Over the last several years, I have observed the pools' current management vendor, Team Sheeper, limit public access to our public facilities in a number of ways:
1) by emphasizing private individual lessons ($76 per half hour!) for children rather than more affordable group lessons. This reduces access by limiting the number of children who can learn to swim in our public pools.
2) by renting all but two lanes of the Burgess performance pool (ie, the lap pool) on certain weekend afternoons to a private "underwater hockey" team. This reduces access to the lap pool during hours when Menlo Park residents who work Monday through Friday want to swim for exercise.
3) by reserving all but two lanes of the performance pool during prime before-work and lunchtime hours for the members of Team Sheeper's Masters program, excluding residents who want exercise but can't afford the monthly fees to join Masters.
I support issuing an RFP for new management. It goes without saying that applicants must agree to manage both Menlo Park pools. It is unthinkable that a vendor would be hired to manage only the Burgess pool (as Team Sheeper apparently wants, according to item G2 in the city staff report prepared for tonight's meeting).
However, I urge you also to consider taking back the pools from private management and hiring City staff to manage the pool directly. These are public facilities. Access must be our primary objective. Middle-aged triathletes and underwater hockey players can always find another pool to rent, but the children of Menlo Park cannot.
Yours sincerely,
Nicholas P. Taylor
