Dear City Council,
I just read the article in the Almanac. My wife and I both like swimming for fitness and recreation and in 2004, we sold our house in San Carlos and bought a new house in Menlo Park, partly because we wanted to be closer to a local pool. San Carlos kept talking about opening a pool but they never did. Belmont, Redwood City do not have city pools either. Things were sometimes a little rocky at Burgess because of staffing issue, sometime the pool would just not open because there was no staff. Since Menlo Swim and Sport started, the pool exploded with activity and it has been extremely well run. During the pandemic, they managed to keep things going with 1 swimmer per lane, no doubt not making any money in the process but that was impressive considering most facilities were closed in other cities. That level of dedication to the community should be rewarded in my view, you will not find another company like that.
As a business person, I would suggest that the city offers Menlo Swim and Sport more than a 1 year contract. Just imagine what would happen if the City Council announced to all City employees that, from today’s on, they only have a 1 year contract: They would all start looking for new jobs immediately and the City would be impossible to run, especially in this tight labor market. That is the situation we are putting in front of Menlo Swim & Sport. In recognizing this, I would ask the City Council to consider at a minimum a 3-5 year deal with Menlo Swim to allow them to continue running the stable quality business they have been running for us.
Thank you for considering my point.
Stephane Mouradian
945 Millie Avenue
