Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Oro Valley Spending Priorities Are All Askew. Closing Pool Is "Crazy."

Closing the OV pool and spending tax dollars so indiscriminately is nothing short of lunacy. That is exactly what this council Super Majority thinks of its citizens, including those too young to vote.

Please read what Janice Ward says in her letter to The Explorer.

Disclaimer: As a senior citizen homeowner with a pool, this closure does not impact me. It does impact many other of our citizens.


OV should keep its swimming pool open in daytime



Oro Valley Community Pool? Not.

New hours at the OV community pool have been cut. So there is no swimming between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday.

What? You heard it, no swimming during those hours starting Monday, Aug. 23 ... and it was 105 yesterday and it's Aug. 24.

I don't get it. Worst scheduling I'd ever seen in 11 years of living here and swimming at the pool. Plus it still has to be heated, cleaned, and maintained, right? Swim teams pay to use it, so do we.

I understand the budget was cut and someone had to make the hours, so they looked only at numbers of swimmers, for pool times. Where does this leave us retired, work at home, moms, etc? Come on ... it's not always about majority, please. Come cooler weather, those hours can get pretty darn cold.

We all have different rhythms for exercising, and I like to sleep between those current pool hours, thank you very much, or at least gear down at 6:30 p.m. at night, not crank up. I have a family.

I never did get it, moving here 11 years ago, that "summer hours" go from Memorial Day to Labor Day. ... when we still have months of summer outside that window. And probably non-swimmers or even non-exercisers make those decisions for the hours we swim. Many of us swimmers said we'd even pay more to keep the pool open even just a couple of hours twice a week.

Shame, shame, Oro Valley for not utilizing your jewel of a pool, one of the only facilities here in our sweet little town. I'm disappointed. I know my fellow daytime swimmers are too ... so writing this not only for myself but for all of us.

Janice M. Ward, Oro Valley

Catherine Atalla, aquatics manager for Oro Valley, reports the pool is closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays this time of year due to budget constraints. Three high school teams and two club teams use the pool from 3 to 6:30 p.m. – Ed.

3 comments:

Oro Valley Mom said...

This is really a disgrace, that town officials can use taxpayer money to provide perks and parties for employees, but not services to residents. This is a matter of public safety. Children and teens need a safe place to swim during the summer when they're often home alone. Adults need a cool place to engage in healthy exercise during hte hot summer days.

OVDad said...

I wish John Musolf would undertake a study in this regard. He certainly seems equipped to do so. Unless I see his take on costs and benefits in this matter I believe I cannot adequately judge if this is a good or bad decision by the council.

Nombe Watanabe said...

How much did it cost to REPAINT the police cars?

OV Mom is right on, what a disgrace.