1. Council sets clear goals, then flaps around in the water
In the city of Gilroy’s official spring 2012 newsletter, under the headline “Council Sets 2012 Priorities for City” this is what it says verbatim:
Offer Recreation for citizens to celebrate life and community through people, parks and programs.
a. Expand non-traditional recreation programs to further the Council’s prevention strategy.
d. Develop aquatics program strategy including use of community pool assets at schools.
So, just weeks after setting those resoundingly clear goals down in black and white, the City Council considers the costs associated with keeping the pool at South ValleyMiddle School open and … and unfortunately flaps around in the water waffling to and fro.
2. Seek solutions – How do we get more people to use the pool?
It’s the lone pool on Gilroy’s east side. It is going to cost $117,000 or thereabouts to bring it up to snuff. And if the city doesn’t step forward and do it, the community will lose a key civic asset and an anchor for the surrounding neighborhood – even if it is not used as much as it should be.
And if it’s not used as much as it should be, the solution is not to close it, the solution is to make substantial efforts to increase participation. Neighborhood fliers would be a good start. Gilroy has spent nearly $1 million on San Ysidro Park facilities. How can the activities at that east side park be integrated with using the pool at SVMS? What about having an on-duty police officer, if they’re not too busy, stop by the pool to say “Hi” to the kids and families using it? Recreation and community policing should go hand in hand.
The elected leadership vacuum at the very top is so disconcerting. The Council’s own top-of-the-marquis goals are there on paper, but that’s not matching the practice.
Public recreation is not a business. When you lose key civic assets/anchors in a neighborhood you contribute to the decline of that neighborhood. Used well, the pool – like the school itself – is an important neighborhood building block that contributes to the health and well being of the surrounding community.
3. City staff should be fighting for more recreation programs
The city’s goal should be to maintain assets within the neighborhood to prevent neighborhood decline and any sense of abandonment.
The city and the school district have to work together to maintain healthy neighborhoods. Partners, like the YMCA which has done a remarkable job operating the pools and recreation facilities in Morgan Hill, should also be engaged.
Gilroy’s attitude toward recreation has unfortunately shifted away from its former noble mission as being the “heart and soul of the community.”
It’s sadly ironic that the staff – which used to fight tooth-and-nail for recreation programs – has recommended closure.
Our recommendation is to find a solution to keep the SVMS pool open, to market it and to believe in its importance as a neighborhood anchor and building block.
