HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/22/2021 Dooley (Add review of SLO Swim Center to next PRC Agenda)
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Paula Dooley <
To:Advisory Bodies
Subject:Commission Agenda Item and Review of SLO Swim Center
This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond.
Hello Advisory Bodies,
I am writing to you to ask that you put the recently announced SLO Swim Center reduced hours, and increased general
oversight, on the next agenda. I would like to attend and will have public comment, as I believe others will, as well.
Here are my bullet points, from which you can create an appropriately named agenda item for the meeting. The basic
gist is that while labor shortages are cited as the reason behind the closure, the issue at the swim center is not that
simple. I think City staff, with the Commission's oversight and input, needs to be transparent and look deeper into why
this has happened, particularly on such a short time frame, and what the root problems are.
The city supports this enormous asset that costs money to maintain, with swimmers or not. I would like the Commission
and Parks and Rec multi-level staff to address and review:
why they are having difficulties attracting lifeguards; ask uncomfortable questions. Why don't people want to
work there?
why they didn't see this coming and instead waited until four days before the effective date to announce it.
(Timeline is below) Before the closure in August, all guards were polled and communicated if they were
returning or not for the reopening, and yet nothing was done until September 16th to address the
shortage. This being "behind the eight ball" seems to be a recurring theme at the Swim Center.
What can the Commission and Staff do differently to commit to success in being good stewards of this amazing
asset and resource, the Swim Center?
The timeline that points to where and why staff/management needs Commission input and oversight:
On August 31, the Fall Schedule was sent out with an effective date of Sept 13.
On September 10, Reopening Updates and Operational practices were sent out, with this statement: Service
Changes Due to Staffing Shortages – Like many industries, the SLO Swim Center is a little short-staffed right
now. Guests may experience changes to either pool programming time slots or the configuration of the public
swimming spaces.
On September 16, a greatly reduced schedule was sent out effective four days later, the 20th. Attach the old
schedule and the new schedule. It is shocking.
I thank you for your time. I am unfamiliar with your process, and the September minutes are not up yet, so I hope this
isn't redundant. This was not meant to be a laundry list of complaints, but to flesh out why this needs to be a hot item
1
on your agenda. If you can get this on the agenda, I can rustle up regular pool users to attend the meeting and
contribute. I am also happy to answer any questions.
--
Paula Dooley
2