HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/30/2021 Fowler (SLO Swim Hours)
Delgado, Adriana
From:Thomas Fowler <tfowler@calpoly.edu>
Sent:Thursday, September
To:Advisory Bodies
Cc:Thomas Fowler
Subject:Concerns re Sinsheimer Pool Management
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Dear Advisory Body for SLO City -
I’m a life-long swimmer, using the Sinsheimer Pool For 20 + years and also a member of the Sea Hawks Club as a Masters
swimmer for 12 + years. My daughter Hannah was also a swim club member from middle school well into high school for
over a decade.
The pool is a place that I have spent quite a bit of time - from practice sessions ( many time twice a day ) to swim meets -
attending with my daughter and also volunteering time to assist with timing at meets / cleaning up post meets, etc -
what ever is needed to support the pool and club. And I’ll add during the height of the 2020 Pandemic it was a place that
I spent even more time at.
I’m writing this note to voice my concerns about how the pool is being managed. I’m in complete disbelief that there can
be a shortage of life guards at the pool. With access to 30,000 plus college students between Cal Poly, Cuesta and even
Hastings college, plus local high school students in the area who may be interested, I’m completely dumb founded how
this can be an issue. And it is my understanding in speaking with swim club leadership this potential issue of planning for
life guards leaving to go back to school in the fall was mentioned a number of times to manager, but not taken seriously
as something to plan for. With the shortage of guards, the club has had to eliminate afternoon and evening swim
practices, when some of our club members can only attend during these times. As you might know the stability of the
swim club hung onto by a thread for 14 months, only receiving enough money to pay rent at pool and not to pay the
coaches. If this life guard shortage continues on a extended monthly basis, it could very well be the death-nail for the
club going out of business.
While I have not done a scientific survey of all the pools in the area in terms of life guard support, I’m not aware of a
shortage and would think that other pools would plan way ahead to deal with this as staffing issue, especially in light of
the employee me to challenges that seem to be happening across the board.
I hope the city’s advisory board will look into this matter quickly and take this issue seriously, since it impact a wide
group of community members, and to determine what caused this problem and how to fix quickly. There are quite a few
very angry swimmers who feel that these limited hours are of great concern regarding limiting access and wondering if
there are other issues that will result from miss management re life guard support staffing.
The pool needs a manager who is a better listener and who is less toxic in the way that he deals with people ( which I do
not know if this has anything to do with life guard shortage ).
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Thanks,
Tom.
Sent from iPhone - so please forgive the typos - large fingers with tiny keys.
Best Regards,
Professor Thomas Fowler IV, FAIA
Distinguished Professor of the ACSA
Director,
Graduate Architecture Program
&
Community
Interdisciplinary
Design
Studio ( CIDS )
http://works.bepress.com/tfowler/
Cal Poly State University
ARCHITECTURE
San Luis Obispo, CA
93407
805.756.2981
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