Co-chairs: Robert Collier and Ed Gold.
Steering Committee: Gael Alcock, Judi Berzon, Miriam Ciochon, JoAnn Cook, Lori Copan, Nancy DeRoche, Gary Marquard, Donna Mickleson, Ann Morgan, Sally Nelson, Vivian Pisano, Donna Rabin and Madelyn Stelmach.
We are a coalition of parents, children, lap swimmers, Warm Pool users, neighbors and other pools supporters who believe that Berkeley’s public pools are a vital community asset that should be preserved and improved for many years to come.
Measure C was on Berkeley's June 8, 2010, election ballot. Our campaign involved hundreds of volunteers who took time from their day jobs, children, spouses and other activities to help mount the incredibly labor-intensive effort of a citywide election. Unfortunately, Measure C failed to pass the two-thirds requirement, receiving "only" 62.24 percent of the vote. We expect to try again with a new ballot measure in the November 2012 election.
Meanwhile, the problem remains unsolved: Berkeley's four public pools are deteriorating and are near - or past - the end of their natural lives. The three outdoor pools at King, Willard and West Campus were built in the mid-1960s. They are springing leaks, their pumps and heaters are inefficient, their locker rooms are in poor shape and their layouts are insufficient for competitive swimming and child play. As a result of Measure C's defeat, Willard Pool was closed June 30, 2010, and filled with dirt. The 92-degree Warm Pool, which serves seniors, adults in rehab, disabled people of all ages, infants and families, is scheduled to lose its location at Berkeley High School’s Old Gym when the building is demolished in January 2012 and replaced by new classrooms and athletic facilities to relieve the overcrowding on campus.
Measure C included:
- King: $6.4 million to expand the current pool to 25-meter, multi-purpose size, with a 970-square-foot wading area (larger than the current wading area) for instruction and child play.
- West Campus: $9.0 million for an indoor Warm Pool, and $2.6 million to renovate the existing outdoor pool and poolhouse.
- Willard: $4.6 million to renovate the existing pool and poolhouse.
- For all four pools, the ballot measure provided $980,000 annually in extra operating funds. This money would have offset the approximately $250,000 in annual pools costs that currently are being paid by the School District but will be transferred to the city in 2011, plus the budget cuts projected for the Aquatics program's as part of the city's overall budget cuts through 2013. The extra funds also would have increased hours and programs at all pools by an estimated 25 percent over 2010 levels. In all, the extra funds would have guaranteed that Measure C resulted in improved access to improved pools, no matter how bad California's budget crisis may get in the coming years.
For more information about what's next and how we all can work together to rescue Berkeley's pools, please contact admin@berkeleypools.org.
