Editor’s note: Last week, a Sun column asked readers to tell city officials what they think about the pool project and to send us their letters. To date, we have received two letters in support. One individual who opposed the project requested anonymity. The Sun declined.
Supports the city swimming pool project
Hi Joe
Writing in my support for the construction of a community pool. In a dense community with small lots, most homeowners and/or renters do not have access to a pool. This would be a huge community draw, and opportunity for residents to network and get to know each other. Double win – family fun with community building.
Realize things can take time, especially with this type of project; however, funds appropriated in 2008 still haven’t been spent nearly 14 years later. Just doesn’t pass the smell test. Somebody dropped the ball, somewhere.
Thank you!
Chris DeSanto
Seal Beach
Strongly supports city pool plan
I strongly support the plan to build a new pool. I swim at the McGaugh pool regularly and have done so for over 40 years. So has my wife. My children and grandchildren learned to swim there and one of them went on to win a college swimming scholarship. We appreciate the social contact with the many other pool users we have met throughout the years and are thankful that the existence of this pool gave us the opportunity for this experience.
When the McGaugh pool reaches the end of its useful life and is closed, it would be a terrible loss to the community if there was not a new pool to replace it. Many young families would be denied the wonderful opportunity that we have had. Please build a new pool.
Joe Klein
Seal Beach
Leisure World swimming pool project is not a joke
Recently there have been posts on social media sites making jokes about the Leisure World failed pool project. One member of the Golden Rain Foundation Board of Directors was seen laughing about it in a committee meeting. Shareholders have posted statements like, “I don’t use the pool, so I don’t care.”
Is it really just a joke that there is no swimming pool in one of the four largest senior communities in California? One of these four communities has five swimming pools, the other two each have three and the fourth, Leisure World, has none.
A former GRF Board member, posting insider information on a social media site, reported on the Boards’ reluctance to take on such an expensive project as the pool given the criticism the board was receiving about their spending habits.
The Champlain Towers South volunteer Board of Directors in Surfside, Florida, was slow to act when presented with a serious costly problem. Likewise, the GRF volunteer Board of Directors has avoided presenting shareholders with the bad news: a large amount of money must be spent in order to have a swimming pool.
Fortunately for the residents of Leisure World, lack of action by the volunteer Board did not have the tragic consequences suffered by the residents of the Champlain Towers South, but the parallels are there. It is very difficult to deliver bad news that will affect people’s pocketbooks. This does not excuse withholding the information.
Apparently in 2012 the GRF Board was developing a Master Plan which recommended renovation of the pool locker rooms, the pool and spa, the decking and the addition of shade and a lap pool.
This plan was never adopted and not shared with the residents. Why?
It is not a joke that there is no swimming pool in Leisure World. It is a symptom of a problem that although unpleasant, must be faced. The needs of a 60-year-old community cannot be minimized and Leisure World cannot solve problems without a volunteer Board of Directors willing and able to do what is necessary. Accepting excuses from the management staff is just another avoidance. There must be accountability for the absence of a swimming pool in Leisure World.
Anne Walshe
Leisure World
