The City of Toledo will open its publicly-funded pools at noon today. Six pools and a splash pad will be available for residents.
They are: Willys Pool, Roosevelt Pool, Wilson Pool, Jamie Farr Pool, Navarre Pool, and Pickford Pool - along with the Savage Splash Pad.
View City of Toledo Pools Map in a larger map
You'd think that since the public has already paid for the pools with their tax dollars that they'd be free, but you're wrong. It will cost $1 for those 12 and under and $2 for those 13 and older - except for the Savage Splash Pad, which is free.
Here's the thing - they don't make sense economically.
I did an analysis of pool usage in 2008 and found that Toledo pools really don't have that high of attendance with maybe about 2% of the city's population actually utilizing this 'service.'
Based upon census data and cost at the time, I found it was costing the city about $120 per person served. As I wrote at the time:
It would be cheaper to buy every kid in the city a membership to the Boys and Girls Club ($5 per year for 16-18 year olds, but only $3 for 7-15 year olds) which would give them access to ALL activities, not just the pools.
In 2009, I updated the figures and pointed out the warped priorities of our city government:
The total amount to be spent this year (three ordinances are on the agenda) is $136,398. The problem is the number of children to be served.
As I've highlighted in previous posts, the pools serve less than 2% of the population and less than 6% of the children in the city. And the number of users has declined over the last three years.
As calculated in my previous posts, the pools serve roughly 4,700 unique visitors. At that number for this year's funding, it's about $28 per person. For the same amount of money, the city could purchase a year-long membership at the Boys & Girls Club for 27,000+ kids (calculated at the 16-18 year old membership rate of $5, not the 7-15 year old rate of $3). If we really care about kids, why aren't we providing them with year-round activities instead of just a couple of months (depending on weather) of pool access?
But if the city told you that they were going to purchase memberships for kids to a club, would you support the expenditure of those dollars while we're laying off police and not planning on residential road improvements? Probably not.
It's an issue of priorities and Toledo government doesn't have a track record of setting good ones.
As the Occupy Wall Street groups gathered last year to complain about the 1%, I again examined the issue of the public pools and how they cater to the 2% all the while claiming that everyone's quality of life was enhanced by providing a service to only 2% of the population:
But on a principle basis, the claim is that these types of programs provide "quality of life" for residents. The problem is, they provide a certain benefit for some, at the expense of all. And simply saying that "all" have the "opportunity" to take advantage of them doesn't negate the fact that my quality of life is diminished by having to pay for recreation/entertainment I neither like nor want, but that is forced upon me by a significant few.
An analysis I did in 2008 showed that even under the best of scenarios, the city pools serve less than 7% of the youth population and, since we know that adults also visit the pools, less than 2% of the total population of the city.
Why are we spending money to serve less than 2% of the residents? And why would council members claim that the entire city's quality of life is enhanced by a 'service' that caters to less than 2%? Certainly the taxation of 100% in order to serve 2% isn't logical and doesn't enhance the 'quality of life' of the remaining 98%. As many of the same council members who promote this logic also supported the OccupyToledo group, you'd think they'd understand this concept.
These same council members also talk about how pools and other youth entertainment help reduce crime. However, I have yet to see a single one of them provide a single study or shred of evidence that such is the case anywhere, much less here in Toledo.
The bottom line is that they want to provide pools, so they do. That the vast majority of the public doesn't want our limited tax dollars so expended is countered by an emotional appeal to our 'quality of life.' Yet even that attempt at logic falls short with just a cursory examination.
My quality of life is negatively impacted so that council can - maybe - enhance the quality of life of the 2%. Sadly, Toledo city council members don't understand that providing a quality of life service for some means a lack of quality of life for most.
So here we are in 2013, still spending public monies to cater to a few at the expense of everyone else. And the same politicians who decry such actions when the few who are catered to are banks, or rich people, or Wall Street, will willingly embrace the concept and become hypocrites in the process.
If you want to 'take advantage' of the 'service' being 'provided' by your tax dollars, here are the regular hours and admission costs:
Willys Complex Pool
1375 Hillcrest
Tuesday – Sunday
Noon till 6 p.m.
Admission $1 for 12 years and younger
$2 for 13 years and older
Roosevelt Pool
910 Dorr St.
Tuesday – Sunday
Noon till 6 p.m.
Admission $1 for 12 years and younger
$2 for 13 years and older
Wilson Pool
3253 Otto
Monday-Saturday
Noon till 6 p.m.
Admission $1 for 12 years and younger
Jamie Farr Pool
2000 Summit St.
Monday-Saturday
Noon till 6 p.m.
Admission $1 for 12 years and younger
Navarre Pool
1001 White
Monday-Saturday
Noon till 6 p.m.
Admission $1 for 12 years and younger
Pickford Pool
3000 Medford
Monday-Saturday
Noon till 6 p.m.
Admission $1 for 12 years and younger
Savage Splash Pad Water Play Park
645 Vance St.
Monday-Saturday
Noon till 6 p.m.
Admission free
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