VIDEO. From the City of Half Moon Bay City Council’s Annual Special Priority Setting workshop on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022 at 7:00pm by Zoom.

Council Member Deborah Penrose speaking.

Want a new public swimming pool?

Council Member Penrose suggests the City ask the public with a Property Tax Ballot Measure if citizens want to fund design, construction AND maintenance of a public swimming pool, not on CUSD land…

~ Chief Buzz Officer, Michelle Dragony, summarizes:

The Half Moon Bay High School swimming pool will never be open to the public during the school day for security reasons. The HMBHS pool is funded by Cabrillo Unified School District (CUSD), not the City of Half Moon Bay. The HS pool is not deep enough (3″) for swim race starting blocks and not deep enough to play water polo.

Due to the Beechwood Lawsuit and CUSDs lack of state funding, swim lessons and free swim for everyone has not been offered for more than 5 years.

Mavericks Swim has kept the pool alive for the Mavericks Youth Swim Team and Adult Lap Swim.

The pool is at capacity when the HMBHS swim team and water polo season comes around with kids practicing at 8:00pm at night. Water polo tries to go to CSM when funding is there as they have to pay rent to polo at CSM. Water polo team meets are 100% away games, so it is hard for their peers and family to cheer them on even when the HMBHS Girls Varsity win the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division title, when you have to drive all the way over the hill…in heavy traffic.

In 2022, CUSD has a 54% Latino student population. Without lessons and time to free swim these kids can not:

• Be safe in the ocean or learn how to boogie board or surf safely
• Try out for swim team
• Try out for water polo
• Try out for surf team
• Try out for California Junior Lifeguards which is subsidized by the State at approx. $100 per week as a development program for career Lifeguards and Sate Park employees. All you need to do is swim two laps.

I taught Teen Cert for 6 years up at HMBHS with Battalion Chief, Dave Cosgrave, and we always invited other public agency professionals as career education to talk to the kids. Pillar Point Deputy Harbor Master, Cary Smith, would visit every year and ask who could swim. Most of Latinos could not. I promised them I would teach them, but the pool was “closed” as you can see in the picture.

The City is trying. Deputy City Manager, Matthew Chidester, grew up here and learned to swim in the HMBHS. He is committed to getting the pool open and is currently working on a MOU with CUSD. Insurance, operations and maintenance are the issues to be worked out. So stay tuned on the HMBHB pool!

This is an equity issue

But don’t we need a public pool that can be used by everyone, every day?

Other possible parties that might be interested in passing a tax to build a pool, open to the public from early in the morning to late evening, 7 days a week:

• Free Swim for kids to play or work out.
• Seniors to swim, aerobics, rehab
• CUSD Swim teams for under 18
• Adult Masters swim lap swim and team for over 18
• CUSD Water Polo teams for under 18
• Adult Masters water polo team for over 18
• Aerobics and other water exercise
• Rehab and ADA accessibility

What do you think?

Would you or people you know use the pool?

Email us comments or suggestions

Or email Council Member Penrose!

City Council of Half Moon Bay Meets ~ 1st and 3rd Tuesdays at 7:00pm

HMB City Council Agendas and Zoom Links

 

HMB City Calendar

The New Now ~ Virtual Remote Public Agency Meetings

Watch streaming, or the Pacifica Coast TV video, that we will post. Stay tuned!

The meeting will be held at the Adcock Community Center for any members of the public who wish to speak in person, though we do encourage all members to participate remotely.

The meeting will be:

• streamed live on Comcast Channel 27 and Pacific Coast TV website
• the City’s website online (via Granicus)
• and on Facebook Live
  • one in English (City of Half Moon Bay FB Page)
  • one in Spanish (City of Half Moon Bay Recreation FB Page)
• Recorded by Pacific Coast TV (PCTV)

Members or the public are welcome to submit comments (in accordance with the three-minute per speaker limit) via email

to [email protected] prior to or during the meeting, via Facebook live during the meeting, and via two phone lines during the meeting – (650) 477-4963 (English) and (650) 445-3090 (Spanish).

The City Clerk will read all comments into the record.

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Author: Coastside Buzz

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