New pool facility is a questionable priority | Letter to the editor

Posted 1/4/23

Time is fast running out for you and your neighbors to stop the city council (your employees) from spending yet more of your tax dollars to destroy the last open space in your city center.

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New pool facility is a questionable priority | Letter to the editor

Posted

Time is fast running out for you and your neighbors to stop the city council (your employees) from spending yet more of your tax dollars to destroy the last open space in your city center.

All their talk of “repurposing” that beautiful space into a park (we have plenty - most aren’t maintained), pickleball courts, affordable housing, etc. is a smokescreen hiding their real, and long held dubious goal of building a new pool/gym complex on the course instead of building a new pool at the current location, and selling off part of the land for not-affordable housing. (A city lot on that land would sell for minimum $200K. Developer would have to spend at least $300K to build. Affordable? By who?)

Thus far to further these goals, the city has obligated $518K of your tax dollars for newly hired parks and landscape architect consultants. 

Using statistically questionable methods to gauge public opinion, they are softening up the citizenry to make it appear that current and future misspent tax dollars plus losing rare open space to development are what citizens want.

Don’t believe it. Broken city streets and sidewalks are neglected to fund this pipe dream.   Does this scenario match up with your priorities? 

To turn around the city’s effort to continue foolish spending of your money for unnecessary and unneeded changes to the open space that has served for a century as a community golf course, act now. Attend the Jan. 11 open house; call your council person. And, get your neighbors to do the same.

Silence is seen by the council as a vote to proceed.

George Bush
PORT TOWNSEND