Council dictates split on lane assignments to end bickering at
Aquatics Center
Tempers frayed over swimming pool lane assignments Wednesday, causing one city councilman to express dismay over bitter and emotional presentations by representatives of two community swim clubs.
The City Council found its own short term way of settling the dispute and will ask a recreation committee to create longterm policy.
“Quite frankly, I’m a little disgusted by this,” Councilman Larry Carr said near the hourlong discussion.
“I’m not sure it’s a very good role model for our kids when parents get up and bash each other.”
He said he was glad his 6-year-old son was in bed and not able to see the display of pique from the representatives during the televised meeting.
The problem arose from a wildly successful Aquatics Center that has 17 lanes in its 50-meter pool, used by the clubs for training and by the city for swim programs.
Because of school hours, the most heavily requested lane times are 3-6pm, and demand has overtaken supply. The city has reserved four of the 17 lanes for its growing master swim program and has a policy that 60 percent of any group using the Aquatics Center must be local residents.
El Toro Swim Club, which is part of Silicon Valley Aquatic Association and formerly San Jose Aquatics, enrolls 69 children, about 70 percent from Morgan Hill. It was represented by treasurer Marian Sacco who asked for five lanes.
“We have a tremendous frustration that we can’t get together,” Sacco said. “We are all residents; we have a beautiful new pool and we got along for six years.”
This changed when the center opened in June, to great jubilation, and competition for water space began.
The Morgan Hill Swim Club/Makos, started in 1962, had 283 members, 189 local residents in August. On Nov. 30 they had 168 signed up year-round and more than 80 percent local. John Rick spoke for the group and asked for all 13 non-city lanes.
“Last summer we had a 13-4 lane split,” Rick said. “That’s the right thing to do again this summer.”
He suggested that El Toro Swim Club train at Live Oak High School again. MHSC, he said, had endured the long drought after the Live Oak and Britton pools closed and before the Aquatic Center opened in June, often scrambling for pools to train in and being turned away by other cities.
Donna Cretcher, a ETSC/SVA parent, has been critical of the other team.
“The MHSC wants the whole pool and they want us gone,” Cretcher said. “They have made attempts to work it out (with us) but the only solution was for us to join their club, offering a financial bribe (if we swam with them they would give us money from the foundation).”
El Toro, Rick said, had other options through its SVAA connections. He hinted that if MHSC did not get enough lanes – including a long-term contract that would allow the club to grow – they might leave the center and make other arrangements.
“We would like to keep MHSC at the Aquatic Center through March because we have the Far Western (a high profile swim meet that MHSC will host) and it would be really embarrassing if we were not there,” Rick said. “You need to do what’s in best interest of community.”
Both clubs reluctantly supported a recreation department proposal to assign lanes by lottery, for which they would pay a non-refundable $100 per lane requested; council was uncomfortable with the lottery idea and did not support it.
Councilman Mark Grzan said it sounded like gambling and would set a bad precedent as a way to distribute city services.
MHSC’s Geno Acevedo said the lottery was a game of chance.
“Can you condone or institute this form of gambling,” Acevedo said.
He endorsed waiting for a Parks and Recreation Committee (PRC) review.
Carr said he, too, thought a lottery a bad idea and suggested finding another way. Councilman Greg Sellers figuring away with a pencil found that way.
“If you add up the kids involved and divide by 13, you would end up with a 9 to 4 split,” Sellers said.
City Manager Ed Tewes recommended fine tuning the split and rounding off fractions to 10/3. Council approved the figures as a short-term solution. After some discussion, it was decided to ask PRC members if they would want to study the issue and find recommend a long-term solution.
Both clubs will pay $1,000 per lane per month to use the pool during the colder months; beginning in the spring the amount will drop to $600 per lane per month because other swimmers make up the operating cost difference.
In the meantime the two clubs have met, trying to iron out their differences, so far to no avail.
Not to find a long-term solution to the lane distributions could threaten the Aquatics Center’s financial health – if the largest club pulls out, the smaller club could likely not be able to fill the gap. Heavy use over the winter has allowed the center to remain open, which it could not do if it did not pay for itself.
“This decision is far from over,” said Mayor Dennis Kennedy.
An ultimate solution could be for both teams to join the city team to make one official Morgan Hill team. The cities of Campbell and Commerce (Southern California) have such teams. Acevedo said this could work.
Council voted 5-0 for the 10/3 split and to ask the PRC to recommend policy, if it wants. The lane assignments are to stand through August with further review at that time.
In other action, the council endorsed the Grand Prix bicycle race, to be held downtown Sunday, April 10.
Carol Holzgrafe covers City Hall for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 201.
