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Monday, September 23, 2019

Letter to the Editor: Say YES to Prop 1

To the Editor:

I am writing to ask Shoreline residents to say YES to Prop 1.

Your vote will make it possible for us to build a much needed new aquatic and community center. As a pool user, I know how much we need to replace our 50-year old relic with an up to date facility.

Our pool is literally a “gas guzzler” accounting for 92% of the City’s municipal greenhouse gas emissions. Our new pool will boast “green alternative technologies” something I consider a must for conscientious Shoreliners.

Another benefit that makes my heart sing is a fully accessible playground designed for adults with mental and physical disabilities. Located at Richmond Highlands Recreational Center, this park will serve a special population of aging residents who desire outdoor activities.

The monthly hit on my property taxes is a little more than the proverbial cup of coffee – I could also buy a bagel. Not too much to pay for a new facility and improved parks that will outlast me.

Robin McClelland
Campaign for Parks, Pool, and Recreation



1 comment:

  1. The main reason to not make further investments in the current Shoreline Pool is that is is throwing good money after bad. If you had a corner of your house that had dry-rot in it and was structurally unsound, and the contractor you hired gave you and estimate of the fix and it was $60,000 dollars. AND since the contractor was there, he inspected the other 3 corners of your house and the foundation and noticed the early stages of dry rot in the other three corners and significant cracks in the foundation. Let's say your house is worth $500,000. So to fix the first corner this year you will spend $60,000 and still have the same old house with one new corner. Let's say you decide to fix one corner for the next 3 years. $60,000 a year for 4 years or $240,000. In the fifth year a section of the foundation collapses and it will cost $90,000 to jack up the house and fix the foundation but only a section of it.... So in 5 years you have spent $330,000 for a house that is still worth around $500,000 and the repairs are going to just keep adding up. Not to mention that the furnace for that house and all the other appliances are 50 years old and WAY less efficient than newer technology. If you went back to year one, when you discovered the first corner of rot and the contractor said - I can knock down the whole house and build you a new one for around $330,000. It will be state of the art, efficient and probably worth around $700,000 when it is finished. What would you do? I am a home builder and have built custom homes for 15 years. My numbers are not exaggerated or unrealistic. I hope this illustrates why it is better sometime to tear the old down and build new. Also understand that the old (current)pool, if inserted into this housing analogy would be the equivalent of a really, really cruddy falling apart house at in the middle of the block that would be worth almost nothing at the current value - not $500,000. And the proposed aquatic and recreation center would be the shining star of the neighborhood worth over a million - or even priceless as it would be the REASON the neighborhood keeps any value at all.

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