Chris Roberts: Why I am voting Yes on Proposition 1

By Chris Roberts

I was a fish growing up. Every summer, once my neighborhood pool opened, I would spend hours in the water. As I grew older, I became a junior lifeguard, and my first real job was lifeguarding. I taught swim lessons, coached swim teams, and eventually certified as an American Red Cross lifeguard trainer.

The pool was my happy place.

Years later, as a parent, I see access to community aquatics through different lenses. My spouse and I knew how essential it was for our child to learn water safety. While we were fortunate enough to afford a YMCA membership, the Y’s pool is small (4 lanes) and frequently had long waitlists for lessons. I know many families in our city lack even that option.

Shoreline’s original pool was built under the 1968 Forward Thrust bond. Built with an expected 30-to-40-year lifespan, these aging facilities are well past their service life, and critical replacement parts are no longer manufactured. Neighboring communities like Mountlake Terrace and Edmonds face similar challenges with their pools, while Lynnwood’s facility operates near capacity. Shoreline families need more choices and shouldn't have to leave their own city or sit on endless waitlists just to learn to swim.

For years, Shoreline residents have asked us for a modern community pool—one that accommodates Shorecrest and Shorewood high school swim teams, offers low-impact exercise for seniors, and runs simultaneous swim lessons and lap swimming.

Over the last few years, the City Council evaluated how to make this vision a reality. We worked closely with community members, engineers, and financial experts to design a facility that meets Shoreline’s needs efficiently. We recommended forming a Metropolitan Park District (MPD), governed directly by your City Council, because it provides a dedicated, sustainable revenue stream not just to build the pool, but to maintain and operate it long-term so it does not fall into disrepair. We also directed staff to aggressively pursue regional grants to lower the burden on local taxpayers.

For a median-valued Shoreline home ($831,000), the estimated cost is about $35 per month. While state law currently limits automatic senior property tax exemptions for MPDs, I am actively working with our state legislators to fix that rule so our low-income seniors receive the tax relief they deserve.

Shoreline has waited decades for a true community pool. I want the next generation of Shoreline kids to grow up with that same "happy place" I had— a place to learn to swim, to gain confidence in the water, and to make lifelong memories right here in our own neighborhood. Please vote Yes!

- Chris Roberts serves as a member of the Shoreline City Council.