Residents Tap YouTube to Save Pools; Aim at Mayor
Dearborn residents upset about a proposal to close six small neighborhood pools are turning up the heat on the mayor and city council, this time using YouTube as a way to amplify their voices to city leaders.
About 175 Dearborn residents rallied Monday evening at Summer-Stephens Park (one of my favorite parks as I took swimming lessons there as a kid) to protest the potential closure of six of the city’s public pools. There is also a new SaveDearbornPools channel on YouTube.com. You can click HERE for that link.
City officials have argued that closing the Crowley, Hemlock, Lapeer, Summer-Stephens, Ten Eyck and Whitmore-Bolles pools would save Dearborn $132,000 a year in operational costs alone.
On Monday at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, city officials are holding an informational meeting where they can expect to hear from residents vehemently opposed to closing pools, even if the city says it will save $3.8 million by not pursuing investments necessary to keep the aging pools in a safe and healthy condition.
From where we sit, given how this is shaping up, there is a strong likelihood council members will not approve closing any city pools.
April 7th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Power to the people!!!
April 7th, 2010 at 7:22 am
It will be very interesting to see/hear what the city proposes to eliminate in lieu of keeping the pools open. S.O.P.!!!!!!!
April 7th, 2010 at 9:04 am
O’Reilly has already told the council not to worry, he will personally handle this, because he will have some of his stooges in the audience to offset the possible hostile residents. A council person has made this already known, because he wants their help for his next run at office.
April 7th, 2010 at 9:16 am
Sentimentality and nostalgia will not move O’Reilly. Alternative plans will not move O’Reilly. The only possibility of Jack backing down from this is if people threaten to recall him. He has mismanaged city funds for 21 years, first as council prez and now as mayor. He is the reason we are in the financial situation we are in. He is responsible for the CSO fiasco, the parking garages, the overbudget Performing Arts Center. He is responsible for protecting the jobs of corrupt managers in city hall. He is responsible for not forcing his police chief to move to Dearborn per the city charter.
How much longer are we going to let this man run our city into the ground? After 6 months into his current term, under state law he can be recalled. If he goes forward with decimating our services by closing the pools without looking for a way to raise revenue first, a recall petition will be pulled in July.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:08 am
There was a time that people moved to Dearborn for many reasons, among them the abundance of services, recreation, schools, shopping and more. As much as I personally believe Dearborn is still a great city, many people no longer feel the way I do for numerous reasons.
Those that criticize Dearborn regularly mention our poorly performing schools, our vacancies in downtown west and east Dearborn’s shopping districts and other reasons.
There are numerous services and amenities that Dearborn offers, perhaps more than any other city in America that I appreciate having and which makes us a unique city. Nonetheless, all of them require evaluating to see how important they are to our residents and what they cost the city.
Either way, one of the most unique assets our city still possesses, that many residents appreciate and that draws new families to Dearborn is our 8 outdoor public pools, something no other city I know of has. Therefore, in my opinion, as long as we are willing to fund them, our pools are one of the few major draws we still have and they are worth saving.
April 7th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Nice job Reason. Very sound thinking. The current Mayor simply is acting like the bully he is, and he should get smacked with a recall because he is simply overwhelmed with the job, and someone else should be there. If he had a good opponent running against him in November, maybe he would be on the street where he belongs. Don’t let up Reason, as well as the rest of the people in this City.
April 7th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Our S.O.P. team will be there to present the council with new ideas to help save our neighborhood pools. These pools have been a place for our children to work, swim, exercise and build life long relationships. Their voice will not be heard unless we work at this together. We are one Dearborn, one team and one family. we wish to work with the council, mayor and recreation department in an amicable way…
April 7th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Our pools are gone, as we have known them in the past, and thats a direct quote from the big fella.
April 7th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
tarik, I believe what you say about the ‘big fella’ but what he has to remember is that the people are NOT giving up on this. S.O.P.
April 7th, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Perhaps I’m being naive, but it seems there’s a fairly straightforward solution: Charge a premium for use of the neighborhood pools. This could be in the form of a pool-specific swim tag for those 6 pools in addition to the normal swim tag for access to the community pools (and higher gate price for people who don’t have a swim tag). Pools that are cost neutral get to stay open. Pools that don’t meet costs get scheduled for closure. Pools scheduled for closure could perhaps get a one or two year grace period so a single bad year doesn’t force the closure of an otherwise successful pool.
Now I realize that all city pools are subsidized by all tax payers in the city, and should continue to be so, but why not have those actually using the service pay the premium to satisfy operational costs and offset expenses for improvements.
April 7th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Reason.. please tell me your not dumb or naive enough to actually believe what you typed. RECALL!!? This is a man who is undefeated in every election in his 21 years in politics. He had victories of 94% and 90% in the last two elections respectively. Even if all you morons who think you’ve stumbled upon some city wide conspiracy theory as well as everyone on here who is constantly whining and griping about everything the city does got together, you would’t make up 2% of the voters.
April 7th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Mark, I’m afraid that you’re about to find out that all of your hard work, inspired messages, alternative plans and “amicable” ways will be for naught. O’Reilly doesn’t care about any of that. The man has always governed in a manner that its his way or the highway. Did you ever see some of the tantrums he used to throw against Guido at council meetings? He does not play well with others. You all need a plan B so that when he stonewalls you (and he WILL), he will face actual consequences for his actions — something he has never faced before politically.
April 7th, 2010 at 4:18 pm
At the meeting the other night Mark said that there is a Plan B just in case.
April 7th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I sure hope this is a wakeup call to Dearborn residents to realize what they have done in the november election, and they learn from this in 2013 election!
April 7th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
The only thing missing from this Mayor is a speech about “Hope and Change”,is anyone else starting to realize we have elected a Mayor that is in over his head and is driving this City into the ground?
It is great to see such an outcry from all of us citizens but its too little too late,we are stuck with the BIG GUY for another 3 years,the lesson here is that VOTES or NOT VOTING has consequences and now we all see that elimination of the leaf pick up and the closing of the small pools are some of those consequences. Keep that in mind the next time around.
April 8th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Is anyone happy with the way the city is going…really? Jason you say that we only make up 2% but we are the ones that have stuck around to fight…everyone else is moving out! Born and residing in Dearborn for 28 yrs I run into more original “Dearborners” in downtown Plymouth than I do downtown Dearborn. There is a problem there and closing the pools will give us even less to offer. Between the rentals, vacancies on Michigan Ave. and empty lofts without any hope we really should all be fighting for this. Regardless if we use the pools or not. They ARE an asset!
April 8th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Bep, we can and should fight back. We can’t afford to wait three years, let’s RECALL JACK!
April 9th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
All this hubbub is amazing to me.
Where are all the “solutions” and “out of the box” thinking we were supposed to get after the spewing during the election. I’m not just talking about the Mayor here. Doesn’t the City Council still have to approve EVERY PENNY SPENT?
I haven’t heard an option of private company managing the pools? Or, make each pool an asset held by each neighborhood association. Or, sell Pool Bonds so we all will have an ownership stake in them. Or selling sponsorships?
(You folks can take these ideas free of charge)
As passionate some people are, there seems to be more rhetoric to INFLAME rather than suggest SOLUTIONS.
Something doesn’t seem right about all this. The timing. The lack of thought. The combativeness. The lack of thought. The lack of common sense.
April 9th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Reason and Bep: There are clearly more of us than there are of the “Jason” type. We should recall him. He is a micro-manager who loves to hear himself talk. He talked when he was council president and now he does at the council meetings as the mayor. He is an elected official, and regradless of what ‘Jason’ says, there is only so much people will put up with. There is always a ‘last straw’ and I think this pool thing is it. We are tolerant people in Dearborn, but enough is enough. The mayor can plant all the opposition he wants in the chambers Monday. That is typical behavior of a liberal politician who MUST get his way. Unbelievable…or maybe not.
April 10th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Hey Anthony, I like your ideas!
I know of there are several neighborhood associations that help out quite a bit already with the pool in their neighborhoods and one that was hoping to start this summer, so ownership might just be the next logical step. As far as I know, most of them are incorporated as 501c3’s, so they could seek grants, donations, and perform other fundraising for sustainability of the pools as well as their associations.
Pool bonds…another great idea…Let’s hope everyone on the city council does their jobs and explores these options as well as the others that I’ve read here on this blog and on Facebook.
Also, I’m not convinced that the pools in such bad condition as the City claims them to be. I say a NON-BIASED expert needs to evaluate each individual pool’s condition and make recommendations specific to that pool.
I believe there’s creative, viable, and sustainable solutions to keeping these pools open.
April 11th, 2010 at 10:02 am
Let this piece of crap we have heading our City get a little pressure from the parents in this town, and watch how the big guy folds. I guess once a hippie, always a hippie. This is from somebody who remembers you at St.Al’s.