Guest Editorial by Mary Franco - JURY POOL BUILDS PRIDE
As the President of the New Haven Swim Team, I would like to respond to the question about what we did this past swim season. Historically, the Barracudas have had their swim practices, swim meets and the NH Invitational at Jury Pool. Our swim parents and the over 300 families that come to the NH Invitational do business in our community while their swimmers are in the pool or visit one of many restaurants after the meets are over.
This year since Jury was closed we were graciously offered New Haven Pool to practice in. As everyone knows, New Haven Pool is a much smaller pool. We have gone from a 6 lane pool to a shorter, 3 lane pool. There were problems with overcrowding and swimmers getting kicked from being in too close of proximity to each other. It was impossible to work on endurance or speed because of the traffic jams at the end of each lane. New Haven Pool is also not set up for the swim blocks thus we were limited in how to work on beginning dives.
Over the past four years, our swim team progressed from League III to League I, which is an awesome accomplishment for a city whose school system does not offer a competitive swim opportunity. We grew from 50 swimmers to over 80 swimmers on our team. This was our year at League I, which puts us against all of the most competitive teams in the surrounding areas. With the environment that we had, our kids were unable to build up the skills they needed to compete competitively. We are placed in League III for this next year. Sadly, it is a fact that it will be difficult to maintain a team without being able to host meets. We need to be able to provide our swimmers with a pool where they can work on strokes, dives, endurance and to be the best that they can be.
Jury Pool has provided more than entertainment to the masses. I have personally seen children of all levels of skill and abilities learn to have pride in themselves and what they have accomplished. We have many children with disabilities who have learned to compete against themselves and thus learn a vital life lesson on striving for their personal best, no matter what place they come in.
There is much debate on the best plan for Jury Pool. If I needed guidance on something of importance, I would go to professionals who study this and would be able to give me evidence based data so that I could make an informed decision. The Park’s Department has done just that by consulting experts in the field. The data is there to support the renovations being recommended. We as a community need to support Jury Pool, let it move forward and have a place in our future and the future of our children. Vote YELLOW for our community and our children.
Mary Franco
Jury Pool
The story of “could have” and the power of “10”
We keeping hearing “Get the Facts”
Ten years ago did the New Haven Adams Township Park Dept know that Jury Pool
was 30 years old? YES
Did they know it would need replaced or revitalized? YES
Could they have put back 10% of their annual budget or increased entry prices to raise
money for such a project. YES Did they? NO
(Please note over the last 10 tens the annual budget was a million dollars or more.)
Could they put a liner in the existing pool right now? YES
(They are planning to do that anyway)
Could they have used the pump / filtration units they had in their possession and sent
back with a restocking fee. YES
(per Mike Clendenden at a City Council meeting)
Could they tear down the bath house and build an ADA compliant one for $500,000 or less. YES
Could they use part of the entry fee or part of the annual budget to pay for this with no
Bond being issued. YES
We keep hearing it is the same as a house payment. You make payments for 30 years.
A 3.5 million dollar bond will cost over 7 million in 20 years.
(right from the web site)
They have failed to say with a house comes a down payment. In many cases 10%.
Could they have raised their 10% over the last ten years. ($350.000) YES Did they NO.
Is the unemployment rate over 10% in New Haven? YES
(per the county and state)
Could all of this been done for less than 1.2 million dollars? YES
Do I hope and pray we as a community come together and support whatever happens?
Absolutely!
My story of “Could Have” and the power of 10.
Michael Mowery
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Let's try to look forward and figure out solutions to our issues today Mike. What happened 10 years ago might not have been the best situation, but it's done. There's absolutely nothing we can do to change history. It's counter-productive to play Monday Morning Quarterback and suggest what should have been done in the past. WAY too much of that going on in New Haven right now.
Craig Dellinger
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Craig,
I could not agree more. Do I think we need to look at the future of New Haven? Absolutely.
When it comes to the leaders of our community you must look at the past to see what the future will bring. When the same people have made poor decisions for years. What make anyone think that will change?
Look at the Mayor and City Council. Many great changes have come in the last few years. Downtown, roads, sidewalks, etc.
Now take a look at the parks. Run down, too many properties poorly maintained, and an
embarrassment to the city.
Sorry but many people longer trust the current Park Board to lead us into the future.
To change the future you must change the people that got us here in the first place. Change can be a good thing.
New Haven ROCKS!
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Mike, I will address some of your 10's
Yes we know how old the pool is and yes we knew it needed renovated 10 years ago but like many of us on limited budgets tried to make do with what we had.
10% of our budget: Our budget in 1999 was $818,848 and $25,000 was set aside for capital improvements and this is approved by City Council. We could have raised entry fees and that could have brought in an average of $6400 a year over ten years that would add up to $64,000 and yes we should have but we were trying to keep the fees down.
Lets talk budgets! Ours rose from $762,601 in 1996 to $943,562 in 2003 and then was cut to $808,752 in 2004 and we did not hit $1 million until 2006. After taking such a big hit in 2004 we are just trying to keep up with rising costs.
We could just put a liner in the pool and a new ADA bath house but that will require a tax increase which Blue states they are against and we will still have a operating deficit of $50,000-$60,000 and that is what we are trying to reduce.
The pumps were returned when we realized that after installing them along with patching and coating the pool floor, a new heater and slide pump would add up to $51,500 just to open the pool so we could loose another $60,000-$70,000 and that's providing the filtration system didn't fail.
The $7 million figure came from Blue's flyer stating that they are against the $7 million cost of the project misleading many that this was the initial cost of the project. We are just showing that the $7 million is the total cost of the bond after 20 years of payments much like a typical mortgage.
We did save over $350,000 from our budget but it took much more than 10 years. That money was spent between 2000 and 2005 building a Greenway trail that has become a new crown jewel to this community. And yes sadly some do not see the value in that project either. Since that time budget cuts and rising costs have prevented us from saving any money for future projects.
Could we do it for $1.2 million, Yes but that could very well mean closing both of the other pools to get the budget savings we need. Maybe the public does only want one pool. We will see.
How the community reacts depends on how many feel they were mislead.
My door is always open and anyone who feels they are a financial wizard and want to help me squeeze more out of the Park Department's budget please call. I will welcome the help.
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As they said back in 1969: RIGHT ON, MIKE! Since the Blue Crew wants Jury to go back to 1969, so will my lingo. Your reply to Mike Mowery's comments were way out of site. Power to the Yellow People!
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I want to thank the New Haven City Council members - and Mayor McDonald for their support of the Jury Pool project. The big picture, the vision - the bottom line - What's best for the community and future generations of New Haven? Don't let the "Blue Team's" distortion of the numbers, and blatant mis-representation of the facts deter you from making a decision to greatly enhance our parks' system. Despite starting their campaign a week earlier than we were authorized to do, despite changing their slogan mid-stream to ours "Save Jury Pool" - - which confused people who knew our slogan was Save Jury Pool, and despite using heavy-handed scare tactics (we heard from many community members) we know that the plan we worked hard to pass is the best plan for this park system.
Anna Bowman
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Anna,
We in no way started a week earlier than we were authorized to do. We started the campaign the day the petitions were issued, no sooner. We did want to "Save Jury Pool!" At no time did any of us say we wanted the pool closed. From the beginning we emphatically stated that we wanted the pool FIXED! How does that equate to close Jury Pool? Talk about clouding the issue. Unbelievable! Your compaign was telling EVERYONE that WE wanted the pool closed. Believe me, the message was clear because 90% of the doors I knocked on who had spoken to a yellow petitioner told me that that was what was told to them. I'm sorry, but that was a blatant lie. I will not pull punches when I make this statement. You know, we all worked our tails off on this remonstrance, and I am willing to say let the winner be the winner and walk away shaking hands with those on the other side; however, I will never again trust someone to say, "Please tell the truth," again because I know it was a ridiculous tactic to stab us in the back. There was pressure put on city employees to sign yellow (I can't name names obviously), there was pressure put on people trying to enjoy New Haven football games, and people were bitterly angry at me when I had never done a thing to them. What kind of city is this? I grew up here and loved it. I want it to return to what it was. I am asking everyone to put this behind us and move on. Am I in favor of the $4 million project? No. Will I stand in the way if yellow wins? No. I just hope that it can make enough money to pay for itself because if it can't, where will the money come from? I personally haven't seen enough evidence from other pools to say they are MAKING money. As a matter of fact, I haven't seen ANY evidence that any pool is making money, large or small. The pool business isn't a very good one right now, and I especially don't understand how our city got into the business of trying to make a profit rather than providing a safe place for our children to swim. It's been made perfectly clear that when this pool is built, New Haven pool will be closed. Ok, that leaves my children with nowhere to swim because we can't afford $3.50 per child to swim each day. I guess that shows where city priorities lie. $3.50 may not seem like a lot to some, but to others it means more than you can every imagine, especially when there are multiple children in the family. The scare tactics were out of control, and yellow was heavy handed with them. I will never understand what happened during this process, and I will never understand what people were thinking. I am just very sad that it had to work out the way it did.
So, for now I will say good luck to all, and I won't turn my head the other way because I didn't get my own way. I also won't rejoice if blue wins because I believe too much damage has been done.
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Amen Julie.
We all know there was heavy handed tatics by the yellow side. Just look at the City employees that wanted to sign Blue but were out right scared to do so. It was very interesting getting the calls to meet people in parking lots so the Blue side would not be seen at their house.
Enough has been said. It is just time to move forward. Win or lose neither side comes out ahead. As a City we all lose.
I too will not rejoice if Blue side wins because I also believe it will take years to overcome the damage.
Good luck, God Bless.
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I really hate to say anything more - but I can't ignore your statements either. It stated directly on the blue ballots IN OPPOSITION TO the remodeling of Jury Pool. How much clearer can that be? The Park Department decided long ago that "patching" the pool would be a waste of taxpayers dollars - and they weren't going to do it - end of discussion. You might not agree with that, but it's their job to make those decisions and I know their thought process involves a lot of care and research.
I appreciate the fact that you're not in favor of the $4 million project. That's entirely your right and I understand why you feel that way. I've never had a problem with anyone voting blue if that's how they felt.
The yellow side had all intentions of making this a fair, friendly and democratic process. We printed brochures with facts gathered from the Park Department's research and used them throughout the entire month to explain our position to people. Our facts and positions never changed. Could there have been volunteers on the yellow side that behaved badly? From your perspective, there might have been. I'd hope the majority treated the remonstrance process with honor the way we asked them to.
This entire process started out bad when the blue "No More Taxes" signs went up several days before the forms were ready to pick up. That's what Anna was referring to when she stated that blue started early. No arguing about that. Was it legal? Probably. Ethical? Probably not.
The blue flyer stated that a scaled down project could be done for $2 million and the yellow project would cost $7 million. Blue's plan forgot about interest over 20 years. But they remembered when talking about Yellow's plan. I asked your leader how he was going to finance his probable $3.5 million project (including the interest) without raising taxes. He didn't have an answer. It's still truly puzzling to me how a campaign can promise no new taxes if people sign the ballot, but in reality would have to raise taxes to pay for their version of the remodeling. Once Floyd decided to take yellow's "Save Jury Pool" slogan and use it for himself, it really kicked the yellow team into gear. So thank you for that. Was using our slogan legal? Maybe. Ethical? Not even remotely close in my opinion. That one act caused more anger and motivation than anything else I heard about during the campaign. If blue would have ran their campaign by saying they were against spending this money and would rather wait a couple years and do a smaller project, there would have been no controversy. Instead it was vote yellow for the Park Board's plan to save Jury Pool, vote blue for ours. The problem with that was - blue didn't have a formal plan. If blue comes out on top, the pool WILL remain closed for an undetermined period of time. Maybe three or four more years - maybe forever - nobody knows. Anyway, congratulations to both teams. Everyone put a lot of effort into the process. I hope we come out stronger because of this.
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Craig, this is where things were blown out of proportion from the beginning. We had no choice but to say in opposition to because at this point we had to be in opposition to the current project proposed. You knew that as well as we. We did not put out signs out any earlier than we were handed petitions. We had a meeting that night, received the petitions, and went home and put up signs. How is that unethical. The blue flyer was not misleading. I clearly explained that the project was for $4.1 million dollars with interest bringing it to a total of $7 million to be paid over 20 years. People don't care if it's $4.1 million or $7 million. The people who signed blue felt either was too much. It is ridiculous that someone on yellow side went around at the end telling people all three pools would be closed if this project didn't go through. Believe me, we heard this directly from people who were told that. And as far as having a plan, we had a plan to pay for renovation. We all volunteered to raise the money several years ago, had a committee, and were very kindly told that our services were not desired, thank you very much. Oh yeah, that really won me over to the side of wanting to spend more and be farther in debt. How would you have felt if you were trying to VOLUNTEER your time and people threw it back in your face with no explanation as to why? I think this mess goes back farther than this fall, and it should have been taken care of by people in the administration way back when. No one wanted to be the fall guy so they kept brushing it off on the park board, then the city council, then the park board, then the city council. I have tried to help resolve this in a reasonable way, but nobody wanted to listen. It was all or nothing from the beginning. Sure they scaled the plan back by about $1.3 million dollars. Sounds like a lot until you realize that's only a 25% scaleback. Also, the $3.5 million project that you stated to repair was the park board's estimate in the beginning. Mike came back later and stated that they never did look into a true figure to repair and it could have been nearer $1 or 2 million. We could raise that amount fairly easily. I agree that we need to put this behind us. I just hope that people get a clearer picture. No one was trying to cheat. No one was trying to be unfair. I did have one question though. Could someone honestly answer this for me. Wasn't the park board supposed to stay completely clear of this campaign? I saw Mike on tv and in the paper several times. Also, I believe it to be a little unethical when someone who will gain a job from this project (or at least a better job) is out there campaigning fervently. Illegal, probably not. Unethical, you tell me.
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Craig,
Yes you are correct the Blue ballots said IN OPPOSITION TO the remodeling of Jury Pool. Did all of us agree this is how it should have read. Nope. We ask to have it changed to OPPOSE new taxes. They would not change it.
As far as patching the pool. What do you think they are doing? They are not replacing the existing pool. There will be a liner put in it. Is that patching, well one would think.
Not sure who you spoke with about raising taxes no matter what type of repair done. Many of us said right from the beginning the price of entry should pay for the pool. They claim they can now make money with a pool like this so let it pay for itself. We also had a fund raising committee to assist with paying for the pool. After only two meetings the idea was scraped. I for one still think we missed the boat on this one.
As far as someone using the SAVE JURY POOL slogan. As far as we know only one person out of many dozens used that slogan. Do not put everyone in that same category.
You speak about what was Ethical. Yellow was going to put a float in the Homecoming parade. Homecoming is about a football game and the kids supporting it. NOT someones political agenda and surely not a pool. Yellow also walked the sides of the streets during the parade, was that ethical?
Was the Park Board Director using a City car to transports Yellow signs, fliers and ballots ethical? In my opinion absolutely not.
There were many views within the Blue side as we are all sure there were different views within the Yellow. You know there was so do not deny it.
The thing I found the most interesting was talking with people in Adams Township but not in the City of New Haven was the fact that nobody had a clue this would effect their taxes. There was so much press on this issue how could you not know. Not sure how it was relayed to the people outside of the city of New Haven other than someone knocking on their door.
Many of us on both sides put hundreds of hours for what we felt was best for New Haven. I really enjoyed knocking on doors just to hear what people had to say no matter what side they were for. What I did not like was being yelled at while trying to shop, eat dinner, or just trying to meet with friends. I was truly amazed at the finger pointing, the comments, and how people were being treated.
If Yellow wins will I support the outcome. YES because the people had a true voice in the outcome.
I also hope we never have to go thru something like this again. I really disliked how it divided our community.
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Hey Julie,
You're exactly right. Blue was opposed to the proposed project. That was clear to me, but advertising "no new taxes" just started a campaign of confusion. The blue signs could have said "Repair, don't replace the Pool" or something along the lines of promoting a simpler design. But they weren't. I believe you when you say you got signs the night the ballots were ready. But they were in my neighborhood and downtown at the beginning of that week. As far as accusing Mike of anything, that's just ridiculous. He's a citizen of New Haven when he's not on the clock like all of us. If anyone called the Park Department, they were given both numbers to call and weren't advised either way.
Let's just agree to disagree on how both campaigns were ran and move on. We need to get people working together again. It was exciting to see how many people came together to support their opposing sides. Just imagine if we could channel all that energy into projects to make New Haven a better place for our families. There were almost 4 times as many people that signed these ballots than voted in the last city election. We need to be the change we want to see in our community.
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Mike,
Did somebody actually ask to have the ballot changed to say "Oppose New Taxes"? Think that might have confused the issue even more? Hopefully you were just joking about that.
You were at the meetings, you should understand that a city pool will never pay for it's construction, running and upkeep unless that municipality charges a very high admission rate. City pools are tax supported. It's a benefit of living in many communities. The new pool is designed to achieve revenue neutral which means that the admission to the pool will cover operating expenses. That's what the Park Board has worked towards since the beginning. The goal is to provide the best entertainment while keeping the admission price as low as possible.
It was your blue leader not being able to explain how we could have no new taxes, but still spend $2 million renovating the pool. Same guy displaying the Save Jury Pool sign.
Like you explained to us earlier, he thinks we should have started saving for this project 10 years ago. That would have been a good plan. But they didn't. And here we are.
At this point it's over and we need to move on. Thanks to everyone for their comments on the blog. It's always good to hear both sides.
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You're right, Craig. It's time for our citizens to get more involved. We would all win if that were the case each and every time. The voice of the people is always a good thing, and it's sad that more people don't exercise their right to vote. I would like your opinion on something that has been on my mind for a long time. I brought it up at one of the council meetings, and the mayor seemed to be interested, but nothing ever came of it. I would like to see more improvement of things we already have ie, landscaping up 930 toward McDonald's, Wendy's, etc. There are a few areas up that direction that look very nice, but some are just an eyesore. I believe we citizens could do the planting, and the plants wouldn't cost that much. It would have to be low maintainence and out of the way of the people who run the businesses so that mowing wouldn't be difficult. I just think that entering New Haven from that direction is not very attractive. What do you think? I would like to get on a new track. I think there are inexpensive enhancements that we can make to our city to show that we are proud of it. It might be wise to see if we could round up some interested parties with ideas that are beneficial to everyone. Also, what can be done for our schools? I don't actually know, but schools are a great attraction for people wanting to move into an area. At this point, there is a lot to do along those lines. East Allen isn't exactly the desired district it once was. Rather than throwing up our hands and thinking a tax increase can fix everything, maybe it's time for the citizens to take our schools back. Am I on the right track here? Do you think any of this makes sense? I would truly love your input and anyone else who would like to chime in is welcome.
By the way Craig, thank you for the forum to voice our opinions. It's a great place for discussion even if it gets a little heated sometimes. It helps to clear the air a little, and I think it could become a blog for New Haven improvement as well if anyone has ideas.
Julie
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I think improving the 930 gateway to New Haven is a great idea. I haven't heard anyone else bring that up, but of course I'd be in favor of it. We (New Haven Printing) try to keep our landscaping neat and attractive, but you're right in saying the highway in general is not the most attractive spot in town. Once the Maplecrest Road extension gets going and the retail development follows, I think part of that will take care of itself. But count me in for any committees or groups to work on that.
As far as the schools, have you ever been to a EACS Board Meeting? They're held at the Administration building by the high school - next one is Tuesday night, November 3rd. I'm sorry to say there are usually only a few people in attendance other than the board members. I agree that the community needs to get more involved and for the most part, I think the administrators would appreciate input. The New Haven Chamber Board of Directors met with the new principal (Greg Mohler) Wednesday morning and he seems like a great guy. The changes he has already implemented seem to be working and his goals are impressive. We've also met with Karyle Green, the new Superintendent and she's a very impressive lady. As always, I'm probably too optimistic, but I think we're moving in the right direction. Dr. Green will have some very difficult and unpopular decisions to make soon. One way or another, East Allen has to make some changes for the school system to stay viable. It will be an interesting time.
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I haven't been to a school board meeting in years. I realize there is a lot being discussed, and you are right that a lot of changes will have to come. Greg Mohler is a friend of my husband's from way back. He's a highly energetic guy who will absolutely get things done. It's going to take a lot to improve things, but maybe these two changes in administration will help. We have the problem at New Haven High that we are the ESL school and the school for handicapped children. No problem having both there, but when it comes to ISTEP scores theirs are included. I think something needs to be changed in Indy regarding how those scores are handled. We lose a lot of funding because those scores bring our total down. We have much potential in our students, and school spirit seems to have been lacking. That can account for a lot of involvement by the students.
Your property is one of the nice ones up the highway. As I said, many are good, it's just the others.... Included in my thoughts is Lincoln Highway between Hartzell Road and the point. It's just a little depressing to drive through there.
I'll gather my thoughts a little more and maybe present them at a meeting. Hopefully, we can get some direction from the council or see if they would like to get together on our own and come up with ideas.
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Julie, I'm with you on improving the look of 930. My husband and I have commented frequently on how sad New Haven looks when coming over the bridge into NH from 930. I think some energy on revitalizing that area is desperately needed. It may be possible to get some of the HS clubs, boy scouts, girl scouts and church youth groups to get involved in this process to improve their community. Count me in on this project. It may be just what we need to get some positive energy reflowing in our city.
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Julie
I am impressed that others notice how the city looks. I would like to see the intersection of I-469 and US 30 landscaped and trees planted. When I went to Troy, Ohio to look at their pool I noticed that all of their interchanges were done that way. They mowed the grass like a lawn and had trees with mulch around them. I am sure that the city would have to work with the State of IN. but first we have to want to take care of we have like you said. Right now we can't even get the citizens to take down the garage sale signs they put up. You would think if they had time to put them up that they would be nice enough to take them down. But they don't. I tried to make an effort to take them down on a regular basis but was told that it was not my job and to stop because that was the Neighbor Code Depts. job. Well I have not taken any down for months and right now there are garage sale signs from June still on the poles plus child care signs and Obama face pictures and 9/11 signs. When I go into a city one of the first things I notice is how clean it is. Ft Wayne has done a good job of trying to keep the signs under control.
So that is the first thing and in my opinion the easiest to do to help make our city shine. All you have to do is drive the main roads once a week and take them down. It is also easy to police. Garage sale signs have address on them and others have phone numbers on them.......well why don't we as a city just send them a nice letter or call the number on the sign and explain we have an ordnance against that type of signage. Don't know but I guess if the same people keep doing it then maybe some type of action could take place but until then just a nice letter and or a nice phone call to ask them to take it down.
Also weeds in our new flower beds downtown. Roger Clayton pulled the weeds himself on one section but there were weeds throughout the area and around the trees.
These are just a few of my thoughts about the subject. I am like you, it is the little things we can do as a city to make us look good for people wanting to move to our area.
I as a citizen would help in anyway I can. If ever citizen would just take down a sign and or pull weeds in an area that they live or work or pull down a sign as they walk past,this would probably take care of itself.
Just my opinion as a citizen of New Haven
Ron
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You know Ron, I never thought about those signs, but you are so right. And Mary, thanks for your input too. I think we have a plan that might work going here. I will have to re-energize a little here, and maybe I can get to a council meeting to bring this up. Hopefully, if I post here people will spread the word. I think we should start with Ron's idea about taking down old signs whenever we see them. Also, you are so right about the area out by 930 and 469. It's the first thing people see of New Haven coming from the opposite side. None of this is hugely expensive and is very possible. I've been a little wiped out lately, but I really want to make this a reality. I just think we will have to remember that cost is a factor, and it's time to find ways to beautify our city without spending a fortune to do it. One thing I noticed is that when downtown was revitalized they removed the trash cans. I think we could place attractive trash cans in downtown. I used to pick up any trash while I was walking through town and throw it away, but I'm not going to carry it all the way home from down Lincoln Hwy. It's usually kind of dirty after laying in the street. I vote for trash cans.
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I am in awe! Haven't been on the web-site since my comment on Oct. 13th. But - Great ideas from everyone! The power of Pride for New Haven! That is probably the best thing that could have come out of the remonstrance process - past all of the negativity and on to the possibilities of what we as a community can achieve in beautifying our city. Count me in! Especially on the 930 corridor entrance from the west. "Welcome to New Haven!"
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Thanks for the reply Anna. I do want to state that it is very important to me to keep this an inexpensive process for the city. If we have to do a little fund raising to pay for it, that is ok. I just don't want the city doling out any more money. I think this can be done without too much expense. I'm open to opinion.
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