Aquatic Center

Summary:  Using public funding for an aquatic center was not a wise spending decision. 

I did not support public funding for the Manitowoc Family Aquatic Center.  My reasons for voting against it were:

1.  We don't want an Aquatic Center.  This is a somewhat controversial claim, but I can back it up.  The advisory referendum on the Aquatic Center was voted down, albeit by a very narrow margin.  These types of referenda are almost always heavily weighted in favor of people who want whatever the referendum is about.  Indeed, supporters of the Center waged a huge "get out the vote" effort and the referendum still fell short.  I'm not saying that there weren't supporters of the Center--It was a divisive issue and of course there were many supporters--But I don't think you can say that there was a huge public groundswell of support for it. 

2.  We don't need an Aquatic Center.  This seems sort of obvious, but many of the claims being made by supporters of the Center seemed to suggest apocalyptic consequences if we didn't build it:  New employers won't move to Manitowoc.  Juvenile delinquency will increase because children won't have anything else to do.  Children will drown because they won't have a place to learn how to swim. 

3.  We can't afford an Aquatic Center.  I don't think that we can spare $2 million for the up front capital costs, and I am also concerned about operational costs that will be passed on to taxpayers once the Center is built.  If we were going to spend $2 million on the Aquatic Center, that means that we should have cut $2 million out of our budget somewhere else.  We didn't do that!

Some have asked if I will try to stop this project if I am elected Mayor.  The answer is no!  This was a decision of the Council, and I have to respect that.  Besides, the City's portion of the funding has been included in the 2009 bond issue and the Center's design is in the final stages.

I hope that the Aquatic Center is a wild success--I really do.  I don't engage in sour grapes politics and I don't want something to fail just so that I can be proven right.  I hate to see taxpayer money spent foolishly under any circumstances, and I hope that will not be the case here. 

Is my reasoning a graceful swan dive or a clumsy cannonball?  The water's perfect at the discussion board.