Daunting Prospects for A Malibu Pool

Yes, it would nice to have a community pool for swimming and sociability and that it not be yet another Malibu boondoggle, which I have written it sadly has every indication of becoming. Taking exception to my reasoned conjecture has been a gaggle of involved if not fully informed residents.

And In turn I must take exception to their objections; that based on my real experiences a public pool whatever its use is a complex municipal conceit I feel further impeded by a forlorn City Hall among its too long list of local mishaps. To be sure, many having been orchestrated by local real estate and commercial interests, the bane of Malibu.

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There are just too many moving parts to the development of a public pool for which Malibu's bloated staff, a conflicted City Council and commissioners, and self serving consultants , can subvert or compromise , while squandering public funds and abusing public trust. Just consider the variables in the planning, development and operation of a pool.

There is the question of what type of pool or pools: competitive, exercise, programmatic or simply wading and splashing? Then there is the not modest construction costs of public projects, the involved maintenance and demanding operations, whether as a city bureaucracy or a contracted private enterprise, selected through the city's suspect competitive bid procedure.

This could be made all the more complex by a stilted resident wish list, as an example that might recommend food service for an adjoining family picnic area. This arbitrary amenity actually has proven popular in select successful community pool complexes. Party time at the pool sounds like fun..

These amenities as others are dependent on the pool's projected use and users: for competitive swimming, polo matches, exercise regimes, family time, senior aerobics classes, swim instruction, for all ages, including infants in endearing baby and mommy sessions. The socials afe secondary but have a way of becoming a priority.

Who can be expected to determine these public and private programs, and for whom? Residents, of course, their guests, and no doubt for ever-escalating fees. Did you think all this would be for free?

And then there can be expected the clamoring public, who will probably read about the pool on the social media, or see it when on a hot weekend traversing the adjacent PCH looking for a parking space or unable to crash a keyed private beach. Expect incidents from gate crashers and repercussions from the Coastal Commission.

If this seems daunting, it is. Maybe it is time to stop the complaining about the limited access to the secured high school and Pepperdine pools; access that had been promised to the city prior to construction, and now that should be pursued in due diligence by the city,

Due diligence, now that is a concept for the city to embrace if it is to proceed with any development of the wallowing community lands, along with open accountability, and real planning expertise, And with caution,