Worth Another Look: “What do you think? Should the City of Lake Worth construct a new pool at the Beach?”

An all-too-familiar sight, when the pool was open to the public, prior to being condemned.

No other public pool in Palm Beach County charges for parking. For a family of four, one (1) trip to the pool at the Beach cost $16 (min. 2 hrs) — too steep a price for many families here in our City — particularly those west of Dixie Hwy.

Or construct a pool at one of our “under-utilized parks with enough space to accommodate an aquatic center” as suggested by the editor at The Lake Worth Herald in an editorial titled, “Does it have to be there?”

Here are two recent quotes from District 2 Commissioner Omari Hardy:

Quote #1:

“For me, the idea of taking any money out of the General Fund when we’re barely able to afford the services we’re providing for our residents right now, and when we need to fund additional services, and we’re unable to do that, the idea of taking money out of the General Fund to subsidize what’s happening at the Beach is repugnant to me on many levels.”

Quote #2:

“[W]hat we’re doing is talking about spending more money at the pool to achieve an outcome that is the opposite of what we want, which is the pool to not contribute so terribly to the losses we’re experiencing at the Beach. . . . So we need to get very serious about this issue because it’s really going to threaten our ability to provide services to people who really need them.”

Do you think it’s about time to kick that “political football” one last time? This time for good, once-and-for-all?

Once again about a pool at the Beach, “Does it have to be there?”