I was concerned to hear that the city is planning to close Southside Park's pool for the summer due to the current budgetary conditions. I am opposed to this proposal as indicated in the budget.

1. It is unfair that we had our pool closed for years, to finally have it reopen last year, just to take it away from us again.

2. Sacramento summers are extremely hot! It's dangerous to walk long distances in these conditions and the pool provides a welcome respite to those living near it. It is incredibly easy to fall victim to heatstroke here with 110 degree days.

3. I understand that the pool near McKinley park has been proposed as a hub pool. My opinion is that if the city were to close any pool, they should close the one at McClunie and use the Southside Park pool as a hub pool (open 5 days a week) instead. East Sacramento is a financially affluent neighborhood that has never had their pool closed in the last few years. The people in that neighborhood have the ability to fend for themselves just fine. It is also much easier to reach Southside Park's pool via public transit due to our proximity to the 13th St light rail station which all three lines go to, and the bus 51 route which has the highest ridership in the SacRT service area. We also have made great strides with protected bike lanes in our neighborhood.

Southside Park is an incredibly diverse community with a high amount of BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) low income residents who depend on access to our pool to survive. This is especially relevant as our Latiné neighbors are dealing with the fear of ICE and may feel uncomfortable traveling far from home due to the risks associated with that. With the above in mind, I believe the proposed Southside Park pool closure is both unethical and inequitable.

4. The other proposed hub pools at Meadowview and Natomas should remain as proposed to benefit their respective communities. I would just like to point out that these are both too far away for Southside Park residents, many of whom do not have cars like myself or cannot afford a rideshare (i.e. Uber, Lyft).

Reaching Meadowview requires either biking through some sketchy areas (and risk getting hit by a car) or taking the blue line train which often breaks down in the summer due to the heat, and is currently experiencing frequent service disruptions due to updating the SacRT light rail stations to work with the new low floor trains.

Journeying to Natomas requires again biking through some unsafe areas or taking bus 11. As I'm sure many other Southside Park, Natomas, and Land Park residents can tell you, bus 11 does NOT pick us up. Despite our best efforts (being at the stop on time, hailing the driver even though SacRT says you shouldn't need to) the driver just goes right on past you and leaves you behind at the stop. She only stops when someone is getting OFF the bus, not when someone is trying to get on. This combination of factors make it nearly impossible to reach Natomas.

Please keep Southside Park's pool open as a hub pool this summer.

Thank you!