Susan Helf, one of the founders of the group Save Evans Pool & Green Lake Community Center, is urging residents to attend three upcoming City Council meetings where funding the Green Lake Community Center and Evans Pool will be discussed.

Here’s more from Susan:

Councilmember Mike O’Brien has invited us to attend three upcoming Seattle City Council public budget hearings to support his proposal for additional funding to replace or remodel community centers and pools. Seattle Parks and Recreation funding runs in six-year cycles. The next cycle begins in 2020, which is practically tomorrow in bureaucratic time. Mike O’Brien says this is the time to persuade the Seattle City Council to include money in the 2018 budget for planning and design for replacing our pool and community center. This will allow Seattle Parks to be ready to break ground in 2020. All hearings will be at City Hall, 600 4th Ave. Please attend as many of these hearings as you can.

5:30 p.m. , Thurs., Oct. 5, 5:30 , public testimony on 2018 budget

, , public testimony on 2018 budget 5:30 p.m. , Wed., Nov. 1 , public testimony on 2018 budget

, , public testimony on 2018 budget 1:00 p.m. , Mon. Nov. 13 , City Council sitting as Metropolitan Park District governors, will hear testimony on Seattle Park and Recreation budget

We need to make a splash at these hearings! We suggest that swimmers wear swim caps and goggles; table tennis people, bring your paddles, basketball, baseball, soccer players, bring your sports equipment. Also make and bring banners, placards and other visual aids supporting our cause.

We strongly oppose turning our public facilities over to private entities like the YMCA to replace, remodel or operate. Private operation of our pools and community centers will lead to lack of accountability and transparency, loss of full-time public jobs and increased user fees. We demand that the City of Seattle honor the promises they’ve made for more than 10 years to replace or remodel our public park facilities . We urge the Council to allocate planning and design funding in the 2018 budget as a first step toward replacing Evans Pool and Green Lake and Lake City Community Centers in 2020. With adequate funding and good planning, this will allow Seattle Parks to be ready to break ground on new facilities when the next funding cycle begins. We further demand that the City allocate funding in the 2018 budget for planning and design work to remodel the other park facilities , including: Hiawatha, Queen Anne, Loyal Heights, South Park, Jefferson Park, Magnolia, Green Lake & Evans Pool and Magnuson during the 2020-2026 funding cycle.

If you can’t attend the meetings, please email the City Council: mike.obrien@seattle.gov lisa.herbold@seattle.gov sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov bruce.harrell@seattle.gov lorena.gonzalez@seattle.gov debora.juarez@seattle.gov kshama.sawant@seattle.gov rob.johnson@seattle.gov