POOL IS OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the North Kitsap School District Board of Directors voted tonight to keep the pool open until 8/31/09. This places the pool operations back into the school district budget and part of next years budget process.

THE POOL IS OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a very important step in the process of securing the future of the pool for many years to come. We have all worked hard to reach this point and we mus all continue to work hard in regards to the pool.

We have stepped up as a community and CLEARLY communicated to the school board that they MUST not close the pool. The community support was overwhelming to the point that the school district could simply not ignore the will of the people.

Please join me in continuing to work on the pool. I wil be calling for everyone to step up over the coming months and join us in raising funds for the pool and participating in the many items we are working on to increase the viability of the pool.

I cannot thank you all enough for you help and assitance. My family and most importantly the SWIMMERS in my family thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Thank you

Randy

Citizens Pool Advisory Committee

Hello Everyone,

I apologize for being so quiet lately, but as many of you know I am co-chairing the Citizens Pool Advisory Committee. We have been working hard compiling data on pool operations and gathering our recommendations to increase the pools efficiency and profitability.

We will present our recommendations to the school board on Thursday, October 23rd at 7 pm.

I hope to see you all there.

Randy

Candidates Forum

School Board Meeting - The Budget Vote

7:00 PM
Thursday, August 28th
18360 Caldart Ave.

This is the Budget Vote meeting. It's time again to put large numbers of pool supporters in the room.

You can download and review the budget proposal HERE or go to the NKSD website

Please show up and bring your friends.

Big Meeting On Saturday

Pool News: Big Meeting Saturday Morning
On Monday morning, the NKSD school board approved a proposal by the Superintendant to create a citizen advisory group to: “monitor and evaluate operations through December” and to “create a business plan” which would offer long-term funding solutions.
So we want your help.
Please join your fellow swimmers—and other interested citizens—for a Idea Generating Meeting. One giant brainstorm about money. No (legal) idea too crazy!

Please invite anyone else that has an interest in assisting us.

Saturday
August 16
8:30 to 11
Board Room
NKSD

School Board Meeting - Monday, August 11

On Monday, August 11th at 10 am the school board will meet in a special meeting called to review a budget proposal for operting the North Kitsap Community Pool through December 31, 2008.

In addition, the school board will consider the formation of a North Kitsap Pool Advisory Committee to oversee pool operations and report back to the superintendent.

The outcome of this meetings should give us a pretty good idea if the pool will be open after August 31, 2008.

Randy

Month of August

Since the school board will make their final decision regarding the pool on August 28th there is little time to organize further fundraising events.

Please continue to contact individuals and businesses and request their financial support for the pool. We now have our website setup to accept donations via credit card, so please feel free to direct individuals to our website to make a contribution.

The school board has approved a new advertising policy that will allow us to sell advertising space at the pool. Andy and I are working on a mock up that we will include in a marketing package we plan to send out to North Kitsap businesses. We believe this is a huge potential for funding for the pool. We could use a volunteer to help us create and maintain a listing of businesses we will send the material to and to help us put the mailing together. Please let me know if you can help.

Everyone has done a fantastic job supporting the pool. Keep up the good work.

Randy

City of Poulsbo

August will be a quiet month for direct fundraising efforts due to the time constraints before the school board makes their decision.

Over the next several weeks it will be important that we continue to focus efforts on the Poulsbo City Council. They continue to discuss the pool, but to date they have not committed to supporting the pool financially. The fact is they have the money. New businesses, such as WalMart, are generating a large increase in sales tax revenue for the city and I believe the city should direct some of these funds back to the community.

A majority of the individuals that are shopping at these new businesses are not residents of the City of Poulsbo so the cities argument that they should not fund a resource that is used by the entire North Kitsap community is simply not valid. The entire North Kitsap community is contributing to the increased revenue the city is realizing and they have an obligation to recognize that.

There is a city council meeting on August 6th and I encourage everyone to attend and address the city council. Keep the letters and emails going and let them hear your voice.

Randy

School Board Update

The next school board meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 28th. The school board will approve the 2008-2009 district budget at this meeting and we will know the final outcome regarding the pool when the budget is approved.

At the last school board meeting the board instructed the district finance director to sharpen her pencil and work on balancing a budget with the pool included. I have spoken to the finance director and I know she is working on a budget for the pool and will present that to the school board on August 28th.

The word from the school board is that they are considering keeping the pool open until December 31 with a strong statement that monthly reports must be made to the school board regarding pool and that there must be a focus on making the pool operate more efficiently and generate more revenue in order to reduce the burden on the school district.

I have requested that the school board consider creating a pool oversight committee that can work directly with the pool manager regarding pool operations and that this committee provide the monthly updates the board is requesting.

Please continue to contact the school board members and express your continued support for the pool. We cannot let them think our efforts have died off and we need to keep the pressure on.

Randy

Fun Run/Walk Results

It is my pleasure to announce that the fun run/walk held yesterday was a HUGE success.

There were a total of 224 participants which far exceeded any event Poulsbo Running has held.

The final total of the amount raised is $4,656.

Please join me in expressing our thanks for Chris and Brooke for sponsoring this event. You can email them at poulsborunning@foxinternet.com.

The turn out continues to show the support that we have from the community for the pool. Please continue to contact the school board and the Poulsbo City Council to express your thoughts and support for the pool. The city council needs to step up and respond the communities interest and provide financial support for the pool and the school board needs to understand that the pool provides an important resource for the education of our children. WRITE THEM AND TELL THEM HOW YOU FEEL.

Thanks

Randy

S'Klallam Tribe

The S'Klallam Tribe notified us today that they are donating $5,000 to the Save Our Pool efforts.

Please join me in thanking the tribe for their support of the pool.

You can find the contact information for the tribe at http://www.pgst.nsn.us/new-content/contact/contact.php.

Randy

Poulsbo Life - Poll On Pool Usage

Please go to http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/jul/06/poulsbolife-poll/ and take the poll that Poulsbo Life Newspaper is conducting on pool usage.

Randy

Fun Run

Hi Everyone,

We are making great progress with the School Board and things are looking positive. The school board will finalize the 2008-09 district budget during their August meeting and that is when we will know the final decision regarding the pool.

Andy and I continue to work with the City, County, School District, etc. to keep the ball moving on forming a metropolitan parks district.

The total amount we have raised to date in cash and pledges reached the $30k mark today with recent pledges that occurred today. Keep an eye out for an announcement regarding a recent donor.

Our fun run is scheduled for this Sunday and I have attached a flyer regarding the event. Poulsbo Running has indicated that participation is very high compared to other events they have organized so it looks like this will be a great event. I will know more details regarding the actual route of the run/walk on Thursday and I will send out that information on Thursday night.

The route is being set so that it will work for all levels of runners and walkers and even to accommodate jogging strollers. It will be a great event and a great fundraiser for the pool.

I still need a couple of volunteers so please let me know if you would like to help out. Perhaps you want to participate on the sidelines and support the pool.

World Drowning Report

R. J. Urbauer USCGAUX Vessel Safety Examiner writes - "When will we have a drowning death in Buck Lake or on the beach at Arness Park, because we don't have a facility to provide a "learn-to-swim" program? The International Life Saving Organization is embarking on a program to break the "drowning chain" that occurs through a chain of four factors, one of which is the "inability to cope, once in difficulty". We need to do our best to keep our pool open - to save a life."

A link to the World Drowning Report is listed under the document section. Please read this important report.

5k Fun Run

Mor Mor

It is my pleasure to announce the following fundraising opportunity that is being made available to us by Mor Mor. Please take some time to thank them for their help in keeping the pool open.

Bistro Presents Save Our Pool Events:

July - Desert Plate for $8 detailed on the menu for the pool fundraiser. 50% of proceeds go to the pool fund.

August - Mor for a Difference sponsors the Save our Pool campaign. Eat at Mor Mor Bistro any Wednesday between 11am-2pm and a portion of the proceeds will go to the pool fund. Plus all monies raised at Mor Mor during the month of August for the pool will be matched dollar for dollar by Kevin Hogan at Liberty Bay Auto.

www.mormorbistro.com infor@mormorbistro.com

Contacting the Poulsbo City Council

We believe that a partnership with the City of Poulsbo is one component to the future survival of the pool. We have been in discussions with the city and the city is exploring options.

Please feel free to contact the city council members to express your support for the city's involvment in keepin the pool open. The following is a listing of email addresses for the city council members.

Linda Berry-Marais lberrymaraist@cityofpoulsbo.com
Connie Lord clord@cityofpoulsbo.com
Becky Erickson berickson@cityofpoulsbo.com
Jeff McGinty jmcginty@cityofpoulsbo.com
Ed Stern estern@cityofpoulsbo.com
Dale Rudolph drudolph@cityofpoulsbo.com
Kimberlee Crowder kcrowder@cityofpoulsbo.com

Contacting the North Kitsap School Board

We encourage everyone to contact the school board to express their support for the pool. Here are the email addresses for the school board members.

Tom Anderson fizix4u@comcast.net
Dan Delaney ddelaney@nkschools.org
Melanie Mohler moh123@earthlink.net
Ed Strickland elzbthstrc@aol.com
Val Torrens vtorrens@nkschools.org

You can see their pictures and more information at http://www.nkschools.org/district/board/members.shtml

USA Swimming Foundation - Make A Splash

Hello Everyone,

I came accross the "Make A Splash" program that was established by the USA Swimming Foundation. This is a prime example of a project our pool should be involved in and it would further solidify the importance of a pool in our community.

Please take a look at the website. http://swimfoundation.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=261&srcid=262

Randy

Articles of Note

Poulsbo Piranhas swimmer Taletha Aban took the floor at the NK School Board meeting on the June 5th and delivered an passionate speech. You can read it here, or through the link at the right.

Also the Wall Street Journal article "Child Drownings Rise, Spark Safety Concerns" is worth a look.

This Week

Wow, what a week for the pool.

Our meeting on Tuesday night was well attended and we have alot of individuals wroking to save the pool.

The meeting with the City of Poulsbo Finance/Budget Committee was encouraging.

The march from the pool to the City Council meeting included over one hundred individuals and clearly communicated our support for the pool to the community and the city council.

We packed the house at the school board meeting and one of our swimmers rocked the house with her presentation to the school board.

One issue was reinforced during the school board meeting. There are a great number of individuals that support the pool and not all of those individuals have the facts they need. It is important that we all educate the community about the facts related to he pool so that we can communicate a clear and consistent message.

Thank you for your support of the pool.

Logo

Tom Springer has done a fabulous job creating two possible logos for us. Please take a look and email me at saveourpool@comcast.net with your preference.

Fund Setup At American Marine Bank

An account under the name of "Save our Pool" has been established at American Marine Bank. The account number is 0921008801 and you can make contributions at any American Marine Bank branch location.Your support and financial contributions are needed to keep the pool open and we appreciate any contributions you can make.In addition, you can send contributions to Save our Pool at PO Box 1284, Poulsbo, WA 98370.Please contact us at saveourpool@comcast.net if we can provide any further information.

Two Messages from Randy

Hello pool supporters,

Andy Sergant, Greg Schmidt and I (Randy Borek) are members of the steering committee working to organize our efforts to keep the North Kitsap Community Pool open and available to our community.

We have begun the process of organizing our efforts and are working hard to bring everyone together to raise money for pool operations. We encourage everyone to get involved and assist in anyway they can. There are a lot of things to do and we need as many volunteers as possible.

Please contact me at saveourpool@comcast.net if you are interested in assisting us in our efforts.

Thanks

Randy Borek
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I attended tonight's school board meeting and it is clear to me that we need to show them that we support the pool.

We need more individuals to attend school board meetings and everyone needs to contact the school board to show your support.

It is time to step up and get involved if you want to keep the pool open.

Randy

Facts at a Glance:
• The 2008-09 budget presented to the NKSD board does not include a budget for the pool.
• As a Non-Profit organization we are trying to raise funds from the North Kitsap community to keep the pool open for 1 year
• The yearly budget for the pool for salaries and maintenance is $350,000
• These funds would last 1 year - Hopefully enough time to raise community awareness and establish a community and/or county organization to become responsible for management and financing of the pool
• The pool will close August 31, 2008 if the funding is not found!

Welcome

The purpose of this blog is to provide information regarding the status of the North Kitsap Pool. We are actively trying to fund raise the $350,000 we need to keep the pool open for the North Kitsap community. Shortly, there should be a way to contribute directly through this blog. In the meantime, we invite you to join our efforts in keeping the pool open.