THE POOL--THE REAL STORY

There is no question that Mrs. Doris Buffett deserves the thanks of the entire Fredericksburg community for providing the funds to allow the Dixon Street Pool to be enjoyed by all city residents. The events leading up to this gracious gift deserves a review in light of the credit now being claimed by Mrs. Girvan. First, lets cover what has not been disclosed in the story.

The City Parks & Recreation Commission at the time (and probably still is) the only locality who recognizes that there are youth in the community who require financial assistance to participate in our recreational programs. Working with the School Board such children are identified and fee waivers provided. To imply, as has been done, that the City failed to recognize this situation is false.

Another fact not covered in this story was that there had been a meeting between the Parks & Recreation Commission and community leaders and groups concerned about the fee issue. At that meeting it was agreed that the EXISTING waiver program would have to be expanded. At the end of the meeting ALL involved thanked the commission for working with them on this issue.

As outlined in the Free Lance story of June 30th http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/062006/06302006/202725 the fees being charged by the Parks & Recreation Commission were in line with every other community pool in the region. But unlike other localities the City Parks & Recreation Commission was prepared to work on a program to EXPAND the fee waiver program for those who could not afford the pool entry fees.


At the next Council meeting on June 27, 2006 http://www.fredericksburgva.gov/record/062706rg.asp Mrs. Girvan presented her proposal to open the pool up to city residents for free--Two days before the pool opening. The projected cost to the city would be about $67,000.00. This was the first the Council had heard of the proposal. I’ve gone back and checked my e-mails for any prior communication about this from Mrs. Girvan and there are none. Nothing was brought before the Parks & Recreation Commission who had been meeting for months trying to work out the fee schedule.

In light of the prior meeting between the Parks & Rec Commission and community leaders, and the fact that they were already working on this issue, I made the motion to let the Parks & Rec Commission come back with a recommendation and agreed that the meeting should be held as soon as possible.

The next morning I was contacted by an acquaintance of Mrs. Buffett and was told she had received a phone call from someone explaining that I had stopped an effort to waive pool fees for underprivileged children and was asked to call her, which I did.

I explained to Mrs. Buffett the current waiver program and that it was going to be expanded. I asked her to call some of the community leaders who had attended the meeting with the Parks & Recreation Commission. She still was not happy with yours truly and the city and was going to City Hall with a check. I contacted staff and the Mayor and advised them of the conversation. I also send out an e-mail to the Parks & Rec Commission members advising them that Mrs. Buffett was going to be at City Hall at 2pm the following day with a check.

There followed a series phone conversations with the Mayor and staff to verify with Mrs. Buffett that she was going forward and get more details on what precipitated this decision. Finally, it was decided that Bob Antozzi, and what members of the Parks & Rec Commission could attend, should be there to accept the check.

At the appointed time Mrs. Girvan arrived, family in tow, to accept the check on behalf of the city. Up to this point there had been no communications from Mrs. Girvan. It wasn’t until 3:31pm that day that she sent out an e-mail to the Council announcing the gift. When asked why she had not informed anyone else about the gift she stated that she had only just received notification and didn’t have time to tell anyone else.

This story had a happy ending though the work of the Parks & Rec. Commission in dealing with this issue has bee ignored. The question to ask is what if there had not been a Mrs. Doris Buffett to intervene?

What credit does Mrs. Girvan deserve for, by her own admission, just showing up to pick-up a check? What does it say about how she will work with the Council and/or Boards and Commissions? The majority of the Council has always talked about how “we” the City—Council, staff, and residents, have accomplished things. Only one member insists on using the term, “I.”