Park board defends Kits Pool booking system amid criticism from mayor
Still, the board seems in no hurry to make changes.
The reservation system has been in place for years now. Users can book two-and-a-half-hour sessions, with 20 per cent of the capacity left for drop-ins.
'The most important thing that I want people to know is that drop-in is obviously still an option for folks who are looking to swim at Kits Pool,' park board general manager Steve Jackson told CTV News during a Friday interview. 'We do have an incredible amount of capacity to accommodate our drop-in users.'
While some claim the system is preventing those with unpredictable schedules from going for a swim, the park board insists it's not the case.
'We've only had one session so far this summer where we had to turn folks away for drop-ins,' Jackson said. 'I was on site yesterday myself talking to the head life guard, and he mentioned the same thing. They are able to accommodate quite a lot of people through drop-ins.'
Others have criticized the changeover periods lasting half an hour each between booked sessions, in which the pool sits empty, often during prime times.
'Before we went through this process, and even well before COVID, we received a lot of complaints about the cleanliness of our changerooms,' Jackson said, when asked about those complaints. 'So that changeover time allows our staff to get through those changerooms. It allows the patrons to get in and out as well. They've got to shower, they've got to change.'
But none of this is convincing Mayor Ken Sim, who has now joined those calling for a return to a first-come-first-served system.
'Yeah, look, I want to be very respectful to the park board GM,' Sim said Friday. 'We are getting, like, an overwhelming number of comments of people that are frustrated with the reservation system.'
CTV News asked whether the mayor's position is related to his desire to eliminate the elected park board.
'We're not pushing this because there's the desire to get rid of the elected park board,' Sim said. 'This is just another example of why we should get rid of the elected park board.'
This week, the park board decided not to hear a motion from ABC commissioner Marie-Claire Howard.
The motion had called for a return to drop-in access only, but given it wasn't heard, the booking system will survive the summer, at least.
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