Rosita pool plan must include big picture

Los Altos City Council members had their hands full at last week’s meeting, wrestling with design options for the long-awaited, always-controversial community pool project slated for the end of Rosita Avenue.

The option of a second rectangular pool, 4.5 feet deep, took us by surprise because the council back in April called for a wading pool, no more than 18 inches deep, to supplement the main pool. It also seemed that the project as a whole needs to be addressed, rather than only pool design. There are questions of paths and parking lot placement and traffic mitigation that need to be simultaneously considered.

What’s really needed is a new pool master plan that looks at the whole picture and ensures that the spirit of the council’s April decision for one community pool is honored.

Yes, this pool plan has been years in the making and the process, bowing to neighborhood skepticism (not to mention a lawsuit), has been overly long. But the council and project stakeholders have come too far to make a wrong move now.

Council members have made significant progress, getting opposing sides - swimming and neighborhood advocates - together to work out compromise solutions. Expert diplomacy is required here. Those raising funds for the project want to see maximum use of the site. Neighbors who stand to be impacted will be the first to cry foul at any deviation from a one-pool plan.

A new master plan would lock the big picture into place and provide direction from which council members can work as they move forward on a solution that hopefully offers something good for everyone.

Where’s the LA emergency coordinator?

Last week, Los Altos City Council members had an opportunity to move forward on the process for a full-time emergency coordinator. But it didn’t happen.

Granted, the council’s time was taken up by discussion of the Rosita pool issue. But this coordinator position has been in limbo for months, despite $90,000 in available funding.

We look forward to council members discussing the position at the Jan. 9 meeting.

The city has made significant strides in emergency preparedness over the last few years, training record numbers of residents and securing a trailer stocked with emergency equipment. The next step is getting a coordinator on board. Let’s make this happen sooner rather than later.