This letter is not a personal attack on anyone. It is based on the belief that tax dollars should be spent wisely.

Back in the 1960s King County built swimming pools at several locations around the county. As the facilities aged, the county realized how expensive they were to operate and maintain. They looked for cities to take on this burden. The Tahoma School District passed on Tahoma Pool which is now called Covington Aquatic Center. Even though the Kent Meridian Pool was only a few miles away, the city of Covington took on the costs of running the pool. Over the years well over a million dollars of taxes have been spent beyond the revenue generated by the pool. This money could have been spent on parks. In my opinion the time has come to privatize the pool so that some of the money can be spent on parks. Since the city accepted grants for the pool, it must be kept open but it could be operated at less cost to the taxpayers. I am not opposed to swimming, it may be the most complete exercise for your body. The pool should stay open but by privatizing more tax dollars could be spent on parks.

If it was up to me, I would eliminate the Parks Director position and spend that money on park improvements or acquisitions. I realize that this idea is too far out of the box to be considered, but raising taxes should not always be the only alternative for spending on parks.

Philip Jones

Covington