The "Politics" of our Municipal Pool

Who could have anticipated the reaction of our aldermen in their narrow-minded position that the pool will be opened come hell or high water. Or in the case of our pool, " low water" because it all runs down the ravine or directly into the sanitary sewer. These sitting aldermen have had the opportunity year after year to have the problems with the pool properly evaluated and year after year they have failed miserably to accomplish anything constructive. Why is that? From what I have witnessed it comes down to the same method of operation that has existed with Peru city government for many years. That is, instead of common sense leadership we have certain individuals who are allowed to influence the way the city conducts its business in order to profit in some way. All this has been done with an almost complete disregard for what is in the best interest of the city as a whole. When you look back at the history of the Peru Municipal Pool you see a facility that has been obsolete for at least the last half of its entire existence. Yet elected officials dating back to Don Baker as a first term alderman have failed to seriously and honestly address the problem. I'm not saying they didn't talk about it, I'm saying they never took it seriously enough to upgrade it properly. Not at all unlike our streets and sewers. Flash forward to the present and what do we see? We have a new Mayor who wants an accurate and honest evaluation that will inform us of what we actually have. We will know if our pool is safe for our children or not. We will know if our pool is in violation of the National Code or any other state or federal laws regulating all public pools. We will know what if anything can be done to make our pool as safe as it should be so there will be no unacceptable risk to anyone. Then we have the consensus of our aldermen who say, just as carelessly and recklessly as they have for years, "Let's get it open", "Let's get it open". "It has always lost water, let's get it open". "Kenny will patch the cracks and it will be fine". Another summer fast approaching and it's the S-O-S. And I don't mean Save-Our-Ship. The recent council approval for the hiring of Williams Aquatics to proceed with a feasibility study that includes a comprehensive evaluation of our existing pool slipped past our aldermen without them ever realizing the scope of what they had just approved. They failed to understand that a "real" professional consultant will be bound to provide an honest and accurate report that will not be subject to the "influence peddlers" who have directed the council in the past. Finally, and for the first time in many years we will not be at the mercy of unqualified engineering consultants, unscrupulous (full-time and part-time) city employees, and ethically challenged elected officials in order to make a common sense decision about our pool. Don't be surprised if the recommendation from Williams is that the pool is unsafe and extremely out of compliance with the best case scenario a costly and delayed opening this summer. This is the point where we can expect to see some of our more "vocal" aldermen squeal in protest and proclaim how they will not be subject to state or federal regulations and how this is not at all what they expected for their $15,000. There will be some obvious confusion from at least one long time alderman who will likely mumble something like, "Oh Boy, I don't understand. This is not how we used to do it". I can't wait!