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Health & Fitness

Fool Me Once, Shame on You

The Beaumont Plunge was a great place to get out of the heat on the Fourth of July. The citizens of Beaumont still deserve our School District to honor it's word.

I took my two kids, ages 9 and 5, to the Beaumont Plunge yesterday to get some relief from the heat. I also wanted to see if the temperature of the water was any warmer than last year. I was pleasantly surprised. The water was a little cold at first but after I was in for a few minutes, it was refreshing. My kids were shivering after about 25 minutes but they had a great time. The other 50-60 in the pool looked like they were also having a great time, we will be back.

When I commented last week about the failure of the Beaumont School District (BUSD) to honor their word and provide the public access to their swimming pool during the summer, I think my point was lost in the discussion over the quality and conditions of the Plunge.

The Plunge is a nice experience and the water temperature is tolerable, at least it was yesterday, but we still deserve the school district to live up to their word. As two of our councilmen pointed out last week, the city spent resources (our tax dollars) to help the district build the state of the art pool at the high school with the belief that it would be opened to the public during the summer.

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Anyone watching the BUSD administration as closely as I do, recognize the situation with the BHS pool is business as usual. We are now hearing similar pledges that the new $15 million (our tax dollars) sports complex will also be a “community jewel."

We are hearing from many of the same councilmen, who worked to get Measure Z passed to fund the complex, that this will also benefit the community. Does this mean we will have access to the track and ball fields when school is not in session? Or will the gates be locked?

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We need to hear from our council members now of what their idea of “benefitting the community” means. This way we can hold them accountable in the future when they tell us, “We have no control over Beaumont High School” or “I do agree that the high school pool (stadium) should be more open to the public.”

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

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