Menlo Park's contract with Menlo Swim and Sport, aka Tim Sheeper, to manage Menlo Park's pools expires Aug. 31. Sheeper has managed these pools for the past 16 years, and there is healthy pro and con debate on Nextdoor and elsewhere as to whether Menlo Park should give Sheeper a new contract going forward.

There are lots of details in the contract and the details are important, but the pro and con debate seems more about values and personal viewpoints than the details. The con side is mostly made of two groups. One says it was wrong in the first place, and it is still wrong, to have a private company manage a pool that was built by the public with public funds. They say a private company inherently puts profits before people. A second wants more space at the pool for the public and less for athletic teams.

The pro side is mostly made up of people who swim a lot and have a lot of experience around swimming pools. They say Sheeper is doing a really good job creating and managing swim programs as compared to other pools where they have experience. They are less concerned with whether the management is private or public. They say if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

An Almanac article included criticisms that Sheeper does not give enough time to the public and gives too much to teams. Looking at the pool schedule I don't see this criticism as fair, but readers can judge for themselves by going to menloswim.com/pool-schedule. The users of the pool are Aqua Fit, open swim, lap swim, lessons, kids' summer camps, youth swim team, adult swim/triathlon team and mavens (women's) water polo. Which do you cut back?

Menlo Park City Council member Ray Mueller says that the criticism is really an indication of how successful Sheeper's programs have been to attract so many users. The youth and adult swim teams pack four to seven swimmers per lane.

The fundamental problem seems to be that the Burgess pools are not big enough to handle the success of the swim programs. In 2003 when the pools were in the late planning stage, Sheeper tried to have Menlo Park build one of the two pools at Burgess to a larger size (50 meters instead of 25 meters) than was planned. He spearheaded a drive that raised contributions of $1 million at the time for the extra costs. Menlo Park architect Sam Sinnott drafted architectural site drawings for Burgess that included the bigger pool. For various controversial reasons, Menlo Park rejected this idea and built the very good, but smaller, Burgess pools that are very crowded today.

Stanford has many pools including two 50 meter pools that are often half-used or not in use. Maybe Stanford could chip in a little pool space for the community. We are all looking forward to the Menlo Park Community Center (MPCC) pool that is being built in Belle Haven. Maybe the new MPCC pool will share some of the load when it is completed.

Most critics concede in a general way that Sheeper has provided good swim programs for Menlo Park for the past 16 years. He is credited for restaffing the pools quickly after COVID, much more quickly for a much more difficult operation than Menlo Park's publicly managed gymnastics program. Our City Council is now in the process of deciding who will manage Menlo Park's pools going forward after the current contract with Sheeper expires Aug. 31. As a frequent swimmer I am hopeful that Sheeper and Menlo Park continue their partnership this year and for many more years.