Save Our Pools (SOP) was formed in 2010, after the Mayor in Dearborn, MI proposed closing all 6 of the outdoor small pools to help resolve a budget deficit. The residents in Dearborn responded quickly to let the city know that closing the pools was not an option. Save Dearborn's Small Pools began as a group on Facebook by then-High-School-Junior, Danielle Misovich, who was a lifeguard and didn't want to lose her summer job. The group exploded from there and, soon, everyone in Dearborn had heard of SOP.
Before the budget was adopted, the Mayor removed the proposal to close the pools. It was a victory with a lot of work ahead. SOP got to work, organizing pool clean-ups to ensure on-time opening, floatie nights at different pools, movie nights, sold t-shirts with business sponsorships, increased the sale of pool tags, and more. We were even able to raise enough money to keep a couple pools open a few days longer than scheduled in 2010.
As the year went on, SOP continued to plan ways to lessen the costs of the pools to ensure their viability for the future. This included saving nearly $100,000 in operating costs by simply turning off non-essential lights and furnaces when they weren't needed. We looked long-term and big-picture, too. With the help of StarPak, we presented a solar heating opportunity to the city, which could save approximately $60,000 per year.
In 2011, we held our collective breath as the budget proposal was released. Despite the work that we had put in, the budget proposal included closing three small pools this year, and the remaining three next year - then demolishing them all. The movement caught steam and the residents rallied yet again around our pools. After numerous budget workshops and public meetings, a successful rally, hundreds of petition signatures, op-eds, news articles, changes to the budget, and discussions, a decision was made. Two pools were going to close but not permanently - they would be "moth-balled" so that they might be opened again in the future.
In July 2011, a Pool Sub-Committee was formed through the Recreation Department. The sub-committee included two representatives of SOP, two members of the Recreation Commission, a member from the City Sustainability Department, a Dearborn Community Fund Representative, two representatives from the Recreation Department and two additional supporting members. The committee decided to put a hold on any further meetings until after the millage votes in November 2011 so the next meeting occurred in December 2011. Since then, the committee has met multiple times a month to identify options available to the residents of Dearborn to try to keep the pools. These ongoing efforts have identified one option: a Special Assessment District vote so that each pool district may vote to pay a yearly assessment to cover the costs for their pool. SOP believed this option was divisive and a flawed process and chose to take a new direction, with a Compromise. In addition, SOP is glad to have established a partnership in 2012 with the Dearborn Community Fund, which means those large donations now have a tax write-off option (check out the Get Involved tab).
Thank you for visiting our page and for showing your support for the small pools in Dearborn. It is the passion, energy, and participation of each person that has made our SOP what it is today. We have shown that, together, we can be truly One Dearborn, One Team, One Family!
