The Tragedy of the Community Pool

I’ve been busy getting our community pool up and running again after a couple of years of COVID and no lifeguards.

It’s been going well, and in response the residents of my community have made it clear that I’m a racist defensive white male asshole with no leadership skills and an insane lust for power. It’s been special.

My question: can anyone point me at any kind of treatment or analysis of “The Tragedy of the Commons” that focuses on a community swimming pool? My Google-fu has let me down. Essentially, I’d like to find something like Hardin’s article{1}{2} that talks about a shared community pool. Does such a thing even exist?

Thank you in advance,

Bill

{1} https://www.hendrix.edu/uploadedFiles/Admission/GarrettHardinArticle.pdf

{2} yeah, I know Hardin’s been ‘canceled’ recently. Honestly, I don’t care and it doesn’t invalidate what he and Lloyd and others were saying.

I’ll post more detail sometime soon when I have time to write. and have had a chance to organize my thoughts. As with a lot of material here, even if it’s not of immediate use, someone down the road might find it helpful.

Thank you for your interest. If it weren’t for stuff I’ve learned here from you guys, I’d have run away screaming on this one.

Bill

Bill,
Just remember that.

"If you do not have Critics you are probably not very Successful"

Board service in a nutshell.

It may help to know what has prompted them to react this way. If nothing else, it may give us some more search terms that will find something that is relevant even if it doesn't apply to pools.

IMHO, pools seem to be lightning rods (unfortunate image there) because people are just testier in summer weather. You don't have riots in winter, at least in my area, because Mother Nature is straight up trying to kill us all.

Thank you, guys. You’re the best.

Since there’s interest, I’ll definitely post a writeup here soon. It’s a story with a lot of moving parts, though, and the fluid, concise style that many of you command does not come easy to me.

I’ll attempt to give you a very brief overview: ~600 homes in Austin; our one amenity is our community pool. We haven’t had lifeguards for the past couple of years due to COVID and the recent high price and scarcity of lifeguards. Our pool committee chair quit about a year ago after holding the position for several years. This year we managed to secure lifeguards for a reasonable price, on weekends and holidays. The pool is surrounded by a fence, and uses an electronic key-fob system to control access. Earlier this year we had a lot of problems with a vandal/trespasser, and last year we had problems in general with non-residents accessing the pool and throwing parties and trashing the place. One, no two last things:

We have lousy communications. We use FB a lot. I know we shouldn’t.

Our Board is lovable but dysfunctional. I’ve been doing most of the heavy lifting, especially this year. I don’t mind it - but there’s a definite temptation to cut corners when I’m running with something.

I will make no claims of being a perfect actor in all of this stuff.

In short: lifeguards! Immediately there are complaints. A pattern develops: “The lifeguard was rude to me and said I was breaking a rule! I don’t like that rule, and I don’t think I should have to follow it! And the lifeguards are racist!” Contested rules include the ‘adult swim rule’, the ‘no alcohol’ rule, the ‘no tightrope-walking on the lap-lane marker rope’ rule, and (probably the least favorite of rules) the ‘sign-in’ rule, as in “the lifeguard made me sign in! I’ve never had to do that before! And they make me wait until my guests are here!” This last is an artifact of the LGs attempting to prevent tailgaters.

I was at the pool to meet the (RCA certified) lifeguards on their first day. I gave them three instructions:

1. Y’all are professional lifeguards. Go out there and give us some professional lifeguarding.
2. Please try to keep tailgaters and non-residents out.
3. If anyone gives you grief, tell them “we’re following the Board’s instructions” and feel free to send them to me. Because we’re paying you to lifeguard, not to justify and explain your reasoning.

The lifeguards seemed happy with this. And I’ve observed them and they are really, really good at their job (frankly, I lucked out getting people this good for as little as we had available to spend).

The complaints started almost immediately. “I want your names and I’ll have your job!” is one of the milder ones. The LGs compile a report each day of the pool water quality, # of swimmers, and ‘other’. Some of the ‘other’ stuff shames me, that I live with such neighbors (I’ll give you some select examples later). There are indeed cries of ‘racism!’ but the only racism I’m aware of was directed at one of the LGs (the LGs are Mexican American). And out on FB, a resident SJW begins advancing that the LGs are pushing an agenda set in place by one of the Board members (me) to ‘police’ the pool and everyone should remember this for the upcoming election. I challenged this SJW to run for the Board and was told “I would! (but I’m a renter)”. I have no idea what this person’s problem is.

I have to end this here, sorry - we’ve actually got a working meeting tonight with our PM to get our annual meeting scheduled, and I’ve got some stuff to take care of beforehand. More to come, like this one guy who is hinting that I’m a racist *and* a pedophile (“he sat in his car, eyeing the children at the playground”){1}. Plus a rather sketchy person who is volunteering to be pool committee chair and another Board member thinks we should accept them ‘just because’. The LGs will be back tomorrow and I’ll be happy to see them - they’re pleasant and down-to-earth and good at what they do and I fear that my butthole neighbors will make them walk off of the job.

Oh - I’m sharing this, and small, measured amounts of sympathy are absolutely welcome. But no pity, please. It’s stressful for sure, but I’ve dealt with far, far worse in the past.

Best regards (and CA3 for Board! Receivership is Bad! Bad! Bad!)

Bill

{1} in fact, I sat in my car listening to the last half of Filter’s “Hey Man Nice Shot” at high volume because it’s a great song plus, weirdo that I am, loud music relaxes me before I need to go talk to people F2F. Argh! And it’s the idiocy and annoyance of falling into these ‘traps’ where I feel like I need to explain myself because … argh.

Bill,
I think your note explained a lot and you are better than you give yourself credit for my friend. I will say that as I was reading your note I cringed every time you said Lifeguard. In our community they can only be referred to as Pool Monitors because LGs are expected to save lives. If yours are truly certified as such they should not be dealing with people at the entrance or getting involved with detailed conversations with unhappy people at the Pool. It is hard to do both. It seems to me like your people are Monitors. I would recommend changing the language because of possible trouble down the road. Most pools have guest are swimming at their own risk and I assume your say something similar. I also make a point to tell our monitors that if they speak to anyone about the rules they are to say, "The Board" and never mention anyone's name. It is the board's decision if you take on the responsibility to be the Pool Chairperson.

Any HOA board has similar issues and if you are like me I pray for rain and cold weather till the season ends.

So Bill's HOA can "enclose" (close off) the commons per Lisa. But is this "break" required? In the olden days, the Enclosures Acts not only impoverished many, they pissed them off.

It's excellent, Bill, that you found pool monitors and good ones too. Shortage in our coastal beaches & public pools too.

Damn shame you're getting grief about your efforts.

This is more of a longer-term solution and may not be feasible ... but are there any "professionals" out there who would attend a board meeting or whatever and explain how "the rules" allow for safe operating of the pool and without the rules you'd have to close? "A Safe Pool is an Open Pool!"

We've had success with getting the pros in talk to residents about various topics.

Another longer-term idea not directly related to the pool, and since you've already referred to it: consider dumping social media. It rewards bad behavior, so you get more of it. It also tends to discourage the folks who don't like the bad behavior, so they leave. Result: amplified, concentrated bad behavior. I think this is a significant contributor to our dysfunctional social discourse these days. Social media has reset people's notions of acceptable behavior.

(My theory about pools:
* It's summer and everybody is cranky.
* It's 2023 and everybody is crankier.
* You say "pool" and everybody thinks they're 10 years old again - with a 10-year-old's maturity level.

I share LetA's opinion of pools. Also, as an adult, thanks to the Fair Housing laws I pretty much can't use the pool they way I want to, which is swim laps. So I'm basically paying to entertain everybody else's kids. I'll pass.)

I think pools are terrible for HOAs for many reasons.

It is amazing that there is an expectation today that a volunteer board has to figure out whether it should have either lifeguards, pool monitors or both. Then a volunteer (or manager, overseen by the board) has to coordinate this. If lifeguards are not required, but then a HOA hires them anyway (and has been discussed here in the past), so people think the HOA is responsible for their pool safety, is the HOA undertaking more potential liability?

What is happening to BillD16 (and past pool coordinators at his HOA) is terrible. I think this is right up there with the worst of HOAs.

I remain grateful for the history SheliaH has provided about her condo/HOA: Years ago it voted to fill in the pool. Brilliant. It's just too much for mere, already heavily burdened volunteers to oversee.

We have two pools with no lifeguards or pool monitors. They are posted "swim at your own risk". We've never had an issue because our community is mostly older people, but recently we have had more kids and a request for a party.

We are considering changing the documents so that there is a limit to the number of guests an owner can bring to the pool before having to declare it a party, sign a waiver and pay a cleaning deposit.

Are we going to run into Fair Housing issues by doing that? I've never had to deal with any Fair Housing issues before and am completely ignorant.

Also, we don't have any kind of disability accomodations and aren't required to because the pool is only open to owners and guests. Are we opening ourselves up to any kind of discrimination issues?

I recommend talking to the association attorney if there are any questions about Fair Housing laws. You have to in any case if you're planning to re-write a portion of your CC&Rs.

Our attorneys recommended that we contact them the minute we got a whiff of a Fair Housing issue, because these laws are unforgiving and even lawyers can occasionally get things wrong if they're not careful. I'd consider it a breach of fiduciary duty if volunteer boards try to navigate the potential issues on their own.

Noted. Though to quibble further:

-- I think it is "more than three" housing units. That is, three or less housing units using the pool translates to a "private swimming pool" in Ohio.

-- I tried to be careful in my wording, on account of disability law. For one I am not sure that Ohio's designation pertains to disability law. I think it might pertain to pool chemistry and other somewhat more mundane health requirements.

https://odh.ohio.gov/know-our-programs/public-swimming-pools/laws-and-rules

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-3749.01

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/chapter-3701-31

So for example the federal chair lift requirement for pools appears to apply only to pools "open to the public" (per the media). A HOA pool is not open to the public.

?

Look above. You said it was the hourly swim break (pool off limits to all) that was similar to the Enclosures Act.

An adult swim hour would be similar to the Enclosures Act.

I'm sorry my writing is so unclear. I simply used the word "enclose" in my 2nd post to stick with the Subject. I hope my recent above is clearer. Also my attempt to be cute failed. I should have written "some of the many," vs. my some of the some." Carry on---and on-- ElleN.

We have swim lanes set aside by ropes at both our pools. Although we don't have lifeguards, it's a self-policing situation and generally we don't have conflicts. The lap swimmers swim in the lanes (pretty heavily used) and the kids and recreationally swimmers are everywhere else. The only problem we have is that the ropes get stretched and ends get frayed because of the kids who like to hang on them.

When I was a kid, we also had adult swim at our community pool - where I spent nearly all day, every day of every summer. You were allowed to come to the pool without adult supervision when you were 8 if you could pass a swim test (it was a different time and place - I can't even imagine that today). We used to hate when they called adult swim, but now I see that 1) it gave the lifeguards a break and 2) it gave the kids a chance to catch our breath. I find it very sad that the practice of allowing adults in the pool for 10 or 15 minutes without kids has to be covered by a government mandate.

On the other hand, I clearly remember (and am ashamed by) an incident where my parents wanted to use the pool for a pool party for my dad's Junior Achievement group that included African American high school students. It caused a HUGE uproar in our basically all-white community. I'm happy that those days are past and if it took a mandate to make that happen - then I can live with the other parts of the Fair Housing act.

You all were angels. For adult swim, my gang descended on the snack bar.
Thank you for sharing this.

Again: thank you, everyone. FWIW, I’m currently in the process of setting up a meeting with our attorney to discuss several pool issues, and the pool rules / FHA stuff is one of them: in short, I’m going to ask them to provide us with a lawyer-approved set of rules that we can slap in place. I see this as one of those things where it’s worth the money to have the lawyer do it so we can say “It is this way because our lawyer doth say so!” It’s sorta funny that, given all of the grief I’ve received over various pool rules, none of the residents have yet bothered to Google and find the FHA stuff. *knock on wood*

I’ve been pondering switching to a system where people have to register their guests. It would be an extremely tough sell, and the jokes about a mob of residents storming my house with torches and pitchforks might not actually be jokes anymore.

Quick comment re The Tragedy of the Commons: I agree that it’s not a perfect fit. But we do indeed have ‘selfish’ residents who are using far more than their fair share of pool resources, making messes, and costing us more money to deal with (not to mention taking the pool out of operation while our pool guy does decontam because someone knew their kid had diarrhea but brought them in anyway. And, oh, they tried to leave without reporting the mess).

Finally: the “idiot owner” who made that remark: if I were truly the “God-King” of the pool that some people claim I am, I would permaban him and his worthless clan for eternity. But the Board won’t let me, and (more importantly) the LG{1} in question wants to drop the matter. I don’t feel I have any choice but to respect their wishes.

I just found out I got stabbed in the back, so I’ll be licking my wounds over in the corner and whimpering “Et tu, Brute?” for the rest of the day. But I’ll be fine - I’m making ribs for dinner!

Bill

PS: I’ve also been finding solace in re-reading George R. R. Martin’s Tuf Voyaging. Which might send the wrong message. But I love the way he manages to stay cool in any situation.

{1} I’m sorry - at this point I can’t go to calling them ‘monitors’ or anything else. If nothing else, they’re proud of being RCA-certified lifeguards. And right now the very last thing I want to do is piss off the LGs.

why would you not hire a pool management company that not only cleans and maintains the pool year round (cleaning, chemicals, and all mechanical equipment), and provides Life Guards when the pool is open during the summer. I can not imagine trying to manage all that as a volunteer for my Board. The life guards monitor the pool one on the stand if under 25 people in the pool, an additional one on the deck if more than 25 people in the pool. and one of them is at the front desk where everyone has to sign in. Access to the pool is through a gate with a card reader or we provide a App for phones that can be scanned at the card reader, but everyone still has to sign in at the desk after the enter, including any guests (limit of 4 per household). The life guards also clean the restrooms, take out the rah bins on trash days, empty the trash bins on the pool deck, monitor and log water quality/chemicals every hour, and have a first aid kit for any minor scrapes, etc. it is the responsibility of the pool management company to recruit, hire, train, schedule and supervise the lifeguard staff. If any issues arise with lifeguard behavior, we just call the pool management company and they handle it (I did that last week when it was noted that one of the lifeguards was spending much of his time socializing with friends). Established Single Family Home community with 1057 homes, Houston Texas suburb. Worth every dollar we spend.

3 lifeguards Sat/Sun only in May and September from 10Am-9PM. Then 6 days a week (same hours) from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend (pool is closed on Mondays). $54K per year budget includes Splash Pad Maintenance also. Obviously the monthly expenses are higher May-Sept and then lower during the months that they are providing weekly pool and splash pad maintenance only.

Our dues are $525/year for the past two years, and $500/year before then for several years. I think you have to look at it as a % of your income since I have no idea what your other budget items are. Our pool management company budget is a bit under 10% of our total annual budget. We also have fully funded reserves and come in at or under budget every year. I forget, how many homes do you have in your community Bill? My 54K pool expense is equal to around $51 per year per home.
We are also always over 96% collected so that helps. I think it is worth exploring to have a professionally managed pool and take that off the Boards plate.

Thanks, Kerry!

My neighborhood is 'diverse': we've got lots of families with kids, a fair number of retirees and empty-nesters, young couples just getting families started. But I've noticed that most of the lap-swimmers - and there are a lot of them - tend to be adults and tend to aim for the 6am-10am timeframe. The whole lap-swimming thing is new to me; I grew up swimming in lakes where the emphasis was on boating, fishing, not drowning, and avoiding snakes.

Oh, the Pool Toy thing - that's just me trying to be funny. Residents griping that the 'rude' LGs called out some pool toys as too big, there was indignation, then someone pointed out that there is apparently a real safety hazard with oversized pool toys (they obscure the LGs vision [details elided]). It's just one of several rules that people have complained about, and then someone has pointed out that there's a valid reason for the rule, but of course no-one wants to admit they were *wrong*, or that possibly there are worthwhile rules that they don't understand.

I don't want to tempt fate (because it's only Friday) but it seems like things have calmed down. The LGs reported that the day went very smoothly, so I am cautiously optimistic.

Here are some entries from the LG logs from last Saturday: (lightly edited and reformatted; PG-13)

12:28 Mr. S came in and asked if we were pool nazis. I explained that we are lifeguards. He then asked if something happened to him while he is in the pool, would we save his life? I said yes.

12:29 Ms. R brought in a huge float, I explained that it was too big for the pool and unsafe. She then asked for my name. I gave it to her.

12:50 I called break. Mr. S told his wife to tell me fuck you. I asked him to refrain from that language. He then proceeded to say it again, and said he was tired of this shit. I asked him very politely not to curse, and told him that if I heard it again he would be asked to leave. [Ed: in a sincere but perhaps slightly misguided attempt to de-escalate, the LG did not mention that they had to threaten to call 911 to get Mr. S to shut up]

19:00 Mr. L kept propping the gate open to let 2-3 families in. Then he tried to bring in a friend. We told him that his guest can wait until after 8pm to come in because they didn’t come in with him. Mr. L said that there isn’t such rule and we showed him the paper copy. Before leaving he said that we were racist and would have our jobs.

19:20 Ms. C wanted to investigate what was going on and told Mr. L and his family that we make up our own rules and that never happened last year.

Did I mention that the LGs are Mexican-American? (Mr. L above is Asian. Which still leaves me confused).

I went to talk to the LGs the next morning and almost broke down into tears - what do you say when your neighbors make you ashamed and appalled?

I wrote a letter to the other members of the Board, stating that I wanted to cut pool access for Mr. S, Mr. L, and a couple of others, including the guy who made the outrageous racial slur directed at a LG (mentioned elsewhere). The response: "I am not in favor of revoking pool access and fines just yet. Can we please start off with courtesy letters?" This is from an Indian guy who thinks *I'm* a racist. Later I find out he's been conspiring with another Board member on "what to do about Bill?" I'm kinda insulted by this. I know that there have been people on FB who have been complaining about me, intimating that I'm a racist{1} or worse. But I thought that my fellow Board members had some appreciation of the reality of the situation. I've been debating sharing some of the FB conversation here; I know I sound like a loon, but it's almost like a meme virus that spreads crazy. I don't want to do that to you guys.

As always, thank you for listening.

Bill

{1} I'm getting very very sick of the charges of racism that have been flying about.

It sounds like you are in the minority here. Also you are stuck with having conversations trying to explain your position about, for one, owners addressing LGs with racial slurs. Worse, I am betting your conversations will not have an effect.

Over some 30+ years, I think I have become more seasoned on certain Fair Housing and employment discrimination issues than the average Joe and Jane. If I were on this board, then at the next open board meeting and per the agenda, I would try to sit there, with no expectations from my fellow directors and without emotion to the extent I was capable. I would try to calmly explain that federal law prohibits an environment that is hostile on the basis of race. Then I would motion for this to be turned over to the HOA attorney for advice on whether and how to address conduct like this from owners. I would ask that my motion be put in the minutes.

I would be braced for all manner of response from directors and owners. I would do my best to dryly and calmly answer questions. I would try to ignore personal attacks and stick with addressing the issue.

I would not be optimistic. Down the road I would expect things to escalate.

The language of Texans(?):

"Where'd you get that pistol?"

"At the gettin' place."

-- All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy, d. June 13, 2023

Forgive me, I skipped a critical point re I am the boss: c) I don't want random Board members going to the LGs and telling the LGs what to do. "I'm on the Board, and I'm telling you that you need to make exceptions for Mr. A, Mr. B, and Mr. C, and no more restrictions on pool toy size".

Bill