Sacramento's Southside Park pool faces reduced hours amid city's $66 million deficit

The Sacramento City Council will begin the difficult budget cut debate to solve the city's $66 million deficit this week, including 46 proposed layoffs.

It also includes cutting neighborhood pool operations during Sacramento's hot summer months. For the Southside Park neighborhood, those cuts sting and now have them seeking their own funds to pay for their own lifeguards.

Marni Leger is the Southside Park neighborhood association president who watched her neighborhood pool sit empty for three years over the city hall's deferred maintenance.

It finally reopened last summer, but now budget cuts could keep it closed again for four days a week, while three other neighborhood pools — Clunie, North Natomas, and Meadowview — could be open twice as many days.

Leger said Sacramento's aquatics director told her the decision was based on pass use.

"And I said, 'How is that fair?' Three out of the four past years, Southside pool has been closed. So, how do we get the numbers to compete in this?" Leger said.

Southside pool is the only pool in the central city and serves a low-income neighborhood.

"What's the fairness here? We've struggled to get this pool opened and funded," Leger said.

Now, Leger is working on a lifeline to fund the Southside pool lifeguards.

"We have applied for a nonprofit to help get this pool funded," Leger said. "I don't know, we're shooting for if we can get $25,000. Will that make a difference to this city?" Leger said. 

"It's just been a struggle and it just seems like why? It's always a struggle, spread the wealth a little bit," Leger continued. 

For now, these are only proposed cuts. The Sacramento City Council will discuss the whole budget on Tuesday for the first time since it was revealed.