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Commissioners Race For Free Admission To Public Pools

Wilson Sayre
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WLRN
Billy Corben, left, at the starting line with Miami-Dade County Commissioner Xavier Suarez, right.

This holiday weekend is forecast to be a scorcher -- temperatures will hang in the lower 90s. Under a blistering sun, the cool blue water at the pool in Virrick Park might prove to be particularly inviting and, as of Friday, is also free.

Credit Wilson Sayre / WLRN
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WLRN
The fee will now be waved for the pool at Virrick Park.

A swimming race involving several local commissioners raised $5,000, enough to waive the $1.00 fee for kids and seniors and $3.00 for adults at this one pool for the entire summer.

The City of Miami maintains 11 pools in total, the other ten will still carry a fee. Lara de Souza, deputy director the City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department says the money helps cover operating costs and control access, “to make sure that somebody’s coming because they legitimately want to swim, not necessarily to use the showers and not to hang out or cause trouble.”

She says there has been a fee at all the pools for at least the past decade, but the department is in the process of reviewing the fee scheme.

Trouble is in part what city commissioners Marc Sarnoff and Francis Suarez, along with Miami-Dade County Commissioner Xavier Suarez, are trying to prevent in allowing open access to the pool.

Manny Morales is Coconut Grove’s Police Commander. He told the crowd of a couple dozen that during the summertime, crime generally spikes.

“Some are [of] the opinion that those spikes are the result of children not having enough activities to occupy their time,” Morales said, commending the commissioners for ponying up $1,000 each to help keep the Virrick pool free.

Local filmmaker Billy Corben, who also participated and also donated money, threw a bit of a right hook at the commissioners standing behind him in advance of the race and criticized their recent implementation of a curfew for kids under 18.

Credit Wilson Sayre / WLRN
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WLRN
L to R: Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff and Francis Suarez, Coconut Grove Police Commander Manny Morales, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Xavier Suarez and filmmaker Billy Corben.

“I’m so glad that our county and city commissioners have come up with this solution or at least something to help the youth of this community other than a juvenile curfew that just criminalizes them,” said Corben.

Starting June 29, the City of Miami Police began enforcing a curfew that will saddle kids with a fee of up to $500 if found in violation. That curfew has been on the books for a while, but has only sporadically be enforced.

Sarnoff brought up a different concern about the disproportional way in which drowning affects Miami’s black community.

Swimming pool drowning rates among school-aged black children are more than five times higher than they are among white kids the same age. Access to poolsplays a large role in that disparity.

“I’m really big on water safety and I think it should be taught at every level," says Sarnoff. 

The commission is currently accepting bids for a project that would expand Virrick Park's pool to Olympic-size.

The race pitted Sarnoff and Xavier Suarez against Corben and Francis Suarez.

Francis Suarez won the main event by an arms length.

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