The City Council on Dec. 15 affirmed an earlier vote to install a bulkhead – an apparatus which divides a pool in two for separate activities – at the soon-to-be-restored Plunge in Point Richmond.
City Engineer Rich Davidson has said the bulkhead could cost as much as $390,000.
Before the final vote, City Councilmember and bulkhead proponent Tom Butt visited UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism to discuss local issues with Richmond Confidential student reporters.
During the 90-minute roundtable, Butt explained his support of the project, which has spurred some local opposition.
Butt dismissed the allegations of some opponents that the expenditure would mostly benefit affluent residents in Point Richmond.
“Is the Plunge, is it or was it, a neighborhood pool for rich white people in Point Richmond?” Butt said. “And the answer is absolutely not… probably 90 percent of Plunge use was for minority people in the Iron Triangle.”
Butt also said the expenditure was relatively small within the overall scope of the Plunge restoration project and questioned its projected costs. At one point, he referred to the bulkhead as a $200,000 investment.
“$200,000 compared to $8 million is just a tiny fraction of the total cost of the project,” Butt said.
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I attended the last City Council meeting and was very disappointed by their decision to approve the bulkhead. As was pointed out by many speakers, the bulkhead will only duplicate the amenities already available at the Kennedy Swim Center. Our current fiscal condition can not justify spending that kind of additional money on the Plunge.