New family swim hours + a call to action

Hi everyone!
Summer is here, and at SFKidsSwim we are happy to see family swim hours expanded! Families can now swim after 5pm, every day except Tuesday, in at least one of the San Francisco public pools. Garfield and Rossi pools are open on Sundays. And Mission pool, the only public outdoor pool, is open again. Here’s an overview of pool hours for working families, a major improvement since we started our campaign last year:

Last summer, family swim after 5pm was only available 4 days a week, and family swim hours on the weekend increased by 20%. We also went from swimming classes for kids five days a week to every day. While there is still a lengthy waitlist, we are heartened to see the progress made and Rec & Parks commitment to listening to families and improving aquatics for children.

🚨However we are at risk for losing part or all of this progress if the budget resolution implementing paid parking in Golden Gate Park does not pass. 🚨

Rec & Parks is facing a $17.5M deficit over the next two years. There aren’t many potential sources of additional funding, and the city as a whole is facing a $800M deficit over the next two years. Introducing paid parking in Golden Gate Park could help prevent devastating losses to services used by families, including swimming lessons, summer camps, recreation centers programs such as tots time. The slide below, from Rec & Parks budget presentation, outlines the planned cuts:

Please support services for families and Recreation & Parks by: 

• Contacting your district supervisor in support of the resolution. Here is what we sent:
  I just heard that paid parking at Golden Gate Park will help Rec & Park get $4.9M in the next six months, helping to bridge their projected $17.5M budget deficit in the next two years. I wanted to write to say that I think paid parking to support Rec & Park is an extremely sensible policy to help us keep our wonderful swimming, playground, after school care, and other programs sustainable. It was first proposed in 2009 and makes sense for our city today. 
  [Your name and address]

• Attending the budget meeting discussing the proposal, Friday, June 20, 2025, starting at 10:00 a.m. at City Hall, Legislative Chamber, Room 250 (discussion of this item is expected early in the afternoon. Let us know if you want to join by replying to this email so we can send you updates). More details here. 

•  Attending the public hearing on the annual budget, Monday, June 23, 2025, starting at 10:00 a.m. at City Hall, in the Legislative Chamber, Room 250. More details here 

• Submitting a public comment by email: [email protected]

To learn more:

• Paid parking in Golden Gate Park was already proposed in 2009 during another budget crisis, read more.

• The SFCTA parking report on Golden Gate Park shows that long term parking (6+hours) increases congestion - it follows that paid parking may also make Golden Gate Park easier to access for families. 

Thank you as always for supporting access to swimming for San Francisco kids,
The SFKidsSwim Team