Guest Editorial: There You Go Again…

By Scottsdale Watchman

The 1980 United States presidential election can be summed up in one word: drubbing. Republican California Governor Ronald Reagan trounced the incumbent, Jimmy Carter as Reagan garnered 489 electoral college votes, while President Carter only received 49 such votes.

Another reason why the 1980 election is memorable is because it spawned one of the greatest political one-liners in history. At that year’s only presidential debate, the topic of Medicare came up. President Carter attacked Reagan’s record on Medicare, claiming that as California’s governor, Reagan had opposed support for it.

“The Gipper” cracked a smile, sighed and began his response to President Carter’s accusation with the iconic phrase, “There you go again…”The phrase was so popular that Reagan reprised it in a 1984 debate with opponent Walter Mondale.

Several months ago, we wrote about how a for-profit Valley swimming organization, Neptune, that caters to wealthy clientele was attempting to take lane time away from Scottsdale Aquatic Club, a local non-profit. You can refresh yourself with the story by clicking here.

Now, it looks like Neptune is rearing its ugly head out of the water. This leaves us no choice but to echo Reagan’s 1980 refrain, “There you go again…” Last week, Scottsdale activist Pat Shaler went before the Scottsdale City Council and made several public comments, alleging that the city violated the gift clause by working with Scottsdale Aquatic Club and that by working with it, city staff has been “playing games” with her money. What a bunch of nonsense.

By that logic, we would auction off land in the Preserve to the highest bidder. We forget we just kind of fought that fight last November. Yet, No DDC recently posted Shaler’s nonsense. Apparently, it’s OK to stop voracious behavior when it comes to the Preserve, but not taxpayer-funded city pools that belong to everyone and not just the well-heeled. Coincidentally, Shaler fails to note that what Scottsdale charges for its public pools is consistent with what other cities do. It’s disappointing if anyone else follows her, jumps into the deep end and drowns in her illogic.

Not many things in Scottsdale have remained constant for over 50 years, let alone relationships. This notwithstanding, Scottsdale Aquatic Club’s five-decade relationship with Scottsdale has been one of the most fruitful in the city’s history. Founded in 1963 when a Scottsdale parent contacted the manager of Scottsdale Municipal Pool to discuss the formation of a competitive swim team, Scottsdale Aquatic Club has evolved into a celebrated and cherished local non-profit organization that has served generations of Scottsdale swimmers of all skill levels. Its instructors have even trained several swimmers who have gone on to compete in the Olympic Games.

To put it as concisely as possible, Scottsdale Aquatic Club swims laps around its opponents.