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For generations, Yost Pool has been a place where Edmonds families learn to swim, teens find their first job as lifeguards, and neighbors gather on warm summer evenings. It’s more than a pool — it’s a community institution. Yet this November, the future of Yost Pool depends on the outcome of Proposition 1.
Cascade Swim Club has the privilege of operating Yost Pool through a long-standing partnership with the City of Edmonds Parks Department. Our professional coaches, instructors, and lifeguards provide year-round programming that benefits residents of all ages and abilities. But this partnership relies on the City to maintain and repair the pool’s infrastructure. Without the funding provided by Proposition 1, the City has made it clear it cannot sustain those responsibilities, Cascade Swim Club is unable to operate the pool without these funds—and Yost Pool will close.
The loss would be profound. Last year alone, more than 1,300 swim lessons were taught at Yost Pool. Over 200 residents earned lifeguard, CPR, or first-aid certifications, strengthening community safety. Each day, between 150 and 350 people came for lap or open swim.
Our Penguins summer swim team served 219 young swimmers last summer. Finally, Yost pool is an essential pool rental resource for many local organizations and families.
Beyond recreation, Yost Pool supports Edmonds’ local economy and livability. It attracts families and individuals of all ages who value access to healthy, outdoor activities. Yost pool’s regularly scheduled lap swim provides an essential service to both residents and non-residents, of all ages. It provides youth with structured, character-building programs. And it creates seasonal and part-time jobs that keep young people connected to their community.
As Cascade Swim Club’s President, I see every day how Yost Pool changes lives: a child’s first confident lap across the pool, an adult mastering a new fitness goal, a teenager discovering leadership as a swim instructor. These are the quiet successes that keep a community strong.
If you live in Edmonds, please vote yes on Proposition 1 to keep Yost Pool open and thriving. If you reside outside Edmonds, you can still help by volunteering, donating, or spreading the word through YesForEdmonds.org.
Yost Pool has been part of Edmonds’ story for decades. With your support this November, it can continue serving generations to come.
Michele Coates is president of the Cascade Swim Club and is writing on behalf of the Cascade Swim Club Board of Directors.
My daughter and I lived up-the-hill on Bowdoin from Yost pool. Every summer, I would buy her a summer pass. She would meet her friends and have one good day after another.
Edmonds will not close Yost Pool. This type of post is a scare tactic and meant to pull citizens heart strings. Proposition 1 plus the RfA earlier this year is too much of an ask. I will vote no. City needs to propose a much lower levy without the automatic yearly increase.
That is incorrect. Cascade cannot run the pool without these funds. We are a non-profit and rely on the City to keep the pool running. If you have heard different, you have been misinformed. The plan would be to close the pool by Jan 1st, which has been stated in the Resolution. Many people of all ages will lose a huge community resource, as seen with the Shoreline pool years ago. Please vote YES
We love Yost Pool too – I won the splash contest in the mid 90’s – being 100 pounds heavier and 20 years older than my competition really helped! Could you “open the books” for the citizens so we can get smarter and help brainstorm possible solutions like Janelle. Does revenue exceed Cascade’s costs to run the pool? What are Cascades cost and what is the revenue – is there a financial report we can review? Do city employees help run the pool or do they have to do all the maintenance and repair, and pay utilities. Is there a wait list for any programs/teams and do Edmond’s residents get front of line privileges or different rates. Please let us know so we can be part of the solution (I have to believe there is more than one solution)and ensure Edmonds has a pool for the long term… I reviewed the capital plan and see an upcoming $350K cost for work (funded with a REET, not the general fund which is part of the property tax increase) but no other costs until eventual replacement.
Jon’s exactly right — it’s time for transparency.
If Cascade is managing Yost Pool on behalf of Edmonds residents, then opening the books should be a no-brainer. We can’t have a productive community discussion about the pool’s future without knowing the basic numbers.
How much revenue does Cascade bring in from swim programs, memberships, and lessons — and how does that compare to their total costs to operate Yost Pool? Are we breaking even, running a deficit, or generating a surplus? And are those dollars being reinvested locally (Edmonds) or redirected elsewhere?
From the city’s capital plan, we know the next major project is a $350K repair funded by REET (not the general fund tied to the property tax increase). Beyond that, there aren’t any major costs until eventual replacement. So if operations are sustainable, we deserve to see proof.
This isn’t about blame — it’s about accountability. If Cascade is confident in their stewardship, let’s see the numbers. Open the books, share a simple financial summary, and invite residents to help identify long-term solutions.
Yost Pool has always been a community asset — it should be managed with the same level of community trust and transparency.
Thank you! It would be an incredible loss to our community to lose Yost Pool. I vividly remember driving past the Yost Pool “open for the season” sign the week we moved into our home in Edmonds and thinking about how lucky we were to have a neighborhood pool. Our family signed up for 6 weeks of lessons over the summer and will be voting Yes to invest in maintaining this Edmonds gem!
Hi Michele, can you please tell us the amount of prop 1 $$ allocated to Yost pool?
Many on MEN believe Yost pool should be repaired or replaced with bond dollars. I would support a bond, you get a larger pool of dollars and the impact to residents monthly budget is less.
BTW – have you or the city solicited operations feedback. The hours for non cascade swim team members, are limiting. Please extend your hours for families, non-swim team residents.
Thanks,
Nick
I love Yost Pool. Do we need an additional 14.5 million to keep it open? No!
Here’s what I know. Klahaya pool has a wait list of 500 families. Joining fee is $5K. Annual dues are up to $1500 I believe (maybe $1200 I’m not 100% sure). About 15 new families/year are admitted to Klahaya due to capacity constraints. I wish there were some overflow public pool that could accommodate these families desperate to have pool time and that are clearly able to contribute to a community pool. The non-profit background in me thinks a bond for the pool refurbishment combined with a capital campaign. Then maybe the city could regain control of Yost and we could administer more public pool usage and work with the swim teams to accommodate their needs on a fee for service basis. This seems like a great MBA student project to work out for the benefit of the municipality, especially because my folks used to drop us kids off at Yost for most of the day all summer. This new restricted usage and seemingly astronomical problem should be easier to solve with some heart and elbow grease. Happy to help if the city wants some of us to help figure this out. Shutting down Yost feels like a huge scare tactic that some of the civic minded brains in the region should be able to figure out. Closing such a coveted asset makes zero sense.
I truly appreciate everyone’s concern for Yost & the cuts outlined in the cities resolution if the levy fails. Please consider this, why hasn’t Edmonds done what Everett recently did – provide a survey to residents – lending them a voice in budget reductions?
This is our city, residents should decide if any cuts are needed and what those cuts may look like, not a few electeds.
https://www.reddit.com/r/everett/comments/1eubp75/2025_budget_community_outreach/?rdt=55359
But we do have options, we can pass a smaller $6,000,000 levy & as Will Chen pointed out we have at least $1.5M available of the $77M residing in investment accounts.
Hi Michele, My family and I deeply value Yost Pool, both as a swimmer myself and as a parent of former competitive swimmers (Cascade and Penguins). Seeing Shoreline demo their pool is beyond disappointing and I understand Cascade lobbying to keep Yost open for everyone’s benefit.
However, what troubles me is seeing Yost used as an emotional rallying point for Proposition 1. In 2008, when the city warned Yost would close due to the recession, residents took action and raised over $53,000 in one month (~$80k in today’s dollars)! My family was proud to contribute, and that effort kept Yost open until city revenues improved. Sadly, the city later spent/wasted a large sum on an aquatics study that now sits on a shelf.
I believe a private non-profit can succeed where the city is struggling. In my husband’s hometown in Indiana, a nonprofit called Friends of Central Pool saved and improved the Olympic sized Forest Park Aquatic Center (https://www.facebook.com/ForestParkAquaticCenter/). I managed that pool one summer when they were short-handed and we ran it like a business that also kept true to its mission of public access.
While Cascade might not be able to fully take over Yost, hopefully the City would allow another non-profit partner with you to keep it open should Prop 1 fail. Many would rather donate versus significantly increase taxes for everyone.
Janelle,
Appreciate reading your comment. I’m curious – why shouldn’t Yost Pool be an emotional rallying point for residents? It’s at risk of closure for reasons that have been clearly outlined by both the parks director and the Cascade Swim Club. Isn’t it important that the public understands what’s at stake if Prop 1 doesn’t pass? And just because it carries emotional weight, as many beloved public spaces do, does that mean it shouldn’t be part of the conversation?
Secondly, I have deep concerns about your suggested approach of privatizing public spaces. While I fully support volunteers, fundraising efforts, and the work of nonprofits, I believe the role of government is to provide essential services and spaces that benefit the entire community. When we fail to fully fund our local government, we artificially create the conditions that make the privatization of public services seem necessary or even justified, when, in reality, it’s often a consequence of underinvestment, not inefficiency.
Your statement that a “private non-profit can succeed where the city is struggling,” coupled with your desired preference to “donate” instead of paying “increas[ed] taxes,” is put into context with other anti-RFA/anti-Levy sentiment from others, it’s beginning to feel like those opposed to Proposition 1 lean towards a limited-government paradigm. It might help to better understand where you’re coming from, especially since you’re running for office.
Adel — you’re missing the mark again. Yost Pool should be part of the discussion, but using it as an emotional wedge to push a $90 million tax package is disingenuous. The City’s own numbers show Yost’s operational deficit is around $250,000 a year — a rounding error compared to what’s being asked of taxpayers. We could fund Yost ten times over with better prioritization and fiscal discipline.
No one’s suggesting we “privatize” parks or pools — that’s your strawman. What we’re saying is that the City has failed to manage resources responsibly. Before asking residents for another $90 million, how about showing exactly where the last $400 million in combined annual revenues has gone?
It’s not “anti-government” to expect efficiency, accountability, and transparency. It’s basic stewardship. And yes, many of us believe in public-private partnerships when they make sense — that’s not ideology, it’s pragmatism.
So, let’s stop hiding behind emotional appeals and start dealing with the numbers. Edmonds can keep Yost Pool open and live within its means. What it can’t afford is another blank check written on the backs of homeowners, renters, and small businesses.
Actually, since Yost Pool already is run and managed by a separate entity, Cascade Swim Club, hasn’t the privatization already occurred under the watchful eye of Edmonds elected and appointed officials? Just sayin’…
With either levy outcome, there will be pain and loss felt by many Edmonds residents. I can already feel it just from some of the rhetoric. I think that it’s ok to acknowledge that the headwind we’re facing will take an emotional toll on this community.
Matthew, thank you for acknowledging this. It’s a difficult decision. Great people on both sides of this issue.
Take care,
Nick
Janell, Some good points. Public/Private partnerships are great ways to deal with “wants” vs “needs” Often they are driven by leased public land private development or management. No one model works for all but if we give some good community thinking we often can get more bang for the $.
Everett, Woodinville and others have had public/private partnerships that have worked well. The WFC and Edmonds Performing Arts Center are other examples. How about the fish hatchery.
The dog park is a form of public/private partnerships. Publicly held land or facilities do not have to be sold to make things work, they can be leased, create a revenue stream, and amenities as well.
There is some discussion of these issues in the BRP reports.
Golly, if we could get the Port engaged in economic development in the entire Port district we could think of other examples. 🙂
When I was a kid in Edmonds I seem to recall doing lots of summertime swimming in both Lake Ballinger and Puget Sound for free even (except for the gas or shoe leather to get there). What would be wrong with the city leasing Yost Pool out to a non-profit or even for profit organization with some realistic user fees that actually cover most, if not all, of the costs? If someone wants to launch their boat at the Public Marina it’s definitely not a freebie – not even close. How is swimming in a public pool any different than that? Same goes for your dog park, underwater park, petanque playing park and skating park. Your city management has put a lot of costs on the taxpayer which is a great deal for us visitors but not so much for your taxpayers.
1 – Edmonds currently has one on the lowest property tax rates in the county. Lynnwood has the benefit of all of the businesses on 99 to help their rates.
2 – Think about what will happen to Yost if it closes. It won’t be filled in and turned into more park area. It will be fenced off and you know it will be vandalized and invite crime.
3 – This is not just about Yost. Money will not magically appear to keep all of Edmonds parks and recs alive. How would you feel if the Frances Anderson center closed? Or City Park? Someone commented that Edmonds would never let that happen. I’m sorry but that’s BS. Our city has already laid off employees and is running off of outdated technology. There is nothing left to cut. This is not a scare tactic it is reality.
One of the lower tax levy rates but the fifth highest average amount of actual taxes paid.
If the levy fails, I hope the community finally wakes up to the gross amount of spin coming from City Hall. The fear-mongering from “Yes for Edmonds” might be working, but here’s the truth, Laura — the city already has the money. What we need is accountability, not another tax hike.
Why can’t the Yost Pool naming rights be up for grabs to offset the cost of running this facility? As much as we have enjoyed Yost Pool over the years it has a very limited operating season while pool facilities in MLT, Lynnwood, etc are open all year round. We have spent so much more time at the pools in our neighboring cities and they are close by with affordable prices. Perhaps its time to either repurpose this facility and look at a volunteer campaign to build an indoor facility if this is such a need for Edmonds. Just brainstorming.