Leaders of Beach Cities Alpha told the Recreation and Parks Commission on Monday evening that proposed user‑group allocation language attached to an aquatics cost‑recovery presentation risks undoing years of work to consolidate competitive swimming in El Segundo.

“I'm here to speak on behalf of about a 100 kids that reside in El Segundo and Wiseburn School District that are on our swim team,” said Mel Kuo, president of Beach Cities Alpha. He said the team—which Kuo said has paid roughly $1,500,000 in payments to the city since the pool opened in 2019—was not consulted before the allocation language was posted with the subcommittee meeting materials.

The complaint prompted two other Beach Cities Alpha directors to address the commission. Tim Arnold, an El Segundo resident and board member, criticized elements of the draft plan that he said would bar user groups from using the pool “plunge” during prime hours and would redefine prime time as 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Arnold also said the draft would lower his group’s effective hourly charge for a 7–8 p.m. hour from about $18 to $12 while a water‑polo group currently pays about $9.80 for the same hour.

David Tong, a Beach Cities Alpha director, said the consolidated team resulted from compromises made in 2018–2019 and that the club had made operational sacrifices to form a single competitive team. “It's really critical to us and our families that we have an opportunity ... to make our positions known as to why the use allocation in that plan is materially impactful to our operations,” Tong said.

A Recreation and Parks staff member responded that the city attorney had reviewed the subcommittee member participation and found no bylaw violations related to member involvement in the plan. The staff member said the item is scheduled for City Council review at 6 p.m. on Oct. 7 and that staff will invite all user groups to that meeting and add additional roster information to the council presentation. The staff member also asked each user group to provide updated rosters by the coming Friday so staff can audit residency counts.

The public comments reiterated three procedural complaints: that the presentation was posted with little notice to user groups; that the allocation language lacked supporting data (residency counts and hours of participation); and that a subcommittee member who pays user‑group dues may have a conflict of interest. The commenter pointed to “article 8 of the park and rec bylaws section 2 conflict of interest” as the standard he said should be applied; the commission’s staff response noted the city attorney had reviewed the matter and cleared the participation.

Staff emphasized that the council, not the commission, sets policy and that councilmembers will have the opportunity to debate the allocation model and any equity concerns raised by water‑polo and swim teams. No formal action on the cost‑recovery plan was taken by the commission at the meeting.

Looking ahead, staff said they will include additional data in the City Council packet and will notify user groups before the Oct. 7 discussion. The roster audit requested from user groups is intended to verify how many participants live in El Segundo versus outside jurisdictions; staff said they will “spot check” entries as they have in prior audits but rely on groups for accurate submissions.

Ending: The allocation proposal will be discussed at the Oct. 7 City Council meeting. Beach Cities Alpha leaders urged the council and staff to postpone adoption of any allocation changes until rosters and residency effects on El Segundo and Wiseburn families are fully accounted for and publicly discussed.