(See note: this article compiles public comments and staff responses; no binding council action was taken on these specific requests.)

Multiple residents used the city’s non‑agenda public comment period on June 2 to press the council and staff on parks, pool maintenance, and services for people experiencing homelessness.

Candace Comfort, an Ellensburg resident, told council she had observed roof shingles blow off the Memorial Pool facility during a recent swim lesson and called the pool’s maintenance "grossly ignored," citing duct‑taped lights, exposed wiring and water‑stained ceilings. Comfort said the pool provides life‑saving swim lessons and other services and asked the council to meet with her, Parks Director Brad Case and a county commissioner to identify funding and maintenance solutions. "If one of these shingles hit and injured someone, you would have had a much bigger problem," she said.

Pat Kelleher, speaking about public showers, urged the city to provide a low‑cost public shower facility for people in survival mode who use shelters and library services. Kelleher suggested converting an existing restroom (the Rock House bathroom at Third and Main) with a hot water tank and a shower head as a relatively low‑cost option and said shower access matters to sanitation and dignity for people experiencing homelessness.

Victoria Thomas asked the council to withdraw a Recreation and Conservation Office grant request (project 241421 Delta) that would fund eight fenced tennis courts at Mountain View Park, arguing the proposal overstates likely use and would increase maintenance costs for a park that community members already use for multipurpose activities. Thomas said the city should instead prioritize repairs to existing facilities, citing growing swim lessons enrollment and other park uses.

City Manager Heidi Baron Sternaway addressed related maintenance and construction questions elsewhere in the meeting: she said work remained to complete Unity Park’s punch list (including grading issues at the water feature) and that staff expects to finish those items and bring the water feature online this summer. No council motion was made to change the tennis‑court grant application or to adopt new policies on public showers during the meeting; speakers asked staff and council for follow‑up meetings.