From The Daily Graphic Feb 1 2011

It must be hard to be Jennifer Sarna this week.

The head of the Portage Regional Recreational Authority is on the front lines of media enquiries as to why and how the Shindleman Aquatic Centre pool at the PCU Centre has sprung not one, but two leaks. She’s on the front lines despite the fact the leaks are not her fault.

Already a contentious issue, the Daily Graphic knew when we broke the story the reaction on our website would be swift – and overwhelmingly negative.

We were unfortunately right.

And when Ms. Sarna sent out a press release saying the pool needed to be shut down due to an “operational” problem, of course we were going to ask her for the real story behind the vague headline, which she provided. The pool had sprung a second, more serious leak.

Here’s the real concern.

The problem isn’t the leaks. This is a construction issue that is currently being taken care of, as Ms. Sarna and City Manager Dale Lyle, has told us. The leaks are being looked at by the construction company, the cost of the repairs is under warranty and the bill to taxpayers will be minimal.

The real problem is that council knew about it and did their best to not tell anyone.

The City knew about the leak weeks before it trickled down to our ears- and it was serious enough that the pool would need to be shut down eventually.

We understand the fact they didn’t want anyone to worry or panic. But all the current elected councillors, and the mayor, ran on a platform of transparency and accountability.

This is a poor first showing. The PCU Centre is still a controversial issue, and avoiding the problem – especially when they were going to have to tell us eventually – just makes it more so.