Voters narrowly approve bond measure to save Piedmont Community Pool

A voter effort to save Piedmont’s community pool worked, final unofficial results from Tuesday’s election show.

Measure UU narrowly passed with 68.8 percent of the vote, surpassing the needed margin of two-thirds by about 2 percent.

The measure will raise $19.5 million in bonds to pay for the construction of new pool facilities while costing homeowners $26 in additional taxes annually for every $100,000 in assessed value on their home.

The increased taxes will raise about $1.3 million a year.

The argument in support of the measure was signed by five people including Mayor Robert McBain and Councilmember Betsy Smegal Andersen.

Andy Wasserman, a retired chief financial officer and Larry Miller, a certified financial planner, wrote in opposition of the measure, saying that the idea is “ill-timed” given that “we are experiencing the worst pandemic in a century, with no end in sight.”

But the two agreed that a new pool is needed.