PCC can't afford swimming pools now?

It was more than a little disappointing to read that Portland Community College is closing some of its swimming pools. Aquatic facilities are hard to come by, and they're great resources for people wanting to stay in shape, not to mention the competitive types who can really get down the lanes fast. And so every time a pool gets shut down, it's a significant loss for the surrounding community.

PCC is claiming they can't afford to keep the facilities open. But man, that sticks in your craw when you consider how much property tax we shell out for bricks and mortar over there. Portland area voters and taxpayers have graced PCC with more than $700 million in funds for capital projects since 2000:

• 2017 bond     $185,000,000
• 2008 bond    $374,000,000
• 2000 bond    $144,000,000

With all that facilities dough sloshing around, they can't give the neighborhood Grandma a pool to swim in once in a while? For shame.

It makes you wonder why PCC is such a favorite of the voters. As far as I can tell, their enrollment has been taking a nose dive lately. Their Winter 2018 quarter report showed full-time equivalent enrollment of 7,481 students, but now, four years later, that number is 5,227.

What is going on at PCC? It doesn't look like good management to me.