Senior Center Update

 OK, I WENT...
Today, after a week of folks yapping at me because I chose not to immerse myself personally in the drama that is the Costa Mesa Senior Center, I decided to drive across town and visit the building to see, first hand, just what was going on.

TRANQUILITY
I arrived in the early afternoon and found peace, quiet and apparent contentment among the handful of seniors visiting the Center.  As I walked past the counter just inside the door I saw Executive Director Aviva Goelman visiting with the attendant.  I know Aviva casually because a neighbor is her good friend, so I see her around my neighborhood occasionally.  We have a cordial and friendly relationship.

"THE LIST"... KIND OF...
I told Aviva I was there to snatch up one of those free memberships, so she pointed me across the room to the library where members of the City staff were set up.  I approached the first young woman I encountered, told her my mission and she promptly signed me up - took my name, address and telephone number for "the list".  When I asked her if that meant I was now signed up as a member of the Senior Center she, surprisingly, told me no.  I was now on the list the City was accumulating for when they took over operations of the Center on September 7th.  I was told that the Senior Center staff refused to share the membership list with the City staff, so they had to build a data base from scratch.  That seemed curious to me.

GOOD TO GO?  MAYBE...
I asked if I was now eligible to take part in Senior Center activities this summer, during the transition.  I was told I'd have to check with the Senior Center Staff, but I was invited to join the festivities on July 3rd, when the City staff would be hosting the annual celebration.  Another curious fact.

MEMBERSHIP LIST A QUANDARY
So, I wandered back to the counter and asked Aviva about the membership issue.  She told me that they couldn't share the membership list because it had personal information on it.  I wondered, but didn't ask, if that was not a problem that could be easily remedied by redacting personal information.

ALL PRICES THE SAME NOW
I was also told that there was no longer split pricing on events and activities.  No longer do "members" pay less than non-members.  All the prices are the same - the member price.  And, Aviva told me that all members who had renewed their memberships in April or later would have those fees refunded to them.  That seemed like a good idea.

THE NEW (INTERIM) BOSS...
As I stood there chatting the new Interim Manager, Eloisa Espinoza, walked past, returning from her lunch break.  Aviva pointed her out, so I set out in hot pursuit to chat with her about the Center, her assignment and the transition.

CONFIDENT AND COMPETENT
I followed in her wake to her workspace in the library - the City staff has carved out temporary work space in that room for the time being.  I found her to be a lovely woman with many years experience operating a similar facility in Fullerton.  She confirmed that my "new" membership was NOT a membership to the Senior Center.  I was just on a list of folks that will become the core of the City's membership roster in September.

TENSION...
We talked about the transition, which certainly appears to be marked with tension on both sides.  I could almost taste it as I spoke with staff members on both sides.  Both sides continue to tell me they only want what's best for the seniors, but, in my opinion, for that to happen there needs to be immediate interaction by them to facilitate that transition.

MY ANGER HAS NOT SUBSIDED
Let me state here that I'm still angry about the way this has been handled, and where the City thinks it has the authority to take over the Senior Center, but it's becoming more clear each day that this change IS GOING TO HAPPEN, so all parties need to attempt to make it work - and soon.

MEETING PLANNED
I was told that Ms. Espinosa and Penny Loomer - also an interim manager in the Recreation Division - will meet early next week with Aviva to begin this process in earnest.  This is good news.

THE BOARD NEEDS TO TIGHTEN ITS FOCUS
Later I learned that, although there are extremely critical and time-sensitive issues to be addressed by the current Senior Corporation Board dealing with the transition and possible dissolution of the corporation, there is NO MEETING PLANNED until August!  In my view, that's unacceptable.  There is so much going on that needs Executive direction - including the retention of programs; integration of new ones; the future of the staff; the transition to the new organization and the future of the corporation - that the Board should be meeting MORE often, not less, for goodness sake.

SECURITY IN PLACE
As I left I spoke with the new contract security guard, who works five days a week at the Center.  I asked him if he'd had to bust any heads of rowdy seniors since he started to work.  He smiled and said he had not, but he had called the police a couple times when transients refused to move away from the facility.  In recent months the facility has become a destination for more than a few homeless folks, which caused safety issues for the senior center members.  The presence of a full-time security presence seems like a good idea.

BOARD PRESIDENT
Later I contacted Senior Corporation Board President Judy Lindsay and told her of my visit.  She'd already had a report.  She's fully immersed in proceeding with plans to access if, and how, the Senior Corporation Board should be dissolved and has formed an ad hoc committee to work on that issue.  The Board is still working on their strained relationship with the City leadership, establishing ground rules and trying to set aside the animosity that exists and make this transition as smooth as possible.

MY OPINION...
I also spoke on a conference call with CEO Tom Hatch and his assistant CEO, Tammy Letourneau.  I told them of my visit and gave them my opinions - for what they are worth.  Since this change is going to take place, both sides need to make it work smoothly so the seniors can get some peace of mind and the programs can continue uninterrupted.  There are financial and administrative issues that MUST be addressed - contract transfers, employee departures, etc.  Hopefully, those can begin at that meeting next week.  Both affirmed their commitment to the well-being of the seniors of this city.

RENEWED INTEREST
According to Letourneau, 416 individuals have been signed up on the City list so far.  And, 115 have signed up for the July 3rd Independence Day event that the City salvaged from the scrap heap during the turmoil about the takeover of the Center.  Both of those numbers are good news and probably give a good indication of the renewed interest and confidence in this change.

OK - IT HAPPENED - LET'S MAKE IT WORK!
The sad part about this drama is that it probably didn't have to happen this way.  The ham-handed, unilateral way the decision was made by the City to take over the Senior Center - yes, Wendy, it IS a hostile takeover - has exacerbated an already tense situation.  The staff of the Senior Center all know they will be losing their jobs, so many of them are actively looking for other full-time employment.  This is, at least, a distraction to providing services.  That being said, in my opinion, they - starting with and guided by the leadership of Aviva Goelman - need to work hard with the new City staff to blend programs.  And the Senior Corporation Board needs to focus on the important issues facing them - both fiscal and administrative - and hold whatever number of meetings are necessary to make this transition work.  To do less will violate their fiduciary responsibility and certainly contribute to the apprehension by senior center members and the staff on both sides of the equation.

CONSIDER THE DRAFT AGREEMENT
I doubt it's possible, but the Draft Agreement, HERE, attached to the staff report for the meeting on June 10th seemed - with the exception of the controversial request for indemnification - to be an excellent transition document.  I don't know if that's on the table or not, but even if it's not, the procedures outlined in it could make for a clear road map for the transition.  Both sides should consider the process defined in it, whether codified or not.

Council Votes To Oust Senior Corporation

A BIG CHANGE!
In a move that was not surprising to most observers, the Costa Mesa City Council voted unanimously last night to evict the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation from the City's building on West 19th Street that has been known as the Costa Mesa Senior Center for fifteen years.  You can read Bradley Zint's coverage of the meeting in the Daily Pilot HERE and - if you can get past the pay wall - Scott Martindale's coverage in the Orange County Register, HERE.

BROKEN... NEEDS FIXING
Let me say right up front that I agree with those who said changes were necessary at the Costa Mesa Senior Center.  For the past several years it has come under fire with accusations of diminished services, poor treatment of seniors by staff members and general poor management.  As the criticism grew funding sources appeared to have dried up, so more services were curtailed - a vicious cycle.  Something had to change...

CENTER NOT BROKE, YET
The staff presentation by Assistant Chief Executive Officer Tammy Letourneau included a reference to extreme fiscal distress - citing a claim by Senior Center financial staffers that the Center would run out of operating cash the end of this month.  Apparently, based on information I received later last night, that's not entirely true - the Center still has cash in the bank and has recently been infused by some funds from the Albert Dixon Foundation - a separate non-profit organization created to manage a large financial gift by a former member of the Senior Center.

SPEAKERS LIST ISSUES
The meeting began twenty minutes late because the preceding study session ran long, but it took less than an hour to nail the coffin of the Senior Corporation closed.  During Public Comments, in which eleven (11) people - including four current Senior Center Board members and two recently departed members - spoke,  several listed a litany of curious (at best) management moves over the past few years, including inexplicable program closures, grant requests being withdrawn, unusual fiscal priorities and - as recently-resigned member Ernie Feeney described it - a "scorched earth" policy.

LINDSAY PUSHES BACK...
Senior Corporation Board President Judy Lindsay strongly defended the actions of the board and the negotiations.  She said she felt blind-sided by the City staff incursion and it's willingness to believe gossip and hearsay and felt bullied.  She, and speaker Beth Refakes, outlined some of the reasons for declining membership - construction at the former Bethel Towers, recent closure of a trailer park that housed any seniors, competition from Newport Beach's state-of-the-art Oasis Center, among others.

UNANIMOUS VOTE...
Following  a fairly brief discussion by the council, they, in one vote, followed the staff recommendations to:

1 - Issue a 90-day notice to terminate, forcing the Senior Corporation to cease doing business at the Senior Center three months from receipt of the notification.  We presume that means sometime the middle of September.

2 - Pass a resolution regarding waiving the 180-day waiting period before hiring a retired employee - Eloisa Espinosa - to take over management of the Senior Center.

3 - Pass a resolution to create a new position of Senior Center Program Administrator and established the salary range for the job.

4 - Authorize CEO Tom Hatch to execute a three (3) year contract with one optional two (2) year extension with Allied Nationwide Security, Inc., to provide security services at the Senior Center.

5 - Approve one (1) year free membership for all seniors who sign up at the Center.

WHO'S IN CHARGE TODAY?
According to Letourneau yesterday, Ms. Espinsoa, who brings to the temporary assignment thirteen (13) years running a senior center in Fullerton, started to work yesterday and, theoretically, will actually show up at the Senior Center today.  I wonder who will be in charge?

A PROBLEM...
This presents an interesting situation.  I can find no authority under which the council can actually do what they did last night.   Yes, they can certainly exercise the section of the existing agreement with the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation to evict them from the premises, but nowhere is there any authority quoted that permits them to perform a "hostile takeover" (that's councilwoman Wendy Leece's term, used when she denied it was happening) of the OPERATIONS of the Senior Center.

WHERE'S THE AUTHORITY?
Monday, when I spoke with Letourneau about this "authority" issue, she said "we feel we have the authority", but didn't give me any quotation of where it came from.  Last night, immediately after the meeting ended with Mayor Jim Righeimer closing it with a sarcastic "Let the healing begin!" comment, I cornered contract City Attorney Tom Duarte and asked him the same question.  I acknowledged to him that it appeared the City had the authority to evict the Senior Corporation from the premises, but didn't see where the authority came from to hijack the operations.  He told me to ask Letourneau, which I intend to do early today.
 
"INDEMNITY" KILLED THE AGREEMENT
In an earlier post I mentioned the Draft Agreement that was included in the staff report, HERE.  That agreement - which has not been ratified by either party - includes some practical transitional language, but it was not signed by either party because the Senior Corporation Board asked the city to indemnify it's members from possible liability issues - apparently concerned about legal action by employees who will lose their jobs.  In fact, the Board has an attorney working on alternate language for the agreement, which now becomes moot.  I see no circumstance in which the City Council will feel compelled to enter into an agreement now that it has effectively forced the Senior Corporation out of business by evicting it from the premises.  One of the ironies, of many last night, was the constant prattle by members of the council about how unwise the Senior Corporation Board was to not have indemnity insurance when, in fact, the Board DOES have such insurance - it's required to do so by it's bylaws.

PLENTY OF PROBLEMS
Throughout the discussions many speakers, including staff and council members, expressed their primary concern was the well-being of Costa Mesa's seniors.  If you believe only a small segment of the stories told last night and over the past couple of years, the seniors of this city have been poorly served and a change was clearly necessary.  I'm not sure how to interpret the absence of Executive Director Aviva Goelman and other supportive Board members from the proceedings last night.  It could be that they presumed their President, Lindsay, would speak for them all.

PROBABLY THE RIGHT THING
As uncomfortable as I was watching a de facto coup take place - despite Leece's denials, it was a "hostile takeover" - I agree with much of what she said.  I think this move will probably end up being the right thing to do for the seniors of this city.  Whether it can be done legally is a separate matter.

WHAT ABOUT THE EMPLOYEES?
Still unresolved is the future of the current employees of the Senior Center.  Since there is no agreement in place for the transition - and it's unlikely there will be one now - it's possible there will still be some pretty rocky days ahead at the Senior Center.  We can only hope that the Board and City Staff will be able to work through the transition of what appears to be an inevitable outcome - the demise of the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation.

AND...
And, leaning on a wall over there in the shadows, is the Albert Dixon Foundation with more than a half-million dollars to be spent on Costa Mesa Seniors.  Letourneau acknowledged that the City has no claim on those funds, so that Board - an entirely separate board from the Senior Corporation Board - will have to decide how to proceed under this new regime.

ANOTHER COMMITTEE!
And, in my view (I can't believe I'm going to say this!), the City needs to create a Senior Programs Advisory Committee (not a commission) - a permanent committee much like the Cultural Arts or Historical Preservation committees, to advise the City Council on senior programs and policies.  It would have no administrative or supervisory oversight and former members of the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation should be encouraged to apply for positions on that committee to smooth the transition.

FINGERS CROSSED FOR THE SENIORS
So, now we see what happens over the next few days.  I hope that the welfare of Costa Mesa seniors is, indeed, the primary objective.

A CALLOUS WHERE HIS HEART SHOULD BE...
Here's a comment uttered by Righeimer at the very end of the meeting.  When discussing the transition and the indemnity problem he spoke about how much better it was for the Board that there was no agreement signed.  He said it takes a lot of pressure off them because once the board is dissolved former employees would have nobody to sue.  He said, "People get laid off.  It's the normal course of business and there wouldn't be any liability with that."  What a guy, huh?

HERDING HOMELESS
I'll close with a little thought that rattled around in my aging skull - I am, after all, a "senior" myself.  I thought about that "one year free membership" situation and the rascal in me contemplated rounding up some of those senior homeless people that inhabit that Westside neighborhood near the Senior Center and herding them over to the Center to sign up for that free membership.  Sorry - it's late and I needed to give myself a little smile before heading to bed.