Seniors Sound Off Over Funding Cuts at County Commissioners Meeting

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Dozens of seniors filled the Board of Lewis County Commissioners chambers during Monday morning’s meeting, many presenting fiery testimony in opposition to proposed budget cuts that would eliminate the county’s funding to five area senior centers.

Former commissioner Ron Averill addressed the board, which included Bill Schulte, who has been on a leave of absence since September to undergo cancer treatment, in addition to Edna Fund and Gary Stamper.

Averill said many seniors in rural Lewis County far from the Interstate 5 corridor rely heavily on the senior centers for services and likely wouldn’t be able to self-fund the centers.

“Your action in reality is to close the senior centers,” he said. “This is not enough time. I strongly encourage you to waylay this.”

One woman, Mona Fish, said she uses the Toledo Senior Center for its enrichment programs.

She said one elderly man walks to the center three times a week “just so he can get a hug,” and for human interaction.

“What we need is your help,” she said.

Other seniors streamed to the podium to voice their concerns, many of which were strongly worded and questioned how and why the cuts came about.

“We’re not happy with this lack of transparency,” said Joan Norberg.

The commissioners also made their case.

While Schulte has been out on leave, Edna Fund and Gary Stamper have been overseeing budget discussions.

Schulte told The Chronicle he hadn’t been aware of the proposed cuts to senior center funding until reading an article in this newspaper last week.

“I will not vote for the budget if it is balanced on the backs of the seniors,” he said.

A vote to approve the county budget, which would include some $196,000 to fund the centers through June 30, is scheduled for Dec. 5.

Budget Analyst Becky Butler said the commissioners could push the vote back five days, but were required by state law to vote then.

Schulte said he wanted more time for the commissioners to work with seniors and local community groups to develop a transition strategy.

“The bottom line, and in this Commissioner Fund is absolutely true, we can’t afford five senior centers,” he said.

Fund also addressed the seniors, saying she and her mother had used senior centers around the county.

Cutting funding for the centers was a difficult decision, she said.

“It’s not something that comes easily to make this transition,” she said. “We’re looking for options.”



Falling interest revenue and other sources of county income, coupled with increasing costs for state mandated services such as indigent legal defense and jail medical care, have stretched the county’s 2017 budget, Fund said.

In the same budget, the commissioners are planning on using an additional $2.3 million from the general fund reserve.

“We’re looking at all the options, and obviously, senior centers are the last thing anybody wanted to touch,” Commissioner Stamper said. “We’re gonna uncover every rock.”

But Schulte said budget discussions began in May and if the commissioners were planning on cutting funding for the senior centers, they should have started the discussion then.

“That’s not a discussion you start after the election is over,” he said.

Fund retained her commissioner seat with a victory over challenger Dan Keahey in the Nov. 8 general election. She made no mention of the potential reduction in funding for the senior centers during a number of forums and debates.

In budget meetings in late October, the commissioners began discussing the possibility of defunding the senior centers, but nothing indicating it was the direction the county intended to take emerged until a draft budget was unveiled at last week’s commissioner meeting.

Schulte said the last time the county looked at transferring the centers to the community or other agencies, the discussions took a year. He said he hoped a similar process would be initiated to fully transfer the centers would be given time to be developed. Schulte’s term ends in December. He will be replaced on Board of County Commissioners by Republican Bobby Jackson.

Fund said the budget should be passed now and that it could be amended in subsequent months to adjust funding as needed.

“We’ve made budget amendments all the time,” she said.

Meetings at the county’s five senior centers, and one church in Pe Ell where meals are distributed, are planned for the next month.

The county funds five local senior centers in Toledo, Winlock, Chehalis, Packwood and Morton. It serves five meals a week at the Chehalis center and three meals a week at the rest in conjunction with the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging, which receives federal grant funding to provide a nutrition program.

County staff have previously said if the county stopped participating, the Agency is obligated to find another partner to provide their services, and if none is found, then to provide meal vouchers.

The county also fully funds what is known as “enrichment programs,” which cover all other activities that happen at the centers aside from meals. This can include offering college courses and game and music nights, among others.

This funding would be entirely cut.

Fund has said the decision to cut the enrichment programs stemmed from advice the commissioners received at least before 2011 from the prosecutor’s office stating it was a gift of public funds.

Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer previously told The Chronicle the state Constitution bars the gifting of public funds except to the poor or infirm, criteria which must be established.

However, he said a subsequent state statute allows for the programs the county was providing, and Meyer said he was not aware of any legal repercussions or challenges resulting from the state enforcing the Constitution over the statute.

Under the current proposal, the Packwood and Toledo senior center facilities would be returned to organizations that have claims to the buildings and the Chehalis center would be retained by the county fairground.