<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Rose Cantwell, mother of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, is the new president of the board at the South Snohomish County Senior Center.

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Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com

Cantwell's mom shows her savvy

Kristi O'Harran
Herald Columnist

Stop the presses.

There has been an overthrow at the South Snohomish County Senior Center in Edmonds.

Rose Cantwell came out on top. She has some political savvy in the family, what with her famous daughter, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

The pair share a home in Edmonds.

Those who enjoy meeting at the center for lunch, classes and fun discovered a situation that had to change.

It required espionage.

All the better.

Members liked their executive director, but in September the gentleman was put on the chopping block by the center's board of directors.

"We called a special meeting of the board to ask them to reconsider," said Rose Cantwell, 76. "At a special meeting, all they would do is listen to our appeals. We couldn't ask questions or anything."

At the next board meeting, they called an executive session -- and fired the director.

"We felt like our feelings weren't being respected," Cantwell said.

After the firing, the center's program director sent a letter to the board, asking them to be more considerate of members feelings.

A day later, the program director got the ax.

Enough was enough.

"I don't think membership had paid a lot of attention to what the board was doing," Cantwell said. "Members all of a sudden decided to start paying attention."

The gang started reading bylaws and articles of incorporation with magnifying glasses.

Ah ha. They discovered they had the right to elect officers of the board.

"We tried to get them to work with us, but they had a closed board for 40 years."

The matter went to the courts. A lawsuit was filed.

Members won the right to vote on officers of the board.

Guess who is the new president? Rose Cantwell, elected by 353 out of 444 center members.

The mother of five managed a staff of 50 employees as administrative deputy for the assessor's office in Indianapolis. She followed her daughter to Edmonds and says she loves it here.

Maria Cantwell says she's very proud of the new president of the board.

"I've learned a lot from her," the senator said. "I am so proud of her. If you want to make change, you have to get involved."

She doesn't want her mother to wear herself out, she added.

That's a concern. Rose Cantwell sings with the Sound Singers of Edmonds, an all-senior choir. She takes classes, eats lunch at the center and is involved in creative writing. She has her own busy social calendar.

Being board president didn't solve a host of problems. Her team on the board is in the minority so it's hard to press through desired changes. They hope to eventually see to it the membership elects all board members through a change in the bylaws.

She has plenty of help at the center.

"Senior citizens today are different than 50 years ago," Rose Cantwell said. "We lead more active lives."



Columnist Kristi O'Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.