Are we certain the City of Everett administration and City Council are telling the whole story of budget cuts?
Recently Everett laid off all staff and shuttered the 41-year-old Carl Gipson Senior Center. Everett faces a huge hurdle with a tremendous budget deficit to be sure, but even before Covid-19, we served a vulnerable population of older adults who are at risk. This will only exacerbate their isolation, and who will stand up and speak for them? They paid their dues in life and as members of the center. They paid their taxes and supported the city with jobs and volunteering. Why is it OK to think older Americans are a throwaway group?
There is a 501(c)3 Everett Senior Center Foundation with $250,000, and $500,000 in a city held senior center account. This is public record. Who will benefit from those funds? That money would have kept the senior center viable for at least two more years, possibly allowing the city to transition to a nonprofit self-sustaining center (which most senior centers are).
The city is simply looking for some fast money to cover expenses and wash their hands of a senior specific center. Smart choices have not been the norm. One example is the parks department spending $65,000 on eight pieces of top-of-the-line fitness equipment that were only sparingly used at the center. Please keep these actions in mind during election time.
Bob Dvorak
former director, Carl Gipson Senior Center
Snohomish
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