Up the revolution (the gray kind)!

Point Roberts Parks and Recreation District commissioners got a taste of local gray power as their usually quiet monthly meeting was packed with senior center members asking them to raise taxes to expand their program.

“In Point Roberts we don’t have a town so you are the only place we have to turn,” said senior center coordinator Armene Belless. “It’s important for our community that we raise $8,000 to run this program.”

The senior center is now open once a week on Wednesdays, when a growing number of people come for lunch, games and social activities. “I go to golf early every Wednesday so I can go to seniors,” said senior center board member Jim Linde, “We have an excellent program but it’s only for one day and we’re asking it be expanded to two.” Linde said the senior center was also a link for seniors to get involved in programs beyond lunch and cards on Wednesdays, such as the twice a week walking program and blood pressure monitoring. “The seniors support an awful lot of programs through the center,” he said.

Linde added that there was growing participation in the program, with membership doubling to 120 since 2000 and increased volunteer participation to develop and run new programs. “No small part of our decision to spend the rest of our days in Point Roberts came from my experience at the senior center,” said a supporter in the audience. “I came and saw a community which offered love and compassion to its elders, that seemed to work and care.”

In a recent survey of 61 senior center members, Linde said 74 percent stated they would come if the center were open Fridays. The catch, according to Belless, is that Whatcom County parks and the Whatcom County Council on Aging, which fund the program, don’t have the budget to expand it. “We don’t have the extra money,” said county parks representative Lynne Givler in a later interview. Givler said county parks paid $3,544 last year to pay for Belless’ salary, the senior center’s share of Point Roberts community center electricity, postage and printing costs. However, she added that it was the council on aging that picked up the biggest part of the tab by subsidizing the weekly lunch. “It’s not so much about getting the center open but about the meal,” she said. “The nutrition program puts about $9,000 a year into the meal,” Pam Relay, director of the Whatcom and San Juan county nutrition project for the council on aging said.

Wednesday lunches cost $5 to make but senior center members are only asked for a suggested donation of $2.50 per meal. “We average a donation of $2,” Belless said. Membership costs $5 per year.

Proponents of the added senior center day want the Point Roberts parks board to raise their levy by three cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation to 15 and a half cents to “raise the required $8,000 for Fridays,” said senior center board member Eleanor Gerdron. She added cities like Blaine and Sumas help fund their senior center activities and “since we lack a town government it is entirely proper and logical for Point Roberts Parks and Recreation District to contribute to the local seniors’ program.” Based on the current Point Roberts total property value according to the county assessor’s office, the three-cent levy lift would generate $7,574.

Local parks board members said they would support the principle of an added day for seniors, but expressed reservations about funding. “Some of these facts are not right,” said chairman Irene Waters, pointing to some inconsistencies in funding estimates. “I’d like to look over this more.” She also expressed concern about adding another tax increase to the November ballot, when voters will be asked to reauthorize the parks operating levy but also to pay more for fire and medical services. “If we don’t pass our parks levy we have nothing,” she said. “We want to be able to provide programs for every segment of the community.”

The main item in the local parks department budget is to keep the community center open and available for all community groups to use free (heavy users pay for electricity). The parks levy also pays to run the children’s summer program, maintain Baker Community Field and set money aside to develop a skateboard park for local youth.

Waters said the board’s rejection of another day for seniors when it was proposed last year did not mean the board was against the idea. “We have to protect our other programs and it was just not logistical or feasible before,” she said. “Basically the board is behind it if we can make it work. Board member Shelley Damewood said the new spirit of enthusiasm in the senior center association could be the proposal’s greatest asset. “This is really creative and shows the establishment of a partnership,” she said. “If we can work out the logistics this could go a long way.”

Givler and Relay were also positive but cautious. “If the money can be worked out it’s a possibility,” Relay said. Givler added philosophical if not financial support. “Whatcom County parks is really into partnerships,” she said. “We’re always looking for ways two or more organizations can do something one can’t do alone.”

The parks board has until September 19 to ask Whatcom County election office to put the increase in the levy on the ballot.

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