INSIDE

County parks committed to seniors

By Meg Olson

“Our cook is cooking and it tastes good. Ruth is active and doing a great job,” said senior association liaison Doug Ritchie to parks board members.

At the January 5 meeting of the Point Roberts parks and recreation district board of directors Ritchie reported that any waves from an end of the year staff shuffle had gone back to smooth waters. New cook Ronnie Carruthers and new program coordinator Ruth Liukkonen had quickly settled into their positions.

From the parks board’s perspective, however, Irene Waters reported that the web of contracts under which the seniors program operates was anything but smooth sailing.

“Right now we’re operating without a contract with Whatcom County for the seniors,” she told the board. “They also haven’t paid us since July.” Waters said the cost of the seniors program, which operates on Wednesdays and Fridays, was shared by Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department, the Whatcom County Council on Aging, the seniors association and the local parks department. Each of the other entities pay the local parks department for a share of utilities on the community center. “I send out bills to seniors, council on aging and county park. Two pay, one doesn’t,” Waters said.

The lack of contract is a greater concern, Waters said, since she has had no indication of why county parks won’t sign onto a renewal of the five-year contract that expired last fall. “I’m hearing county council wants to renew it and make some changes,” she said. “I’m concerned about what those changes will be. I don’t want these programs to go away.”

County senior services manager Rob Bunnett said the contract delay was an administrative problem, not a problem with the programs themselves. “It has nothing to do with intention, its just a simple format issue,” he said. County parks director Michael McFarlane said the county was committed to its part in both days of senior activities on the Point. “We have no plans to cut back or pull back in any way,” he said.