Seniors Club member cap chafes
What is the solution to what the village’s seniors say is a space crunch that has caused the planned capping of membership to one of its largest community groups?
Discussions continued Thursday as Wellington’s Senior Advisory Committee planned its next steps toward finding solutions regarding the Wellington Seniors Club’s planned cap, which is scheduled to take effect Sept. 1.
The club announced the decision to stop accepting new members in the June edition of its newsletter, The Golden Banner. Club representatives told the committee last month that the decision was based on a lack of space to accommodate the club’s growing numbers.
Wellington contracts the club to provide senior services, allowing the village some oversight and review of the club’s proceedings, Village Manager Paul Schofield said. Typically that oversight would happen through Wellington’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, he noted.
Because of that, Schofield suggested he first meet with SAC Chair Veronica McCue to discuss the issues that have been raised regarding the club and the need for more senior activities and programs in Wellington. Schofield said he then will meet with the chair of the PRAB and sit down with club president Howard Trager.
The board voted unanimously to accept Schofield’s suggestion, setting the stage for a string of meetings that could bring answers for the club’s current and prospective members.
Some in the audience questioned why the two board chairs and Trager cannot sit down with Schofield at the same time, instead of meeting separately. But that would be a violation of Florida’s Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, which prohibits members of the same board from discussing board business behind closed doors, Schofield said. Trager, the club’s president, also sits on the SAC.
Once all three meetings have been held, Schofield will share the results with the SAC and PRAB and continue discussing possible solutions. “It’s a little convoluted but it really does work,” he said of the process, designed to prevent back-room dealings.
The goal of the meetings, he said, will be to gather the issues from each group and hopefully find solutions. But some of those solutions could be tough to come by.
“The thing I hear most often is we need a dedicated senior center,” Schofield said. The village has grappled with the lack of large spaces for seniors to gather, with some residents saying the redesigned Wellington Community Center could have offered a larger, ground-floor space for the club. Currently, the club’s luncheons are held in a conference room on the second floor.
The village plans to find a space where seniors can “just go in and sit down and chat,” Schofield said.
The issue will be brought back to the committee after Schofield meets with McCue, the PRAB chair and Trager, he said.
In other action, the committee voted 5-1, with member Jose Soto dissenting and member Carlos Poveda absent, to move the start time of its meetings back to 3:30 p.m. from 4:30 p.m. The Senior Advisory Committee’s next meeting will be 3:30 p.m. Sept. 13.
Note: Can’t attend a meeting? Videos for each village meeting are available at www. wellingtonfl.gov once the meeting has finished. There you also can find agendas and minutes for Wellington committee, board and council meetings.