City Council Agenda Report
TO: Mayor Clauzel and Members of the City Council
FROM: Ken Irwn, City Manager
BY: Nubia Goldstein, City Attorney
MEETING DATE: June 18, 2024
ITEM NO: 8.2
SUBJECT: Adopt Resolution No. 2024-27, Dissolving the Senior Center Board of Directors, Rescinding Resolution 2023-07, and directing City staff to prepare the necessary items for the creation of a City-wide Senior Commission in the City of Patterson.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council of the City of Patterson (“City Council”) move to adopt Resolution No. 2024-27, Dissolving the Senior Center Board of Directors, rescinding Resolution 2023-07, and directing City staff to prepare the necessary items for the creation of a Senior Commission in the City of Patterson.
BACKGROUND
The Senior Center Board of Directors was first established in 2005 and its roles and responsibilities were last revised in July of 2023, through Resolution 2023-07. The purpose of the Senior Center Board of Directors is to make recommendations to the City Council with regard to the programs, activities, and services at the Hammon Senior Center and for the senior citizen community in the City of Patterson (“City”). The Senior Center Board of Directors is an advisory board only and has no legislative authority, is not authorized to enter into any contracts or incur any debt on behalf of the City, and all fiscal responsibility for the Hammon Senior Center remain with the City Finance Department.
The Hammon Senior Center serves as a community center for the City’s senior residents, but due to recent disruptions and incidents, it is difficult for the City to continue to effectively provide services at the Hammon Senior Center through the current iteration of the Hammon Senior Center Board.
ANALYSIS
The Senior Center Board of Directors’ function is to support senior programming in the City of Patterson and receive and digest community feedback to pass along to Staff and the City Council in an efficient manner. As the Senior Center Board of Directors has recently been a source of discord within the Hammon Senior Center community, its role as a source of providing useful advice on how best to serve the City’s senior citizen community has been compromised. City Staff, including the Parks and Recreation Director, are active participants in the Hammon Senior Center programming and receive feedback from the City residents at the Hammon Senior Center on a regular basis. This feedback is the main purpose of the Senior Center Board of Directors, and it is already being achieved through City Staff’s participation at the Hammon Senior Center.
Therefore, to ensure that the City can continue to effectively provide programs and activities at Hammon Senior Center, City Staff recommend that the Senior Center Board of Directors be dissolved. This will streamline City’s ability to provide services and avoid potential future conflicts that may compromise the Hammon Senior Center as a community center for the senior citizen community in the City.
In conjunction with the dissolution of the current Senior Center Board of Directors, City staff seek direction from the City Council on the formation of a City-wide Senior Commission. The purpose and mission of a new Senior Commission is to act as the voice for the City’s senior population on matters of City-wide concern, not just at the Hammon Senior Center. The Senior Commission would be tasked with advising the City Council on needs and concerns of all seniors on topics such as senior housing and social services, consulting with local groups and other public agencies on the needs of the senior community, evaluating available resources, and providing a forum for members of the community to participate. The creation of a Senior Commission would also fill any void created by the dissolution of the Senior Center Board as the new commission would be tasked with providing recommendations for Hammon Senior Center activities at a higher level.
If the City Council approves the dissolution of the Senior Center Board and directs City staff to move forward with the creation of a Senior Commission, City staff will prepare the necessary materials to initiate the process. Establishing a Senior Commission will require a change to the Patterson Municipal Code, the preparation of a timeline for implementation and supporting documents. Under this scenario, City staff can bring forward an ordinance for the Council’s consideration at the July meeting, with a target date to fully implement the new Senior Commission, conduct interviews and final selection of Commissioners by the Mayor and Council by September or October of 2024.
FISCAL IMPACT
Dissolving the Senior Center Board of Directors will have no immediate financial impact.
Attachment:
1. Resolution No. 2024-27