The Lewis County commissioners unanimously voted Monday morning to remove Carol Brock from the advisory board of the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging, effective immediately, following a controversial policy restricting prayer and policy at Lewis County senior centers.
During the meeting, Commissioner Scott Brummer said Brock should resign as president of the Lewis County Seniors board.
“We don’t have the control of that, it’s up to the senior board, but I think due to this situation, Mrs. Brock should resign from the Lewis County Seniors Board,” Brummer said. “I don’t see any other way forward for them to effectively raise funds and continue on with their program.”
During the meeting, Brummer said the commissioners would begin the application process to fill the role. Following the vote, Brock said the move would free up approximately five hours a month to spend more time working with local seniors.
“If they choose to remove me from that board, that’s their prerogative,” Brock said in a phone call Monday morning.
At the meeting Monday, commissioners said the decision came down to a lack of communication and nonaligned values.
“She does not represent the Board of County Commissioners when it comes to the values and things that we would want as representation on that board,” Commissioner Sean Swope said.
Earlier this month, Swope asked the county to begin reviewing whether commissioners could remove Brock from the advisory board.
Commissioner Lindsey Pollock said Monday the “main concern I had there was an apparent, severe lack of communication” on the policy the board planned to adopt.
“That caused a much larger firestorm than ever needed to occur,” Pollock said.
Brock first announced a policy limiting prayer and discussion of politics in a column included in the August edition of Senior Dynamics. That led to around 40 people protesting at the Twin Cities Senior Center in Chehalis. The Lewis County Seniors Board met with the county commissioners last week and members stated the policy was aimed at a “moment of silence” preceding meals and did not prevent seniors from praying or discussing politics among themselves.
This policy was in response to seniors approaching the board over the summer complaining about being bullied by other seniors over political beliefs and feeling like they were being forced to attend a church service when just trying to get their meal, Brock and other LCS officials have said.
