This week, our community learned about a troubling situation involving the management of centers by the Lewis County Seniors Board. It’s a bit complicated and has left many people in our community really surprised and upset. More and more folks in our community are asking for things to change. Up to now, no one from the Lewis County Seniors Board has said anything to challenge what I wrote in my first commentary on the topic or in the news articles that have come after it.
At the beginning of this week, The Chronicle followed up on a writeup from the Senior Dynamics publication. The piece by Lewis County Seniors Board President Carol Brock was about decisions made by the Lewis County Seniors Board, which is a group that runs the county’s senior centers. These centers get money from private sources, the state and the federal government. They’re also located on property owned by the county.
First, the board, through Brock, said there can’t be any discussions about politics in the senior centers. This means people can’t talk about politics in private or in public.
Second, the board apparently decided that people can’t pray in the senior centers. This means no one can say prayers in public or even in private — only moments of silence are allowed.
Notably, Brock took the occasion to accentuate the board’s commitment to embracing and commemorating LGBTQIA+ individuals, holidays and related issues. Notwithstanding, it remains unclear whether this proclamation within the Senior Dynamics article bears the status of a formal board resolution or merely represents Brock’s personal commentary.
Although I questioned the constitutionality of banning political discussion and prayers outright, Brock claimed that the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging holds the same or similar policy. Furthermore, Brock claimed the Older Americans Act forbids prayer and political discussion at the senior centers.
Yet, it must now be stated that both of Brock’s contentions are devoid of factual foundation.
Actually, the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging (LMTAAA) said it doesn’t agree with the policy made by Brock and the Lewis County Seniors Board. In a statement to The Chronicle, LMTAAA said the Older Americans Act doesn’t stop older people from praying before meals at a senior center or any other place where meals are given with money from the Older Americans Act.
Brock might have made a mistake or not told the truth about the policy. But instead of admitting it when faced with the facts, the Lewis County Seniors Board stuck to what they said before.
After news broke of Brock’s prayer and politics policy, about 40 seniors got together outside the Twin Cities Senior Center to pray. After engaging with them, Brock closed the senior center for the day. This choice hurt the seniors by taking away their meal and their normal activities.
At a board meeting on Thursday, Brock and the board were unable to change the agreement before the meeting ended. This missed opportunity the Lewis County Seniors Board had to correct any misinformation from Brock’s article that was published in Senior Dynamics says a lot by not saying anything.
We must have high standards for those in leadership positions who are tasked with protecting the most vulnerable adults in our community. They talk to our county leaders, state officials and people from the federal government about facts and rules. But how can we trust them if they make rules that people don’t like and then don’t tell the truth about it?
Seniors have contributed so much to our community and deserve our respect, support and protection.
Whatever your thoughts are about the policy decisions, the disturbing fact is that we have a Lewis County Seniors Board president propagating falsehoods to us and the majority of the Lewis County Seniors Board members that have largely remained silent.
Our seniors deserve better than this. We should want better for them.
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Chad Taylor is owner and publisher of The Chronicle. He can be reached at chad@chronline.com.
