The current debate over whether Lewis County should drastically reduce its funding of five senior centers is not necessarily a new one.
As you’ll find in our archival coverage throughout the first four pages of this Life section, elected officials have long seen the centers as potential fodder for budget reductions when the financial times called for difficult decisions.
At the same time, the centers have survived floods and challenges of other kinds.
More times than not, elected leaders have been driven by the community to change their stance and support an important service for senior citizens, even if some would call it “non-essential” or “unmandated.”
As Lewis County moves forward with a plan to reduce its support of the centers in a way that threatens their financial foundation, and certainty their future solvency, we believe some context would be useful.
The county commissioners would have you believe this tactic is the only one available to balance the budget. We’re here now, and we’ll continue to be here throughout the coming year, reminding you, our readers, that there are other ways.
We know that not only because we’re privy, like anyone else in the public, to county budget practices, but because other governments have found ways to fund them in difficult times in the past.
Of course, others have reduced funding as well, so it’s not fair to portray this as a simple case of today’s county commissioners choosing to eliminate its hefty contribution toward a service for some of the most vulnerable and valuable members of our community.
Make no mistake though; if the county steps away, we’ll likely be having a discussion about the possibility of at least one of the five senior centers closing.
The commissioners might take that personally, as if they are being blamed for the actual act of shuttering the doors, which they believe can be prevented.
Still, they should take it personally.
They should consider what exactly it will mean for the senior citizens who enjoy the centers to have the county’s funding removed, even if the county harbors the naive belief that this is a conversation that doesn’t need to be had before they make their ultimate decision on the funding next fall.
They’ll no doubt continue marching toward “transitioning” the centers to the private sector, well intentioned or not.
The Chronicle Editorial Board will continue to combat faulty defenses of those actions with facts and perspectives.
You’ll continue to hear from the commissioners that there is simply no other way.
You’ll continue to hear from us, and many others, that there is.
We’ve adjusted our tactics by bringing our differing opinion to the Life section, where there is more space to add the context needed to have an honest conversation about saving the senior centers.
We’ll make other adjustments as well, up to potentially taking our message directly to the senior centers to make sure they have the tools available to fight against efforts to close the senior centers.
For this editorial board, it’s not about politics.
It’s about serving our subscribers who need a voice of their own to respond to those they represent.
For the commissioners, it is about politics.
That’s not said to be mean-spirited or heavy-handed in addressing the issue at hand, but if you apply the test of truth, it is an honest opinion based in facts.
We ask you all to consider if the Lewis County commissioners can say the same about their own claims, that there is truly no other way.
If they can, we open our pages to their perspective. That option has always been available to them, and they have chosen instead to advance their perspective on forums where it is not questioned.
We apologize for the image quality and incomplete nature of some of these archives, but the headlines are clear and they tell a story that is of importance to many seniors this newspaper supports and reveres.
We believe the commissioners are on the wrong side of history.
