Changes to Senior Commission Suggested

Residents at a public hearing voiced concerns about proposed changes to an ordinance that creates a permanent Senior Commission. After hearing comments from the public, the town council chose to delay acting on the issue.

The hearing was held in the Town Hall Annex at 7:15, and was followed by a regular Town Council meeting at 7:30. Many residents attended, filling the council chambers.

Two changes had been proposed to Ordinance #58, which creates "A Permanent Commission for Senior Citizens.” The first change affects the membership of the commission. Out of nine members, five were to represent the elderly. The remaining four were “members at large.” The first change would remove this distinction. All nine members would become members at large.

The second change concerns the position of the municipal agent. According to resident Fx Williams, this person's job is to understand the state’s aid programs and to help the elderly apply for them. It is a state mandated position.

Ledyard’s municipal agent has been under the supervision of both the Senior Commission and the mayor. The suggested change would make the mayor the agent’s only supervisor.

This second change received the most public comment. Town Council member Sean Sullivan read both changes. “The municipal agent for the elderly shall be an employee of the town of Ledyard,” he said. “The town employee, in our point of view, needs to be supervised by the town’s chief executive.”

Some residents disagreed. Williams argued that the agent didn’t even need to be a town employee. The municipal agents of other towns, he said, are sometimes appointed by mayors, sometimes elected, and sometimes even volunteers. “It’s not an employee. It happens to be a person wearing the hat of an employee at the moment,” he said.

Williams also argued that the agent, as a state mandated official, does not need to answer to the town. “Our town ordinances have no business interfering with the municipal agent,” he said.

Bob Boedecker, a former member of the Senior Commission, agreed with Williams. “This paragraph (about the municipal agent) has no business being there at all,” he said. “It’s a state mandated position. Boedecker said that the job description was written to merge two positions. Ledyard’s municipal agent also serves as a director of the Senior Center.

The town council planned to discuss and possibly act on the changes in the following meeting. As the public hearing ended, the council was asked to do so at the beginning of the meeting for the residents’ convenience. Instead, the council chose to refer the issue back to its Administration Committee.

“The hearing… raised several good points,” said council chair Terry Jones.

Mary McGrattan agreed. “They made reference to the statute and other things we were not prepared to answer, so we need to do more research,” she said.

The issue was raised after a conflict over a Jazzercise program at the senior center. “There’s basically a dispute between the Senior Center and the Parks and Rec,” Sullivan said. The program ran at times the Senior Center would usually be unavailable. Questions arose on whether the Senior Center could keep out Parks and Rec.

“(The Senior Commission) felt that the Jazzercycle was an imposition on the facilities,” said Boedeker, who resigned because of the issue. “In my opinion, it was a personality issue.”

Sullivan said that the changes do not address the complaint.