Senior center issue sparks heated debate

The question of whether to build a new senior center at Central Park fueled an intense debate at a forum on the issue this week, with tempers barely under check and panelists stopping short of calling each other names.

A Monday forum at Huntington Beach City Hall started off with opening statements from Debbie Cook and Shirley Dettloff about why voters should or should not support Measure T, an initiative on the November ballot that would help decide whether a new senior center should be built in Central Park

Advocates and opponents of Measure T battled for more than two hours.

The four panelists on the “Yes” team included former mayor and Council on Aging Chairman Ralph Bauer, Mayor Dave Sullivan, Council on Aging board member Cathy Meschuk and former mayor Shirley Dettloff.

Councilwoman Debbie Cook, ophthalmologist Larry Geisse, Bolsa Chica Land Trust founding member Paul Horgan and Save Central Park founder Mindy White argued against Measure T.

Cook got the forum started, asking why the city needed a new senior center when community parks urgently need money to put up new signs and repair restrooms in Central Park among other things.

Dettloff pointed out that the city’s senior population is expected to grow by 64% in the next few years. The 1940s-era Rodgers Senior Center is ill-equipped to handle the population explosion, she said.

“We’re talking about old folks who are going to die,” Bauer said. “I want to see a new senior center before I croak.”

“There’s a significant portion of seniors who don’t want it in Central Park,” White responded. “I also want to leave a legacy of open spaces.”

Bauer emphasized that it was the compassionate thing to do for seniors who had done so much for the city.

Geisse suggested having several satellite centers so it would be closer to home for many seniors. The smaller centers would also provide a more intimate atmosphere, he said.

“Multiple senior centers are not feasible due to staffing costs,” Meschuk said.

The city eliminated one full-time job and a part-time position in 2003 when it was facing budget constraints. Cook asked how the Measure T supporters proposed to pay for senior center staffing.

The Measure T boosters argued that the new senior center would not cost residents “a cent.” The council voted last week to earmark about $25 million in park fee funds from Pacific City developer Makar Properties to build a new senior center.

“This project will have ongoing costs and somebody has to pay for that,” Cook countered.

Building a new center on the same property as the Rodgers Senior Center would be a cost-effective alternative to the Central Park address, Measure T opponents said.

Razing the Rodgers center to build a new one would temporarily suspend senior services, and it would cost too much to put in underground parking there, Sullivan said.

White compared the proposed senior center to the city’s Sports Complex, which was slated to cost $1.9 million but ended up costing more than $19 million.

The Sports Complex’s bill soared when the soil it was to be built on was found to be contaminated.

But the complex is generating a profit, and Huntington Beach is one of the few cities where the complex is supporting itself, the Measure T advocates said.

“The city’s been burned by the cost,” Horgan said, adding he objected to being characterized as anti-senior.

Many of the Measure T supporters talked about the role they played in the 1970s to prevent Central Park’s development.

“We are trying to save the park you fought for,” White said. “With the proposed center, the ambience, the solitude of the park will be gone.”

No trees would be cut down on the Central Park site to make way for the proposed center, Sullivan said. “If you find a tree on that site, I’ll climb it, Ms. White,” he said.

“White objected to the Measure T supporters, saying Central Park is the perfect place for the senior center.

“While I understand it is the perfect site, it’s the perfect site for a park.”

Central Park had been carved up into pieces for many years, including an equestrian center and a Frisbee disc golf course. “How do you eat an elephant?” Cook asked. “You eat it one bite at a time, and that’s what we are doing to Central Park.”

The forum was broadcast live on Channel 3 and will be repeated.

The city’s website at surfcity-hb.org will also make the Measure T forum broadcast available.