EDITORIAL:

Why fix what isn’t broken?

The Costa Mesa Senior Center isn’t perfect, but by most accounts — by seniors at the center — it’s running pretty darn well.

However, a couple of malcontents have got City Councilwoman Wendy Leece’s ear, and Leece is now asking that two council members sit on the center’s 13 member board, with voting privileges. This would mean that the two council-appointed board members would be replaced.

Although the Senior Center is a private, nonprofit corporation, Costa Mesa taxpayer money accounts for about one-third of the operating budget.

Because of the financial support, Leece said, the City Council should be able to appoint two of its members to voting positions on the 13-member board.

“A great amount of tax money is given for the Senior Center, so I think it’s time to give council members more input in its operation,” Leece said.

Several board members, however, say the center is running well as it stands, and that Leece’s presence at the board meetings as a nonvoting liaison has been a distraction and has cost the center money in the form of staff time necessary to review her extensive requests for information.

As the City Council’s liaison to the center, Leece has every right to take an active role.

But let’s face the facts: What we have here is a bad marriage.

Because the center should be accountable to the City Council, we support a council liaison to keep an eye on the goings-on. But perhaps it’s time for Leece to step down from that role. All of her actions up to this point, while well-intentioned, have proved counterproductive. It’s time for some new blood.

Secondly, the council should receive regular reports — in public — from its two appointees. This might make senior center officials bristle, but so be it. If you’re going to accept taxpayer money, you should be subject to scrutiny.

Lastly, we believe it’s high time the center conducts a survey of those who use the facility to ascertain how satisfied they are with the many services the center offers.

This would give all involved a better idea — beyond anecdotes — of how the center is performing and the quality of services it’s providing its patrons.