Re: Opening and Welcome

Commission Chair Ciriaco Gonzales called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.

Re: Approval of Minutes

Chair Gonzales asked if there were any additions, deletions or corrections to April’s    minutes.  Stuart Crump noted that on page one, paragraph, line five, ‘if; should be ‘of’.  With this correction, the minutes were approved as written. 

Chair Gonzales introduced Kathy Neale, a member of Rockville’s Long Range Plan for Senior Services Task Force and applicant for the Senior Commission.

Re: Club Reports

Audrey Beck, reporting for the Young-In-Heart Club advised that she and Betty Briscoe have been exchanging e-mails on action items, noting that the May meeting was in progress with the club’s installation luncheon and trip to Warrenton, Virginia to visit the old jail and Civil War Museum. 

Stu Crump, reporting for the Willing 3 C’s, said their most recent meetings had been April 22nd and May 13th.  The April meeting was a pot luck lunch and the May 13th meeting featured a video on African American Fitness, which included diet and exercise and was filmed at the Senior Center.              

Stuart went on to say that the June meeting will be held on Friday the 16th at the Flaming Pit in Gaithersburg where the new slate of officers would be installed.

Nancy McIntyre, reporting for the Golden Ringers, advised she had been unable to attend their last meeting.

Kathy Neale, Task Force Member, was asked to update the Commission on the latest information on the Task Force.  Kathy said they had been meeting since January and had distributed a number of informal questionnaires in an effort to gain insight from the seniors in Rockville to help them with their mission.  Kathy said a good number of the questionnaires had been returned and the Task Force was in the process of compiling the information and hopes to have a report ready by the end of July.

Doug Bly had submitted his report to Lorraine as follows: attended the Bethany House meeting on 1 May.  Attendance 24.  No Treasurers report.  New officers are:  Pres. Eleanor Bove; VP Betty Tolson; Secy. Alice Murrary; Corresponding Secy M Wheeler;  Treasurer Betty Harrington; Asst. Treasurer Dorothy Walsh.  Bake sale postponed until June.  

 Re: Montgomery County Commission on Aging

Ciriaco said he had not attended the last regular meeting however he had been at the last Stakeholder’s meeting and attended and testified at the last County Council meeting.  He noted that there was a lot of focus on Holiday Park and other senior use buildings that are in need of repair and refurbishing and photographs were shown to emphasize their poor condition.  In closing he mentioned that the Council tentatively approved monies in the budget for these repairs.

Nancy McIntyre said she had attended the County Commission on Aging meeting where she had given a short report on the Rockville Senior Commission.   It included the work on a community based service organization for the aging in place concept.  She mentioned that the City is planning to do a comprehensive needs assessment survey this coming year.

She also mentioned that the county discussed their Cable TV channel and thought it might be a good idea if the Commission were to work on a program for the Rockville Cable Channel as part of the overall effort to get ore information out to more people living in Rockville.

Re: R.S.I. Report

Jonathan Triandafilou, reporting for R.S.I. noted that May 20th will be the Spring Bazaar, May 31st will be the Health Fair and May 16th was the Volunteer Appreciation Party at the Center that was followed by the R.S.I. Board elections.  In closing, he said he and Ciriaco had also attended the Mayor and Council meeting for the Senior Citizen Month proclamation.         

Audrey Beck said she and Pete had volunteered to represent the Senior Commission at a table at the Health Fair that featured various pamphlets with information on a number of subjects.  She asked Lorraine for assistance to develop the materials that would be presented at this years Health Fair and mentioned that it might be a good idea to have a number of Task Force surveys for Fair visitors to complete.  It was noted that during most events visitors don’t like to take the time to complete surveys however, if the Commission wanted to offer a free give-away, it might entice more people to take a few minutes to answer the questions.  Nancy McIntyre moved that the Commission take monies from their budget and purchase items to be given to those at the Fair who were willing to complete the surveys.  Steve Lipson seconded the motion and all present voted aye.  Jonathan volunteered to check with his wife to see what type of item could be purchased and engraved with the Senior Citizens Commission name in the amount of time they have with the amount on money they have.

Re: Chair Report

Ciriaco said he had a meeting with Rockville City Manager Scott Ullery on Wednesday, March 15th.  They discussed the senior survey as Ciriaco was afforded the opportunity to explain why the Commission thought it was a necessary item for inclusion in the ’07 budget.  He mentioned a few of his talking points and said that Mr. Ullery noted that it would be a one-time expense that could possibly be submitted to the Mayor and Council for their consideration.

Re: U.S.M. Report

Ciriaco said he had attended their last meeting on Monday where they had discussed an upcoming retreat in Southern Maryland on July 10th.  It will be an all day affair where they will discuss issues and train new volunteers.   The discussion switched over to the recent increase in electricity rates by BGE.  One U.S.M. member said he had gone to Florida to find out about the Florida based company that will be working with BGE to provide area services and had found out that most Florida recipients were unhappy with the services provided to them.  They were also unhappy with the fact that last year’s hurricane was being blamed for all the problems while company board members were enjoying hefty raises and benefits.

Ciriaco went on to say that there will be a Federal rally in September and asked that the Commissioners put the date, September 7th, on their calendars.

Re: Chair Report

No report.

Re: Old Business

The Commissioners briefly discussed their "Aging in Place" 'pilot program' that would be based in one Rockville neighborhood.  The Twinbrook Civic Association had been mentioned as one of the most active in the city and Nancy McIntyre volunteered to attend their next meeting to talk about the program and see how best they would be able to work with one another.  The Chair indicated he would accompany Nancy.  It was also suggested that a member of Community Ministries of Rockville be invited to the next Commission meeting to talk about their handyman services and how their program is operated.  The Commission determined that parameters needed to be defined and structure and a strategy were key as a lengthy discussion ensued on how the pilot program might be put together.  The Commissioners decided that they could create the structure and strategy but that they needed to go out in to the community to talk to people about staffing, chore exchange, fees, security, liability, etc. Commissioner Lipson advised he was familiar with one program where the adult children of their senior parents were willing to pay the monthly or annual fee to have their parents in a similar program as they were not living close and it provided some peace of mind.

Ciriaco volunteered to work on talking points for the Twinbrook meeting and advised he would e-mail them to the Commissioners before they met.

Re: New Business

None.

Re: Staff Report

Lorraine said that thanks to Ciriaco and his meeting with Scott Ullery, City Manager, and to Doug Bly who testified during the budget hearings, monies have been appropriated for the Needs Assessment Survey.                                                                                                                                                        

She also mentioned that the Ride-On bus service to the Senior Center would continue as it has been with no alterations to the schedule or route at this time.                       

Lorraine noted that she needed volunteers Memorial Day weekend to help with the flower project, picking up, displaying and selling, as this was their fundraiser for the year for the Senior Assistance Fund.

She also mentioned that Eileen Tragert, Computer Lab Manager, had recently retired leaving her position open.  Lorraine said should like to hire a new employee at 20 hrs per week and a good candidate would have good organizational skills.

In closing, Lorraine reminded the Commissioners that needed to see Jill and have an updated picture taken for the display for the Commission booth at the Health Fair.                                      

With there being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m.