1986/11/20 Senior Citizens Advisory Commission Minutes SENIOR CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES
November 20 , 1986
The Senior Citizens Advisory Commission of the City of Rohnert Park met
this date in regular session commencing at 3:02 p.m. at the City of
Rohnert Park City Council Chambers , 6750 Commerce Boulevard , Rohnert
Park: , with Chairman Chase presiding.
Call to Order Chairman Chase called the regular session to order
at approximately 3:03 p.m. and led the pledge of
allegiance.
Roll Call Present (5 ) Commissioners Dolby , Ferra , Kennedy ,
Lyons and Chairman Chase
Absent : (0 ) None
Staff present for all or part of the meeting:
None.
Approval of Minutes Upon a motion duly made by Chairman Chase and
seconded by Commissioner Kennedy , the Minutes of
October 16 , 1986 were approved as submitted.
Senior Drop-In Upon recognition by Chairman Chase , Florence
Center Jennis , 6351 Country Club Drive , reported the
attendance and contributions of the Rohnert Park
Senior Citizens Drop-In Center for the month of
October. There were 23 weekdays with 1 ,428
visitors and 4 weekends with 286 visitors for a
total of 27 full days and 1 ,714 visitors. The
year-to-date total is 17 ,576 visitors. There were
27 new visitors in October , of which , 21 were new
restoents to Rohnert Park . There were also 15
hostesses and 1 host serving the visitors during
the month. Ms . Jennis indicated that the Senior
Drop-In Center is helping to develop a mailing
list for the newsletter , SCAN ( Senior Citizen
Activities Newsletter ).
Chairman Chase recognized Dale Tekus , 1524 Gary
Court , who is very optimistic about the mailing
list . She is spending most of her time working on
it.
Sensor Boutique Commissioner Ferra inquired about the senior
boutique. Ms . Jennis explained to the Commission
and audience that seniors have a place to display
and sell their crafts in the Padre Town Center ,
and so far , it has been very favorably received.
Presently they pay no rent for their space. In the
first five days , the boutique made $800. The
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owner of the building is very supportive , and
currently the boutique is open everyday of the
week . Ms. Jennis complimented the boutique sign
made by local community artist , Glad Baker.
At this time , Chairman Chase asked Dale Tekus ,
Senior Scheduler , to advertise the senior boutique
in upcoming issues of the newsletter.
Copeland Creek Chairman Chase read his letter to Mr. Brickfield
Apartments regarding low-cost housing at the Copeland Creek
Apartment Complex , 101 Enterprise Drive and Mr.
Brickfield's response.
Commissioner Betty Ferra commented that there will
be no more Section 8 Housing. No new ones are
being issued. 101 Enterprise was Section 8
Housing. She called the Sonoma County Housing
Authority and they said that they had many calls ,
but they cannot do much about it .
Utility Rate Chairman Chase read a letter from a senior Rohnert
Increases Park resident concerning the recent utility rate
increases.
Commissioner Ferra inquired about the rate
increase. Chairman Chase clarified that there
were water and garbage increases .
Chairman Chase read a letter about the County
Dump . Garbage rates are going up , and the
consumers are going to pay. Commissioner Ferra
commented that we cannot do anything about it , and
Chairman Chase added that it was a sad situation.
Chairman Chase suggested that he write a letter to
the City Council so that the Council will be aware
of how the seniors feel about rate increases that
they cannot afford.
Mobile Home Park Commissioner Ferra said that she thought a letter
Rent Increases should be drafted to the City Council to enforce
what they said about not increasing the rentals
over 6 percent for mobile homes. Some increases
have been 20-_2 percent . According to Commissioner
Ferra , we need to make our position known to the
Council and fight the increases.
Some of the mobile home parks that have gone over
the 6 percent rental increase include Rancho
Feli= and Rancho Grande , and Valley Village tried.
There is supposed to be a committee appointed by
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the City Council monitoring the mobile home parks
to make sure they do not raise their rent above
the 6 percent . The Senior Citizens Advisory
Commission feels they are not doing their job
adequately , however.
Emergency Chairman Chase discussed the emergency plan. Judd
Information Snyder at the Rohnert Park-Cotati Clarion intends
to publish the emergency information. Mr. Chase
will write a series of articles to inform people
about what they can do for themselves. Some
article subjects might include tips for the
handicapped and what supplies to keep on-hand for
a disaster.
Mr. Chase indicated that there are not going to be
enough trained volunteers to help out during a
disaster. The Red Cross and the Department of
Emergency Services will train volunteers.
Chairman Chase recognized Florence Jennis , 6351
Country Club Drive , who suggested getting in
contact with youth organizations and train the
young people as runners. These runners would be
delegated to a specific area or neighborhood and
would be responsible for a list of items to check
during a disaster. The 125 local Hamm radio
operators would also be incorporated into the
plan.
Chairman Chase wants some disaster information to
appear in News & Views . In his view , the
Commission needs to identify those who will need
assistance. Also , there needs to be some plan to
get in touch with volunteers or people who would
be willing to be runners .
Both Florence Jennis and Betty Ferrs are going to
the next DES ( Office of Emergency Services )
meeting at Hewlett Packard. They will try to
report to the Commission each month with the
information they compile and to share suggestions
with the Commission to develop a plan that will
work. They plan to contact Pete Peterka to start
a Disaster Task Force here in Rohnert Park .
Next Meeting Commissioner Kennedy inquired if the Commission
was going to meet in December. The Commission
agreed unanimously against a December meeting and
agreed to a meeting for January 15 at 3 p.m. at
101 Enterprise Drive.
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There will be more advertising of the Commission
meetings using flyers and the newsletter SCAN.
Ms. Tekus , the Senior Scheduler , agreed to check
with the City Council to see if the City would pay
for the flyers each month. She will report back
to the Commission. Ms . Tekus also agreed to make
the flyers herself .
The Commission Commissioner Betty Ferra announced that she would
not be running for the Commission again , but that
she would concentrate her energies on disaster
planning for the seniors in Rohnert Park . Much of
her time will be spent setting up confidential
files of who will really need assistance in an
emergency.
Meeting Adjourned There being no further business and no one
further desiring to be heard , Commissioner Ferra
made a motion , which was seconded by Commissioner
Lyons to adjourn the meeting of the Rohnert Park
Senior Citizens Commission at approximately 4:05
p.m.
Chairman Chase
ATTEST:
Secretary
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