Seniors need rights protected

There are many negatives about growing old. In general, a lot of things just don’t work as well as they used to. But one thing that shouldn’t diminish with age is a person’s First Amendment rights.

Whether they realize it or not, these rights are being compromised by those who say local senior citizens shouldn’t have the option of forming a residents’ council at the Wasilla Area Seniors Inc. (WASI) facilities — or any other senior citizen home or complex. The council is an assembly designed to give residents and users of a facility a place to present suggestions, voice concerns, offer praise, lodge complaints and formulate plans for action.

The residents’ council can then, in an orderly and constructive manner, present those suggestions, concerns, praise, complaints and plans in a cohesive package to the center’s board of directors and/or executive director.

A residents’ council can be part of a well-structured procedure that allows individuals to generate a response from the organization as a whole, instead of engaging in a one-on-one confrontation with the entity, which can be a daunting process.

In a world that is changing faster than it ever has before, it is not uncommon for older Americans to feel unable to keep up with technology. The constant changes can leave some seniors feeling dependent on others who can access new information sources better than they. Sometimes they have difficulty hearing; sometimes their eyesight is failing. And sometimes they have no one to advocate for them but their senior friends.

We all know the value of being informed. Information is a powerful weapon and shield. A residents’ council also serves to help make sure everyone has the information they need in a format they can access — so there is no literal or figurative fine print.

We see a residents council at WASI, which operates a campus with 129 housing units for area seniors, as a vital part of the program there. It certainly should not be dreaded as a group of rabblerousers by the center’s staff.

According to its Web site, WASI exists to meet the needs of seniors: “ Our purpose is not profit driven, but rather we seek to promote honor, dignity, security, and independence for older Alaskans and to help them maintain healthy, meaningful, quality lives.”

We are certain those goals include the right to assemble and ask for the redress of grievances. Surely our senior citizens, members of “The Greatest Generation,” deserve the chance to continue to exercise the freedoms they and others like them fought so hard to preserve. We owe them at that.