WASI board moves toward transparency

WASILLA — Wasilla seniors battling management of the Wasilla Senior Center for the past few months scored a small victory Thursday when the center’s governing board and executive director agreed to be more accessible.

Although Wasilla Area Seniors Inc. Executive Director Sondra Kaplan said during the rather contentious board meeting that the majority of WASI’s 400 members are “very happy” with the way the center is operating. She vowed to open her door and take time to listen to concerns of those who make an appointment with her.

WASI Board President Mary Sears, however, told about 35 seniors in attendance at the meeting that because so few of them signed up to volunteer their services to help the center run more smoothly, she wasn’t inclined to take them seriously.

“If you don’t sign up, you don’t have any credibility with me,” Sears told them, adding that if there are any issues giving them heartburn, they should help the staff resolve those issues instead of only complaining about them.

Sears’ choice of words didn’t sit well with member Lois Wier, one of the driving forces behind the recent outcry over the way Kaplan and the board have excluded members from past board meetings, cut the hours at the Club 50 Fitness facility, fired the former programs director and others, and allowed the food program to go downhill.

“Don’t talk so demeaning to us,” Wier said to Sears during the meeting.

At one point, disabled veteran John Latta and Kaplan’s husband nearly came to blows after Mr. Kaplan had spoken up to defend her and scold the seniors for unfairly attacking her.

“I’ve got my eye on you,” Latta said to Kaplan’s spouse before speaking his piece.

Since the Wasilla City Council turned down WASI’s request for a $36,000 grant for food services at the end of an equally contentious council meeting last month, Wier and several other concerned residents formed a group calling itself Mat-Su Elder Watch in an effort to give more legitimacy to their claims against Kaplan and the board.

Mat-Su Elder Watch member Pam Ockerlander called herself an “interested observer” who believes WASI is a “dysfunctional organization that is not responsive to either its members who they represent or the staff that serve them.”

Ockerlander, whose mother had lived on campus for about five years in the past, said she found the padlocked doors at the center very strange and the atmosphere of secrecy disturbing.

“After reading the bylaws and application to become a board member it would seem that the main mission of the organization is to not talk about center management to anyone, keep the money coming in and keep that money secure,” Ockerlander said.

She went on to suggest a possible mission statement for WASI that calls for serving seniors in an open, friendly and helpful environment.

Community activist and new WASI member Anne Kilkenny told the board that she wanted to speak about openness and to focus on the positive changes she’s seen at the center.

“I give much credit to your president, Mary Sears, for making this meeting so much more open than your last one,” Kilkenny said, adding that she was told at the last meeting that she would have to become a WASI member to attend the meeting, which she did.

She also liked the fact that an agenda for Thursday’s meeting was posted well in advance.

“This is great!” Kilkenny said. “The last meeting was held behind the locked doors of the office. This one is in a public space. Two thumbs up!”

Kilkenny said she’d also like to see the bylaws amended to remove the requirement that anyone wishing to speak to the board must notify its president 10 days in advance of the meeting. She also suggested board members give out their e-mail addresses and phone numbers for members to contact them.

“I urge you to seriously consider the horrible message that is sent when staff work behind locked doors. Must this really be?” she added.

Sears said later during the meeting she’d like to limit those able to speak during board meetings to WASI members only, but board member Katie Carney disagreed with Sears. Carney pointed out that anyone can speak to the Wasilla City Council, for instance — they don’t have to be a Wasilla resident.

Wier, Ockerlander and Kilkenny were only a few of the approximately 10 area residents who spoke about similar concerns during the meeting. Wasilla council members Dianne Woodruff and Steve Menard were among them.

Woodruff told the board that she doesn’t think there’s anything that can’t be fixed and that it seems to be mostly a communication problem that’s dividing them. She said part of the problem seems to be that members have been told they have to get their information from Kaplan — not board members or Senior Center staff.

And that’s a problem because Kaplan hasn’t been very accessible to them in the past.

“Kudos to Ms. Kaplan for getting out there and communicating with residents during their lunch,” Woodruff said.

However, Woodruff took issue with the seniors being blamed for WASI not getting grant funds from the city of Wasilla.

“You shot the messenger and didn’t consider the message,” Woodruff said. “Grant funds are given to organizations that are healthy and don’t operate in secrecy and don’t shoot the messenger.”

Menard told the board he had a bad experience at the senior center when he stopped by to cast his vote for Mat-Su Borough mayor. He said he asked to talk to Kaplan, but wasn’t prepared for the negative reception he received.

“She comes out and absolutely gets in my ass from the get-go,” Menard said. “I was accused of rejecting the seniors and taking the money allocated to them. It really put me off.”

Menard admitted that his first reaction was to somehow get back at her, but after praying about it, he said realized he needs to work with the seniors, the board and the city to help resolve their funding issues.

Toward the end of the meeting, after board reports painted a bleak financial picture for the food program, Woodruff and Menard agreed to facilitate further discussions between the WASI board and the Wasilla council to see if they could come up with more funding.

“I think everybody wants this to be a healthy organization,” Woodruff said, later adding that she was encouraged by the recent changes made by Kaplan and the board to better accommodate members. “It’s a good first step.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.