On Nov. 14, I attended a Council on Aging meeting at the Northampton Senior Center. The small room that was allotted for this meeting could not accommodate the crowd of seniors gathered to voice concerns to the council.
Instead of moving this meeting to a larger venue, the overflow of people were turned away. This is a public and all voices should have been heard. It was a violation of their right to assemble and their freedom of speech. In my opinion, that was two strikes before the meeting had even started.
The third strike was the lack of attention to the issues the seniors were expressing. The amount of voices of discontent were not appreciated. It was the most disrespectful, condescending attitude displayed to those in attendance and the entire Senior Center community.
May I remind you in the game of baseball, it is three strikes and your out. It is all about “playing the game” and who wins or loses. As I stated at the meeting, our center is not the warm, welcoming environment it used to be. It is being run like a business — cold and calculating. We are not graphs and charts to be manipulated.
You would think if you were hired for a position dealing with senior demographics you would actually like interacting with this age population. Ah, not so much! Seniors are a diverse community from disabled, rich, poor, LGBT and people of different racial backgrounds connecting with one another.
For some seniors, the center is their only refuge, their only contact with the outside world. A sense of belonging to a community of and in itself. Seniors are a vibrant part of this community and a large voting block as well. We will not go down lightly. I will be attending the next meeting and maybe the mayor should too!
Patricia K. Doppmann
Leeds