Elizabeth Wojciechowski was 70 the last time she marched on city hall, demanding something for the Ansonia senior center.
Twelve years later, at 82, Wojciechowski is willing to do it again.
Wojciechowski and several other members of the Joseph A. Doyle Senior Center are planning to protest cuts to the center’s budget next week before the Board of Apportionment and Taxation meeting.
At the meeting, Director Maureen Bennett is scheduled to address the tax board about her concerns with the budget cuts.
Bennett said the cuts leave the center with only one full-time person — something she said is not feasible for the center’s needs.
“I think we’re the forgotten child,” Bennett said of the cuts, which bring the department’s budget from $140,000 to $70,000 next year.
Picketing Seniors
The first time Ansonia seniors marched on City Hall — picket signs and all — was in 1998, when Bennett was laid off from the position as senior center director due to union bumps from above.
“They were angry,” Bennett said. “When they get angry: Unfiltered talk.”
Bennett spent the past 12 years working in other city departments and returned to the senior center this spring.
Wojciechowski said she’s willing to march again if it might help get more money for the senior center.
“Why not?” Wojciechowski asked. “I’m very upset about it.”
The Budget
The approved budget will mean the director’s assistant and the center’s custodian will likely be dropped down to part-time employees.
The transportation budget has also been reduced to half its current state, Bennett said.
That helps pay for seniors to go on weekly supermarket shopping trips, or get to and from the center when they can’t drive.
But it’s the lack of two full-time people in the office that worries Bennett, and Mary Deptula, the assistant who stands to lose her job from the center.
About 60 people on average visit the center each day, Bennett said.
“There truly needs to be a full-time person here,” Bennett said.
The Need
Bennett highlighted the many medical needs of the senior center members — saying one day she was working alone, she had to call two ambulances within minutes of each other because of medical emergencies.
Bennett said she wasn’t even sure what was wrong when she called the first ambulance — she only heard members from down the long hallway yelling for someone to call for an ambulance.
It turns out a 92-year-old man fell and broke his hip.
“It those things that are happening that you can’t schedule a part-time person around,” Bennett said. “Accidents happen at unscheduled times.”
There are also frequent trips with seniors that a full-time employee must go on, leaving the center potentially unstaffed during those hours, Bennett said.
Deptula said she’ll end up bumping a less-senior member of the union if her position is reduced to part-time, but said she’s upset at what might happen at the senior center.
“It’s a little more than just answering the phones,” Deptula said of the position. “A lot more.”
The Reality
Bennett has already appealed to the Board of Aldermen.
Acting Mayor Stephen Blume said he understood the plight, but that in the tough economic times the city had to make sacrifices.
“These are bad times here,” Blume said during the last Board of Aldermen meeting. “Perhaps if you’re on a trip and you’ve got 40 people with you, you close the center.”
As a former Valley resident who is in her sixties I deplore any cuts that are being planned to the Ansonia Senior Center. As Acting Mayor Blume was quoted in saying, “Perhaps if you’re on a trip and you’ve got 40 people with you, you close the center.” In response to that I ask, “Why should members who do not choose to go on a trip be deprived of a social outlet?”
I’m sure there are other places in the town budget that can be cut. Let’s look at the spending of the town government instead. Do town administrators only make paper copies when extremely necessary? Do you print on both sides of a sheet of paper? Do you all turn off lights when you leave a room to go to a meeting? Do you turn off your computers completely at the end of each day? What about regulating the temperatures in the offices? All of these are cost-cutting measure that add up to significant savings.
Perhaps if other areas of town services were cut across the board this might not be so difficult to accept. I think that seniors should be the last people to be made to give up one of the few things they really enjoy – don’t forget that these seniors are the folks who made the Valley what it is was and is and who have worked their entire lives. Now you want to cut the budget on the one place that brings some enjoyment to their lives. Find another way please.
“These are bad times here, Blume said”. He ought to know because he’s one of the guys that has lead Ansonia into these tough times. Seniors have been tossed aside in Ansonia. Their center’s funds took the largest cut out of any department (50%), and most, who are on fixed incomes, are facing tax increases and $285 sewer fees. Those of you who keep voting the same old Democrats in time and time again can only blame yourselves. You elect people who can’t manage and are proactive about nothing, except making you pay. Well, it’s time to pay for your bad decisions. Keep bringing them back and it will get even worse.
Face the facts and do something about it this November during state and federal elections and next November in the municipal elections. Vote all the career politicians OUT! They are killing us and the seniors feel it the most.
i have an idea why dont you stop giving tax freezes to some city employees? I mean lets be honest, you are raising our property taxes as well as implying a sewer charge on top of what you already charge us. the you have the nerve “acting mayor” to tell them to close the center when on trips?? Give me a break next time you give a nit wit excuse like that think it through. This administration tries to keep there own happy and pad their pockets then throws away the key on the rest. its time for a change. hey why dont you eliminate some of those education jobs where the assistants assistants secratary has an assistant, or would the aldeman who’s wife would lose her job because of a logical decision be to upset. This is a joke. they are asking for 2 full time employees. Not an increase in the budget. think about the message you are sending before you vote on the appeal.
The “everyone knows reason” that Maureen Bennett was returned to her old-job at the Senior Center, is the fact, that Maureen Bennett, always does the work for at least, two people. The City of Ansonia covered the job reduction at the Center, with the very capable, Maureen Bennett, back in charge!
My wife and I are both, happy to have you back, at the helm. Keep up the good work, Maureen Bennett!
The 50% cut to the Ansonia Senior Center was unjust when other departments remained at a flat operating budget and BOE got a $500K increase (that’s half a million dollars!). The seniors of the city deserve to have a social venue where there are fun activities, meals, trips, and companionship available to them in a safe haven. While the teachers balked at having more than 22 in a class, why should the Senior Center staff be reduced and increase the ratio when approximately 60 people come daily. There are other ways to find $70K to put the Senior Center back to last year’s budget if acting Mayor Blume and other administrators would just look and be a little creative in cutting city costs. Many of the “little things” these posts suggest are just a start. What happened to respecting your elders!
Everyone DEMANDS money. The seniors Demand more money, the teachers DEMAND more money, the health care workers DEMAND more money….
Well here’s a news flash. The private sector that pays for all these programs is tapped out and I have had enough. I am indebted to the seniors for their hard work and the country they provided for me. I am paying them back. I send them a large portion of my paycheck to pay for their social security and another big chunk to pay for their medicaid. Instead of a thank you or a Christmas card – I get a DEMAND for more money. I for one have had it. You ain’t getting it.