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SCC 10-27-04 · CUPEIQ1NO SENIOR CITIZENS COMMISSION Regular Adjourned Meeting Wednesday, October 27, 2004, 2 p.m. Cupertino Senior Center - Reception Hall 21251 Stevens Creek Boulevard (408) 777-3150 AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL 1. MINUTES A. Regular meeting of September 23, 2004 2. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the commission on any matter not on the agenda. Speakers are limited to three (3) minutes a person. In most cases, state law will prohibit the commission from making any decisions with respect to a matter not listed on the agenda. 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Reconsideration of the Senior Center parking fee, membership fee increase, and funding plan for the case management program. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Selection of quarterly meeting date B. Selection of work plan meeting date 5. MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED A. Written communications B. Commission updates C. Staff updates 6. ADJOURNMENT In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the city of Cupertino will make reasonable efforts to accommodate persons with qualified disabilities. If you require special assistance, please contact the Parks and Recreation office at 777-3110 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. Parking is limited and restricted at the Cupertino Senior Center - prior to the meeting a parking pass may be requested at the Senior Center reception counter. DRAFT Senior Citizens Commission CITY OF CUPERTINO REGULAR MEETING THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2004 CALL TO ORDER Chairman Yap called the meeting to order at 2 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLLCALL Commissioners present: Commissioners absent: Staff present: Linda Walker, Mavis Smith (arrived late), Frank Yap, Estelle Incociati, Christine Pierce (arrived late) None Julia Lamy, Recreation Supervisor; Therese Smith, Director, Parks and Recreation; Carol Atwood, Director, Administrative Services; Marie Preston, Administrative Assistant, Parks and Recreation 1. MINUTES A. Regular meeting of June 24, 2004 ACTION: A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed 5 -0 to accept the regular meeting minutes of June 24, 2004, as written. 2. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None 3. NEW BUSINESS A. Recommendation to City Council regarding Senior Center membership fee increases and case management program: Director Smith and Supervisor Lamy gave a PowerPoint presentation on "Reconsideration of Fee Increases" that gave points that there were unhappy Senior Center members, the city's decrease in revenues, budget information, case management program information, analysis, and cost. Possible actions offered were to: eliminate the parking fee and raise revenue from other sources; eliminate the parking fee and discontinue the case management program, or eliminate the parking fee, give up the Council on Aging grant, run a half-time case management program, and charge a nominal fee for service. In the presentation, the commission was asked the following questions: is case management a valuable service; should it become a service for a fee or be supported through other fees charged at the center; and should we continue to Senior Citizens Commission September 23, 2004 Page 3 of7 Helen Ho recommended that the parking fee be eliminated, give up the Council on Aging grant to reduce restrictions, and have a part-time case manager. Claire Gruber, Cupertino, spoke against the parking fee and maintaining the case management program. Barbara Dixon spoke in favor of maintaining the case management program, but objected to the parking fee. Delmar Wrensch spoke against the parking fee. He would like the parking fee eliminated, give up the Council on Aging grant, and run a part-time case management program and charge a nominal fee for service. He would like to have the Senior Center offer a guest pass at no cost. Lori Trumbower stated that for her and her husband to be a member of the center so they can participate in Bingo would cost them $SO/year. If a parking fee is imposed, they will not renew their membership. Roberta Bernstein, Sunnyale, states that the only reason she uses the center is because the Fremont Union High School District has their adult education exercise class there. She does not avail herself of any other services in the center. She likes the idea of the case manager program, but believes that it is unfair to ask nonresidents to pay into the parking fee, not have a chance to park sometimes, and not be able to take advantage of the case management program because she does not live in Cupertino. She also does not believe it is fair that she would have to pay for parking with a disability placard. She is in favor of eliminating the parking fee, give up the Council on Aging grant, have a part-time case management program, and charge a nominal fee for service. John Creedon, Santa Clara, had financial questions about the center; he was given a copy of the PowerPoint, which answered many of his questions. Les Dowling, Sunnyvale, likes the Senior Center, but feels the parking fee is a stiff jump. He would prefer to see an increase in the regular fee somewhat. Shirley Lin Kinoshita, Cupertino, teaches at the Cupertino Senior Center and other centers. She believes there are other means that can serve the case management program. She believes a case manager program is needed. She likes the idea of sharing a case manager. She would consider fundraising for this position. Mary Guay, Cupertino, stated that there should be more regular and handicapped parking spaces. She displayed many pages from the "Yellow Pages" listing senior services, transportation, aging, legal problems, and community services. Senior Citizens Commission September 23, 2004 Page 4 of7 Gordon Frolich, Cupertino, stated that the fee increases won't hurt them, but did not agree with the math and that the parking fee should be less. Felt the $20 for parking was a gouge. He also stated that the argument about the vehicle tax rebate has no merit. Irvin Webster, Cupertino, believes that the City Council has let them down by wanting to decrease parking by narrowing Mary Avenue. Syd Jarvis spoke against the case management program that coincides with the parking fee. He would like to see the nonprofit center turned into a bureaucracy. He believes the parking fee is exorbitant and does not want to see the membership diluted because of it. He would support a pay-as-you-go case management program. Opal Lemmer, Cupertino, stated that a membership increase would be better. If there are people who can't afford the fee, they should receive help via contributions from individuals and businesses. She believes the case management program is important. Frances Ota, volunteer Hula instructor, spoke against the parking fee. She believes it is too much for a volunteer teacher to pay to teach a class. She would support a fundraiser for the case management position. She believes the position can be part-time. Chihua Wei, Cupertino, spoke in support of the case management program. He proposed a partnership program with the Senior Center members and his special needs organization. Bernie Henschke, Santa Clara, spoke against the parking fee and spoke in favor of a volunteer case management program. Jack Kho, Cupertino, would like to keep the case management program. He rejects the parking fee proposal. Philip Goldstein, Cupertino, believes the parking fee be included in an annual fee at $36/year - $3/month - $ .75/week - $ .15/day. He says there are too many cars that do not have parking stickers and they are taking up the parking spaces. John Stahlman, Cupertino recommended basing membership fee on members' 1040 income as he believes that many people are not paying their fair share - could be from $0 to $250/year. Manie Chen, Sunnyvale, spoke in favor of handicapped drivers not paying a parking fee. She believes that lunch charges are too high. Shishir Mukherjee, Cupertino, spoke against the parking fee. Doug Ewing, Cupertino, spoke in favor of initiating the parking fee as proposed. Senior Citizens Commission September 23, 2004 Page 5 of7 Harold Stephenson, Palo Alto, spoke in support of finding a way to fund the case management program. He liked the idea of eliminating the parking fee, giving up the Council on Aging grant, having a part-time case manager, and charging a nominal fee for service. Commissioner Comments: Commissioner Pierce stated that she had heard a strong consensus that the $20 parking fee is not something that sits well. She believes that the City Council had taken the commission's recommendation to retain the caseworker because it is a very important position. She would like the caseworker retained as a service available to the citizens. Given the current budget crunch, she suggested to request the City Manager to have the traffic engineers take a look at the policies and uses of the parking lot to see what can be done. She also suggested eliminating the parking fee and retaining the current fees for residents and nonresidents for this current calendar year. She suggested staff to look at what services can be offered with the current funds available to have a case worker on staff, and if a part-time caseworker is possible. She also offered to work with a fundraising effort. She recommended having staff look at what percentage of the residents, that are being served by the caseworker, are within our city boundaries, investigate if giving up the grant means that we are able to meet the caseload of the citizens with a part-time person, and drop the grant. Commissioner Incociati supports considering giving up the funding, but feels it would need to be investigated further to make sure nothing else would be given up. She liked the idea of giving up the parking free and raising the annual fee to $36. Commissioner Smith commented that she is unwilling to go back to City Council and recommending they revise their decision completely. She believes that most residents do not understand the budget process. She would like the commission to meet more frequently to address topics and to get input from the community. Commissioner Walker stated that she is willing to go back to City Council and requested they review their recommendation. She originally thought adding a parking fee was a good idea, but now agrees that it is a terrible idea. She also supports having a case manager. Her recommendation is to raise the resident fee to $20 and the nonresident fee to $25, and then find other ways to fund the case manager. Chairman Yap noted that there was an overwhelming objection to the parking fee. He stated that he would be in favor of raising the membership fee as recommended by Commissioner Walker. He supports nonresident volunteers being charged the resident fee rate. Director Smith asked ifthe commission would consider tabling the item, set a special meeting, and ask staff to research the suggestions to increase the membership fee, Senior Citizens Commission September 23, 2004 Page 60f7 eliminate the parking fee, look at eliminating the grant, and figure out what sort of fee- for-service we would have to charge to make the case management program successful. ACTION: A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved 5-0 requesting staff to come back on October 28, 2 p.m., with additional information that responds to the interests of eliminating the parking fee and what services can be provided within the budget should that occur. B. Selection of quarterly meeting date: Chairman Yap stated that the commission wishes to meet more frequently than every three months. After some discussion, this topic was tabled until the next meeting. Supervisor Lamy offered to provide possible meeting dates for the commission to consider. Commissioner Pierce requested that at the next meeting the commission discuss their mission. ACTION: A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved 5-0 to table items Band C of New Business to the meeting in October. Commission Incociati excused herself from the meeting. 4. PRESENTATION A. David Greenstein, Chair, Bicycle Pedestrian Commission - "The Walk to School Program": Mr. Greenstein presented information on a program whereby children walk or bike to and from school in groups with volunteer parents or buddies. He reported that similar programs are done all over the world. Mr. Greenstein is promoting the program as a way to reduce street traffic, noise and pollution, as a way to provide safer and healthier routes to and from schools, and as a way to bring the community together. He reported that in Los Altos a program called Tiger Tracks has been developed with a walking/biking program. Mr. Greenstein was asked to come back with a progress report on this program. Public Comments Randhawa J. Singh, Cupertino, spoke that while living in India, Germany and Washington State he saw successful versions ofthis program. He stated that he would like to see this program introduced to the schools. 5. MISCELLANEOUS - NO ACTION REQUIRED A. Written communications: none Senior Citizens Commission September 23, 2004 Page 7 of7 B. Commission updates: Commissioner Smith stated that she had talked with Mr. Greenstein at a Mayor's breakfast and stated that she would like the Commission to revisit the Walk to School Program. Chairman Yap reported that he attended the August 17 Mayor's breakfast where the high cost of bringing the initiatives to the polls was discussed. He contacted the Public Information Officer about ways to expand community awareness of the commission; he will be putting an article together for an issue of the Scene and the Cupertino Courier. He has been interviewed for The Better Part and it will be aired in a couple of weeks. C. Staff oral reports: Supervisor Lamy reported that she had discovered that the meeting space was not going to be available for the commission's regular adjourned meeting on October 28 due to a huge special event at the Senior Center. ACTION: A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed 4-0 to hold the regular adjourned meeting of the commission on Wednesday, October 27, 2004, 2 p.m. Commissioner Pierce asked that an effort be made to notify the membership of the date change. Supervisor Lamy agreed and stated that every effort to promote the October 27 date will be done. 7. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Yap adjourned the meeting at 4:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Marie Preston, Administrative Assistant Televised Council meetings may be viewed live on Cable Channel 26, and may also be viewed live or on demand at www.cupertino.or!!. Videotapes of the televised meetings are available at the Cupertino Library, or may be purchasedfrom the Cupertino City Channel, 777-2364. Minutes approved at the , 2004, regular meeting. I 17'- ¡ ·If.~..::.:· , _:_..:;-______J . F CUPEIQ1NO Senior Citizens Commission STAFF REPORT Agenda Item Number ...3 A Agenda Date: October 27,2004 SUBJECT Reconsideration of Senior Center parking fee, membership fee increase in funding plan for the case management program. BACKGROUND At the regular meeting of the Senior Citizens Commission on September 23, 2004, Senior Center members gave input regarding fee increases for 200S. The fee increases were largely (though not entirely) due to the desire to fund the case management program. The Commission asked staff to: . Consider alternatives for providing case management services . Evaluate how the case management program might be funded absent a parking fee The following chart summarizes four alternatives that range from no case management, to case management provided for a fee on a sliding scale, and case management services at full cost recovery. Printed on Recycled Paper October 27,2004 Page 2 of3 Option A Option B Option C Option D No Case Case Case Contract Case Management Management Management Management at Services Services to for All Seniors Full Cost Cupertino and with Fees on a Recovery West San Jose Sliding Scale Residents Only Parking Fee No No No No Resident $15/yr $20/yr $20/yr $15/yr Membership Fee Nonresident $20/yr $25/yr $25/yr $20/yr Membership Fee Newsletter $5/yr $5/yr $5/yr $5/yr Mailing Fee COA Grant No Yes, $19,750 No No City Funding No $30,000 $30,000 No Fundraising No $5,000 No No Fee for Case N/A No On a sliding City to bid Management scale at $18.50 . . servICe. . . service Services to $37.00/hr can range from $30 to $150/hr Membership N/A Yes Yes No required to receive service Option A - No Case Management Services: Should the Commission choose to recommend this alternative, the parking fee would be eliminated and the 2005 membership fees would be: $15 resident, $20 nonresident, $5 newsletter mailing fee. Option B - Case Management Services to Cupertino and West San Jose Residents Only: This option would provide a free case management services to Cupertino and West San Jose residents. This is the level of service that was previously provided at the Senior Center, with a full time case manager on staff. To reinstate the service, membership fees would be raised to: $20 residents, $25 nonresidents, $5 newsletter mailing fee. The City would retain the Council on Aging (COA) funding for $19,750 and $30,000 would be expended from the City's General Fund reserve. Fully funding this position would require the Senior Citizens Commission to fundraise $5,000 annually. Under this scenario, we would require membership at the Senior Center for receipt of case management services. October 27, 2004 Page 3 of3 Option C - Case Management for All Seniors with Fees on a Sliding Scale: In this scenario, membership fees would be at the $20 resident and $25 nonresident rate with a $5 charge for mailing the newsletter. The City would not utilize the COA funding, which restricts the area in which service can be provided, and restricts our ability to charge fees for service. This option assumes continued funding from the City's General Fund reserves in the amount of $30,000. A sliding scale for fees would be based on income levels of seniors receiving the service; the scale for payment is as follows: Single Income Couple Income Hourly Fee for Case Limits Limits Management Services 50% of Median $37,150 $42,450 $18.50/hr Income (very low) 80% of Median $59,400 $67,900 $29/hr Income (Low) Median Income $73,850 & up $84,440 & up $37/hr Option D - Contract Case Management at Full Cost Recoverv: Contract with a geriatric case management consultant and provide service at full cost recovery. In this scenario, clients would be billed for the full cost of the case management service; these costs are between $30 and $150/hour. No staff would be added; rather, Senior Center staff would refer clients to the outside contractor. RECOMMENDATION Review the information in this report and make a recommendation to City Council regarding the level of membership fees, the application of a parking fee, and the level of case management programming to be provided. SUBMITTED BY: 7. .ý/ . L..-- ¡;:tf éZø z(" ia Lamy, Supervisor Cupertino Senior Center / , /JIWl.- g:\parks and recreation admin\sr citizen comm\reports\sr. com. staff report l02704.doc