Saratoga News
News
Senior center board holds off on hiring new exec while job duties are revised
By Shannon Burkey
The board of directors for the Saratoga Area Senior Coordinating Council has temporarily halted its efforts to find a new executive director while it revises the job duties.
"They are looking to change the job description and they decided to take a different approach with their recruitment," said interim executive director Kim Saxton-Heinrichs.
One of the reasons SASCC is looking to change the job description of the position is because it is in the process of trying to reinvent itself, according to SASCC board member and Saratoga Councilwoman Anne Waltonsmith.
The board began its search for a new executive director at the beginning of May after losing its executive director a few months prior to that.
Former executive director Genie Dee left in February after her management style was called into question. Several members and volunteers of the center said she had turned the center into an unfriendly and unwelcoming place and that she was not senior-friendly.
Along with members not renewing their memberships, several volunteers said they quit because of their interactions with Dee.
At the time, the board of directors was criticized for not addressing the complaints of its members. Since then it has been working to move forward and leave the controversy behind.
In addition to allowing the city to put Saxton-Heinrichs, a recreation department senior supervisor, in the interim position, the board also voted to change its bylaws and allow a city council member and the city manager to sit on the board.
A new program director was recently hired to help with classes and programs at the center, and the board of directors had been accepting applications for the executive director position.
The center has received about 10 applications, according to Saxton-Heinrichs, and a few of the candidates were interviewed. But in the midst of the search, the board decided to take a closer look at the position and redefine its duties.
The former executive director, according to Waltonsmith, was more hands-off at the center and spent a lot of time at home writing grant proposals that did not come through too often.
"We want to make sure the focus now is more hands-on. The director has to be able to pick up on any job as well as be the voice for the center," Waltonsmith said. "This job requires getting your hands dirty and being involved with not only the oversight, but being a participant. So we're just tweaking it a little to make sure we are on the right track."
George Bunyard, chief financial officer for the board, said SASCC hopes to have someone in place by the end of September. And though he said some things about the position will be changing, there will not be that much of a difference.
"There will be more emphasis in some areas than before, but really it's more of a change of title of the position than of the duties of the position," he said.
Another change in the works for the senior center is the addition of programs and services for seniors on a fee basis with no membership required. In the past, to participate in any classes offered at the center, seniors would have to pay yearly membership dues.
"SASCC is a great organization, but we want it to be available to all seniors," said Waltonsmith. "We'd like to have a good core of people who want to be members and be involved in the organization, but we'd also like to appeal to those who just want to dip in and out--we'd like a hybrid of that."
The city's recreation department will advertise and oversee the fee-based programs for the center.
"Basically it's a shared contract between the senior center and the recreation department," Saxton-Heinrichs said. "The recreation department will do the registration and run the classes, then reimburse the senior center for its part of the contract."
The fee-based classes will begin in the fall with three line-dancing classes. The center had previously offered line dancing for seniors, but only those who were members could participate.
"This is going to be our test run and we think it's going to be great," Saxton-Heinrichs said.
If the classes are a success and run smoothly, the recreation department and senior center will work to add additional types of fee-based classes for seniors.
