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Planned fight over senior center's name fizzles out
Parks and Recreation reverses its earlier recommendation
By Jana Seshadri
To quote Shakespeare, after the initial "what's in a name" phase, when all was said and done, Sunnvale City Council's process to to name the senior center was more like "much ado about nothing."
The past weeks have seen a battle of wills between Sunnyvale seniors and the Department of Parks and Recreation, and instead of coming to a grand crescendo at the City Council meeting on Dec. 11, it fizzled into a peaceful agreement as the Council unanimously decided to name the building "The Sunnyvale Senior Center."
In the past weeks there has been much debate and argument about the name for the new senior center. The seniors want it to be called simply "The Sunnyvale Senior Center" and were angry at the city's reference to it as "The Older Adult Center." After gathering 700 signatures on a petition, the determined seniors, led by Helen De Wolf, were all ready to argue their case away to the council members, when Robert Walker, director of Parks and Recreation, stole their thunder.
Before the seniors could make their case, Walker, after submitting his staff report, recommended to the Council that they name the center "The Sunnyvale Senior Center"--a complete turnaround from his earlier position. Walker had supported the name "older adult center" because he said it might bring in more people in the 50-year-old range.
Walker informed the council members that this is a topic of great debate all across the country and that he is now much more concerned about the quality of service that the seniors receive at the center than its name.
After thanking Walker and City Manager Robert LaSala, for agreeing with them, De Wolf and a few other seniors were eager to make their well-rehearsed points to council.
"I am a senior and very proud of it," Claire Silverman said. The name "older adult" is not a welcoming name, she said, adding that it has no history.
"How many of you will join the older adult center," Silverman asked council members.
Sue Lynn Tso, a resident of Sunnyvale for more than 30 years and a volunteer at the senior center, addressed the council. Tso said she has worked at almost every senior center in the county, and each one of them is called "the senior center." And, she added, the seniors in Sunnyvale want that name too.
"They deserve to be heard," Tso said.
Councilwoman Miller made the motion to name the center as The Sunnyvale Senior Center. Councilwoman Pat Vorreiter seconded it, and the motion carried unanimously.
The general consensus after the discussion was that the clientele of the center would depend on the programs and services it offers, not on what it is called. Councilman Risch urged Walker to look into ways of attracting the "younger older adults"--the 50-year-old seniors--through innovative programming. Vorreiter added that she hoped the city would have the most exciting and beneficial center. Councilman Manuel Valerio said he hoped that seniors of all ages enjoy the new center.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
