The protesters gathered at City Hall are indeed justified in fearing that the plan of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to merge the Commission on Aging and Retirement Education, a charter commission of volunteer members, into the Health Department will reduce services, especially to active seniors, as well as to frail and disabled persons, of this major city.
As one who not only advocated for senior citizens as a Republican member of the General Assembly in the 1950s and as a member of CARE for approximately 14 years (a substantial portion of which as its chairman) appointed by Democratic mayors, I can attest that CARE provides a needed public service to this increasing segment of our city.
Justification for this proposal is patently flawed, namely that it will save $500,000 in the city's budget. First, most of CARE's funding comes from federal and state monies. More importantly, CARE saves municipal, state and federal funds by providing "social, educational, work and volunteer programs," which keep seniors active and not at home slowly becoming frail and disabled, resulting in greater expense to governmental budgets. For example, one can go to the Waxter Center and CARE'S other community centers to socialize, learn to use computers or participate in other outreach programs, such as Eating Together, fitness classes, dancing, etc.
Our enlightened city mayors, governors and other elected officials have long seen the necessity of keeping our aging population active, rather than just letting them "fade away" at home. Mayor William Donald Schaeffer and all mayors and governors since him, except for this city administration, supported this concept and CARE's budget. It is true that there is a budget crisis. However, you don't have to throw out the baby with the bath water. Save this agency as our adjoining larger counties have. It may well be that the $500,000 the Mayor needs can be acquired by considerate cutting of the city's CARE budget. Council members Mary Pat Clarke and Carl Stokes are to be commended for standing up to those misinformed advisors to the mayor, and I am confident they will not permit this regressive action in city services to occur.
Samuel A. Culotta, Baltimore