Dispute Over Contract Could Stop Services at Senior Center

Los Angeles city officials are trying to prevent the suspension of services for thousands of elderly people, which is threatened because of confusion over a contract to run an East Valley senior center.

The city’s contract with the current operator expires Tuesday and no new manager is in place.

Clients of Wachs Multipurpose Senior Center have begun receiving flyers from the operator warning that the center will close indefinitely on Tuesday and urging them to protest.

The future of the center, in First Presbyterian Church of North Hollywood, was thrown into doubt by a recommendation of the city Department of Aging not to retain Valley Interfaith Council as administrator of federal Older Americans Act funds in the East San Fernando Valley.

Under a $512,000 contract with the city, the Interfaith Council provides meals for about 530 elderly people five days a week and administers social work and recreational services for thousands at the center. Among those services are transportation, legal and tax assistance, medical testing, counseling, adult day care and a “friendly phone call” program. About 150 housebound people receive meals in their homes, and the rest go to the center to eat.

Accounting Problems Cited

In a move he said was designed to improve service, Dennis H. Jackson, general manager of the Department of Aging, awarded the contract to the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles. The Interfaith Council has held the contract for 11 years.

Although the city’s cost will not decline, Jackson cited accounting problems with the Interfaith Council as the primary reason for seeking the change. Over a three-year period beginning in 1984, the council received too much money from the city and had to pay back about $4,000.

The Interfaith Council appealed Jackson’s recommendation, however, and a volunteer appeals board appointed by the department sided with the council, saying there was insufficient cause to warrant a change.

“When they described to me what the fiscal problem was, I decided it was some lack of communication, some lack of backup from the department,” said Celeste Jardine Haug, a member of the appeals panel and director of the Culver City Nutrition and Social Services program for the elderly.

Council to Decide

But Jackson declined to reverse his recommendation, so the City Council must decide between the two bidders. The council, however, is not scheduled to decide until July 7.

The Interfaith Council has been ordered to stop its services Tuesday, according to its director, Holly Azzari.

Last week, staff and volunteers of the multipurpose center began mailing flyers to 5,000 clients warning that the center is about to close. The mailer asked them to pressure Councilmen Joel P. Wachs and John Ferraro, who represent the East Valley area, and the Department of Aging to retain the Interfaith Council as administrator.

Late in the week, city officials were unsure how service might be maintained until the council chooses an administrator.

‘Period of Confusion’

“At minimum, we are talking about a period of a great deal of confusion,” said Mark Siegel, deputy for Wachs, for whom the center is named.

Jackson, who was attending a conference in Sacramento, said by telephone that he did not intend to let the program close.

If necessary, he said, a city caterer would be used to continue serving group meals at the center and take individual meals to the elderly in their homes.

Jackson also said that the Interfaith Council would be free to extend the service itself, without funding, as a way of showing good faith in its effort to retain its contract.

Ready to Begin Service

Sandy King, associate executive director of Jewish Family Service, said her agency is prepared to begin service at the center on Tuesday on the assumption that it will win the contract or be reimbursed if it doesn’t.

Jewish Family Service has made a commitment to maintain all employees of the Interfaith Council for at least a month and to keep those involved with the nutrition program indefinitely, King said.

But Siegel, Wachs’ aide, said that approach would put the 12 center workers in a difficult position of choosing between the agencies. It also might be difficult to implement because the Interfaith Council holds the lease for the church, he said.

In Jackson’s absence, Siegel met Thursday evening with Department of Aging administrators and came up with a plan to extend the contract of the Interfaith Council for a month.

Council Motion Introduced

On Friday, Wachs introduced a motion asking the City Council to appropriate $46,000 to pay for the program through July 31. The motion will be heard by the Council Tuesday.

Siegel said he has begun reviewing the bids submitted by both agencies and found differences between them to be minor.

Although the Interfaith Council had problems in accounting procedures in previous years, he said, they never affected programs and have since been corrected.

‘Program Excellent’

“The program has been excellent,” Siegel said. “They’re both excellent service providers. What do you do in the case of a tie?”

Siegel criticized the Department of Aging for allowing the contract process to end in confusion.

“That’s poor planning,” he said. “The department should have figured out a way to avoid what is happening.”