MOORPARK : Seniors to Get New Lease to Center

A senior citizens group in Moorpark will soon get a new lease to the city’s senior center, culminating a reorganization of the group that began after a flap over its finances last year.

The City Council approved the new lease, which changes the name of the lessee from the Moorpark Senior Citizens Club to Moorpark Senior Citizens Inc., Wednesday. The new lease puts control of the center firmly in the hands of the seniors who have spearheaded major changes in the group.

The Moorpark Senior Citizens Club, which operated a thrift store downtown, attracted controversy last year when it was discovered that it had never applied for tax-exempt status or filed annual tax returns, members said. The Internal Revenue Service has begun an audit of the organization, including the thrift shop, members said.

The new group, which has dissociated itself from the thrift shop, has secured tax-exempt status, said the new president, Everett Braun. It also got its first paid director, Cara-Jeanne Whalen, who receives her part-time salary from the city.

The manager of the One More Time Senior Thrift Shop, Annabelle Sessler, is also past president of the club.

Sessler and another veteran member, Dulcie Curtis, recently complained to the City Council that they are being locked out of the senior center.

They said the new board changed the lock on the center, located at the city’s Community Center on Moorpark Avenue, and has not issued new keys to members who previously held keys.

“If we were reliable as of Dec. 31, 1990, why shouldn’t we be reliable on Jan. 1, 1991?” said Sessler, referring to the date when Braun and the new board took office.

The group changed the lock to satisfy its insurance company because the old club kept no list of keyholders, Braun said. He said it has issued only four new keys.