Seniors : Achievements, activities : 9 Seeking Positions on Senior Legislature

Seven senior citizens are being selected this month to represent Orange County’s 368,000 older residents at the California Senior Legislature in Sacramento.

They will serve two-year terms on the panel, a nonpartisan volunteer group of 120 people 60 and older. One person will represent each of the county’s supervisory districts as an assembly member, and two selected at large will be senators.

Candidates for five positions are unopposed: for assembly, Murray N. Lefkowitz, Santa Ana, 1st District; Anna T. Boyce, Mission Viejo, 3rd District; and Ruth M. Scearce, Placentia, 4th District; and for senator, Lorraine M. Lavin, Irvine; and Rosemarie Barker-Millsap, Laguna Hills.

For the contested seats, voting is Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Michael E. Rodgers Seniors’ Center in Huntington Beach; Cypress Senior Citizen Center; Laguna Hills Senior Center; and Oasis Senior Center in Corona del Mar.

The candidates in District 2 are:

* Verna H. Dodson, 76, of Cypress, a member of the Area Agency on Aging’s legislation committee and chairwoman of its housing committee, past chairwoman of Cypress Senior Citizens Commission and a leader in the campaign for a senior day-care center in the city.

Dodson devoted herself to senior issues after a bout with cancer in 1987. “I was given a second chance at life,” she said, “and I decided to give my life to seniors.”

* John Jankowski, 77, of Huntington Beach, a volunteer at the Rodgers center who is involved with transportation, lunch and counseling programs. A retired airline pilot, Jankowski said his top priorities are helping seniors avoid expensive retirement facilities and promoting outreach programs.

“If I’m elected,” he said, “I will meet with Sacramento officials and let them know what the seniors’ needs are. . . . Hopefully they will listen to us.”

The candidates in District 5 are:

* Caroline Hoover, 74, of Laguna Beach, a retired teacher who is active at the Oasis center and on the county’s nutrition committee. She would ensure that the medical and nutritional needs of seniors are met and that grandparents have the right to visit their grandchildren.

“I’m very knowledgeable,” she said, “and I have no fear of politicians. . . . I just go right up and talk to them.”

* Jack Sherrill, 84, of Laguna Hills Leisure World. A retired aerospace worker, Sherrill said he wants to find ways that seniors can live at home rather than in convalescent facilities and help sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease and their families.

“I’m hoping to gain access to lawmakers,” he said. “I saw my wife through Alzheimer’s and had no help at all.”

Information: (714) 567-7555.