In the Spring of 2008 there was a bond and sales tax election. The bonds were for the Library, Senior Center and Municipal Court and the sales tax was for the Public Safety proposal. Three of the four proposals passed but the failure of the library kept the other bond issues from going forward. Later that year we started the Parks Master Plan. The compressive study included multiple surveys and public meetings and meetings with different stakeholder groups. When the final report came out it was made abundantly clear that seniors did not want to be put into a facility that was segregated from the community. They wanted a modern facility near other community buildings like a library or swim facility. When Norman Forward first came to be their proposals were in large part based on the foundation of the never completed Parks Master Plan. This included the modern Senior Facility envisioned by the users, our seniors. Now we find that the failed plan of 2008 is being revived by the City Council and the seniors are to be segregated into yet another old library building isolated from other facilities used by the public. Yes, there are nearby public buildings like the police station. Yet, they are not the kind facilities which most communities who care for their seniors have located their senior centers next to. I urge you to tell your councilmember to insist on the best for our seniors and not hope they will take what they can get. If this is not done right, this Council will be asking them to wait another 60 years for what they deserve. Let’s get the whole Norman Forward package right, like it was: the best for the kids and the seniors. “We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced”― Malala Yousafzai Please sign the petition https://www.change.org/p/friends-of-21st-century-seniors-center-petition-for-a-new-library-new-senior-center-new-multi-modal-transportation-complex-at-acres-and-james-garner