01/16/06  Two sides to every story.

The older I get (and I'm getting there way too quickly), the more I notice all the perks Seniors get, and it's never enough.

Deal them out; Rec center enacts no pay, no play rule to raise funds, and some seniors call it quits Sunday, January 8, 2006 by DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News

The weather outside the senior annex of the Marcus Recreation Center was sunny and unseasonably pleasant last week. Inside, manager Linda Strem faced a storm.    Its epicenter was a small woven basket placed near the entrance where, under a new policy, senior citizens who want to participate in some center activities are expected to toss in 50 cents. ... The center has to generate $5,000 to ease a budget crunch in the city's Park and Recreation Department, which runs the center, she said.    "Well, I'm not going to pay it," Mr. Dubinski told her. ... Many seniors said that, as taxpayers, they shouldn't have to pay extra if they want to play bridge or bingo. ... "It isn't that we're all cheap," said Gennie Figel, a center volunteer. "Fifty cents isn't going to kill us. ... Assistant park director Dave Strueber said all city recreation centers are being required to find ways to generate funds in the coming year to avoid layoffs, cutbacks or shorter operating hours. ... He emphasized that the center hadn't imposed the fees just to fatten its coffers.   "It's not revenue generation," he said. "It's cost recovery."    Other means are being used to find the $5,000, including raising the price of center lunches from $2 to $3.    Of the $5,000, the 50 cent activity fee is intended to raise about $2,000, which Mr. Strueber said is needed to offset the cost of providing free coffee.    Some seniors at the center agreed with the decision.    "Paying 50 cents seems to me to be very reasonable," Rick Brandenburg said.    "If you play at a studio, it's $7," said Max Frey, his bridge partner.    But Fern Lank said not everyone is taking the fees lying down. Mrs. Lank, the chief organizer of the effort to build the center four years ago, is among the strongest opponents of the new fee. ... "People wonder why we have to pay to use this center when we've already paid our taxes."    Mr. Strueber acknowledged that the situation could have been handled better. ... He offered a compromise: "I'll make this offer. If we can find someone to give $2,000 for the coffee, the fee goes away."    Mrs. Lank said no one mentioned to her that the fee was tied to the cost of coffee.    "If that's the problem, then I'll bring in a pound of coffee," she said. "But I'm going to bring in decaf, because that's the kind I drink."

Excuse me?  Since when does being over 60 mean you are entitled to free coffee at a city rec center or any place else?  I don't understand why the city has coffee available at rec centers anyway?  What if a selfish senior spills it on him or herself or someone else?  Was it McDonald's that got sued by that woman who spilled coffee ON HERSELF?  If a big outfit with really good lawyers got stuck in such a ridiculous lawsuit, what chance would the City of Dallas have against an ambulance chaser?

I first heard about this story from some senior men who frequent the same diner where my husband and I breakfast on a regular basis.  The way they told it was a lot different from David Flick's report.  They said Park Department staff were shaking down seniors for donations to the senior annex of the Marcus Recreation Center.  They said the city wants to put a user fee on non-Dallas residents.  I told them I supported charging a user fee to non-Dallas residents.  One man said, Dallas residents use Farmers Branch's rec center.  I told him they should charge us, too.

I pointed out how few Dallas residents will ever use the pending Opera House or Performance Center (whatever they're calling it now), but we have to pay for it.  I asked the four senior men how many times they have been to the Meyerson in the past two years.  None!  I asked them how many times they will show up at the Opera House.  Never!  I pointed out they get to pay for Park Cities residents' entertainment.

Back to the 50¢ for a cup of coffee at the senior annex of the Marcus Rec Center.

End to the ante: Senior fee shelved; Dallas: Center's activity charge to raise funds drew criticism January 15, 2006 bBy DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News

... After receiving pledges of $3,000 – and three donated cans of coffee – the city has suspended a 50-cent activity fee for at least two years at the senior annex of the Marcus Recreation Center.    The Dallas Park and Recreation Department, which runs the center, imposed the fee last month, raising the ire of some senior citizens, especially bridge and bingo players. They objected to paying for an activity that other centers provided for free.    Center officials said the fee was needed to cover the $2,000 cost to provide free coffee. ... Fern Lank, an opponent of the fee, said Thursday that rescinding it would bring back many seniors who had threatened never to play cards there again. ...

Will someone tell me why any recreation center is providing coffee for free to any user, regardless of their age?  This is ridiculous!  What if a senior doesn't drink coffee (decaf or regular)?  What if a senior prefers a soft drink?  Who pays for that soda?  It was typical "senior" thinking when Mrs. Lank said she would bring a can of coffee, but it would be the kind that she drinks.  Who pays for the cream and sugar?  You know some senior rec users will want non-sugar sweeteners.  And, they are griping about a 50¢ charge? 

Sunday morning (after we left the gym), we went to Denny's.  A young Hispanic couple with two little boys were at a booth near us.  Denny's has a two-part menu.  One for full payers and one for seniors.  You can't tell me that young couple with two children has more disposable income than someone who is over 55.

The same thing happens at the movies.  Seniors save $2 or $3 a ticket when a young couple pays through the nose.   It's not fair and it's un-American to have two sets of prices based on age.  If a restaurant or theatre can serve one set of patrons at a low rate, they can do it for everyone.

The whole concept of "entitlements" is wrong!  We are not entitled to anything that we don't pay for ourselves. 

I know a couple of losers who have not held a job since they were in their 30's.  They have hooked up with every government handout available.  Years ago, I asked one of them what he or his wife did for a living.  He laughed and said "we are not working people".  The guy's sister is just as bad.  Big old fat broad who spends her days watching soaps and waiting for her government checks -- like she's been doing since she was in her 40's.  She gets stipends for groceries.  Does she spend our money on vegetables (fresh or canned) or fruit?  Nope!  She buys chips and cokes, which she consumes while spending her endless days and nights watching TV.  Both of these losers have ruined their health and lives with their selfish consumption, and you and I must pay for their food, housing and medical bills.

Do you think either of them appreciate the money they get from the government, money that has been confiscated from your and my paychecks?  No.  They think they are entitled to those benefits.  They never wanted to work and support themselves, and they haven't had to do so either.  They may not be living in palatial conditions, but there are people in West Dallas who take whatever work is available who live much more humbly.

I've never been a bleeding heart and have no sympathy for street bums.  It was bleeding hearts who shut down the state mental institutions and put incompetents out on the streets to fend for themselves.  Now, we have to build a multi-million dollar day care center for people who really need to permanently be in controlled environments where they are safe, fed and medicated.  Entitlements?

Tell me again why that young couple we sat near at Denny's should have to pay more for their meal than someone over 55.  Better still, tell me why someone over 55 should pay less than that young couple.

Seniors pay less property taxes than their neighbors who may be feeding, educating and clothing two or three children.  That's not right!  Rather than give seniors some special break on their property taxes, why not freeze everyone's property taxes if they own their home over 15 years?  Seniors don't want to pay fair market value property taxes, and you can't blame them when many property appraisals are based on arbitrary values. 

Having permanent residents in a neighborhood is stabilizing for the community and the city as a whole.  Rather than reward people for just getting old, reward all homeowners for long-term commitments to Dallas neighborhoods.  Stay put and stay in your home, and you get your property taxes frozen, but you don't get free coffee at your neighborhood rec center.

If they raised $3000 to cover coffee costs, hats off to Park Department staff for looking out for all Dallas taxpayers.  Thumbs down to Mrs. Lank and those who think they deserve free coffee at someone else's expense.

Here's another question.  Why are we serving lunch at any rec center at $2 or $3 or any price?  Why is the City of Dallas competing with private restaurants or diners?  Clearly, recipients like Mrs. Lank do not appreciate getting a hot meal for next to nothing.  Does she think everyone else is supposed to pay for her coffee and subsidize her lunch?  You can't really blame her when you consider the kind of subsidies we have been doling out and will soon be doling out more to that Son of a Bigamist Ray Hunt.

Letters to the Editor: Letters: Free for all Too few dollars, no sense by Thomas B. Singer, Irving 01/15/06 Re: "Deal them out – Rec center enacts no pay, no play rule to raise funds, and some seniors call it quits," Jan. 8 Metro.

When the city of Dallas plays "poor-boy" to seniors and makes them pay 50 cents a day to play bingo, then wants to build a $60 million "park" over a freeway that, believe me, no one will use, where is common sense?    To think that a "park" on a concrete freeway bridge will be usable in Dallas heat and the freeway noise is ridiculous, but making seniors chip in a couple bucks a day makes sense? This is a prime example of Dallas' misplaced priorities.    This "park" will be uninhabited (except maybe by the homeless) nine months out of the year. Let's let the seniors play bingo for free and fully fund these kinds of efforts; the seniors have done enough. Skip the park, give the cops a raise and fix a few potholes.

We need to put a lid on Woodall Rogers like we need to put fake lakes in the Trinity Sewer Trough!  I agree with Mr. Singer that a park on top of Woodall Rogers is nonsense, but he missed the Park Department/Senior Users squabble by a mile.  The 50¢ charge was not a fee to play bingo.  It was to pay for the coffee free-loaders were consuming at the rec center. 

Why not install vending machines that distribute hot chocolate, hot tea and hot coffee and charge the consumers and possibly make some money on the transaction to cover expenses at the rec center -- just like what happens with all the other vending machines in our rec centers?

Some senior citizens may be on fixed incomes, but I bet that young Hispanic family's income is not very fluid either.  They have to pay full freight for whatever they want to do, entertainment or essential.

Not every senior citizen thinks they are entitled to a free ride, a free cup of coffee or anything else, but there are way too many who think the rest of us are supposed to balance their budgets. 

sb