After [naviga:u]the departure of longtime Newtown Senior Center Director Marilyn Place in December[/naviga:u], the town posted a letter to the members of the center and Commission on Aging, seeking input from local seniors about what they are looking for in a new director.

On January 11, First Selectmen Dan Rosenthal hosted a special Listening Session at the Newtown Senior Center to hear senior feedback and welcomed a turnout of more than 50 residents.

“I appreciate everyone coming down today,” Mr Rosenthal said, looking out to everyone seated before him. “This is really less about me sharing my thoughts. I want to hear from all of you, in terms of your thoughts going forward… I care about what you all have to say.”

He prefaced the discussion by apologizing for the “abrupt” departure of Ms Place and said that in terms of people having questions, “I do accept full responsibility for people who feel that this is my doing. I can’t change that, and [I] take responsibility.”

Mr Rosenthal went on to say that he would not be speaking about the subject further.

He did let the seniors know that the town will also be facing additional changes with Social Services Director Ann LoBosco and Newtown Center for Support and Wellness Director Jennifer Crane both recently resigning after having done “an extraordinary job for the town.”

“Ultimately, my goal is to make tomorrow better than today,” he said about the opportunity the town has moving forward with the new positions being available.

Segueing into the day’s meeting at hand, Mr Rosenthal asked that everyone be respectful to one another bringing forth their ideas and said that they would work together to help create the new director’s job description.

Senior Feedback

A common request that was brought up multiple times in the Listening Session was that seniors want a director who can excel at managing different personalities and needs.

Interpersonal sensitivity training was brought up as an option to achieve this as well as the candidate having demonstrated the ability to “work well with others” and have an “open mind.”

While some seniors emphasized that they would like certain exercise classes, like Fitness Fury, to continue, others said the new director must understand that not all seniors have the same physical abilities and may want gentler exercise programs, too.

A woman in the audience also brought up that she would like to see more bus trip opportunities in the future.

Pertaining to the new director’s education, many seniors agreed that some form of higher education would be preferred — potentially in a social or senior service-related background.

Also during the discussion, seniors brought up a number of concerns for the new senior center facility that will be in the community center building at Fairfield Hills. The topic of building costs, costs for programs, program scheduling, and HVAC inquiries were brought up but not answered in length at the time.

In a conversation with The Newtown Bee after the January 11 meeting, Mr Rosenthal shared that he wanted to conduct the meeting to help dispel any of the fears or anxiety the seniors may have had over the recent changes and felt that the meeting was ultimately positive.

For more information about the Newtown Senior Center, visit newtown-ct.gov/senior-center.