City Council members changed their minds Tuesday on a city staff recommendation to discontinue the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, saying they want more discussion before making a decision.
That proposal — along with a recommendation to reject $37,500 in Corporation for National and Community Service funding for the coming fiscal year — was included on the council’s consent agenda, routine items that typically are approved with one motion. But Mayor Stan Booker said he had intended to pull the item for discussion and failed to do so. After getting council approval to reconsider the vote, Booker reopened discussion on the proposal and asked why the item had been added to the agenda “at the last minute.”
“Why was the council not notified?” he asked, adding the proposal needed further discussion.
The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) is an AmericaCorps program that encourages those ages 55 and older to volunteer with local non-profit organizations, using their work skills and talents to benefit the community. In Lawton, RSVP is a division of the Parks and Recreation Department, and Department Director Christine James said the former supervisor of that program (who has transferred to another job) analyzed the program and identified things that needed to be discussed to determine the program’s future.
“There are several issues that Jessica (Musselman) brought up,” James said, adding Lawton has the only RSVP program in Oklahoma run by a municipality.
Among other things, the program — like most volunteer-based programs across the country — has had to fight to attract and retain volunteers and because it cannot, “falls far short of reaching grant obligations,” James said in her agenda commentary. She said the program also has been unable to fulfill requirements for programming unique to Lawton, unduplicated elsewhere in the city.
Ward 5 Councilman Allan Hampton, a longtime participant until he was elected to City Council, said RSVP is an important way to get senior citizens “out of the house and do other activities,” while also benefitting the community. He said RSVP programs in other cities are operated by other entities, and asked whether that wasn’t an option for Lawton.
“I have a problem with dropping the program so abruptly without transitioning to someone else,” Booker said.
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