Open Letter to Paul Koretz

With the imminent demise of state services for the elderly and the prospect of many seniors remaining stuck in their apartments, do you have any ideas for how to address this? UCLA study on the impact of state budget cuts: here (pdf).

The solutions do not involve saving in-home services, or transportation, or funding for adult daycare facilities – those are the services being cut and I don’t see them surviving the axe. I can suggest one solution: provide more destinations for seniors to walk to, motivating them to get out of their apartments, getting them some exercise, and combining it with shopping and seeing friends and family. It is what you see in other countries.

When there is not much money, public-private partnerships are the solution. In Encino, one idea you might consider is negotiating with the landlord of the vast parking wasteland at Ventura and Newcastle/Zelzah, perhaps involving BevMo and the other retailers, to create a small “urban park” on one of the corners, bringing in trees, tables for backgammon and the like, and room for a mobile café – perhaps contracting with one of the local cafes. The “park” does not have to be huge but it does have to be located where the elderly can reach it on foot and this is one of the few suitable locations. If there is money, landscape the adjacent intersections with curb extensions so that the elderly who cross Ventura are not mowed down. I regularly see near-misses.

Instead of placating the usual dyspeptic homeowners, why not launch some initiatives that benefit our most vulnerable - elderly apartment renters and immigrants? Encino Neighborhood Council is incapable of getting this done. Better to start something of your own.