Staff Report.Senior Service Committee
PREPARED BY: Arn Andrews
Assistant Town Manager
Reviewed by: Town Manager and Town Attorney
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 08/03/2021 ITEM NO: 12
DATE: July 15, 2021
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Establishing a Senior Service Committee for Development
of a Long-Term Vision and Plan for Senior Service Provision
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution establishing a Senior Service Committee for development of a long-term
vision and plan for senior service provision.
BACKGROUND:
On March 2, 2021, the Town Council held a joint session with the Community Health and Senior
Service Commission (CHSSC) to hear the Commission’s goals for the coming year. The Council
indicated its strong interest in the work of the Commission in light of the inclusion of senior
services as a new Council Strategic Priority for FY 2021-2023.
Councilmembers requested that the Commission review the current senior service provision in
Town and help identify any gaps that exist in senior services. On June 15, 2021, the Town
Council received the Community Health and Senior Service Commission’s (CHSSC) assessment
report (Attachment 1) on senior service provision in Los Gatos. At the conclusion of the
discussion, Council provided direction to staff through two motions.
The first motion was for staff to return to Council with ideas of how to improve the senior
services program over the next 12 months utilizing up to $500,000 of the American Rescue Plan
Act (ARPA) funds. The CHSSC and staff are currently reviewing this direction and will return to
Council on August 17, 2021 with recommendations.
The second motion was to establish a standing committee that would examine in depth the
longer-term issues presented by the CHSSC, prepare a “road map” or plan, and address any
additional issues the Committee identifies. The motion directed that the Committee should
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BACKGROUND (continued):
develop a long-term vision and strategic plan through extensive community outreach, including
workshops, that would culminate in a comprehensive report of how best to serve the needs of
the Town’s older adult community. The Committee should leverage the breadth of Committee
membership and existing coalitions in the identification and prioritization of needs and develop
recommended solutions. The Committee should take into consideration the value proposition
of recommendations, estimated level of effort, potential providers and service provision
models, availability and timing of service delivery, and future funding requirements.
DISCUSSION:
This staff report addresses Council’s direction to establish a new Senior Service Committee in
the form of a Resolution (Attachment 2) and to discuss the major elements of the scope of work
to prepare the road map or plan.
Proposed Committee
In 2017, the Town Council previously authorized the creation and appointment of a seven-
member Task Force to proceed with the World Health Organization Age-Friendly application
process. The Age-Friendly Task Force was comprised of the following community
representation:
• Town of Los Gatos Library Board Member - Lyn Dougherty
• Live Oak Nutrition Center, Director - Mary Goulart
• Los Gatos-Saratoga Recreation, Director of Recreational Services - Cindy McCarthy
• Jewish Community Center of Silicon Valley, Director of Adult Programming - Cherie
Ravel
• El Camino Hospital, Director of Community Health and Older Adult Services - Margaret
Wilmer
• Coldwell Banker Realty, Partner Callahan Real Estate Group - Don Callahan
• Town of Los Gatos Community and Senior Services Commission Chair - Tom Picraux
Based on Council direction and the prior Age-Friendly initiative, staff recommends the following
composition for the Senior Service Committee:
• Community Health and Senior Service Commission – Two (2) members Chair/Youth
Commissioner
• Councilmembers – Two (2) Councilmembers Hudes and Rennie
• Service Club Representation – One (1) member Diane Goldberg (primary)/Nancy
Pearson (alternate) Kiwanis Club
• Chamber Representation – One (1) member Catherine Somers
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DISCUSSION (continued):
• Service Provider Representation – Two (2) members Kathy Milinarich (Live Oak
Nutrition) /Lisa Lenoci (Live Oak Daycare)
• Senior Community Leaders – Two (2) members Tom Picraux and Maureen Heath
• County Department of Aging Representation – One (1) member Diana Miller
• Healthcare Provider Representation – One (1) member Grace Benlice (Director of Care
Coordination) El Camino Hospital
While Council’s original motion included the entirety of the CHSSC, staff is recommending two
members from the Commission, the Chair and the Youth Commissioner. Given the breadth of
stakeholders identified in the motion, the Committee would have sufficient voices of the older
adult community and would be of a size to allow meaningful discussion amongst its members.
The full CHSSC would be kept apprised of the work of the Committee, providing ample input
into the process and planning document.
Proposed Work Plan
As outlined in Attachment 1, the CHSSC developed both short-term and long-term proposals for
Council consideration. The Committee should use the initial issues and long-term proposals
identified by the CHSSC as a baseline Committee workplan. In addition, as the Committee
evaluates approaches to the issues identified and new elements emerge, they should be
incorporated into the Committee workplan.
Issue(s) Long Term
Proposal(s)
Communication/
Marketing
No dedicated budget or
centralized senior communication
in relevant mediums
• Develop longer range
marketing plan for available
senior services.
Facility Existing facility currently supports
limited dedicated senior activity
and is not competitive with
neighboring jurisdictions facilities
• Construction of new facility or
complete renovation of
existing facility
• Establish 501c3 Senior Council
(or other exploratory body) to
initiate fundraising and
awareness for a new senior
center
Service Coordination
and Centralization
Currently no centralized oversight
for coordinating existing services • Provide funding to whatever
service provider solution is
pursued
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Issue(s) Long Term
Proposal(s)
Service Expansion Due to Covid related budget
impacts LGS Rec currently has 0.5
FTE dedicated to senior services
• Provide funding to whatever
service provider solution is
pursued
Volunteer Opportunities No centralized platform for senior
volunteer opportunities
• Encourage LGS Rec or other
service provider to recruit
volunteers from their
membership
The Committee should establish a monthly meeting schedule with regular reporting on
progress to the CHSSC and an initial progress report to Council in six months’ time. Assistant
Town Manager Andrews would be assigned as the Committee liaison who will be tasked with
coordinating meeting agendas, staff reports, Committee presentations, and other assignments
as necessary.
The Committee should work toward completion of an initial final report within one years’ time
to coincide with the expiration of short-term gap funding toward the expansion of senior
services. The findings of the report should be based on best practices of similar communities,
and extensive community and service provider outreach. The Committee Report should be
structured around identified primary strategic goals and accompanied with relevant actionable
items. The identified goals in the report should be presented in order of initial priority focus.
Goal priority need not reflect the attainment of one goal prior to initiating another but rather
provide a function of prioritizing initial senior needs over others. The Committee Report should
note which goals and action items are capable of being addressed concurrently, and which are
not.
Lastly, in addition to the prioritization of goals, action items should be individually ranked into
either Priority 1 (within 2 years) or Priority 2 (within 3 to 5 years). The priority ranking of action
items should be a byproduct of establishing reasonable and attainable actions as opposed to
signifying certain action items are less important than others.
CONCLUSION:
Council should consider the staff recommendation for the Committee composition and
associated draft Resolution establishing a Senior Service Committee for development of a long-
term vision and plan for senior service provision.
COORDINATION:
This staff report was coordinated with the Town Manager and Town Attorney
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FISCAL IMPACT:
None at this time.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.
Attachments:
1. CHSSC Council Report
2. Draft Resolution