South San Francisco, CA November 27, 2023 by Cynthia Marcopulos, Concerned Citizens Coalition
Dear Mayor, Council and Staff,
Being designated an “age-friendly city” and commemorating each May as Older Americans month, South San Francisco has fallen short of its services to the 24 percent of the city’s population that are 65 years old and older.
Granted, there is the aging facility, the former school, Magnolia, that I still am waiting for the code inspection reports for months, but it has limited activities for seniors serving one side of the city, and its main focus is the Adult Daycare Program and senior lunches.
Being the Biotech Capital of the World would surely demand that the senior population in our city is one of the foremost recognized group of residents who have lived here the longest and have paid the most taxes to fund the programs and developments this council has approved.
Without further mentioning the Magnolia Center with its 36 parking spaces, and if the elevator breaks, there is no access for seniors especially Adult Daycare if they cannot climb two or three flights of stairs, Mayor Nicolas quoted the San Mateo County statistics last May 2022 in a proclamation for National Seniors Month stating 10,000 people daily will become seniors by 2030, and 22% of the world’s population will be seniors by 2050.
Furthermore, as the necessity to preserve the Municipal Services Building becomes more apparent, which has passed every code inspection since 1969, and has and can provide vast opportunities for the seniors and also every age group in our city with programs that “the campus” cannot provide without eliminating services – let alone the very minimal parking spaces — I will share with you another senior resident’s comments about our “age-friendly” city:
I would add right up there with socializing though is safety. All of my senior friends only leave home to go somewhere they know is safe. I have always felt safe at MSB. The Civic Center with its poor parking availability may not be a safe place for seniors. Can you imagine a bunch of seniors parking blocks away and hobbling to the Center perhaps feeling that some thug will grab their belongings or their car will be vandalized?
I am so pissed when I read stuff that politicians have dreamed up that isn’t possible in real life. James Coleman may have a degree from a prestigious college, but he is beyond naive and out of touch with anyone who isn’t part of his peer group and demographic. I have known low-income single moms with no car who had to catch a bus to get the kids to school and then catch a bus to get to work on time and if they were late because of the bus the supervisor wrote them up. And most seniors forced to use a bike for transportation couldn’t do it. I could literally go up in flames thinking about these idiots who are planning our brave new world.
Who of the Council will have egg on their face if the MSB remains as is? Has someone already committed the job to a developer?
No doubt, Mayor and Councilmembers, these are burning questions the residents have when they only learned in January 2023 that the MSB designation as “multi-use” was traded as “housing” so that the Community Campus could be built.
Continuing from a resident:
I wanted to share some other roadblocks the (city) has perhaps unintentionally created for seniors who need services. These comments should not be interpreted to mean I am any more or less deserving than any other senior living in SSF.
Today I turned 83! For the most part I am very independent, own my own home, and have tried to make a contribution as a volunteer during my retirement years. I am well educated with advanced degrees.
In 2016 I learned I could qualify for services from Rebuilding Together, San Mateo County. On several occasions their programs to help seniors age in place allowed me to have help with home maintenance I couldn’t afford on my own.
In Oct. 2021 Meals on Wheels didn’t come through despite many calls. I was informed by the Pacifica Program that SSF residents were not eligible for their deliveries because SSF didn’t help fund the program. The Meals on Wheels San Francisco program was beginning to deliver into SSF but again only had a few available slots because SSF didn’t contribute enough to cover the number of requests for help. I waited over 1 year to receive Meals on Wheels. There appear to be levels of service within MOW and SSF residents were on the lowest level because of the low support from my city.
I do not think I should receive things I am not entitled to. I have worked very hard, never received unemployment, always paid my taxes, maintained my property, been a good neighbor and wanted to grow old in my home where I am comfortable. Retirement is a strange transition into an unknown phase of life. Being very senior with a mobility issue is another challenge. It is difficult to ask for help if you have been successful and independent for a very long time. It is also difficult to know how many programs there are to help people who need them but in fact the senior citizens appear to be under served in my city.
We also become invisible in the whole scheme of things since our phase of living may become slower and more reflective. Our circle of influence with friends and family often shrinks. I wanted to write these thoughts because seniors should not be just a demographic. I recall a City Council meeting years ago when some retirement apartments were being planned for the downtown area. There was a comment by Mark Addiego about encouraging all the seniors living alone in their single-family residences to move out into apartments with senior amenities so that families could have their homes. It was a stunning and insensitive comment which disregarded all that the single-family home might represent to that senior.
Every senior in this City deserves to be treated with respect and services provided to help them where they are! A free box of groceries doesn’t help if you have no car, can’t carry the box up a flight of stairs, and the food is designed for a family. Free money is wonderful to give to foster youth aging out of the program, or immigrant families just getting started, or as transition for individuals in special circumstances.
Mayor and Councilmembers, earning the 2023 AARP Age-friendly Community award certainly does not reflect life for most of our seniors, or a commitment by our city to creating a more accessible and livable city for our aging population.
It amuses me that you parade such an award, when those of us who contribute to non-profit organizations also receive an award recognizing us for the monetary contribution we’ve made.
“Earlier this year, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory that stated loneliness poses health risks that can be as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. In fact, social isolation can increase the risk of stroke, heart disease and other chronic health conditions. It can also weaken your immunity.” (source: Renew, United Healthcare)
As I have repeatedly stated, the Municipal Services Building must be preserved as a senior/multi-use community building serving all generations of our city.
Cynthia Marcopulos
Lets be honest, James Coleman has a personnel agenda. He may listen but he will not do what his constituents ask unless it fits his agenda. Our lives have been drastically changed in the past few years our city is no longer family friendly, that’s a fact. We have had our small city destroyed by “Progress” as they would like to call it. Lets be honest just look at that ridiculous looking glass building sitting right there on El Camino, it’s a joke looks completely out of place cost way to much to build and way to much to maintain. I’m embarrassed not only by the decisions made by our council but that the people voted for these people. Lets remember if we keep it up there’s more to come. I have had many friends move away and I realize now I may end up moving as well if this crap keeps up.