Seniors Protest for Respect: Demand Comptroller Reynolds Pay the Bills for Toilet Paper and Other Basic Services
On Wednesday, about 20 seniors from the Doles Center got on their bus and rode over to City Hall to confront Comptroller Deborah Reynolds and ask her why she has not paid the bills for the most basic things like toilet paper for the city facilities that the seniors use.
Before heading down to the Finance Department, the seniors stopped by Mayor Richard Thomas’s office and asked if he would join them in trying to get to the bottom of the situation. Mayor Thomas walked down with the group and asked to speak with the Comptroller. Mrs Eulalee Meyers, mother of Hip-Hop legend Heavy D, who runs the Doles Center Senior Program, was told by Finance Department staff that if she did not leave the Comptroller’s office they would call the police.
Then on Friday, Mrs. Myers returned to City Hall with even more seniors, and this time they were able to speak with Comptroller Reynolds. The angry group of seniors presented the Comptroller with the following letter:
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Today our seniors took that position, for the second time this week. They have been bringing toilet paper, paper towels and soap from their homes. Our staff has been purchasing the same items out of pocket so that the seniors don’t have to:
- Bear the embarrassment of going without.
- Incur any unnecessary expense because our bills are not being paid.
It has resulted in not just lawsuits but accountability checks to stop our valued citizens from being victims of the reprehensible actions that caused us to arrive here today.
They are an example of what we all need to do when, we are denied the right of having our basic needs meet. Like in the Civil Rights Movement they had sit –ins until they were served and today in our City our seniors decided to do the same because once again in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ‘There comes a time when silence is betrayal’. Our seniors refused to be betrayed anymore.”
Concerned Betrayed Seniors
