About 60 members of the Senior Citizens of Davis, most of whom were barred from attending Tuesday’s meeting of the organization’s board, have called a special meeting in October to consider dumping the board entirely.

Their action came after a bizarre scene unfolded at the Davis Senior Center, where dozens of members tried to cram into a small conference room where the board meeting was being held.

The members were there to vote on the new bylaws proposed by the board last month that members claim cut out the Senior Center from the nonprofit’s purpose, a move many members believe could jeopardize not only funding for the center, but also for SCD itself.

The Senior Center staff had set up the larger multipurpose room to accommodate the group for the meeting, but the board insisted on staying in the smaller confines.

The members, visibly unhappy about the board’s actions, reconvened in the larger room and voted to host a special meeting in October where they intend to remove the board that has drafted the controversial bylaws and then immediately elect a new interim board in its stead.

According to Elaine Roberts Musser, the local attorney who represents a group of 30 SCD members pro bono, the membership has the legal right to unseat the board.

“(The members) paid the money, they paid the dues and they’re not being paid attention to,” Roberts Musser said after Tuesday’s meeting.

The membership held a special meeting earlier this month at which the proposed bylaws were rejected, but the board did not recognize the vote.

Gerlich, who could not be reached for comment regarding the membership’s decision to schedule the October meeting, has maintained that the board has no intentions of changing the mission of SCD and that the purpose will remain to provide support to the facilities, programs and activities of the Davis Senior Center.

SCD also still would have a co-sponsorship agreement with the city and remain registered with the state as a nonprofit that lists the center as its principal meeting location.

Earlier this month, however, Christine Helweg, the city’s community services superintendent, said the city would have to rethink that agreement if SCD approved the new bylaws.

Helweg also said the city counts on funding from the Senior Citizens of Davis to pay for the “Senior Scene” newsletter and for copier maintenance in the center.

SCD, which was formed in 1976 primarily to advocate and promote the general welfare of the senior citizen community in Davis, also helped pay for construction of an addition to the Senior Center that was completed in 2005.

According to Gerlich, SCD dedicates a reserve fund in excess of $180,000 to the center and an additional $145,000 is reserved for other center projects and needs.

SCD has a total of $560,000 in assets.

The city can request donations from SCD at any time for various things like extra chairs or televisions at the center. The SCD board has the power to make decisions on whether to allocate the money or not.

According to Maria Lucchesi, the city’s community services supervisor, in addition to the hard items, the newsletter and the copier maintenance, SCD allocates “thousands of dollars” to the center, including $15,000 per year to support an information and assistance program, the largest annual contracted donation from the group to the center.

The management of SCD’s assets is the other thing the board would like to change. The proposed bylaws would eliminate independent financial oversight, which in the past has been performed by a finance and budget director, and instead form a financial advisory group over which the president would preside.

Gerlich has said that SCD’s funds are sitting idle and that the board has an obligation to manage the money in the smartest and most beneficial way possible. The board president also believes the membership’s characterization that he’s planning to risk the organization’s money is false.

SCD has a regular membership meeting scheduled for Sept. 11 and a board meeting scheduled for Sept. 25. Agendas for both meetings have not yet been released. SCD has 972 registered members.

— Reach Tom Sakash at [email protected] or (530) 747-8057. Follow him on Twitter @TomSakash

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John Gerlich, president of the Senior Citizens of Davis. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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Carol Sublett, in orange top, and dozens of other senior citizens listen to discussion of the future leadership of their organization at Tuesday morning’s meeting at the Davis Senior Center. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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Don Neville and Carol Harting follow along as they and fellow members of the Senior Citizens of Davis debate the future leadership of their group at Tuesday’s meeting at the Davis Senior Center. Sue Cockrell/Enterprise photo

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