For weeks, San Juan County Senior Services staff have been worried. Their jobs, benefits and ability to continue to provide transportation to senior citizens, without the staff hours to schedule the trips, were unknown.

“It’s hard to stay focused on the job at hand when you don’t know what the future is going to hold,” said Linda Tretheway, Senior Services Coordinator. “I just had to say every day, I am doing this job that I am being paid for now and try to push what was going to happen next out of my mind. But, it kept niggling at me. The great thing is, we always felt we were in it together.”

Also worried were many of the seniors who depended on the transportation.

“I go twice a week on the senior lunch and shopping, trips,” said Carol Merrill, a resident at an adult family house. “I have also taken the bus to the mainland for medical appointments. I have friends to help me, but for the people who don’t, it would be real hard if we lost it.”

In October, the San Juan County Auditor and County Administrator proposed $80,000 in Senior Services cuts for the coming year, but Council Members later reduced the cuts to $55,000.

Last week, after looking at every possible scenario including combinations of cutting staff, shortening service and staff hours, and eliminating days the center was open, decisions were made. Senior Services had a plan that would save most of the senior transportation and all of the jobs. The additional $25,000 and reduced hours for all staff meant they would save all of the jobs, and that meant most of the senior bus rides.

“We knew how hard it would be for the seniors without the transportation,” said program director Joyce Rupp. “For some of them, it would have meant the difference between living on Orcas in this rural environment and having to move.”

Mary Hatten rides the senior bus to the senior lunch and shopping trips and to Seattle for medical appointments. To get to the senior bus from home, she must walk half-a-mile across a meadow to the county road. On the return trip, she makes the walk from the bus to home carrying groceries and other purchases.

“It was very upsetting to think of losing this,” Hatten said. “Many of us use it for medical and to get to airlines and other transportation out of Seattle.”

The Senior Services staff was always tasked with deciding where the cuts would be made in their budget. But programs that were funded even partially by grants could not be cut, and that left cutting staff.

The department assistant schedules the off-island medical trips, the twice weekly lunch, post office, grocery store, and pharmacy excursions, the occasional off-island fun trips for shopping and to sporting events and all other rides.

On Orcas, Jo Anne Bastron, who was worried about not just the loss of her job, but also the loss of benefits, fills that position. The benefits are the main reason she continues to work at 69 years of age.

“It’s hard enough to get a job at my age,” Bastron said. “I appreciate the social aspects of it very much. These people are my friends. But, what I really need is the health insurance benefits.” Baston’s job and benefits were both saved which saved most of the senior transportation.

Instead of cutting staff, county senior centers will be open fewer days. As of January 1, centers on Orcas and Lopez will be closed Mondays, and the San Juan center will be closed Fridays.

“There will always be someone available at one of the centers to help out on those closed days,” Rupp said. “It just means they may need to call another island’s center. Which they don’t really like to do.”

“We will encourage them to talk to their family and friends and meet their neighbors with the goal of getting rides to some of the medical appointments,” she said. “We will continue home delivery of meals, the local lunch and shopping trips and emergency medical visits.”

All seven staff position’s hours have been cut. This will mean in some cases, for off-island medical visits, the senior center will ask people to think of them now as “transportation of last resort,” said Rupp.

Now that the budget plan is known, Rupp says everybody is relieved.

“We are sharing the burden,” she said. “I could not cut the other staff with out taking a cut in hours myself. If anyone says that management did not take a cut too, they are wrong.”

What influenced the council to put money back in senior services? According to Ann Larson, Clerk to the Council, “The council members received more phone calls, mail, e-mail and public comment in support of senior services and parks than about any other budget cuts.”

Rupp said the senior population is good at writing and calling their representatives.

“Bless their hearts,” Rupp said. “They knew how much these services mean to them. I am very proud of the effort they put into writing, calling and speaking to the council.”

Council Member Alan Lichter said that they decided to give priority to public health and senior services when putting money back in the budget.

“The administration and budget team proposed a draft budget but we wanted some added back,” Lichter said. “We did not accept all the cuts. That means the budget projections are for slightly less cash reserves at the end of 2009. But the revenue numbers are very speculative at this point. We don’t know how much in taxes and other revenue we will bring in.”

According to Rupp, the nonprofit Senior Services Council and the supplemental memberships of $15 and $25 that pay for gas, oil, and maintenance, insurance and ferry fees among other transportation-related expenses provide the largest part of the transportation budget. Each passenger also may pay a donation if they are financially able. For roundtrip to on-island lunch and shopping trips the donation is $1, for mainland medical appointments $12 to $17 and mainland shopping and recreation trips are $15 to $20.

“The trips rarely pay for themselves except the fun trips. On those, volunteers do most of the planning. So, we are going to be able to try and keep some of them,” Rupp said.

“I hope that this is the last of it. I am not sure it is. With the governors’ budget coming out, it might get worse before it gets better.”