The Issaquah Valley Senior Center was a full house during lunch on Tuesday, as seniors gathered to have their questions answered by the city before it takes over operation of the center on Jan. 3.

Mayor Fred Butler, Councilmember Bill Ramos, Parks and Recreation Department Director Jeff Watling, Recreation Leader Katie Moeller, who is set to be the full-time city employee managing the senior center, and Recreation Supervisor Ross Hoover were all on hand to hear input from seniors and offer them information about what the senior center will look like after the start of the new year.

“We’re hoping to talk with as many people as we can to hear people’s thoughts, concerns and hopes,” Hoover said. “We hope to gain many people’s input and hear what they’d like to have here in the future.”

Seniors said that they had not seen a lunch at the senior center so full in over a year.

The meet-and-greet was a chance for seniors to ask questions directly to city staffers, who were in turn able to give clear answers that put a stop to rumors. When asked by a table of people if the senior center trips would be ending, Butler responded that, on the contrary, the city “hope[s] to have more trips than before.”

“We want to listen to our seniors to find out what they want and what services they think the senior center should be providing,” said Butler, who is himself a member of the senior center.

Senior center member Sue Wagner said that she would eventually like to see “more space for exercise classes,” but she noted that the transition process will take time and she has no wish “to rush things.”

“We’re working really hard to maintain all the service providers that are here,” Moeller said. She explained that “in January we’ll be focused on growing the programs they have and connecting seniors to the community” through events such as city walks and tours at artEAST.

Watling talked of “senior trips,” “re-energiz[ing] the art programs” and “expanding health and fitness programs.” He said that the Parks and Recreation Department is very committed to “making sure seniors know this is still their place” so “Issaquah seniors know they’re welcome here.”

Many senior center members said that they were looking forward to the change in leadership, and expressed happiness that the city will be operating the senior center after years of tension between seniors and the current Board of Directors.

“I’ve been coming here for 10 years … I just want it to go back to what it used to be,” Wagner said, noting that she hopes everything can return to the days before former IVS Executive Director Courtney Jaren and the IVS Board of Directors were in charge of operations.

“We’re glad to see the new administration. It’s exciting to have a change,” said Skip Geegh, another self-identified “regular” at the center. “We’re looking forward to a new spirit here.”

“I think it will be very transparent versus the prior administration,” said Theo Nassar, also a longtime senior center member. “We’ve been waiting for this for two years.”

“Knowing that it’s going to be built on a solid foundation makes a difference,” senior center member Toni Patterson said. “We never really knew what was going on when Jaren was in charge.”

Seniors and city representatives alike noticed that the senior center’s atmosphere was very different from how it had been in the past, with a livelier feeling in the room.

“There’s more electricity than I’ve seen here in a long time, and it’s more than just Christmas spirit,” senior center member David Waggoner said.

“I’ve been hearing and seeing that today’s lunch turnout was very big … there’s a positive energy about this transition and a lot of emotion wrapped around this facility,” Watling observed.

“We’re all so happy … there’s a change in the air,” Patterson said. “There’s hope for the future … There’s a feeling that there’s safety here.”

Senior center member Inez Peterson said that she hopes the people who were trespassed under the senior center’s former adminstration will be allowed to come back. She described one man, known by seniors as “Poo-Man,” whom Jaren had had trespassed after he had spent a long time in the restroom.

“‘Poo-Man’ was trespassed because he took too long in the men’s room and stunk it up,” Peterson said. “Today’s atmosphere is better. The Christmas spirit says, ‘Poo-Man,’ come back!”

Not everyone was glad to see the city in charge of the senior center, however.

“This is a very sad day, as far as I’m concerned,” senior center member Wilma Taylor said. “I think the city is over-reaching … I’m a very unhappy senior, and I’m not the only one.”

Taylor said that she told IVS Board President Craig Hansen “that he should strip this place bare” before the city takes over.

Senior center member David Kappler served Hansen and IVS Board Vice President Carmen Llewellyn with a restraining order on Dec. 9 that seeks to prevent them from getting rid of senior center property without a plan of distribution of assets, as mandated by RCW 24.03.230.