Senior citizens turned out in droves to speak their mind about Agency on Aging issues Tuesday morning during an extended public-comment period at the Flathead County commissioners’ chambers.

Comments centered on two key issues: First, the commissioners’ decision last week to scrap a $450,000 Community Development Block Grant for a new Agency on Aging facility; and second, the commissioners’ pending decision about whether or not to fire agency Director Lisa Sheppard.

Sheppard’s six-month probation period ended Tuesday and her job was on the line. Later in the day the commissioners made her a permanent county employee.

Doug Gilbertson, an Agency on Aging advisory board member, said he had just finished reading “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,” and likened Sheppard’s situation to the protagonist of the popular novel.

He maintained that some commissioners have been displeased because she brought the “inadequacies of the red barn” — the agency’s leased building on Kelly Road — to the commissioners’ attention.

“The only thing she’s guilty of is doing her job,” Gilbertson said, adding instead of considering Sheppard’s termination, “you need to give her a raise.”

JoLynn Yenne called Sheppard a “shining star in the community” and said her outreach to seniors has been exemplary.

Donna Bosch of the AOA advisory board voiced her support, too.

“She’s been organized and dedicated, eager to promote the department,” Bosch said. “She has a can-do attitude and is willing to go the extra mile.”

Susan Kunda, who serves as the agency’s ombudsman, pointed out that one of the agency’s objectives is to conduct a site analysis of existing agency space and develop a long-term plan for expansion of service and administration needs. 

Through focus groups and much one-on-one input from seniors, Sheppard has done just that, she said.

“We never wanted a Taj Mahal,” Kunda said. “We only want a bigger building and better parking.”

The lone supporter of the commissioners’ decision to stall the building project was Greg Stevens. He said he has been paying taxes in Flathead County since 1962 and depends on the commissioners to look out for his interests.

Stevens said he was forced to sell his lake property because he couldn’t afford the taxes, and said he believes taxes keep going up to pay for increasing social services provided by the county.

“What I see in you is some courage,” Stevens said. “Maybe we should run this [building project] through the budget process.”

Henry Oldenburg, a former county commissioner, weighed in on the building project, saying he opposes one proposed location south of the courthouse because there’s not enough room for expansion in an already crowded neighborhood. 

He asked the commissioners to rescind their decision on the grant and go forward with the application using the architect’s recommended site north of the fairgrounds.

Oldenburg also brought up the commissioner’s potential conflict of interest because of their relationship with the owners of the leased building on Kelly Road.

“If you’re spending my tax dollars on your friends and buddies, I want it back in the general fund,” he said. “If there’s been any misappropriation of government money, we as taxpayers can’t live with a situation like that.”

Sheppard, a life-long Texan, said she felt called to take the director position and threw herself into the job when she took the reins of the Agency on Aging six months ago.

“I feel like you’re my new family,” she told the packed audience of seniors. “It’s been a real privilege to serve all of you and walk alongside you.”

Sheppard’s heart-felt comments brought the audience to a standing ovation.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.