Plea to not fire Agency on Aging director
I write this as a plea to Flathead County Commissioners Pam Holmquist and Gary Kruger not to push for termination of Lisa Shepherd, director of the County Agency on Aging. As well, I ask local residents to voice their support for Lisa Tuesday morning when the commissioners will decide whether or not to retain her. It will be a great loss to our valley, especially to local seniors, if Shepherd is prohibited from serving the people of our valley in her selfless manner.
I am a local high school teacher, mother of three and a registered Republican. I have lived in Columbia Falls for nine years and know Lisa Shepherd personally. In the six months she has been in the valley as the director of the Agency on Aging, she has worked tirelessly as an advocate for local seniors, choosing to take a staunch stance to retain the helpful benefits our valley’s seniors often depend on.
On a personal note, she has often declined invitations to attend leisure functions due to putting in countless extra (evening and weekend) hours toward the work she is so dedicated to. When she talks about her position, her care and concern for the local aging population are evident. She speaks with joy of her work.
What she has never done is to speak ill or unprofessionally of any of the commissioners, even the ones with whom she has disagreed over the retention of the benefits she works to maintain for seniors. In fact, I was appalled to learn that her overall performance was in any way coming into question specifically by Commissioners Holmquist and Kruger, and I challenge the commissioners to truly base their decision in this matter on the feedback of local seniors and the staff who work directly with and for Lisa.
As they will see in the meeting tomorrow, the local feedback is abundantly supportive of Lisa and her personable and knowledgeable interactions with local seniors and the support systems available to them. She has come to us at a personal cost, leaving her position with a nonprofit organization in Austin, Texas, where she had been well liked and successful for well over a decade.
She left her home there to accept the AOA director position with great excitement, though it also meant considerable sacrifice to her family, as she came ahead of her husband, who has continued working in Austin while their home there sells.
Politically and personally, I understand the need to live within budget constraints and that this guiding premise will not make every benefit decision an easy one for commissioners. In this case, however, there are clearly other ways to meet budget targets without reducing the current benefits offered to local seniors.
Lisa has tirelessly advocated for seniors for years, and we are blessed as a county to have her in the position she holds. Please make the right choice for seniors and for our valley by retaining Lisa Shepherd as director of the AOA tomorrow.
Amy Borgen lives in Columbia Falls.