The Argyle Town Council this week repealed a 12-year-old resolution that established the Argyle Senior Citizens Organization (ASCO) as an official town board, and designated a new system with a town staff member as the new Senior Coordinator.
A contentious July meeting between town leaders and Seniors board members has prompted the ASCO to move its meeting place from Town Hall to the Denton County Southwest Courthouse in Flower Mound. During this week’s council meeting, Mayor Rick Bradford said the ASCO has not been following the required bylaws under the 2011 resolution.
The Town Council repealed that resolution and approved a new one to designate Assistant Town Secretary Candi Smith as the new Senior Coordinator, who will coordinate the monthly luncheons and activities for the seniors. Town documents show Argyle’s proposed expenditure for the ASCO is $12-15,000 annually for meals and supplies.
At the beginning of the meeting, two ASCO board members spoke out against Bradford and other town leaders for, among other things, calling the police on a board member trying to record last month’s contentious meeting.
“The town continues to go after the seniors, rather than apologizing … the town is doubling down,” said Jodi Bellinghausen. “We would like to point out that the mayor and town administrator refused to provide a reasonable accommodation to our hearing-impaired president, who had repeatedly requested it.”
But other seniors then spoke in favor of Town Council, saying they thought the Seniors board members were politically motivated against them. Bradford said he and the rest of council have supported, and will continue to support the town’s seniors, and he’s “disheartened and disappointed” in some of their criticism of him and other town leaders.
“I am deeply saddened by the exaggerated stories and attacks playing out on social media,” Bradford said. “If I owe anyone an apology, it is to the seniors that have been affected by this board and their actions and their attempts to come after Town Council and our town administrator, who have done nothing but serve our seniors honorably.”
The ASCO is inviting the community to “come celebrate our new beginning” at its first luncheon as a nonprofit organization, to be held on Sept. 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the courthouse in Canyon Falls.
“Over the years, the town of Argyle has stood by us with a lot of support, and we’ve had a relationship that was strong for many years. But over the last two years things changed,” said ASCO President Stella McDaniel. “Because the relationship with town administration has gotten so difficult, the ASCO board made a decision to part ways and start a new group. We are proud to introduce our new nonprofit group and a new beginning that will invigorate and grow our group and connect with our community.”
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