Clearlake wants a senior center operator in place by Dec. 1. The City Council takes up that plan at a special meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday. The packet posted for it holds the agenda. Nothing else.
The two-page packet, posted Oct. 2, carries no staff report, no recommendation and no cost figure. It hadn’t changed by Thursday morning. The one item reads “Discussion and Consideration of Request for Proposals for Operation of a Senior Center and Related Activities.”
The nonprofit Highlands Senior Service Center runs the city-owned center at 3245 Bowers Ave. under an agreement the city says was last approved in 2011. Joyce Overton, its executive director, told the council last month that the lease is good until July 1, 2027, the Lake County Record-Bee reported. The city’s request for proposals sets a “Program Launch” of Dec. 1, 2026, for “Full assumption of Center operations, Meals on Wheels, and activity calendar.” That’s seven months before the date Overton gives.
It started with a consensus
The request began Aug. 6, near the end of a regular meeting, under future agenda items. “Vice Mayor Downey asked for consensus to direct staff to do an RFP for operations and management of the Senior Center,” the minutes say. “She received the consensus of the Council.”
The minutes record no motion. No roll-call vote.
At the next meeting, Aug. 20, Jerry Thomas turned in a petition of 700 signatures in favor of Highlands, according to the minutes. On Sept. 3, Overton asked the council to stop the RFP and work with Highlands on a new lease. On Sept. 17 she told the council Highlands had 1,500 petition signatures opposing the RFP, the Record-Bee reported.
The city posted the request, 2026-RFP-066, on its OpenGov procurement portal Sept. 16. Proposals are due Oct. 21 at 5 p.m., and the city lists Nov. 19 as a tentative selection date. Bids stay confidential until the city signs a contract or rejects them all.
The transition plan the RFP asks for includes a “client database transfer.” The scope also lets the city rent out the center outside its operating hours: “Public rentals are limited to the main dining hall, auxiliary room, restrooms, and kitchen facilities.”
What each side says
“After 15 years under the existing agreement, the City is conducting an open, competitive RFP process as part of its responsibility to periodically review public contracts,” the RFP says. “This process is not a discontinuation or reduction of senior services.”
Mayor Dirk Slooten, answering a Record-Bee inquiry in August, said the city’s “goal is clear: maintain and strengthen senior services while expanding the community benefit of the Clearlake Senior/Community Center.” He said the process “is not criticism of Highlands,” and that “Highlands will have the same opportunity as other qualified organizations to submit a proposal.” His statement said no changes to senior services are expected while the process runs.
Overton, in an Aug. 21 email to the Record-Bee, said Highlands served 1,002 seniors and more than 68,000 meals in the past year. “Seniors are worried about losing their meals, programs, staff, and the community they depend upon,” she wrote.
The meal money
The meal contract belongs to Highlands, not the city. The Area Agency on Aging of Lake and Mendocino counties contracts with Highlands, and its governing board approved an amended contract with the nonprofit for $268,944. Agency staff told its advisory council in July that the agency was level funded for the fiscal year. Highlands reported $981,223 in revenue for the year ending June 30, 2025, on its federal tax return.
“We have just signed our new contract with our Area Agency on Aging,” Overton wrote in August. “Whether we serve our seniors in this facility or another, we will find a way to continue serving our seniors.”
The posted RFP doesn’t say what happens to that contract if someone else wins. An anonymous questioner asked on the city’s portal Sept. 22. The city marked it “acknowledged.” No answer had been posted by Thursday morning. The city has until Oct. 14 to issue clarifications.
Written comments for Thursday’s meeting go to City Clerk Melissa Swanson at mswanson@clearlake.ca.us before 4 p.m. The meeting is at City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, and streams on the city’s YouTube channel.
The question still sitting on the portal reads: “Would the selected vendor need to separately apply for and be awarded the senior nutrition contract through AAA in order to provide these services?”