Cold Comfort: Washoe County Continues to Fumble Senior Meal Program

Sorry for the poor photo but we were being pushed out of the center and hence had but a moment to snap today’s senior salad.

In a display of bureaucratic bungling that would be comedic if it weren't affecting vulnerable seniors, Washoe County has managed to turn a planned renovation of the 9th Street Senior Center into a case study in administrative incompetence.

Despite months to prepare for the center's remodeling, the county's solution for its seniors? Cold sandwiches and subpar salads for ten days and counting. When caught serving cold meals, officials attempted to quietly slip these changes into TRIO's monthly meal calendar, hoping no one would notice. But the seniors noticed - and they spoke up.

The county's response? A January 17th email promising hot meals by Wednesday "if all goes well" - apparently, it didn't. Today's offering was a lackluster salad that fell well below the program's usual standards. Meanwhile, Meals on Wheels drivers are now whispering about hot meals possibly returning "next week" - a promise that's starting to sound as warm as the meals themselves.

Washoe County Human Services Agency email on January 17, 2025.

The Human Services Agency's tepid statement that they "very much regret the issues" and acknowledge this is "less than ideal for our Seniors" exemplifies the bureaucratic understatement of the year. For a department staffed with well-compensated professionals, the cascade of "ISSUES" (their caps, not ours) raises serious questions about competence and planning.

Don't worry though - Picon will be tracking how this fiasco is reflected in the upcoming performance reviews of the responsible county employees. Will this cold-meal-gate be conveniently forgotten when it's time for annual reviews and raises, or will there actually be accountability? Stay tuned.