Claire Royal was born and raised near Lincoln’s Malone Center, where she worked with senior citizens through the “Happytime Club” in the late 1970s. She still calls it the Happytime Club, even though that’s no longer the name of the program offered at the ActivAge Center.

Her husband has long since died and her children grown, and even though arthritis has put her in a wheelchair, she’s raising two grandsons, and she values the Maxey ActivAge senior programs she attends at the Malone Center when the kids are in school.

She told the Lincoln City Council on Monday that other than going to the doctor, grocery store and church, the only activity she does is attend the senior citizens program.

“I need that outing,” she said. It would be expensive for her to drive her gas-guzzling van to another center, she said. “(If) you take it away, a lot of us are just going to dry up in our homes.”

She was one in a long line of elderly Lincoln residents who turned out in force to lobby the Lincoln City Council not to cut programs offered by the Lincoln Area Agency on Aging, which provides meals, health services and social events for elderly people. The City Council held a public hearing on the municipal budget Monday in anticipation of a final vote on the budget Wednesday.

The aging department takes a big hit in Mayor Chris Beutler’s budget proposal: Beutler ordered the agency to cut about 22 percent, or $753,000, of its current $2.9 million in city funding.

To make the cut, the city plans to close the Calvert, Belmont and Maxey ActivAge Centers; end the Lifetime Health senior fitness and health program; cut staffing and end some activities for seniors.

Seniors who use the Maxey and Belmont centers would be rerouted to one of four other centers that would remain open.

While Beutler aide Rick Hoppe announced at the beginning of the hearing that the mayor was open to exploring whether nonprofit groups could take over some of the Lifetime Health services that would be cut, that didn’t appease most people who testified.

Many told the council how the senior program has helped them recover from illness and stay in their homes.

Lloyd Hitchcock said before he began attending an exercise class at the Calvert center, he was having trouble breathing and using an oxygen tank. But since he began walking regularly, he no longer needs the tank. He said it would be a hardship to be bused to other centers, which he fears will become overcrowded.

Alice Stillahn credited the nutritious meals, fellowship and rehabilitation she gets at the Belmont center with helping her recover from an illness that put her in a coma for a week. She wore a green neon sign saying “Senior centers care. Why don’t you? Save Belmont.”

Reba Schafer — who worked for the city for 27 years, serving as director of the aging department for the last seven — said services for the elderly consistently lose out to programs for children and families.

“We could stand on our heads, we could dance jigs, we could offer money, but older adults lost out time after time, because children and families won out every time,” Schafer said.

At various points in the hearing, council members indicated they’re exploring alternatives to cutting the whole Lifetime Health program, such as by reducing the number of days the program is offered or charging fees.

Councilwoman Robin Eschliman asked several people whether they’d rather pay higher taxes or fees or attend the program at another center. After some people mentioned one of the services provided at the center — cutting toenails for elderly people — Eschliman said, “Does the government owe it to the citizens to raise property taxes to cut toenails?”

Joyce Perry said toenail clipping is important: she spoke of an elderly woman whose toenails were an inch long and who had three broken toes taped with electrical tape. She had developed a life-threatening infection and didn’t know it, but she didn’t think she needed help because she thought homeless children needed it more, Perry said.

Citizens also lobbied the council to continue funding the Lincoln-Lancaster Womens Commission; not build a third sewage plant in southwest Lincoln; invest in its police department and not cut the library, parks and fire department budgets.

Several wives of police officers also gave the council a glimpse into the life of Lincoln’s overworked, understaffed police officers. And several others lobbied the council not to go through with cuts to youth sports programs.

Only the chamber of commerce and Lincoln Independent Business Assocation applauded the mayor’s balanced budget, while acknowledging its tough choices. LIBA also asked the council to eliminate funding of the women’s commission, restructure the fire department and cut $1 million from the StarTran budget.

But some council members questioned the wisdom of making such a big cut so late in the budget-writing process. Whether the council is willing to make what some called “an 11th hour cut” like that will be evident Wednesday, when the council makes final changes to Beutler’s budget.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.