The Commission on Aging (COA) welcomed a new alternate member and discussed the collaborative Newtown Senior Alliance at its Monday, April 20 meeting.

Before anything else, COA Chair Pat Bailey welcomed Margaret Posteraro as the commission's newest alternate member.

Director of Human Services Natalie Griffith said they have been very lucky to have Posteraro as a member of the senior center community, as she does a lot for the building. This includes sitting at the front desk, which Griffith said she did earlier that day because they were down a staff member.

Griffith then went into her report. She said a lot of wonderful things have happened at the senior center over the past month, such as their ever so popular billiards tournament, along with the Move More Newtown initiative, which encouraged people in the community to increase their activity levels and embrace a healthier lifestyle.

Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS) board member Ned Simpson also spoke about Newtown Senior Alliance, a new collaborative effort to strengthen advocacy and engagement opportunities for seniors in Newtown. The group is a joint endeavor of FONS, the COA, and the Newtown Department of Human Services.

Their goal is to develop and host a new series of programs focused on issues that matter most to older adults. The first event of the series was a roundtable discussion for seniors' perspectives on housing in Newtown on April 28, to be followed with more roundtable discussions in the future.

Bailey spoke briefly about their last meeting on March 30, when they listened to a presentation about Medical Aid In Dying (MAID). The presentation, delivered by Middlebury resident and Newtown Senior Center member Michael Trusiewicz, described the program, its history, and testimonials from those who planned to use it.

COA members agreed to make a committee within the commission in the hopes of outlining what Trusiewicz could talk about in a public forum on the topic.

Bailey said the COA received concerns about MAID and the presentation on the topic.

She added that the COA can only provide information, but they cannot take sides.

"We will not take sides either way. We are mandated not to by statute. So if there was ever a feeling in the room that we might have appeared to take sides, no," Bailey said.

Bailey added that she is very careful after years of volunteer work to hold the line, adding that they need to remain neutral and provide non-biased information.

"It was close, so we need to be careful, because if we're not careful, we're no use to [the public]," Bailey said.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.