Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, January 9, 2021

9

Mountain View News Saturday, January 9, 2021 

HOW SENIORS CAN MAKE THEIR BATHROOMS SAFER AND 
EASIER TO USE

Dear Savvy Senior:

What tips can you recommend for making a bathroom 
senior-friendly? My 78-year-old mother has mobility 
problems and fell getting out of the bathtub last month. 
I’d like to modify her bathroom with some safety features 
that can help keep her safe. Concerned Daughter 

Dear Concerned:

Great question! Because more accidents and injuries happen in the bathroom than any other room 
in the house, this is a very important room to modify, especially for seniors with mobility or balance 
problems. Depending on your mom’s needs and budget, here are some simple tips and product recommendations 
that can make her bathroom safer and easier to use.

Floor: To avoid slipping, a simple fix is to get non-skid bath rugs for the floors. Or if you want to put 
in a new floor get slip-resistant tiles, rubber or vinyl flooring, or install wall-to-wall carpeting.

Lights: Good lighting is also very important, so install the highest wattage bulbs allowed for your 
mom’s bathroom fixtures and get a plug-in nightlight that automatically turns on when the room gets 
dark.

Bathtub/shower: To make bathing safer, purchase a rubber suction-grip mat, or put down adhesive 
nonskid tape on the tub/shower floor. And have a carpenter install grab bars in and around the tub/
shower for support.

If your mom uses a shower curtain, install a screw or bolt-mounted curtain rod, versus a tension-
mounted rod, so that if she loses her balance and grabs the shower curtain the rod won’t spring loose.

For easier access and safer bathing, consider getting your mom a shower or bathtub chair so she can 
bathe from a seated position. In addition, you should also have a handheld, adjustable-height showerhead 
installed that makes chair bathing easier.

If your mom has the budget for it, another good option is to install a curb-less shower or a walk-in-
bathtub. Curb-less showers have no threshold to step over, and come with a built-in seat, grab bars, 
slip resistant floors and an adjustable handheld showerhead. While walk-in tubs have a door in front 
that provides a much lower threshold to step over than a standard tub. They also have a built-in seat, 
handrails and a slip resistant bottom, and some have therapeutic features like whirlpool water jets 
and/or bubble massage air jets.

Curb-less showers and walk-in-tubs run anywhere between $2,500 and $10,000 installed.

Toilet: Most standard toilets are around 15 inches high and can be an issue for taller seniors with 
arthritis, back, hip or knee problems. If your mom has trouble getting on or off the toilet, a simple 
solution is to purchase a raised toilet seat that clamps to the toilet bowl, and/or purchase toilet safety 
rails that sit on each side of the seat for support. Or, you can install a new ADA compliant “comfort 
height” toilet that is 16-to-19 inches high.

Faucets: If your mom has twist handles on the sink, bathtub or shower faucets, consider replacing 
them with lever handle faucets, or with a touch, motion or digital smart faucet. They’re easier to operate, 
especially if she has hand arthritis or gripping problems. Also note that it only takes 130-degree 
water to scald someone, so turn her hot water heater down to 120 degrees.

Doorway: If your mom needs a wider bathroom entrance to accommodate a walker or wheelchair, 
an inexpensive solution is to install some swing clear offset hinges on the door which will expand the 
doorway an additional two inches.

Emergency assistance: As a safety precaution, you should also consider purchasing a voice-enabled 
medical alert system like Get Safe (GetSafe.com) for her bathroom. This device would let her call for 
help by simple voice command, or by pushing a button or pulling a cord.

You can find all of these suggested products at either medical supply stores, pharmacies, big-box 
stores, home improvement stores, hardware and plumbing supply stores, as well as online.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller 
is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

SENIOR HAPPENINGS


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! … January Birthdays*

 Gerald Day, Mary Tassop, Judy Webb-Martin, John Johnson, Mary Bickel, Marlene 
Enmark, Shirley Wolf, Ross Kellock, Ruth Wolter, Sue Watanabe, Sandy Thistlewaite, 
Bobbi Rahmanian, Fran Syverson, Shirley Wolff, Judy Zaretzka and Becky Evans.* 
To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. 
YEAR of birth not required


SENIOR ACTIVITIES IN SIERRA MADRE

CHAIR YOGA Every Monday and Wednesday, 10-10:45 am Chair yoga with Paul is coming back! Class will 
begin on Monday, August 10th and will be held in the Covered Pavilion in Memorial Park in front of the Senior 
Center. Please join us for some gentle stretching, yoga, balance exercise and overall relaxa-tion. Class size is limited 
so please call 264-8923 to reserve your spot. 

HAWAIIAN AND POLYNESIAN DANCE CLASS Every Friday, 10-10:45 am Class will also meet in the Cov-
ered Pavilion in Memorial Park in front of the Senior Center. Join the class with instructor Barbara as she leads 
you through the art of Hula. Please call 264-8923 with any questions. 

Classes will maintain a distance of 6 ft between participants. ALL participants must be wearing masks for the 
duration of the class. All equipment used will be sanitized after each use before it is stored. Each participant is 
responsible for providing their own water, masks and needed equipment or sup-plies for each class. Please call the 
Community Services Department at 355-5278 with any questions or concerns.

OCTOBER CRAFT

Wednesday, October 21, 11:00 am. Please join me as we try our hands at making Wooden Owl Orna-ments. This 
will be a new type of program as we create our masterpieces via Zoom to ensure all of our safety. I will have all the 
supplies individually packaged and ready for pickup on Monday, October 19th pickup will be between 10:00 am-
2:00 pm. I will have enough supplies for 10 participants. Reservations are required so please call 355-5278 x 704 
to secure your spot. Please note that this is an ONLINE class that will be held via Zoom. We will not be meeting 
in the Hart Park House Senior Center.

IDEAS

 Do you have any ideas for programming? Is there a class or club you would like to see in our Senior Community? 
Please call or email Lawren Heinz with ideas or questions. 626-355-5278 x 704 lheinz@cityofsierramadre.com

 City staff are monitoring email communication daily, and although employees are minimizing direct engagement 
and interfacing less with the community, please note that voice messages, emails, and social media responses are 
being addressed in the most efficient and timely manner. If at any time additional information is needed, please 
contact City Hall Administrative Services at (626) 355-7135, Monday-Thursday from 7:30a – 5:30p, as they are 
taking messages and e-mailing the appropriate per-son. For messages that may trickle in otherwise, please note 
our team is remotely checking voicemail daily at the Community Services Department, (626) 355-5278 x702.

SIERRA MADRE SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

The City of Sierra Madre is following these procedures to provide current communication in light of COVID-19 
and keep the Senior Community and families informed of essential information and resources. City staff are 
monitoring email communication daily, and although employees are minimizing direct engagement and practicing 
social distancing in the community, please note that voice messages, emails, and social media responses are 
being addressed in the most efficient and timely manner.

If at any moment additional information is needed, please contact City Hall Administrative Services at (626) 355-
7135, Monday-Thursday from 7:30a – 5:30p, as they are taking messages and e-mailing the appropriate person.

 For messages that may trickle in otherwise, please note our team is remotely checking voicemail daily at the 
Community Services Department, (626) 355-5278 x702.

 Community Services Department will continue email communication with Senior residents and aging community 
members.

 If you know of family members or neighbors who may benefit from accessing information electronically, and 
to receive the department’s Seniors Newsletter via email but may not otherwise have been included on an email 
group list, please send your request with email address to the following team members: Lawren Heinz Lheinz@
cityofsierramadre.com and Clarissa Lowe Clowe@cityofsierramadre.com.

 City Social Media will continue via Facebook as well as Instagram, and information sharing will include updates 
as details becomes available.

Mater Dolorosa - Sierra Madre Meal Pick-Up Program provides seal-packaged frozen meals, 5-per person 
every Thursday, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. at Hart Park House Senior Center 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Donations 
are accepted. Call (626) 355-5278; x702 or 704. YWCA Intervale Meal Program - Effective 
Wednesday, April 1, 2020

YWCA has transitioned their distribution of take home meals at the Sierra Madre Hart Park House 
Senior Center to a home-delivery meal program. Participants previously reserved for meal pick-up 
as of Wednesday, 3/25/20 were informed that they would begin to have their meals delivered to their 
homes, beginning Wednesday, April 1, 2020 until further notice.

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett

WELL, HERE WE GO AGAIN


PROP 19 EFFECTS PROPERTY TAX 

REASSESSMENTS ON INHERITED REAL ESTATE

I have lived long enough to 
know that the only change that 
has any kind of reality is the 
change in my pocket. I keep 
track of that change with great supervision and 
count it every day.

When people tell me that this is a New Year and 
there will be a lot of changes this year, I search 
my pocket because that's the only change I want 
to know about.

Looking back over my life, the most significant 
change that ever came to me was the day I said 
“I do” to the future Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. 
At the time, and it’s good for me that 
I didn’t know, I didn’t know what “I do” really 
meant.

Oh yes, I understood it had to do with marriage, 
but at that time, I had no idea what marriage was 
all about. I thought, as many of the songs tell me, 
love will conquer everything. All you need to do 
is have love, and that will be all you need.

When I said, "I do," my life changed like I never 
expected it to change. And mostly, I must admit, 
for the better. I have no complaints.

Knowing a young lady and then living with that 
young lady for 50 years was quite a change in my 
life. I will never know how she put up with me, 
and believe me, I will never ask.

That is the only change that had any real significance 
in my life. Of course, when the children 
came along, there was some aspect of change but 
not so much. Children come and go, and then 
they leave the nest.

As we start a New Year, everybody is anticipating 
change. But I don't believe in that kind of 
change, as I said. I think everything will be quite 
the same as it was last year. Sure, there will be a 
few modifications, but as far as change is concerned, 
I don't believe it's going to happen.

When we began last year, everybody was excited 
about the New Year. Then certain things happen 
that brought all of that to the floor. Who 
would've expected what had happened?

There were change-like happenings in people's 
lives this past year. But really, we all ended up 
al-most where we started. That may not seem to 
be true, but here we are.

Whenever we go through something that people 
call a "change," on the other side everything is 
about the same. Maybe a little bit of variation, 
but nothing really changes when you come right 
down to it.

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage made 
this pretty clear to me just recently. As we were 
thinking about the New Year, she said, "What 
change do you see in the coming year?"

The only change I can think of came from a song 
from the sixties, "Oh my friend, we're older but 
no wiser” (Mary Hopkin).

The only change I can see on my horizon is that 
I’m going to get older. And believe me, I plan to 
get as old as I possibly can because I know what 
happens if you don’t get older.

And that song is right; we are older but no wiser, 
and that's not going to change. When I think I 
have arrived at a certain level of wisdom, I find 
out I didn't know all of the facts.

So, I explained to the Gracious Mistress of the 
Parsonage, “The only change I can see for me 
this year is I’m going to get older.”

She looked at me with one of her penetrating 
stares and said, “I don’t think getting older is going 
to make any change in your life.”

Of course, she was right. No matter how old I 
get, nothing is really going to change in my life.

Oh yes, I walk a little slower, and there are pains 
in my body in areas I didn't know I had. I forget 
a lot of things that I once could remember. 
I remember things that never happened. To me, 
that's a good thing.

To show that I'm not going to be changing this 
year, I said to my wife, "What change do you see 
in the coming year?"

It wasn't long before I realized that her idea of 
change and my idea of change had no connection 
whatsoever. She had a list of things she was 
going to change in the house.

The first is she's going to change her craft room 
to get more stuff in the room. Then, she's going 
to change this room and that room and help me 
change my office room, and by the time she was 
done, everything in our world according to her 
was going to change.

I’m not going to contradict that change because 
I know the ramifications of doing such a thing. 
Chaos is not my idea of happiness.

While she was describing all the changes she's 
going to see accomplished this year, I happened 
to think of what old Solomon said. “The thing 
that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that 
which is done is that which shall be done: and 
there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 
1:9).

When my wife changes her craft room, it will 
still be "her craft room." Sometimes changing 
things makes us feel good about ourselves and 
our life. In the end, everything is the same.

Proposition 19 changes the way real estate may be passed down from 
parents to children in California. Here are 6 key things you should 
know about this new law:

1.Prop 19 eliminates the ability for children to receive property from
their parents without a property tax reassessment unless (adult) children 
use the property as their own primary residence and the property 
has gained less than one million in value over the original assessed value.

2.Previously, a parent could transfer their primary residence and up to one million of assessed
value of other real estate (residential and commercial) to their children without reassessment.
Please note that Prop 19 does not impact capital gains taxes or eliminate the step up in basis
for inherited properties - it only affects property tax reassessments.

3.Prop 19 goes into effect on February 16, 2021 and will impact properties transferred after
that date. Because of holidays, however, the transfers must be recorded by February 11, 2021
to meet the deadline.

4.There is special Prop 19 planning available to avoid the consequences of Prop 19. This Special 
Prop 19 planning consists of transferring the property to an irrevocable trust before the
deadline to preserve the lower property tax basis.

5.This special Prop 19 planning is best suited for those (a) who own a property with a high
current market value and a low property tax assessed value, and (b) who plan to gift that
property to their children upon death, and (c) whose children intend to keep the property for
a rental, vacation home, or commercial building.

6. This special Prop 19 planning is not for everyone. There are many drawbacks and unknowns 
(the legislature has yet to write the details so there is much yet still to be determined) with
this planning. For example, it would require you to give up all rights and use of your primary
residence from now on, meaning your children could potentially kick you out of the home.

For commercial properties, you would have to give up all rights to the rental income and principal 
now, meaning your children would receive it from this point forward. Also, please be 
aware, properties with a mortgage generally will not qualify for this special Prop 19 planning 
because lenders often legally prohibit these types of property transfers. Finally, if the transfer 
is allowed, there is added expense in creating the irrevocable trust now and administering it 
into the future.

If you would like to discuss whether Prop 19 planning is appropriate for you, please call CaliLaw 
at 626.355.4000 to schedule a phone call with a member of our team.

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and defining your legacy,

A local attorney and father, Marc Garlett is on a mission to help parents protect 
what they love

most. His office is located at 55 Auburn Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 
Schedule an

appointment to sit down and talk about ensuring a legacy of love and financial security for 
your family by calling 626.355.4000 or visit www.CaliLaw.com for more information.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com