When the city applied for a grant to restore the old firehouse in 2004, officials claimed that the building would be used to house a senior center, pushing the proposal based on the estimated 698 people — seniors and the disabled — who could benefit from such a center. They also stated that seniors would not be charged. Currently there are fewer than 50 people who use the building, and they pay $12 a year for membership.

Bill Bone, president of Tombstone Senior Citizens, Inc., said the group is a private corporation that receives no public funding. This isn't necessarily true. While the group's activities are completely funded by private donations, they lease the firehouse, which was refurbished with more than $460,000 of public funds, from the city for $1 a month. The group is also classified as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

IRS guidelines state that 501(c)(3) applicants "must establish that (their) organization will not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests." Three Tombstone seniors believe that this is exactly what the group is doing.

Rick Zahniser, Wanda Dibble and Del Roach claim that the senior center is being run like a private club, with board members organizing several discounted dinners a week, and few activities.

"I have been in three dozen senior clubs all over the country, and I've never been charged," Zahniser said.

Bone disagrees with the assertion that the center is being run like a private club. He said the voting procedure and dues are merely a way to keep track of members, adding, "I don't know of anyone who has been turned down for membership." But Wanda Dibble said she didn't attempt to join the group because she was told the board members would vote against her. Bone said Dibble refused to join.

Mayor Dusty Escapule said he's met with Bone four times to discuss the issues, yet nothing has been resolved.

"They are going to restructure the membership so it's easier for the seniors to become members," Escapule said. Bone confirmed that he would like to increase membership, but didn't mention any definite plans.

Dibble's conflict with the center began about a year and a half ago when she and her friend, Rick Zahniser, went to the group and proposed various senior activities. Their list included activities ranging from cooking lessons to a senior prom, but Zahniser's two main goals were to start a music program and hold computer classes.

Dibble and Zahniser were told that their request was denied because the center's liability insurance didn't cover Tombstone seniors who weren't members – referring to the musicians that Zahniser and Dibble wanted to bring in for the music program and "jam sessions."

"They don't want anyone in there but their little clique," Dibble said.

In May 2009, Ron Zatochill, then president of the group, received a letter from the city clerk stating that by restricting the center to members only, the group was violating terms of its lease under paragraph 12 which states, "Use of the facility must not be restricted to membership of the Tombstone Senior Citizens or restricted because of race, religion, sex, color or ethnic origin."

Zatochill responded that several local groups were currently using the building, but that individuals who didn't have their own liability insurance couldn't open it up to non-members. In June, the senior center produced a letter from Lodema Sellars, president of 3D Insurance, which explained the problem. It stated, "Any outside person/organization wanting to use your facilities must have their own general liability." The city appeared to drop the issue.

However, Julie Harp, a 3D Insurance employee, said the senior center is misinterpreting the coverage. Any activity put on by the center would be covered - membership isn't an issue.

"Each senior doesn't need to have their own insurance; it's a senior center," she said.

Sellars agreed with Harp, but also said, "When a senior citizen who is a member wants to put on an activity that isn't a senior-citizen activity, they need to have their own coverage."

Bone said Dibble and Zahniser never tried to put on activities through the senior center, but wanted to do things on their own. The pair said they only tried to organize activities on their own after receiving no support from the group.

The conflict continued to escalate until late July. Senior center board members filed workplace harassment suits against both Dibble and Zahniser, which prohibited them from any contact. When the defendants challenged the suits with a hearing, the court order was overturned. Judge Kenneth Curfman said he didn't take a position as to who was right or wrong, but that there was "no justification" for the suits.

"This is mostly a personal thing with them," Bone said. "This is of no concern to the seniors of Tombstone."

But Zahniser and Dibble aren't the only Tombstone seniors unhappy with the center. Marian Spencer, a former president of the group, said it "just doesn't fit our needs for the most part." She said younger seniors want to do everything in the evening after they get off work, but that older seniors need activities during the day, because many of them can't see well enough to drive at night.

"The public is essentially locked out, and that's what we want to fix," Roach said.