Put a stake in it
EDITOR: As a former director of the Palm Drive Health Care District and one of the petitioners to dissolve the district, I have a few comments about your recent articles on community health and on the district’s slow crawl towards dissolution.
Last month the district promised to dissolve itself, but the board is already backsliding on that pledge. At February’s meeting, the board promised to adopt a resolution at its March meeting informing LAFCO that the district intended to dissolve itself by June 30. However, at the March meeting on Monday night, the board unveiled a new timeline. Now, the vote to dissolve will be delayed until May, with actual dissolution pushed off to sometime in July. Who knows if there’ll be more delays?
And the district continues to spend money on new programs instead of paying down debt. While it’s true that health care districts in California can be empowered to provide extensive community health services, Palm Drive was created to own and operate a hospital with an emergency room. When the district leased and later sold our hospital to a private for-profit company last year, it lost its approved purpose. LAFCO, the local agency that oversees health care districts, invited Palm Drive to seek a change in purpose, away from the hospital and towards community health services, but the district ignored the invitation.
In addition, all of Palm Drive’s funds come from the Measure W parcel tax, which was approved by voters in 2005 specifically to support a local hospital with an emergency room and related medical services. The district board recently spent $30,000 of our money to obtain an outside legal opinion on allowable uses of taxes. But they obviously didn’t like what they heard, because they’re keeping the opinion secret. Proponents of community health programs are welcome to go back to the voters and ask for a new parcel tax to fund those programs, but they haven’t.
Unfortunately, the District appears determined to ignore the law and spend another $250,000 on these programs. What kinds of programs? In the last month, without Board consent, the District’s executive director unilaterally approved two grants for nearly $30,000 for “counseling services.”
Half the money will be used to pay a guy to hang out at the Sebastopol skate park for five hours a day for four months to “mentor” skateboarders. The district also appears ready to spend another $200,000 on unnamed programs and agencies.
So we petitioners have decided we can’t wait for the district to dissolve itself. We are resuming our petition drive in full force, hoping to collect the required 2,400 signatures by the end of March. Once we hit our goal, we will immediately begin submitting our petitions to LAFCO for processing and eventual approval.
But to meet this goal, we need your help. We’ll be in front of the Sebastopol post office this week and at the Farmers’ Market on Sunday with petitions to sign. Please visit DissolveTheDistrict.com and our Facebook page for updates.
Thank you.
Jim Horn
Sebastopol
Palm Drive and a question of values
EDITOR: My dad, who was born and raised in West County, taught me “Keep your promises” and “Don’t spend money you don’t have.”
The past and present PDHCD board meant well trying to keep the hospital and ED viable. I appreciate their efforts.
When the District’s second bankruptcy occurred, a prior board shifted its focus and proposed and implemented health outreach programs. This new focus was never promised on the Measure W. ballot, nor voter approved. So, what happened to the promise of using those dollars only for the hospital & ED?
The District is considering funding $200,000 for the 2020-2021 fiscal year for health outreach. These programs are important. However, I believe that after PDHCD dissolution, these could be funded less expensively using grants, volunteers and a multi-agency approach for monies. It’s not appropriate for an agency that is $25 million in debt to do so. (“Don’t spend money you don’t have.”)
Aren’t these two values the very ones we teach our children? Aren’t they the ones we want our leaders to live by?
Lastly, I read the series re: health outreach programs funded by Measure W monies. Please do an article on community members who are fearing losing their homes due to increasing property taxes. (One elderly gentleman who signed our petition shared that he was moving to Sparks, Nevada. When asked why, he replied sadly, “Because the property taxes there are a lot less.” Maybe he should be interviewed before he moves.
Alan Murakami
Sebastopol
