Letters to the Editor 2-5-15

Necessary scrutiny
Editor: I have a graduate degree in applied public financial management and was involved in public financing for 40 years. One thing I’ve learned is that all business plans must undergo an independent sanity check before they are implemented. Its simply good practice because business plans submitted by the proposing entity, while well intentioned, can be inherently biased and optimistic.
Any proposed business plans being seriously considered must be vetted by the preparation of an independent financial feasibility report, prepared by a health care consultant recognized in the industry for their expertise. Independent means that neither the party submitting the proposal nor the party receiving it can conduct the feasibility study, otherwise it can easily become errant wishful thinking. There are standards in the health care industry regarding what should be included in such reports. A key standard is that proforma budget projections must have realistic correlations to actual historical performance.
The taxpayers have grown weary of Palm Drive’s fiscal failures. Your mandate is to deliver adequate health services that make the most fiscal sense, nothing more. To establish high credibility at this point, you must act like a public district board, not a private hospital board. Avoid, at all costs, business plans that are not supported by truly independent, expert analysis. Should you exhibit due diligence here now, the bankruptcy court, health care professionals, future patients and taxpayers alike will all look favorably upon your actions.
Greg Aanestad
Sebastopol
Detachment
Editor: The following was sent to the board members and executive director of the Palm Drive Health Care District by several citizens living in the district:
This letter will serve as a request that you place as an agenda item for discussion and action, at your regular meeting in March, or as soon as it can be set for a special meeting before March 20, 2015, the following:
Detachment of West County communities not served by the Palm Drive Health Care District (hereafter “District”). Specifically, the communities which lie within the Monte Rio, Guerneville and Forestville school districts, which also include communities from Highway 1 and Highway 116 from Jenner through Forestville, and River Road from Guerneville through Forestville (Jenner, Duncans Mills, Villa Grande, Monte Rio, Northwood, Guernewood Park, Guerneville, Rio Nido, Odd Fellows, Hacienda, Summerhome Park, Hollydale, Mirabel and Forestville). These communities are not a part of the Sebastopol community who actually benefit from a hospital within their boundaries. In the 15+ years in which the District has existed, there have been little, if any, attempts at outreach or assistance to these outlying communities. These communities derive no benefit from the taxes they contribute to the District, and should be detached. With so many changes in healthcare and two hospitals more easily accessible via the River Road corridor, it makes no sense to continue to include these communities in your District.
At a recent special board meeting of the District held on Jan. 19, 2015, members of your board expressed their desire to be all-inclusive of District ratepayers, and for that reason schedules its meetings to be more accommodating to their constituency. I thank you for wanting to be more inclusive and for this reason I request that the meeting to discuss detachment be held during evening hours in Monte Rio, which is centrally located to the communities included in this detachment request.
I request that this correspondence be included in your next board packet and thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Rick and Barbara DeCarly
Guerneville
1+1+1 does not equal 1
Editor: In the Jan. 21 commentary by Gene Nelson, (“1+1+1=1”), “America has tried to change; really, compared with, say 1960, things are better. But better is not the same as good….” What Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) said then seems to apply today: “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Ted Calvert
Healdsburg
Sustainability?
Editor: I recently received in my newspaper (Jan. 22) a 24-page winegrowers sustainability report flaunting the wonderful wine industry ad nauseum.
On the front page of the Jan. 24 edition of Santa Rosa’s daily newspaper, a worker is pictured spraying Roundup in a Sonoma County vineyard.
What does sustainability have to do with pesticides and herbicides?
Peter Naughton
Sebastopol