The San Benito County Board of Supervisors is placing an advisory measure on the Nov. 5 ballot regarding the potential private sale of Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital. The non-binding measure would ask voters if they prefer to keep the Hollister hospital locally owned.
This comes after the San Benito Health Care District board voted in June to not pursue a Joint Powers Authority proposal brought forth by the county.
After months of evaluating multiple proposals, the hospital district board voted last month to pursue a private sale with Michigan-based Insight Foundation of America, setting the stage to finalize negotiations. Before a deal is struck, however, the ultimate decision will go to voters in the Nov. 5 general election.
The district board is expected to finalize the transaction terms with Insight and move forward with its own ballot measure to approve the sale this week.
At the July 23 special meeting, the board of supervisors revisited the JPA proposal and community concerns over the hospital making the transition from a publicly-held asset to a privatized entity.
“The concerns that I would posit to you, and I know I’ve heard them from others in the community, is that a sale or even a lease with a promise to sell, which is really what the option is with the community, would lose control over the decision making of this hospital. And that’s one of the real advantages of local ownership and public control, is [that] the community has a say,” said Cecilia Montalvo, a county consultant that worked on the JPA.
Now, in a last attempt to put its option in front of voters, the county board of supervisors is moving forward with the creation of an advisory measure for the ballot.
According to Law Insider, an advisory ballot measure is “created by a local government for the purpose of gauging support or opposition to specific issues or ideas.”
At the July 23 meeting, Montalvo gave the board of supervisors direction on what an advisory measure would look like. The proposed draft text of the advisory measure reads:
“To keep Hazel Hawkins Hospital public and under local control, shall the County of San Benito establish an agreement with the San Benito Health Care District and other interested jurisdictions to form a partnership in the form of a Joint Powers Authority to operate the hospital?”
The measure would run alongside a potential measure drafted by the SBHCD. But detractors of the county’s measure think that it amounts to meddling in the election process.
At the July 23 meeting, SBHCD board director Devin Pack addressed the county supervisors and said that the effort and money being put into the advisory measure could be spent on strengthening its JPA proposal instead.
“(What) the board of supervisors needs to be evaluating is whether this maneuver is going to be more productive and more conducive towards the county’s goals of achieving a JPA or not, and I would suggest to the board, respectfully, that the advisory measure is not the best allocation of the county’s resources,” Pack said.
Hollister Mayor Mia Casey urged the board to not approve the advisory measure, saying that it would undermine the hospital district board’s authority and decision to pursue an agreement with Insight.
“If there were no alternatives, I could see pushing the JPA forward. But there is another option. It was selected by the hospital district. Insight is a well-funded organization with a proven track record, and they want to invest in Hazel Hawkins and our community, and they’re willing to include a board with local people on it,” Casey said.
“I believe it’s the best of the options. I think the board is overstepping their authority by meddling in another agency’s affairs and the decisions of their duly elected officials.”
Other speakers showed their support for the board, and thanked them for upholding what they said was the will of the community.
“The public has been giving the hospital board input for 18 months and they are the most deaf board in the history of San Benito County,” said Rob Bernosky. “That’s why your measure is so important. You’re actually going to be able to show the public that, first of all, you’re listening to whatever they decide.”
District 2 Supervisor Kollin Kosmicki, who alongside board chair Angela Curro was heavily involved in drafting the JPA, did not believe the advisory measure mounted to interference.
“[J]ust to reiterate some of those points…we’re not meddling in anything because we’re leaders in this community. We’re residents of this community and there is no more important issue to this community right now — it’s not even close — than the future of Hazel Hawkins hospital,” Kosmicki said. “Keeping the hospital public, stopping this irresponsible move for a completely unnecessary sale that really just stands to you and to harm potentially our community for the long term.”
The board of supervisors ultimately voted 4-1 to draft the advisory measure. The sole dissenting vote belonged to District 5 Supervisor Bea Gonzales, who felt that the measure would improperly influence a fair election. She said the county’s JPA can still be explored if the Insight deal is voted down.
“We can be Plan B, but I don’t think we, as a county, should be putting our finger on the scale,” Gonzales said.
Shortly after the supervisor’s vote to place their measure on the ballot, the hospital put out a statement in response.
“The District already considered the County’s JPA proposal during a lengthy public process and determined it did not meet many of the criteria articulated by the District Board during its extensive search to find a potential transaction partner. The County’s measure is advisory and is not binding on the District,” said Frankie Gallagher, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Hazel Hawkins.
Both parties have until Aug. 9 to submit their draft measures to qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot.
