The Valencia County Commission meeting last night erupted in chaos after frustrations over the hospital issue had commissioners and the public yelling at each other, with Sheriff Rene Rivera and one of his deputies stepping in more than once to calm things down.

Commission Chairman Pedro Rael requested an update on the county hospital from both the attorney’s handling the hospital lawsuit appeal on behalf of the county and the group contracted to organize construction of the hospital.

He requested an update, he said, because the county’s contract with Valencia Health Commons calls for regular updates to be provided to the county. The health commons hadn’t yet provided an update in the first 13 months of the two-year contract. Rael also wanted the public at-large to be informed about the status of the hospital, he said.

Joan Marsan of Modrall Sperling, the law firm representing the county, said the case is expected to be assigned to a panel of three judges by November. The case will be decided anywhere from three months to a year after it’s assigned, she said.

“The court can act in a varying pace,” she said. “Perhaps you get a decision in three months. Sometimes, as everyone knows, these things can take quite a while. It’s really up to them.”

The appeals process is typically slow, Marsan said.

“That’s the way it works. It’s not just because you’re in Valencia County. That’s how the courts work,” she said. “I think you’d find that New Mexico isn’t unique in having a slow appeals process.”

We’re not responsible

Rael said the county isn’t responsible for the hospital not having been built, because “this county has nothing to do with the project.”

He said the county handed the project over to Valencia Health Commons by contract, giving the group “exclusive jurisdiction.” He also said no court has ordered a halt to construction, a point Marsan agreed with.

“They can build it anytime they want to, correct?” asked Commissioner Don Holliday.

While it’s true the courts haven’t ordered injunctive relief to the hospital lawsuit’s plaintiffs, and Valencia Health Commons can commence construction should they choose to, the health commons hasn’t moved forward with construction because the commission still has control of the voter-approved mill levy funds the county is currently collecting.

“You’re asking them to put up the money to build the hospital, yet the mill levy money is being held over here, held hostage,” explained Shirley Wood, a hospital supporter. “So what we have is a Catch-22 situation. You ask them to take the risk of building the hospital without the assurance that they’re going to get the money to operate it.”

Bob Davey, chairman of the Valencia Health Commons Board of Directors, said the group can’t start building the hospital unless the county commits the mill levy money to the operation of the hospital. Without a commitment from the county, he said, Valencia Health Commons is unlikely get firm commitments to fund construction from companies like Stern Brothers & Co., which has expressed an interest in underwriting up to $50 million for construction.

The county has collected approximately $5 million of the total $22-million hospital mill levy.

Alice Kintzler, a hospital supporter, asked what the commission must do in order to make a commitment of mill levy funds to the hospital’s operation so construction can move forward.

Gentry said the money could be committed by a vote on a resolution, instructing the county’s in-house attorneys to come up with the language of a resolution.

“If you’ll make that commitment, I’ll be out there with a shovel,” Kintzler said.

“I’m with you, Alice,” an audience member shouted.

“Me too. Me too. Me too,” others shouted.

Out of order

The phrase of the night was “out of order,” as Rael pounded his gavel and told audience members they were speaking up out of turn.

Commissioner Ron Gentry asked Rael to see that the meeting was orderly by allowing the invited guests – the attorneys and health commons – to provide their updates, instead of getting into positioning on the part of commissioners and commentary from the public.

“If we could just stick to a report from these folks and not try to get suppositions or dig things out of them and formulate opinions – this is baloney if we keep this up,” Gentry said.

“Mr. Gentry, I just wanted to know the answer. I think I have the right to know,” Holliday said of his line of questioning for the attorneys, adding, “It’s the taxpayers’ money. I represent the people. I have the right to ask where the tax dollars are going.”

“These constituents have a right to know what’s going on,” said Commissioner Otero-Kirkham, looking at the audience and slowly raising her voice. “They ask us every Wednesday, ‘Where is our hospital?’ Why not tell them. ‘Where is our hospital?’ Isn’t that the part they ask every Wednesday? ‘Where is our hospital?’ Why do we not have a right to ask that question?”

Rael took the nearly unprecedented step of allowing any member of the public to ask questions of the attorneys and health commons, which opened up the meeting to heated rhetoric. Typically, Rael doesn’t allow any public questions or comments on items listed on the agenda unless the item is a public hearing; however, he decided last night to involve the public in the discussion.

In response to a question from Mike Wood, a hospital supporter, about Rael’s relationship to the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Rael called Wood “a liar. That’s what you are.”

“I thank you for calling me a liar, and you’re a no-good liar, too,” Wood responded, who was escorted out by at least four Sheriff’s Department officials and voluntarily left the commission chambers several times throughout the meeting.

“Don’t go at it as negative as you guys have been going,” said Lillie McNabb, a county resident. “I don’t care what group you belong to. Let’s work together. Let’s get some action. Let’s stop blaming the neighbor.”

The commissioners vented their frustrations with the issue.

“I am on every sign,” Otero-Kirkham said. “I have been – this year, I have been called a thief, a liar. This morning I was called inappropriate. I want an end to this. I cannot go another year being in the newspaper.”

An audience member began shouting at Otero-Kirkham. The gavel pounded again and again. The meeting broke down once more.

“Everybody wants an end to this,” shouted Mary Wood, a hospital supporter.

Renewed support for the hospital

In an interesting turn, four out of five commissioners expressed their support for a hospital.

While it’s been clear that Gentry and Commissioner David Medina support the construction of a hospital, the other commissioners’ positions have been less clear.

Otero-Kirkham stated more than once during the meeting that she has always been in favor of a hospital.

“I have always said I was for a hospital,” she said. “I have never said I was for anything other than a hospital. And I will tell you again: I am for a hospital.”

Holliday, exasperated by roadside signs that suggest he’s partly responsible for holding up the hospital, said he supports a hospital, too – the first time he has gone on record saying that.

“My kids ask me. They say, ‘Dad, how come you’re opposed to the hospital?’” he said. “I tell them, ‘I’m not.’ They say, ‘How come your name’s on the signs?’ I tell them, ‘Some people tried to get clever, I guess.’”

Rael didn’t express his position on the hospital last night but in the past he has said he favors 24-hour urgent cares instead of a hospital.

The commission’s discussion of the issue ended with all five commissioners generally agreeing that settling the lawsuit would be the best route to expedite the process. No one is sure what the terms or consequences of a settlement might be.

“Sadly, nothing definitive can be done until this is resolved in the court. All of our discussions have to be kept on general terms. There’s no timetable we can offer people,” Davey said, whether that resolution is a decision or settlement.

“If we could settle the lawsuit, we could move forward,” Otero-Kirkham said. “Obviously the lawsuit is preventing you from moving forward. It’s preventing us from going forward. It’s preventing the lenders from coming forward. My thought is: Why can’t we go to the table and settle this?”

The commission attempted mediation earlier this year, with the commission quickly abandoning it after pressure from the public.

“I’m hearing we’re for a hospital,” Medina said. “Let’s five commissioners sit down and try to work something out for the taxpayers.”

This page was published on August 20, 2009 at 1:43pm and is filed under Hospital.