Should it all be over but the shouting at this point?
One of our county commissioners released an email that our county hospital chief executive sent to him this August 15, 2014. The email said “There were no bonuses paid in 2014 and we expect no bonuses through this year”.
Then in the early part of November the hospital board awarded the CEO a bonus of almost $120 thousand. It looks like the county commissioner learned about the bonus through the public’s reaction to the situation.
Did our CEO forget his statement to the county commissioner? Why did he not clear the record immediately when he decided to receive the bonus?
Was he lying or did he forget? Could it be that he feels no responsibility to the county commissioners? The CEO works for the hospital board. The board is appointed by the commissioners.
To me this is worse than lying to your boss. This is lying to your boss’s boss, and in effect to the public.
We have seen a disturbing pattern of duplicity from this CEO over the years. He seems to think that he can tell stories to the public and then do as he wishes.
At this point it is hard to believe what he says. We need to have confidence in the truthfulness of the people running our public institutions.
We are told that he will soon be announcing a change in plans relative to the children’s hospital. What part of that can we believe?
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
I’m sure Mr. Valenti would say something like “I told the commissioner what was the truth at the time. Things changed.” Besides, Mr. Valenti worked hard giving out those pink slips.
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So he comes back from vacation and unveils a plan to save Children’s Hospital and we’re supposed to forget about everything? His bosses say he will be held accountable….let’s see if it’s not more than a slap on the hand.
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His hubris is so great and so deserving of a bonus for getting along so well with Texas Tech and the Children’s Hospital manage. “them’s” good community relations. But Veronica loved him, despite her public pronouncements of indignation lately. It’s just another of the Jydge’s sh$t shows. To her, he represented the kind of greatness, the new breed of ambitious human she wanted for the city. He is the embodiment of “non-mediocre.” And she loved him even more because he helped her with her pet boondoggles like the children’s hospital and those multi-million dollar clinics. Never mind if any of that was financially feasible and fiscally sound. Well-connected contractors scored millions upon millions and the mediocre taxpayers of El Paso are bottomless sources of tax revenues. Most importantly, it sealed her path to greatness she thought. Well, it’s what happens when you put poetry and fiction writing majors in office and expect financially sound fiscal policies out of them. So this boondoggle is not only that of the Board selected by her court, she is ultimately accountable for this monster. She claims to be the best leader since the flour tortilla. Well, be a leader and own up to your work Judge.
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There’s really no reason to denigrate poetry and fiction writing majors or other liberal arts majors. That’s more than just a little unfair. Look at some of the damage done by MBA’s, bankers, and business people, and by some business people serving as senators and congressmen and local public officials. You need look no further than some of the decisions made during the reign of our Harvard-educated city manager.
Escobar’s mistakes or failures are not a function of her degree. Problems like the UMC issues are more related to a lack of common sense and an unwillingness to tackle tough issues related to performance and moral character.
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Point well taken.
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No need to denigrate flour tortillas.
I would vote for a flour tortilla over Escobar.
At the very least flour tortillas are highly functional.
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Valenti doesn’t just “think that he can tell stories to the public and then do as he wishes.” He can, has, and continues to do so. That’s why he’s still employed and pulling the strings of the feckless UMC board.
Valenti has been paid millions, so he has the f-you money that enables him to behave poorly. The board and county commissioners don’t just allow to him to do it, they do it as well. They, too, have total disregard for the UMC employees and the court of public opinion. Valenti’s personal balance sheet probably looks pretty good, while the UMC financial statements suck.
The UMC board allowed Valenti to destroy jobs and be rewarded for it. I don’t know the specific jobs that were eliminated, but common sense tells me that if bonuses had been eliminated, they could have saved a minimum of 6 to 10 jobs. Throughout all of the firestorm about bonuses paid, the board has been unwilling to acknowledge that bonus money could have been reallocated to save jobs.
Valenti was not available to comment on the revelation about his email to Leon. He is on a “long-planned” vacation. It was timed nicely.
primum non nocere
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“There were no bonuses paid in 2014 and we expect no bonuses through this year. Would you like to review any bonuses paid in 2013?”
The email referred to bonuses paid in “2013” and “expect no bonuses through this year.” Valenti states he meant fiscal years.
So, were bonuses paid in fiscal year 2013? Not paid in fiscal year 2014 (“through this year”)? But yes paid in fiscal year 2015?
I hope Commissioner Leon will clarify the “2013” and “through this year” references in those two sentendces. Does Valenti consistently use the “fiscal year” standard within this two-sentence email?
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Richard is right on. If the state FY ended on 8/31, Valenti could be fudging again because they get reviewed around November and bonuses are paid in November thus between 9/1/13 and 8/31/14 probably in November 2013 he and others did receive bonuses, contradictory to his email to Leon.
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Three DIFFERENT years are mentioned – 2013, 2014, and “this year”.
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An organization I know of has to work with State and Fed fiscal years: For example State FY 2014 runs 9/1/13 to 8/31/14 and Fed FY 2014 runs 10/1/13 to 9/30/14. The FY’s starting this September or October, whichever apply, would be FY 2015. Since the audits mention years ending at end of September, I’d say that the county hospital runs according to the Federal FY. It appears that “calendar years” and “fiscal years” have been intermingled in the Valenti-Leon communications and once untangled, we’ll have the verdict on Valenti.
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So was fiscal year 2013 from 9/1/2012 to 8/31/2013?
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Their latest published audit is for the years ending September 30, 2013 and September 30, 2012.
I guess then that their fiscal year starts on October 1.
brutus
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Looking at the hospital’s meeting agendas, item 17 on the October 14, 2014 agenda was: “Discuss and take appropriate action regarding employment evaluation of Mr. James N. Valenti …”
In other words he had his fingers crossed when he wrote the email.
Brutus
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Did October 14, 2014, fall into fiscal year 2015, then?
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It would appear so.
Brutus
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Federal and UMC FY 2014 would be 10/1/13 to 9/30/14. Valenti mixes up references to “calendar years” and “fiscal years” but once the tangled mess is straightened out we can have our verdict on his “transparency.”
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The normal practice when referring to a fiscal year instead of a calendar year is to write “FY” in front of the year. County hospital documents use this convention.
By the way if you would like to review the FY 2015 budget be aware that it is not on the hospital web site.
Brutus
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Consider this possible explanation:
de·ceit·ful
dəˈsētfəl/
adjective
adjective: deceitful
guilty of or involving deceit; deceiving or misleading others.
“such an act would have been deceitful and irresponsible”
synonyms: dishonest, untruthful, mendacious, insincere, false, disingenuous, untrustworthy, unscrupulous, unprincipled, two-faced, Janus-faced, duplicitous, double-dealing, underhanded, crafty, cunning, sly, scheming, calculating, treacherous, Machiavellian, sneaky, tricky, foxy, crooked
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Well, let’s see what happens. Valenti has painted himself into a corner with the “fiscal year” defense, so I hope the defense turns out to be true. Commissioner Leon can compare the dates of bonus payments from FY 2013 to the present (December 1, 2014) and see if the email holds up as merely confusing, rather than a mix of fiscal and calendar years meant to deceive the reader.
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