The El Paso County Hospital District board has come under fire for recent events. There have been calls for the resignation of the board.
The current story is that they will be issuing a written reprimand to their hospital administrator. Previously the hospital board was marching lock-step with their administrator. Now they say they want to chastise him. Enough! This is self serving hypocrisy. Blame your employee for what you previously praised. Both the board and the administrator need correcting.
State law does not allow the county commissioners to fire any of the board members except for absence, lack of qualification (being related to the wrong people), or “misconduct”, which is defined in terms of misuse of property.
Many people who have served on these local citizen boards feel that their tenure was dependent upon the continued support of the entity that appointed them. This current hospital board evidently does not subscribe to that belief.
Contrary to what the county hospital site says the hospital board members are appointed for three year terms, not two year terms.
Looking at the chart below, which came from the county web site, the commissioners will be able to appoint two new board members in a few months. Then again the chart might not be correct, we are dealing with elected officials after all.
| Board Member Name & Info: | Appointed By: | Appointed / Expires: |
| Tracy Yellen | At Large Member | Apr. 1, 2013 – Mar. 31, 2016 |
| J. Steve DeGroat | County Judge | Apr. 1, 2014 – Mar. 31, 2017 |
| Laura Ponce | Commissioner Precinct 3 | Apr. 1, 2012 – Mar. 31, 2015 |
| Jim Volk | At-Large-Member | Apr. 1, 2014 – Mar. 31, 2017 |
| William Hanson | Commissioner Precinct 1 | Apr. 1, 2013 – Mar. 31, 2015 |
| Brother Nicolas Gonzalez | Commissioner Precinct 4 | Apr. 1, 2013 – Mar. 31, 2016 |
| Monica Salaiz-Nevarez | Commissioner Precinct 2 | Apr. 1, 2013 – Mar. 31, 2016 |
While the commissioners might not be able to force the departure of any of the members, we should expect to see some of the members pay more attention and do a better job.
If nothing else it is time for the hospital board members to meet with the commissioner that appointed them. These board members are our neighbors and they do not want the opprobrium associated with this situation.
In the meantime, the county commissioners do have control over the hospital district’s budget and, believe it or not, the hospital’s purchasing.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
The UMC board has acted incompetently, but not criminally. You are correct to state that these people are our neighbors. But we are also entitled to competent representation on boards and commissions, a real challenge in El Paso where few people have any idea what their role is in such circumstance.
I suggested to Judge Escobar that she ask Bob Nachtman at UTEP to provide some help by way of coaching the UMC board members in their appropriate roles and actions. We are dealing here with a billion dollar institution and its board members need to understand their duties, the roles of UMC officers and how to act and communicate with their constituencies. She seemed open to the idea which is important if she is unable to replace some of the more egregiously incompetent UMC board members before they bring UMC down.
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Good idea. Any coaching or training, however, should be done by an individual or entity with substantial real-world experience and expertise in board and corporate governance.
On the other hand, if these individuals need to be trained to be directors, that suggests they are not qualified, which I believe is unfortunately the case. Some of them probably cannot even read a financial statement or balance sheet. It’s both puzzling and troubling that unqualified people are continually appointed to such important positions within our community.
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The main qualification for most appointments in El Paso is favors owed, not ability or experience.
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In Sunday’s Times, Joe Muench portrayed all of the outcry about UMC as being nothing more than a bunch of “crazies” who are jealous of Valenti’s income and of wealthy people in general. He then proceeded to congratulate Valenti for being “big time” — for being in good company with Foster and Hunt.
Muench also decreed that Valenti has done a superb job. He credited Valenti with single-handedly making UMC what it is today, as though taxpayers contributed nothing to the cause. I guess Muench failed to read or give much thought to the Times’s own coverage about UMC’s current finances. He blew right past the issue of layoffs as though those employees were expendables.
In the past, Muench has opined some mean-spirited and knuckle-headed ideas, but Sunday’s piece might just be the most intellectually dishonest piece he has written. The truth of the matter is that this is less a case of people resenting wealth and more of a case of Muench worshiping them and thinking that they are entitled to do as they please without accountability or regard for others. This is a case of Muench misusing his position and the power of the Times to be the self-proclaimed protector of the wealthy and to disparage others in the process.
There are a number of wonderful, successful, wealthy people in El Paso who are respected and whose good deeds are appreciated. Most are not lightning rods for public ire because they have not tried to increase their own personal wealth at the expense of taxpayers. Most do not try to manipulate local government for their own selfish purposes. Most also do not display the kind of smug arrogance lately displayed by one person in particular. Many quietly do good, never promoting their good deeds. Most do not have their names on buildings.
Muench on the other hand seems to believe that wealth entitles certain people to be deceitful and dishonest, just as his unique bully pulpit entitles him to treat people disrespectfully and distort the truth. Muench suggested that the crazies are still bent on proving that the downtown ballpark is a boondoggle. Since he brought it up in December while writing about a topic that has nothing to do with the ballpark, perhaps it is HE who is still trying to convince US that it will not be a problem long-term. The master of spin, however, prefers spinning big ideas rather than dealing with the minutiae of numbers.
It’s inconceivable that the Times continues to make a divisive character like Muench one of the primary faces of their newspaper. Maybe they believe they need him to sell papers. Maybe they can’t live without him, but we crazies can.
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I found his piece to be insulting.
Brutus
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You’re right and as usual more succinct.
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