Another board failure

June 8, 2016

The April 12, 2016 meeting of our county hospital’s board is another example of a board rubber stamping what their administrator wants.

The county hospital administrator wanted to hire an advanced gastroenterologist for $571,210 a year plus incentives.

The head of our local medical school was there and remarked that it would have been nice if there had been discussions since the medical school can and does provide physicians to work at the county hospital.

The underlying frictions were in regard to the competition that the county hospital was introducing and the salary, which on its face looks high.

Our county hospital administrator said that the hospital needs this new doctor as well as two more in that specialty and that his hospital would fund those two other positions if the medical school wanted to bring forward candidates.

The head of the medical school asked if the compensation would be the same for the two new doctors.  The answer was no according to our hospital administrator.  They medical school doctors would be paid less.

The board asked a few questions.  I found this graphic within about two minutes of starting a search:

gastroenteroligist

The doctors in question would be working as employees.

Maybe the high salary is deserved.  The medical school head left us with the impression that it was above competitive levels, however.

Once again one of our local boards bowed down to their employees.

At the vary least the issue should have been postponed while the two sides talked.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

 

5 Comments | County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Pretty simple to do a good job

June 6, 2016

Evidently many of our local board members do not share our thoughts about what their  jobs are and are not,  so let’s talk about it.

The number one job of your board is to see to it that your entity provides the public with cost effective services according to your charter.

You do that through deciding policy and then managing your director/executive/administrator/manager .  Lets call this person your director.  Your director works for you.  You do not work for your director.  Your should see to it that your director executes the board’s policies morally, legally, and efficiently.

You are not there to be a rubber stamp for your director.  Not all ideas are good ideas.  You should question each and every action that comes before you as a board.  Unfortunately we see many cases in El Paso where agency staff flat out lies to their board.  Read your agendas.  Ask questions.  Reach out to people who know about the issue that are not involved with the agency.

Stop the favoritism.  If you were once a board member do not later take a job with the agency.  Do not hire your director and then let your director hire you.

Do not take money from your agency.  If they need something and you can give them an advantageous deal, give it to them for free.  If it looks bad you should avoid it.

If you must travel for your entity, pay for it yourself.  If you cannot afford it, don’t go.  Junkets look bad.

Don’t take a board position to advance your resume.  Be active, work for us!

Stay tuned in the coming days as we write about some examples of poor behavior on the part of boards and their directors/staffs.

We deserve better

Brutus

3 Comments | City government, County Government, Federal Government, Open Government, Purchasing, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Children’s hospital

June 4, 2016

Watching a video of a meeting of our county hospital board, I heard a presentation from the head of El Paso First.

He told the group that he was in the process of visiting local and out of town hospitals to see what services they can provide to his members.

At one point he spoke of visiting out of town children’s hospitals to find places that perform services that are “still not” available in El Paso.

This makes me wonder what services our local taxpayer supported children’s hospital performs and how those services were chosen.  In short, do we have the right mix of services to serve our community effectively?

We deserve better

Brutus

3 Comments | County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Please vote

May 24, 2016

Please vote today.

This is an important election if you consider the district attorney’s office to be an important part of the community.

The Times has again endorsed our district attorney.

Let’s see what the public thinks about their choice.

We deserve better

Brutus

2 Comments | City government, County Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Never ending battle

May 15, 2016

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.  Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government.  Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth can not be produced by human institutions.  In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society–the farmers, mechanics, and laborers–who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their Government…

Experience should teach us wisdom.  Most of the difficulties our Government now encounters and most of the dangers which impend over our Union have sprung from an abandonment of the legitimate objects of Government by our national legislation, and the adoption of such principles as are embodied in this act.  Many of our rich men have not been content with equal protection and equal benefits, but have besought us to make them richer by act of Congress…

If we can not at once, in justice to interests vested under improvident legislation, make our Government what it ought to be, we can at least take a stand against all new grants of monopolies and exclusive privileges; against any prostitution of our Government to the advancement of the few at the expense of the many…

 

President Andrew Jackson’s veto of the bank bill, 1832

2 Comments | City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District, Federal Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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