The Hazel Hawkins Board is Sloppy and Arrogant
Hazel Hawkins Hospital is in bankruptcy. What can be sloppier than that?
Because the Hospital is owned by us, the voters and property owners of San Benito County, we have an obligation and the right to know what is going on. They are a public agency in California, a state that calls for open meetings and almost complete transparency with records.
In addition to the public being entitled to competency in the operation of Hazel hawkins Hospital, entering into an agreement of such importance such as leasing/selling this huge public asset cannot be entrusted to those demonstrating incomeptence in legal matters.
By way of example, consider the terms of employment, including the compensation of the CEO. Below are three terms extracted from the employment agreement. The first reflects the effective date of the agreement:
This second extract (3.1.1) states her salary is to be 15% more than she was making before, which is a very weird way to state the compensation in an employment contract in California, where interpretrations by courts are generally always in the employees favor. To protect Hazel Hawkins Hospital, ambiguity should be avoided.
The third extract (1.3) reflects what happen if the interim CEO role is terminated. Mary Casillas is entitled to return to her previous position, with compensation in such an even to be that she receives as of the "Effective Date of this Agreement", meaning at the higher rate of pay.:
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If the the Board meant that Mary Casilla's pay upon termination of the interim CEO role was to be back to what is was when she was chief operating officer, they should have stated "...with the compensation just prior to the Effective Date of this Agreement." As it is written, inspite of being demoted to her previous role, it looks like Mary Casilla's compensation would remain at the higher amount.
Please also note the day the agreement was signed, October 24, 2022
(The Agenda for the October 27, 2022 included an Interim CEO Agreement)
Compared to what the minutes of the October 27, 2022 meeting reflect:
It just seems odd that the agreement would have been entered into as indicated by the signatures before the Board voted on it and they stated that a final agreement would be forthcoming.
On July 13, 2023, the Board of Hazel Hawkins Hospital stated that a decision had been made to to defer searching for a permanent CEO. The statement can be found by clicking here. When a public records request was put in to find when the board took that action they sent the minutes to the January 26, 2023 meeting. Here is an extract from those minutes:
"No reportable action".
Furthermore, the public has a right to know the compensation of every employee of a public agency, and there are specific requirements to disclose the chief executive officer's compensation. This writer cannot find in the minutes to meetings where the appropriate disclosure was made. The statement provided says simply "...15% more than she was earning before". That's in her actual employment agreement as well. Writing an employment in California with the terms "15% more" instead of an actual rate of pay - that's creating an environment that plaintiff's attorneys in an employment dispute would love!
In 2016 Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 1436, which requires that, before taking final action, a local agency’s legislative body orally report a summary of the recommended compensation of a local agency executive. This report must be made during the same open meeting in which final action on the compensation is to be taken. Per California Government Code 54953:
