Is the City Council responsible for the McMess?
Here are some key dates:
On April 19, Jim Moore, the former chairman of Memorial’s board, signed the terms of the agreement – just the terms, not the final agreement – with Larry McEvoy.
On April 23, Moore met with the council is closed executive session to present the separation package, or at least that McEvoy was going to pocket 18 months pay, or $1 million. Council President Scott Hente said Moore didn’t disclose the other terms, including the Toyota Camry or the $20,000 to help McEvoy find a new job. Sill, Hente said none of his colleagues raised any objections at that point. To be fair, the council had been meeting for hours by that time, but again, nobody objected.
On April 27, The Gazette reported the details of the separation package, which sparked public outrage. Mayor Steve Bach called for the removal of the board.
On April 28, Hente and council President Pro Tem Jan Martin met with Moore and Vic Andrews, another member of Memorial’s board, to express the community’s opposition. Hente said he walked away from the meeting thinking “we might get some resolution.”
On April 30, the former Memorial board votes to reaffirm the separation agreement, and at 7:15 p.m., Moore met with McEvoy and closed the deal by signing the final agreement.
Did council screw up?
Did council screw up?
Yes. But this is what we get when we expect a part-time ouncil, paid $6,250/year, to monitor the large number of Citizen oversight Boards on our City of 400,000 people.
The time is now to combine City & County government, elect full-time Councilors, pay them enough to expect full-time attention, and consolidate City & Council services to gain economies of scale.
Or, we can wring our hands, bemoan the latest debacle, and wait for the next.
council – sorry.
Get rid of council. We voted for a strong mayor government–let’s have a strong mayor and climate a dysfunctional element of city government.
What I meant to say: Get rid of council. We voted for a strong mayor government–let’s have a strong mayor and eliminate a dysfunctional element of city government.
“Hente said none of his colleagues raised any objections” This statement doesn’t make sense since Tim Leigh and Angela Dougan spoke up immediately about it.
Janis,
While Angela Dougan and Tim Leigh did in fact raise objections and led the fight against the separation package, they did NOT speak up immediately.
Jim Moore presented the separation package in closed executive session April 23. Leigh didn’t speak up at that point, and Dougan left the meeting early and missed the presentation.
It wasn’t until later that the pair started to make noise.
well yes but not just this board of directors or this city council its the past 4 city councils and board of directors letting there buddies , the good ole boys club that has riuned the hospital. Its crazy the money the past exe teams spent in wasted money. and where was the city council when the new hospitals were being built and went why over budget? 126 million for the new east tower? So there is money to be made there but its needs a good busniess minded CEO that can get the doctors back. That God that McEvoy wasnt able to do whta he wanted and spinn off from the city and become the czar, the council was that smart, but to lease it just sucks. fix it. make hard choices. How come the citizens cant elect the Board of directors and not city council? They say it the cities gem? The voters should have the last say.
I hope the full lease is in the paper so we can see how much say in what happens when and if UHC does take over. Its really sad , that Boulder and fort collins will run that new UHC branch , sorry if I misspelled my words, it upsets me, 4000 employees jobs are at stake and no word about them as to what will happen.
As if Back is not dysfunctional…
As if Bach is not dysfunctional
Is this council responsible? Yes! Are prior councils responsible? Yes! This is what happens when only one political philosophy governs. This is what happens when public meetings are held (regardless of topic) and the public is not allowed to speak directly to elected representatives or board members or members of a commission. Sorry, but written questions do not replace face to face questions with follow up. The process is short-circuited in this environment. The people cannot learn and the commission/board members cannot learn about better suggestions and concepts from the governed.
This is what happens when boards and commission are handpicked and filled with like-minded persons and the majority of the citizens are not represented. This is what happens when there is no dissent and everyone “goes along to get along.” This is what happens when council and the city administration do not listen to the “Canary in the coal mine.” This is what happens when the select few huddle together and make decisions without the consent of the governed.
A Greek politician recently stated succinctly: “They decide without us; we proceed without them.” In August, vote “NO” on the MHS leasing plan. There is something out there that is better because, remember, this plan was done without transparency.