Southern New Mexico Common Cause

Minutes of the Governing Board Meeting

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

 

·        Meeting Location: J.W. Flours Restaurant, Las Cruces, NM 88001

 

·        Attending: J. Asche, P. Banks, G. Bigelow, J. Bloom, R. Garcia, W. Jenkins, JM Kadlecek, M. McCamley, V. Quiroz, V. Simons, T. Smith and C. Welch

 

·        JM. Kadlecek called the meeting to order at 11:45 a.m.

 

·        The minutes of the SNMCC Board Meeting for February 2004 were approved.   

 

Issue Updates

A. Monitoring of Public Meetings – J. Asche

1. School Board – P. Banks

No Report

 

2. Board of Regents – J. Bloom

There are no complaints about the procedures that the Board is taking. As an update, Thursday and Friday will be a closed session. On Friday, the Board will announce their decision.

 

3. County Commission – C. Welch

There has been speculation on certain aspects of County business being done “behind the scenes.” For example, the day the new clerk was to be installed, she was there waiting for her installation. There are also clear party lines in the choosing of the new clerk.

 

C. Welch met with Kent and both are working with the Attorney General regarding the concerns with the County Commission.

 

4. City Council – W. Jenkins

There are some issues with the new zoning code (C-3), especially since this zone code has not existed previously.

 

B. Website

No report, but please link all pertinent information to the site.

 

C. State Report

We are invited to send representatives to the March 31^st meeting to assist in the review/interview process for the new Director of Common Cause New Mexico.

 

The national representatives will conduct the interview process, but we are allowed to give some input.

 

D. City Charter – P. Banks

W. Jenkins has agreed to become the point person for the City Charter Review Committee. P. Banks must step down due to his work schedule. W. Jenkins sat on the original committee to create the City Charter and is an excellent candidate for the chair position. 

 

E. MMC Monitoring – JM Kadlecek

We have been assured that the last draft that was given to JM Kadlecek is the most current and up-to-date. There are still concerns with the lease agreement. A letter has been drafted to be sent to the public, City Council, City Commission, and the negotiating team, stating that this needs to be taken seriously.

 

As of right now, the City and County have accepted Province’s proposal. The County and City have passed a resolution to allow the details to go through, either side can back out of the lease agreement at any time, until the final vote is taken on the draft.

 

One of the goals for SNMCC is to be concerned with the language of the lease agreements/contracts. The wording states that “Province will do,” the wording does not state “Province shall.”

 

Another concern are the separate documents:

1. lease – which promises use of the facility for 40 years for $138 million.
2. asset purchase agreement – which transfers hard assets for $12 million, these will be purchased.
3. assignment agreements – states that the hospital is still under lease to MMC, Inc.

 

The promises that Province is making are in the asset purchase agreement, not in the lease. All the “promises” are made in the asset agreement, when things are transferred, the agreement is over. There is no document that connects all the documents. And, there are no penalty provisions at this point, if one party does not hold up their end of the deal.

 

To continue concern, Province has stated that they will give funding to the local clinics, Dr. Crispin, La Clinica de la Familia, has stated that no one has spoken to him regarding more funding for local clinics.

 

Another issue of concern is that the documents state there only needs to be one public meeting a year. If this is public, there should be at least three public meetings to allow for the most people to attend. There is also no oversight established.

 

SNMCC wants to ensure that the uninsured are cared for. Perhaps a suggestion can be that the interest made on the proceeds go to pay for the individuals care and services who are uninsured. At the moment the lease does not state anything about caring for the uninsured and indigent.

 

SNMCC supports the continued effort to push for access to the Province/MMC issue.  A letter will be sent shortly with our concerns.

 

• G. Bigelow moved to accept the letter with suggestions.
• C. Welch seconded.
• Motion passed.

 

The letter will be sent to the following groups/individuals:

• City Council
• County Commission
• Holt
• Negotiating Team
• Dr. Crispin
• Attorney General
• Sun-News
• Rene Ramos

 

F. NMSU Intern – JM Kadlecek

Jay Stepleton has shown interest in becoming the intern for SNMCC. J. Stepleton is a sophomore at NMSU. He is from Colorado and is graduating with a degree in Government and Law & Society.

 

G. Expanding SNMCC
Our goal is to expand, some questions: what, how and in what communities? As SNMCC, we are responsible for all cities in Congressional District 2.

 

We now have a budget and funds to pay for travel to Silver City or Socorro. Where we will focus on getting each individual community to work on their own Common Cause group.

 

H. Brochure

We also have money in our budget for a brochure. V. Quiroz, J. Asche, and T. Smith will work on this.

 

I. Other Business

The AARP is working on a briefing for March 22, 2004 on the new drug bill and how it effects the individual.

 

Closing

• Meetings will continue to be the third Wednesday of the month at J.W. Flours
• J. Kadlecek adjourned the meeting at 1:15 p.m.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Vanessa Quiroz

Secretary