Two Oktibbeha County supervisors called out the board’s president for what they called a lack of transparency during a public meeting Monday evening.
Orlando Trainer, board president and District 2 supervisor, broached the issue of moving forward with the next steps of potentially privatizing OCH Regional Medical Center through what appeared to be a miscellaneous agenda item at the end of the board’s 2.5-hour regular meeting in the chancery courthouse.
Under an agenda item simply labeled “County Business — Supervisors,” Trainer asked his fellow board members to consider seeking outside legal counsel to chart the next steps in an ongoing process that could result in county-owned OCH’s sale or lease to a private outfit.
But Trainer’s actions drew criticism from supervisors John Montgomery and Marvell Howard, from districts 1 and 3, respectively, both of whom thought the matter should be addressed in a clearer, less hasty manner.
“To bring this up and not even have it on the agenda, especially considering how much public interest there is on this issue, I think we kind of dropped the ball a little bit on transparency,” Howard told Trainer at the board table.
Montgomery, who has openly opposed privatizing OCH and has repeatedly urged supervisors to halt the information gathering process, echoed Howard’s concern.
“If you’re ready to move forward, move forward. Let’s put our chips on the table,” he told fellow supervisors. “Let’s just have it on the agenda next time.”
Ultimately, supervisors voted 3-2 — with Montgomery and Howard opposed — to clearly label the matter and place it on the agenda for public discussion at its Jan. 3 meeting, which will begin at 9 a.m. in the chancery courthouse.
Trainer, for his part, said he was following the advice of consultant Ted Woodrell, who in a letter to supervisors last week, recommended the board seek legal counsel from the Jackson-based Butler Snow firm before going any further with an OCH sale or lease agreement.
“If you remember what I said, I asked the board to take it under consideration, which is what they did,” Trainer told The Dispatch. “I would have (supported it) if they had wanted to act to move forward, and I could have defended it because this is just another step in due diligence.”
As far as bringing it up as an unspecified agenda item, he simply said, “We’ve always had an informal process.”
Supervisors hired Woodrell earlier this year to consult the board on obtaining an analysis of OCH — the first legal step before a public hospital can be considered for sale or lease. They later hired Tennessee-based Stroudwater and Associates for the study. That report suggested OCH needs more cash flow to grow and estimated a sale could bring between $20 million and $60 million.
A public meeting on Dec. 6 drew citizen criticism of the study.
One Starkville resident, Mississippi State University professor emeritus Frank Davis, has even started a petition drive to force OCH’s future to a public vote if supervisors ultimately support privatization. The petition needs at least 1,500 certified signatures from registered voters to succeed.
In Woodrell’s letter to supervisors, however, he recommended the board go ahead and put the issue up for a vote without need of a petition forcing the matter. Trainer said Monday he did not support moving forward that way.
“If there is enough public interest out there to get this to a vote, then generating those signatures shouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
If supervisors vote Jan. 3 to seek legal counsel, Trainer said he envisions inviting two or three law firms to discuss the matter with the board at a future meeting. He added whether that meeting would be public or private would be at the discretion of the board’s majority, and he supported either method.
Supervisor publicly confronts constituent
During the public comments session of Monday’s meeting, held before supervisors dove into any public business, District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams confronted one of his own constituents who came forward to speak about the hospital, calling his comments “a waste of time.”
Chris Taylor, a Starkville resident who also leads the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, asked supervisors to consider placing the hospital’s future on the June or November 2017 ballots, which would coincide with municipal elections and not require a special election.
When Taylor finished, Williams began chiding his constituent, saying he should have waited until after the supervisors had completed their meeting agenda before speaking up.
The two went back and forth for several moments before Taylor finally left the board table saying, “I don’t have time to wait until the end of the meeting.”
The board, which sets the agenda, allows citizens to comment for up to three minutes each during a designated time of the meeting. There was no other opportunity for public comment set aside during the meeting and no listed agenda item addressing OCH.
Taylor told The Dispatch after the meeting he thought Williams acted unprofessionally.
Williams, however, defended his actions after the meeting ended.
“There’s a process to follow, and the process is going to dictate itself,” he told The Dispatch. “You have to wait for the process to unfold. …I wasn’t upset. I just wanted to let him know there is a process.”
When pressed, Williams did not more clearly explain his position.
Trainer, who along with three other supervisors sat quiet during Williams’ exchanges with Taylor, said he wouldn’t call it a confrontation, nor did he think either party was out of line.
“I sat quietly because I know there’s not a lot of room for dialogue in three minutes,” he said. “Supervisor Williams chose to respond.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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