Oktibbeha County Supervisor Marvell Howard is hosting a town hall Thursday he hopes will give the public some general information about OCH Regional Medical Center ahead of a Nov. 7 election when voters will decide whether to sell it.
The town hall will begin at 6 p.m. in the Oktibbeha County Courthouse.
Howard, who represents District 3, said he’s been inundated with requests for information since the board received bids for the county-owned hospital last week.
Supervisors, citing confidentiality agreements, have not released the number of bids, the names of the bidders or a general range for the bids since reviewing them in executive session on Sept. 26. The Dispatch is calling into question whether supervisors could legally enter such confidentiality agreements and has submitted a public records request for more information, including contracts with the bidders.
Howard said he’s aware of the confidentiality agreements supervisors signed, but said he intends to offer as much “general, generic” information as he can at Thursday’s meeting.
“I think we owe the citizens more than what we’ve given them, given the amount of taxpayer dollars we’ve spent through this process …” Howard said. “My intention is to just give them as much as I can.”
Howard said he hadn’t thought of a detailed format for Thursday’s town hall but noted it was “not going to be anything formal.”
Howard, along with District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery, have consistently opposed moving forward with the hospital sale process. Supervisors Orlando Trainer of District 2, Bricklee Miller of District 4 and Joe Williams of District 5 have propelled the process forward.
Trainer: Bidders don’t want election ‘to be about them’
Board President Orlando Trainer, who seemed surprised by Howard’s announcement of a town hall, questioned what more information Howard could reveal to the public that doesn’t fall under the county’s confidentiality agreements.
At one point, during a protracted back-and-forth about the town hall, Trainer warned that revealing details that are supposed to remain confidential could land the county in legal trouble.
“I don’t want to take away from it, I just want to know what else — unless you’re gonna reveal some specifics,” Trainer said. “If you’re gonna reveal some specifics, you’re gonna put us all in danger.”
Later in the meeting, Trainer suggested supervisors could find ways to release more information on the bids. He said doing such might require bringing in someone with “outside expertise,” so the county could do so without violating agreements with the bidders.
“I don’t think we want to do anything to jeopardize (things) from their perspective,” Trainer said. “Because I think, based upon what I can gather, is that they don’t want the election to be about them. I’m talking about the bidders — they don’t want the election to be about them, because I think you and I both know that a lot of the information at this point is still yet to be determined.”
However, Howard criticized the county’s plan of waiting to release information about the bidders until after the election.
“We’re saying we will release the information when it’s time, but the time will be after the vote has taken place,” Howard said. “If it’s voted to sale, then we’ll release the information, which is kind of defeating the purpose of information.”
Montgomery said he wants the public to be informed ahead of the November election. However, he said supervisors’ hands are tied from releasing more information due to the confidentiality agreements.
“I want the public to be informed as possible come Nov. 7, no matter which way they go,” Montgomery said. “I just want them to understand, but at the same time to understand there’s a limit to what I can say because of the confidentiality agreement that I signed.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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