Trustees facing task of building support for tax

Friday, Aug. 22, 2008 | midnight

Tom Maher has the job of convincing a majority of Boulder City voters to approve a tax hike in November to keep the hospital open past 2012.

Boulder City Hospital’s chief executive officer, who lives in Henderson and has held the job a year and a half, last month told a town hall meeting that the hospital’s Board of Trustees backed the tax. It approved seeking a tax district in January before the proposal went to the County Commission.

But at the first town hall forum to present the tax district to Boulder City residents on July 30, Maher and hospital executives sat at the front table.

Of the 11 board members, one took the microphone during the town hall meeting. Goldie Begley told about 80 people, including many hospital staff members, that just as taxpayers pay for police and fire protection, they needed to pay to keep the hospital open.

She said she planned to vote yes on the new tax district, which would assess 15 cents per $100 in home value, and “cut the meat thinner in other places.”

Some in the audience wondered where the other trustees were. What did their longtime neighbors — those making decisions behind the scenes — have to say?

In subsequent interviews, seven other board members said they supported the tax, and some said they would be more vocal at future town hall meetings. Trustees Dr. William Bilotta, Christine Milburn and Jo Clow did not return phone messages.

Maher has said at least two more forums are planned, and the board members interviewed by the Boulder City News all said they would attend and be prepared to answer questions about the hospital’s needs.

Linda Faiss, a trustee for one year who is a partner in a Las Vegas public relations company, said she viewed the money as a “privilege tax” for living in a small town with a hospital.

Part of the board’s job, she said, is to convince neighbors, friends, “even people we don’t know,” to vote for the tax, and she viewed promotion as the most important thing the board can do.

Losing the hospital would mean Boulder City would lose some self sufficiency and identity, Faiss said.

“Otherwise, we’re no more than just another bedroom community to Henderson,” she said.

She said she was out of town during the first town hall meeting, but planned to attend the next one.

“We should be active. We know the situation better than anyone,” she said.

Bob Boyer, a two-year board member, 30-year resident and retired city finance director, said board members “probably have more experience than our new CEO would have” in answering citizens’ questions.

“Being in the community for so long, we’re in a position to talk to members of the community whenever we run into them,” he said, though he hasn’t fielded any questions yet. He said he’d offer his knowledge to anyone with concerns at the next meeting.

City Councilwoman Andrea Anderson, who has spent about two years on the board and is administrator of Boulder City’s College of Southern Nevada campus, said she thinks her role in selling the tax is to explain to individuals the importance of a steady income source for the hospital.

“It’s a tremendous asset for our community, and fairly important that it stays as a viable institution,” she said. “In order to have up-to-date equipment and excellent physicians and services, we need to support the hospital.”

Anderson missed the meeting because she was on vacation, but plans to attend future town halls, she said.

Vernon Burk, a 43-year resident who has been on the board for three years, is retired from Clark County School District, where he last served as assistant superintendant.

“Our role as board members is to try and guide the hospital in its decisions, and we obviously feel like the hospital’s a critical part of our community,” he said. “The existence with current payments we receive from Medicare and insurance companies today are really not sufficient to sustain the hospital. We just think it would be tragic if it were no longer here.”

Burk said he will field questions from concerned locals.

Peter Auwerda, who has been on the board for eight years, said he volunteers at the hospital and pitches the tax to those he talks to, especially seniors.

Bob Kenney, another former city finance director who has spent four years on the board, said he has talked with several members of the community about the tax district. Most, he said, “don’t think it’s a bad price.”

He said he is not sure that citizens understand the facts about the hospital’s financial situation. If the hospital closed, he said, paramedics would need to transport local injuries to Las Vegas hospitals, leaving the town short a fireman or two for a while.

William Moore, a six-year board member, said though the current hospital administration has “trimmed and trimmed,” the hospital has needs that grants and benefactors can’t always meet.

He did say he doubted the hospital would close in 2012 without the money, but would lose some services.

“Believe me, the people working here aren’t going to stand by and watch that happen,” he said of closing the hospital.

Cassie Tomlin is a reporter for the Home News. She can be reached at 702-948-2073 or cassie.tomlin@hbcpub.com.