Citizen committee will oversee hospital bond

From a field of 11 applicants, the Sonoma Valley Health Care District Board of Directors has named five committee members and three alternates to form the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee. The committee guarantees accountability. As stated in the bond measure, the committee’s charge is to ensure “that bond funds are expended only for the purposes described in the bond measure and in a fiscally responsible manner.”
The members of the new committee are Pamela Gibson, Kevin Carruth, Mary Smith, Dennis Ciocca, Frank Mazzone. The alternates will be, in order, Michael W. Gretz, Robert E. Hackman and David Oster.
Board member Dick Kirk, addressing all applicants and members of the public at the special meeting on Wednesday, said he was gratified, after all the political struggles involved in getting the bond measure passed, by the number and high caliber of applicants. “If anything,” he said, “the board had feared there wouldn’t be enough applicants.” Board member Arnie Riebli added, “I only wish everybody could be on this committee.”
The hospital board members briefly interviewed applicants, giving each three minutes to speak and then respond to a few questions. The applicants shared in common a depth of experience, spirit of volunteerism and commitment to the hospital.
Pamela Gibson, former City Manager of Sonoma and City Employee of the Year in 2001, said she has been in public service since 1975. “One of the reasons why I was attracted to this opening,” she said, “is that I understand accountability. You have to be able to read carefully, and language in the bond measure has to be adhered to very carefully.” Board member Madolyn Agrimonti asked her about her “process.” Gibson said, “If I see something inappropriate, I’ll try to address it with the person. If I don’t get an adequate response, I’d bring it up with you.”
Kevin Carruth said he has almost 20 years’ experience managing bond projects. “When I saw this, I saw it as a way to match my experience with the need.” Peter Hohorst asked him what he thought would be the “easiest pitfall.” Carruth said, “Not knowing what you want and budgeting it, then not being able to achieve your goals. [You might] see it as a cost over-run, but really [the problem is] not having the project clearly thought out in the first place.”
Mary Smith has been a resident of Sonoma since 1956. “I love this valley,” she said. “My kids were born and raised here.” She is a retired auditor, “very familiar with bonds, reading contracts and minutes, and understanding all those things.” Kirk asked her if she would have a problem if she had to “blow the whistle” on someone, as part of her oversight commitment. She said she didn’t think so.
Dennis Ciocca said he moved to Sonoma five years ago and that he and his wife had been interested in volunteering. “I’ve been at meetings of the finance committee over the years,” he said. “I think this hospital is a tremendously important asset and we need to keep it going.” He said he sees the committee as the medium between the public and the board.
Frank L. Mazzone said he had worked for Union Carbide for 25 years, and for Bechtel in San Francisco. “I do have the overview of just about every type of engineering you’d like to be exposed to,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys in construction with their hands in their pockets, so planning has to be done,” he said. “My strength is in asking them to ask the right questions.”
The three alternates will be required to attend all meetings. Michael Gretz has a background in marketing and fund-raising; Robert E. Hackman has served as treasurer of Vintage House; David Oster said his only commitment is to be “truthful and accurate about anything I do.”
The duties of the committee, as stated in the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee Bylaws, include informing the public concerning the district’s expenditure of bond proceeds and reviewing reports and budgets produced by the district to ensure that bond proceeds are spent only for the purposes stated in the bond measure and not for any administrative salaries or other operating expenses. The committee will be responsible for creating an annual report stating whether or not the district is in compliance with the objectives of the bond measure and summarizing the committee’s proceedings and activities for the year.
Committee members will serve until all projects funded by bond proceeds are completed. The committee is required to meet at least once a year, and will operate under California’s Brown Act open meeting law.