The Llano Ledger
Newsletter Text V14
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****************************October 18, 1999*****************************
As reported earlier, an informal inquiry regarding the feasibility
study of a proposed acute healthcare facility in Marble Falls was
e-mailed to Llano Memorial Healthcare System (LMHS) Administrator Ernie
Parisi on October 1. When Mr. Parisi failed to respond in a timely
fashion, a formal request under the Texas Open Records Act was then
sent on October 9. ... Readers should understand government bureaucracy
nearly never provides information freely, willingly, or in a timely
fashion.
As also mentioned at the end of last week's edition, the
Administrator finally chose to respond to the earlier informal inquiry,
-- after receiving the formal request. Since his response turned out to
be at the very least disingenuous, I have decided to publish the
October 1 inquiry message as well as Mr. Parisi's response. Following
both, I'll then fully report the results of a meeting I had with the
Administrator and his colleague on Wednesday afternoon October 13.
***************************************************************
(Sent 10-1-99)
Llano Memorial Healthcare System
Ernie Parisi, Administrator
Llano, Tx. 78643
Dear Mr. Parisi:
As publisher of _The Llano Ledger my publication first addressed
LMHS plans to expand to the Marble Falls area in the August 9, 1999
edition of the newsletter. Would you kindly provide the name of the
independent consultant, as well as a copy of his study, or at least
access to it, please?
To save time, effort, and postage, I could pick it up at your
office. My readers and the citizens of Llano County need to be fully
informed. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger
Rt 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609
***************************************************************************
(Received 10-11-99)
Mr. Tim Chorney
Llano Ledger
This is the first day that I have opened my mail box since last week, so I have not been able to respond to your request sooner.
If you wish to review the data concerning the feasibility study you
may do so by calling my secretary and scheduling an appointment between
the hours of 9:00AM and 4:00PM, Monday thru Friday. I will be happy to
go over the information that it contains.
You may contact my secretary, Karen Kinard at 247-7824.
Thank you for your interest.
Ernie Parisi
Administrator/CEO
*******************************************************************************
Early in the meeting, Mr. Parisi reneged on his offer to allow review
of the study data, citing Section 551.085 of the 1998 Texas Open
Meetings Act Handbook as a defense. Readers should understand my
request was made under the Texas Open Records Act, -- not the Texas
Open Meetings Act. Furthermore, Mr. Parisi has asserted all LMHS
proceedings regarding the proposed Marble Falls facility have been
conducted in executive session to protect what he alleges are "trade
secrets". At this time, he is willing to make none of this material
available for public inspection. More pointedly, how can demographics
be considered "trade secrets"?
If this defense is allowed to stand, LMHS will have effectively
used the Texas Open Meetings Act to circumvent the Texas Open Records
Act. Brilliant, no? ... This strategy must have come from an attorney.
LMHS has apparently forgotten it is indeed a public, not private
entity. The people have a right to know how it conducts its business.
Sadly, Mr. Parisi wasted a considerable amount of time stressing
the integrity and stature of the attorneys involved as well as that of
LMHS Board members. His attitude was essentially I need to trust them.
Interesting, no? Arrogant? Certainly.
Very little substantive information has been made available to the
public regarding this issue. Other media sources have apparently been
satisfied with what has been provided. Not so at this publication.
While I'm no healthcare business expert, I intend to get up to speed as
quickly as possible. As I readily and candidly admitted to Mr. Parisi,
I'm certainly learning as I go along.
Although only a writer and not an attorney, I indeed have a number
of questions regarding the legality of the LMHS Board conducting all
its business regarding the proposed facility in executive session.
Protection of alleged "trade secrets", in my not-so-humble view, is a
sham to justify conducting hospital business in private. If LMHS is
allowed to use such tactics, they will have indeed successfully
circumvented both the Texas Open Records Act as well as the Texas Open
Meetings Act. Clever, no? Again, these tactics must have originated
with legal counsel. ... More pointedly, what about the people's right
to know?
As might be expected, I quickly contacted the Attorney General's
office. An investigator, who had earlier handled a complaint I had
filed against the Sheriff, advised me to snail-mail the request to the
Administrator immediately. It seems there have been purposefully and
conveniently generated legal problems with e-mail requests. Attorneys
for targeted bureaucratic officials have used tactics similar to those
employed by the President of the United States during his interrogation
under oath. Readers will remember Clinton's clever dancing and dodging
over the definition of the word "is". Apparently, a snail-mail request
facilitates matters for the AG's office and sets the 10 day clock more
definitively in motion. The following is a copy of the request:
************************************************************************************
Llano Memorial Healthcare System
Ernie Parisi, Administrator
103 West Lampasas St.
Llano, Tx. 78643
Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
http://maxpages.com/llanoledger
Rt 2 Box 464A
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609
October 14, 1999
Dear Mr. Parisi:
Under the Texas Open Records Act, copies of the following documents are respectfully requested:
1. Feasibility study for the proposed Marble Falls acute healthcare facility.
2. Verification documentation from the outside auditing firm.
Sincerely,
Tim Chorney, Publisher
The Llano Ledger
cc: File
************************************************************************
Furthermore, the investigator in the Open Records Division has
informed me attorneys for targeted bureaucrats are quite clever in
their use of obfuscation and delaying tactics. I intend to promptly and
fully report all. After all, the public has the right to know the
foibles as well as the character of its officials and "hired guns". The
only way to peacefully force badly needed change is to expose the
abuses to the light of day. There are indeed Open Records as well as
Open Meetings questions raised by LMHS tactics that will have to be
resolved by the Attorney General's office.
To his credit, Mr. Parisi answered some of the questions posed in
last week's edition. Apparently, the taxpayers will not be left holding
the bag should the proposed facility go belly-up. It will be set up as
a separate 501(C)(3) with 100% financing anticipated. This will
apparently protect the taxpayers against insolvency. My apology to the
readers for taking a week to notice a typographical error in last
week's edition. The cost estimate for the proposed Marble Falls
facility should have read $13.5 million, -- not $12.5 million. I've
finally made the correction in the earlier edition.
Sixty percent of future LMHS revenues are anticipated from the
Marble Falls facility. The Administrator asserts expansion of LMHS is
absolutely necessary for its survival in view of extensive government
cutbacks in funding. As Mr. Parisi correctly asserted, healthcare has
turned into a business.
According to LMHS, expansion to Burnet County will provide support
to the facilities here in Llano County. Instead of traveling to Austin
or Fredericksburg, patients will only have to travel to Marble Falls.
Furthermore, the Administrator asserts construction of new operating
room facilities in Marble Falls is preferable to an expensive
retro-fitting of Llano Memorial Hospital operating suites. In addition,
there will be a reduction in expenses through the sharing of staff
between both facilities. Mr. Parisi further asserted the physician pool
in the area will be increased by the expansion.
The Administrator and his staff are not stupid people. Neither is
the LMHS Board. The expansion may indeed be a brilliant business move.
Since this investigation is only beginning, there is a lot more digging
to do. The refusal of LMHS to share information and to conduct
expansion-related business only in executive session, however, are
clearly a red flag. Instead of wasting my time on a nearly pointless
meeting, the Administrator should have e-mailed a second time
indicating his change of mind and subsequent reneging of the earlier
offer. ... He was clearly uncomfortable at the meeting. His colleague
offered little and couldn't have been less interested.
As with the Sheriff's Department and jail, readers should
understand this is only the beginning of another long hard fight. LMHS
will indeed be very carefully scrutinized. More pointedly, when will
government finally understand it is in its best interest to operate
openly? Just as pointedly, should government be in business?
On a totally unrelated matter, I have spent six hours to date
studying the jail booking records. I'm up to May 29, 1999. A female
jailer was on duty this past visit. While I don't yet know the identity
of all the jailers, I believe she is Jackie Dahl. Readers should
understand I have been allowed 2 hrs. access every Thursday morning
between 9:00 to 11:00AM. Considering the painstaking nature of the
task, two hours each week is enough.
I arrive at the jail shortly before 9:00AM and am immediately escorted
to the visitor's room. Prior to this visit, I have not been locked in.
This past week turned out to be different. The nature and magnitude of
the task require working quickly and intensely concentrating. I noticed
the jailer kept returning to the room more frequently than in past
visits to ask how I was doing, or whether I needed to use the rest
room, etc..
Finally, she informed me she was asking since I had indeed been locked
in. Quite frankly, I could have cared less. As long as I'm allowed to
complete the task, that's all that's required. If they feel the need to
lock the door for security reasons, so be it. I fully understand I'm
free to leave the jail at any time.
Interestingly, the facility was quieter than usual and I saw no trustys
during this visit. Apparently, Ms. Dahl either "runs a tight ship", or
there's been a change in security measures. Either way, I was
impressed. At 11:00AM, I informed her the Chief Jailer usually allows
me to work only until that time, but that I would be more than willing
to continue. About 15 minutes later, he ordered her to give me the
boot, -- so to speak. All joking aside, I'll return again later this
week to continue the task.
... What I originally thought would only take several hours, has
already taken six, -- and I'm only half done. The sheer number of
prisoners is far greater than I had anticipated. Interestingly, the
drop in inmates housed at Kerrville over the last several months
continued in September. The daily average was 2. The September
Kerrville prisoner boarding expense was $1890.00, increasing the year
to date expense to $36,820.00. -- This figure apparently includes
$350.00 for October.
Finally, Packsaddle Elementary School construction is egregiously
behind schedule. As usual, our illustrious new Superintendent Jack
Patton continues to pass the buck and make excuses. Had he spent more
time attending to school business rather than appointing long-time
cronies such as Maintenance Manager Sid Schmidt to high executive
positions, the taxpayers and students would certainly have been better
served.
More pointedly, has he finally gotten the buses and his
Transportation Manager under control? ... Life is certainly never dull
or boring in Llano County. Aren't we lucky? Curiously, our officials
graciously insist on providing endless fodder for this publication. ...
I'm deeply grateful. All joking aside, we're far from having truly
open, accessible, reasonable government. Sad, isn't it? Indeed.
Tim Chorney, Publisher
Tim Chorney, Publisher
P.O. Box 997
Buchanan Dam Tx. 78609
llanoledger@mailcity.com
Page Updated Tue Oct 9, 2001 1:34pm EDT