Analyzing the Modoc-gate Trail

The County’s Been to the State With
Its Payback Plan, Now Where Does It Go?

By Ray A. March

Considering the debate over whether or not county officials -- who don’t have the most shining reputation in Sacramento -- should reveal their “paying-ourselves-back“ financial plan to the State Controller’s Office, the final outcome was virtually anticlimactic.
   
At least it would appear so in reading a press release dispatch from CAO Chester Robertson’s office a week following May 14 when six county officials, including Modoc County Board of Supervisors Chair Patricia Cantrall, met with five representatives of the SCO.
   
From Robertson’s press release, possibly his first:
   
“It was emphasized that the controller’s office role is not to instruct the county on how to restore the deficit the county is facing, but to play a compliance role to ensure the county has a plan to deal with the deficit.”
   
It should be noted that county officials, including those responsible for raiding the treasury and causing a $13 million debt that must be repaid, have known the state’s enforcement role since late 2009.

To refresh memories: Various county officials and department heads have for a decade or more been fully aware of the fiscal musical chairs that caused the treasury deficit. These include former CAO Mike Maxwell, former Auditor Judi Stevens, Treasurer Cheryl Knoch, Supervisor Patricia Cantrall and past supervisor Dave Bradshaw and the heads of the library, social services and First 5 departments -- as alleged in the performance bond claim filed by the Board of Supervisors and Modoc Independent News coverage using the California Public Records Act.
     
Robertson  continues:
   
“The controller’s office inquired about the current amount of the hospital enterprise fund deficit, and how the enterprise fund will be handled now that a hospital district has been formed. The county responded that we have currently been operating under annual inter-fund borrowing resolutions, and that we will work towards assigning the debt in upcoming financial statements." 
   
No where in Robertson’s 378 -word statement is there any hint of which departments or districts will be “assigned the debt” that goes with “paying ourselves back.”
   
This raises the question, isn’t there the possibility that by assigning debt to various departments that it will reveal that the Modoc Medical Center was not the only department being floated by the illegal use of the treasury, and that it will expose other departments that were complicit in the treasury misappropriation?
   
Robertson did not respond to several e-mail messages left with his office, so Auditor Darcy Locken was asked the same questions.
   
“The intent is only to assign the debt owned by the hospital fund,” Locken explained. “Yes, there are other funds with deficit balances, but they have receivables against those balances.
   
“When we record inter-fund (inter-treasury) payables and receivables we would show a receivable in the positive funds and a payable in the hospital fund. There’s no mystery as to which fund owes the money. Assigning the debt really doesn’t bring any new surprises.”
   
These options do not rule out the possibility, as suggested by Robertson, to sell county-owned assets such as official buildings and to continue pursuing legal remedies.
   
Reference to “legal remedies” can be interpreted as an outside chance the county can collect from it previous auditor for costs it incurred when the state ordered a new audit, and an insurance settlement of some form on the performance bond claim.

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Guest Commentary

Volunteers Are Important To Hospital Operations

By Valerie Lakey
Mountain Echo Reporter

Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted here with permission of the Mountain Echo.

Fall River Mills -- Director of Volunteer Service, Margaret Trunan, reported to the Mayers Memorial Hospital District last week that volunteers contributed 23,305 hours last year.
   
“At the estimated value of volunteer time for 2011 of $21.79 per hour, our volunteers saved the hospital $507,815,” Trunan told the district board.
   
"Hospice tops the list in number of volunteer hours with 5,076, followed by the thrift store at 3,824 hours,” she said. The ancillary areas had 3,020 hours and the hospital gift shop logged 2,771 volunteers hours.
   
Other areas of volunteer work include pastoral care services, gardening, acute care, junior volunteers, senior projects and event fundraisers.
   
Trunan reported that after only 19 months of operation the thrift store has been thriving. Year to date sales are up 4.28 percent over last year. Volunteers have been working hard to keep the store clean, neat and organized with a variety of items and special projects.
   
Projects funded by the thrift store revenues have included the renovation of the hospital lobby, oxygen analyzer for Intermountain Respiratory, infusion recliner chair for outpatient services and several other projects.
   
“Volunteers have been involved  in all of the decision-making on how to use our funds,” Trunan said.
   
Trunan also reported that they are working on utilizing more skills-based volunteers.