Following the appointment of two new board members, drastic changes will soon be made to West Side Healthcare District after its Board of Directors voted last Tuesday to not air its meetings virtually and approved a contract agreement with a new audit firm.
With meetings no longer on Zoom, in-person sessions are now the only option for district residents to provide public comment. The decision stems from the district having technical difficulties when hosting its meetings on Zoom, which has been a recurring problem. With the equipment used for virtual meetings belonging to the city of Newman, Roberta Casteel, the district’s administrative service manager, said the Bluetooth device used doesn’t have a consistent internet connection. This has led to her calling Mid Valley IT several times to troubleshoot the problem.
As efforts to resolve the matter have failed within the past year, Jessica Vived, an attorney from Wanger Jones Helsley PC, said the city could face a possible violation of the Brown Act if they continue holding virtual meetings. She added that if the district wants to offer teleconferences in the future, they must resolve the problem.
“If that is something the board wishes to maintain, then we just need to make sure that there is something that can be done in the near future to make sure these problems that we have been having with Zoom are resolved,” Vived said.
While it’s not a requirement to host virtual meetings, Assembly Bill 2449 mentions if board members or members of the public can’t use the call-in option to comment on a matter during a virtual meeting, officials “shall take no further action on items appearing on the meeting agenda until public access to the meeting via the call-in option or internet-based service is restored.”
Board member Robert Vargas suggested the district purchase its own equipment to combat its problems with the city’s hardware. Ashley Casteel, a board member, responded to Vargas and said the equipment is expensive and not always reliable based on her experience in working in IT.
WSCHD switches audit firms
The district’s contract agreement with Price Paige & Company will be for three years with annual payment of $25,000, which is around $8,000 more than what they’ve paid in audit fees with its previous audit firm, Victorium Legal Inc.
The annual payment will be capped at that annual price, District Finance Director Leo Landaverde said. He said it’s uncommon to pay this amount for an audit that is extensive, adding that prices have increased within the past couple of years.
David Varnell, the board president, said the district does not have any other choice other than to go with someone else. “They don’t want to take somebody like us. It’s just the way it is,” he said. “It’s just something that, for some reason, a public agency, they don’t like doing this work.”
The agreement would provide for audit services for years ending June 30, 2024, 2025 and 2026. The district can renegotiate for another agreement following the three years.
During a March 17 special meeting, an Ad Hoc Committee recommended the district’s board of directors decide on two options on its future: continuing it’s ambulance operations, but make significant changes to staffing, operations and its billing company or transition away from ambulance services to providing more broader services such as community service, education and scholarships for district residents and preventative screenings.
Landaverde told The Connect that the district’s financial situation has improved after it was estimated earlier in the year that it had enough revenue to last through September. He didn’t provide any specifics about the situation.
Navtej Hundal is a freelance journalist based in Stanislaus County
