Our View

It’s tough to know people are watching your every move; it’s difficult to make decisions that you know will please some more than others. But when you’re dealing with the public’s money, there’s nothing more important than being open about what you’re doing with it.

For that reason, we would like to offer our sincere appreciation to Joey Kanode of the Crook County Medical Services District for his insistence that the Board of Trustees keeps its work as transparent as legally possible.

As reported in last week’s issue, Kanode raised concerns over whether a recent executive session was necessary or met the legal requirements. He was adamant that the board should make sure the door stays open to the public whenever possible.

It’s not that we’re accusing the board of hiding wrongdoing. Aside from hearing a brief overview of the topics on the agenda, which may or may not have been accurate, we have no real idea of what was discussed in that executive meeting – that’s the point of them, after all.

Executive sessions are a privilege afforded by our state to allow governmental bodies to hold discussions that really do deserve to be private. The law is absolutely clear on what conversations can be taken into such a session; the ones that apply to the hospital board are limited to:

Matters to do with employee appointments, dismissals and wages, as well as complaints made against an employee

Matters concerning potential litigation

To consider acceptance of gifts, donations and bequests that the donor has requested will remain confidential

To consider any information classified as confidential by law

To consider a real estate purchase when making the matter public could cause an increase in price.

Was the hospital board’s discussion within the bounds of these topics? We don’t know. What we do know is that Kanode felt the executive session overstepped its bounds and the agenda was not followed.

We can’t confirm whether his opinion is correct – that’s the trouble with closing those doors. However, we wholeheartedly applaud the sentiment and feel that, as a community, we should find it reassuring to know there is someone sitting on that board who is willing to stand up for transparency.

The hospital board has been through some trying times over the years. The most recent turmoil involved the dramatic departure of Regional Health Services, which led to a number of public meetings at which it was standing room only in the audience.

There’s no need to argue that this community has a strong interest in what happens within its medical services district. The sheer number of people who want to make their voices heard when things go wrong is all the evidence needed.

We’ve come a long way since that time, thanks partly to the board and partly to the presence of Health Management Services. We have every reason to be proud of what’s happening in our medical services district.

We want to continue to be proud. The community not only has a strong desire to see the district succeed, it also wants to know that our money is being spent wisely. We wouldn’t just hand our credit card to a stranger and tell them to spend as they please, and the same goes for the money we contribute as taxpayers.

The boards, councils and commissions operating within this county have one big thing in common: they are all obligated to preserve the public’s trust and money. Serving on one of those boards does not give you the go-ahead to operate within your own private kingdom – if you can’t have difficult conversations openly, then perhaps you are not cut out to serve on a public board.

We understand it’s hard to bare your every thought to public scrutiny, but that’s what it takes for government to function honestly and effectively. We need to know what our boards are thinking and planning – and we need to know how they are spending our money.

Executive sessions can give a bad impression unless used sparingly. It’s hard not to wonder what’s going on that necessitates so much secrecy, so it’s no surprise that a lack of transparency is the quickest, surest way to set the rumor mill to spinning – especially when it’s to do with something so fundamental to our community as medical services.

Whether the executive session in question was illegitimate or not, we would like to encourage our hospital board to come out from behind those closed doors and let us see the work you are doing. We’re in a good place right now – let’s make sure we stay there.